Best And Worst Jukebox Musical Through The Years

[Malinda5000]

The new Donna Summer musical is a comin'....and I hear it's a hot mess. But I'll be there when it comes to Broadway with bell's on just to see for myself.

Anyway... My worst jukebox shows( that I actually saw )are: Lennon...Good Vibrations...Hot Feet and The Times They Are A Changing'

Awful.....just awful.

My best: Movin' Out

Please share your best and worst.

[JoseLee_]

Best: Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Jersey Boys, Beautiful: The Carol King Musical

Okay: Mamma Mia, Rock of Ages, We Will Rock You, Disney's On the Record

Worst: Motown

[SundayInThePark2]

Best: Disaster! the Musical, Jersey Boys 

Worst: Mamma Mia

[bwaylyric]

BEST: Jersey Boys, Million Dollar Quartet

OKAY: Mamma Mia, Beautiful, Movin Out

WORST: Hot Feet, Good Vibrations, Lennon, On Your Feet

[Alex Kulak2]

does Tommy count as a jukebox musical? What about Once?

[nmlhats]

Best: Beautiful
(and American Idiot, if that qualifies)
Worst: Every other jukebox musical ever made

[After Eight]

Best: Mamma Mia

Worst: Lennon

[Emmaloucbway]

Best: Beautiful

Worst: Baby It's You

[RippedMan]

Best: I LOVE me some Mamma Mia. It's so trashy and fun. A happy-hour-before kinda show. 

Worst: Disaster. It didn't belong on a Broadway stage. And given that it's not been produced regionally, probably didn't need to belong. 

[starcatchers]

Emmaloucbway said: "Best: Beautiful

Worst: Baby It's You"

Beautiful is my favorite jukebox musical I've seen to date.

 

Baby It's You was an absolute disaster, but I still had fun. I can't say the same for Mamma Mia or Million Dollar Quartet.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Alex Kulak2 said: "doesTommycount as a jukebox musical? What aboutOnce?"

Neither of them count. While Tommy may consist of some of The Who's biggest hits, it is not a grab-bag collection of them fitted piecemeal into a plot added later; all of the songs were written explicitly for Tommy (even new additions for the purpose of the Des McAnuff adaptation), and serve the purpose of telling its story.

Likewise with Once, except it's not only not a jukebox musical of anyone's hits, but the only reason one might recognize its score is having seen the film from which it was adapted. It's an example of the (equally dreaded, in some quarters) screen-to-stage transfer, not the jukebox musical.

[Princeton2]

Best - Mamma Mia, Our House, Crazy For You

Okay - Jersey Boys

Worst - Bodyguard, Priscilla, We Will Rock You, Tonight's The Night, Boogie Nights, Never Forget

[kdogg36]

My least favorite is Baby, It's You! and my favorite, by far, is American Idiot. (I wouldn't have classified the latter as a jukebox musical if it had stuck to only the songs on the eponymous album, but since it included other Green Day songs to fill out the score, I think that's a fair label.)

[AngusN]

Best: PRISCILLA - it helps it is based on a fantastic film, and the music is phenomenal. BEAUTIFUL, THE BODYGUARD

Worst: MAMMA MIA, BOOGIE NIGHTS

[Jarethan]

Are no best IMO...everyone had serious deficiencies.

Absolutely most enjoyable, despite not being eligible for 'best': Mamma Mia (lousy choreography, some of the songs really didn't fit, sometimes too silly), Beautiful (by the numbers book AND direction, saved by great songs and excellent performances), We Will Rock You (totally stupid, but deliriously entertaining at times), Crazy for You (I actually think the main flaw with this original production was the book and the lead performers...both were mediocre IMO, which hurt the show...still, it was very enjoyable).

Moderately enjoyable: Footloose, Jersey Boys (got tired of the deification of 'Can't Take My Eyes Off of You' in the script...you'd have thought they were preparing you for the first hearing ever of Ave Maria), didn't like all the non-Four Seasons songs that monopolized the first half of Act 1, and didn't like the staging / abbreviation of some of their greatest songs, despite having to listen to so many non-Four Seasons songs early in the show.

Lest Enjoyable: Movin' Out (shoot me, but I hated this show after about 15 minutes), Tommy (shoot me, again; I also hated this show from about the 15 minute mark...wasn't helped by the seat (extreme side about 5 rows back at full-price), which distorted the visuals; and the volume, which was deafeningly loud when I saw it in previews.  Priscilla.

The absolute worst piece of garbage I have ever seen: Flashdance.  I refer to it as representing 'the Pantheon of Badness'.

[Nycat63]

Best - American Idiot

Fun - Disaster and Mamma Mia!

Atrocious - We Will Rock You. Can't imagine a worse book/production/concept/anything to accompany such phenomenal music. Sacrilege!

[bwayobsessed]

My favorite is All Shook Up. It’s just a wonderfully 30s esque musical comedy with 4 happy couples at the end.

My least favorite is On Your Feet.

[ggersten]

Do bio-musicals like Beautiful and Jersey Boys really count as jukebox musicals?  I don't think so - as I think of a jukebox musical where pre-existing songs are shoehorned into a new story where the songs purportedly advance the plot or character.  The "and then I wrote/performed this song" is not that show.  If just having pre-existing songs in a show is "jukebox" than various revues should count.  But on one has suggested "Aint Misbehavin'" (I've only seen parts of the televised version, so I can't judge it) or any of the plethora of Sondheim revues.  

 

[Mister Matt]

Best - American Idiot
Worst - Motown

[Jarethan]

ggersten said: "Do bio-musicals like Beautiful and Jersey Boys really count as jukebox musicals? I don't think so - as I think of a jukebox musical where pre-existing songs are shoehorned into a new story where the songs purportedly advance the plot or character. The "and then I wrote/performed this song" is not that show. If just having pre-existing songs in a show is "jukebox" than various revues should count. But on one has suggested "Aint Misbehavin'" (I've only seen parts of the televised version, so I can't judge it) or any of the plethora of Sondheim revues.

You raise a valid question; I would argue that the shows still don't have original songs, so you are not getting the opportunity to hear new music.  Re Ain't Misbehavin', I didn't consider that, because it was a revue; there was no attempt to shoe-horn songs into a script.

So I guess there are really four types of musicals in this broad category:

 -- True juke box musical, in which the songs are squeezed into a script in an attempt to propel the show along the same as an original song written specifically for that moment in the show would do, e.g., Mamma Mia, We Will Rock You, the musical version of the play and film Holiday several decades ago (I can't remember its name)

-- Live version of an original movie musical or concept album, probably incorporating a few more numbers, e.g., Saturday Night Fever, Flashdance, Footloose as well as American Idiot, Tommy

-- Show biz stories, which include songs associated with the original singer / group, played as performances, rather than used to propel the story, e.g., Jersey Boys, Beautiful, (Mostly) On Your Feet, (Mostly) Motown (I didn't see it, but have the impression that not all numbers were 'performances'.

-- Revues, which make no attempt to incorporate a script, e.g., Ain't Misbehavin'

So, where does a show like Crazy For You fit?  Or An American In Paris?  Probably overranalyzing it.

In reality, the previous answers seem to have determined that it is a book musical with songs that are not new.

 

 

[Malinda5000]

Hey...What about...The Boy From Oz ? That show was a bit bareable. But Motown was bad bad bad. Motown should have been much better being that some of us grew up listening to those great songs.

[GavestonPS]

All Time Best (including those I never saw): AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'

It gave one the impression of a strong, dramatic arc without offering a plot or continuing characters.

Close Second Best: SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM

Although Sondheim's music and lyrics had won four
Tonys by the time SIDE BY SIDE reached these
shores, the revue still provoked a profound re-
evaluation of Sondheim's work by both critics and
the theatergoing public.

[BroadwayConcierge]

In terms of genuinely good theatre, nothing has come close to Jersey Boys. That's the crown jewel of the jukebox musical.

But it's hard to say that Mamma Mia! is bad, because it's just sheer fun. The same can't be said for On Your Feet!, though, which tried to toe the line between fun theatre and an emotional story, and ended up being an epic disaster (though, to be sure, Villafañe nailed the material she was given). 

I'm still surprised that Beautiful has generated such a big fan base because I think it's a total bore of a show with a great lead role.

[bwayphreak234]

BEST

Jersey Boys (just a great show all around)

Mamma Mia! (it's one of my favorite guilty pleasure shows)

Movin' Out (easily the best in my book)

OKAY

Motown (the music is fun, but the "book" is a mess)

On Your Feet! (lots of fun, but very little substance and an atrocious set design)

WOST

Beautiful (this show is so incredibly boring, and the book is atrocious)

Million Dollar Quartet (I walked out even though there was no intermission)

 

[GavestonPS]

Mamma Mia! was atrocious. I have no
trouble saying so. Just because some-
thing is mindless doesn't mean it is
mindlessly entertaining.

On the other hand, I didn't find Jersey
Boys nearly as bad as I expected.

FTR, I'm a fan of and remember both
groups.