OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
#1OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 12:42pm
Sauja was nice enough to start a thread about Best Of lists. I didn't necessarily want to start a similar one but wasn't sure if there should be negativity in that one so I've separated them out.
We all see a lot of theatre and I'm sure plenty of it is bad but what's the WORST of the year for you? Here's my personal list for 2013 (#1 being the worst of the year).
10. A Night With Janis Joplin; 9. The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin; 8. Let It Be; 7. Feeling; 6. Homo: The Musical (NYMF); 5. The Landing; 4. Bad Jews; 3. Julian Po (NYMF); 2. The Big Knife; 1. The Preacher and the Shrink
Not surprisingly a lot of this list is comprised of Roundabout shows. Their seasons become weaker as the years go by. Hopefully 2014 will be better with the arrival of Cabaret and some pretty decent high profile actors.
One note about The Preacher and the Shrink, DON'T EVER SEE THAT PLAY. Even if it's free or even if you're paid to go see it. It's probably one of the worst I've seen in my life.
"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah
Updated On: 12/6/13 at 12:42 PM
#2OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 2:47pm
My worst of 2013:
1. Belleville
2. Bethany
3. Testament of Mary
4. Murder Ballad
5. Cheaters' Club
#2OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 2:52pm
A Night with Janis Joplin
Big Fish
The Explorers Club
I Forgive You, Ronald Reagan
Lady Day
Little Miss Sunshine
Orphans
Romeo and Juliet (Broadway and Off-Broadway--they were both awful)
The Snow Geese
The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
VotePeron
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/2/13
#3OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 4:06pmOnly thing I saw that I really loathed was Hands On A Hardbody.
dreaming
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/24/09
#4OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 4:12pm
Only 3:
Big Fish
Big Knife
Hands on a Hardbody
Edit: In the cases of Big Fish and Big Knife, it's really about the production (in the case of Big Fish, the score was just not my cup of tea). Big Knife was directed at a very slow pace so it was difficult to watch. (The actors were very good in both cases-in all cases, in fact. But, there was no getting around the fact that I really didn't care for these three shows at all.)
Updated On: 12/6/13 at 04:12 PM
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#5OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 4:19pm
"Not surprisingly a lot of this list is comprised of Roundabout shows. Their seasons become weaker as the years go by."
The Roundabout has always had a knack for bad productions. They get stars who are all wrong for the parts they are playing and pair them with crappy directors.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#6OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 4:20pmI can only speak of productions in Chicago, but it would easily be Big Fish.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
get-it-right
Swing Joined: 5/29/12
#7OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 4:23pmMy worsts of 2013 were definitely Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, First Date, and Romeo and Juliet. Bar none.
#8OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 6:48pm
The Snow Geese, Belleville, both Romeo and Juliets, Big Fish, A Time to Kill Yourself, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Jekyll & Hyde. No particular order.
#9OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 7:23pmI like the title A Time to Kill Yourself. You REALLY didn't like that play apparently!
#10OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 7:59pmNBC's THE SOUND OF MUsic (with the exception of Godra).
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
mjohnson2
Broadway Star Joined: 11/2/13
#11OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/6/13 at 10:14pm
1. Porgy and Bess (San Francisco)
2. Romeo and Juliet (Broadway)
3. The Snow Geese (Broadway)
4. Carrie (San Francisco)
5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (West End)
and are we allowed to say "The Sound of Music LIVE!"?
Anything regarding shows stated by this account is an attempt to convey opinion and not fact.
#13OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/7/13 at 9:44pm
The three shows I was not a huge fan of this year:
1) Jekyll & Hyde (Other than Deborah Cox, awful all around).
2) Motown (Good musical performances, but the interwoven "story" and original songs were very insulting to the audience).
3) The Assembled Parties (Great performances, but I just really didn't get what it was all about).
Check out my eBay page for sales on Playbills!!
www.ebay.com/usr/missvirginiahamm
Wilmingtom
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/11
#14OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/7/13 at 11:41pm
"The Roundabout has always had a knack for bad productions. They get stars who are all wrong for the parts they are playing and pair them with crappy directors."
Yeah, "Cabaret" with Richardson and Cumming, "...Joe Egg" with Stockard Channing and Jim Dale, "A View From the Bridge," "Nine," "Side Man," "Intimate Apparel,"Anna Christie," Anything Goes, "She Loves Me," "The 39 Steps,"Twelve Angry Men," the Deaf West production of "Big River," "Drood"... Truly, a lousy track record.
Updated On: 12/8/13 at 11:41 PM
Wilmingtom
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/11
#17OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/8/13 at 12:55amCharlie and the chocolate factory would have to be the worst thing I saw this year, it ties with Ghost as one of the worst shows ever.
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
billis2
Understudy Joined: 3/22/13
#18OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/8/13 at 12:57am
I think Roundabout has a pretty promising season this year, but your examples are really reaching back in time. The only examples you've given from the past 8 years are Anything Goes and Drood, both of which I loved, and The 39 Steps, which was a London import.
My worst of 2013 was Annie. My most overrated was Lucky Guy, which wasn't horrible but didn't deserve 6 Tony nominations.
aaronb
Broadway Star Joined: 6/3/12
#19OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/8/13 at 4:58am
I actually think Clive was the worst.
Without a doubt.
KathyNYC2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/2/10
#20OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/8/13 at 7:45amBig Fish & Jekyll and Hyde. The Productions - not necessarily the shows.
The Other One
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/08
#21OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/8/13 at 8:16amMost disappointing: THE BIG KNIFE. A great supporting cast could not pick up the ball dropped by the wrong director and two miscast stars.
Tink2
Stand-by Joined: 8/7/08
#23OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/8/13 at 10:12amJEKYLL & HYDE and THE TWO-CHARACTER PLAY stood head and shoulders above the riff-raff for the worst dreck I saw this year...
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
MartyO49
Chorus Member Joined: 10/6/03
#24OUR Worst of 2013 Lists
Posted: 12/8/13 at 10:25am
Agree on "The Snow Geese"...recently adds: "Patron Saint of Sea Monsters" & "Cheri"
