What shows do you love but everyone else seems to hate?

[A_Boy_From_Oz]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 9:19am

Mine would have to be Grease, Mamma Mia and of course, The Boy from Oz. Updated On: 11/21/03 at 09:19 AM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 9:34am

For me, it was a show/score absolutely nobody admired:

BIG

I (alone) even played the CD often. In particular, I thought "I Want To Know" (the kid self singing for the "big" Josh) was a sweet song. And I thought Dan Jenkins was swell, an unsung hero of that season. But friends laughed at me for being moved by it.

Slight OT amplification: I have a weakness for one of the hoariest, most manipulative devices in the theatre: characters appearing with their "child selves." 20 years ago there was a ghastly show called "Marilyn, a Musical Fable." The young Norma Jean sang one of those yearning "I want songs" at the top. At the end, we were spared Marilyn's death, but she did reunite with the kid NJ for a reprise of that number. Thought I had howled at the show the whole evening, I teared up in that number--and to this day have the damned melody in my head. The same thing almost happened at "Boy From Oz." That show was very Jackie Susann to me, until Hugh shared the stage with his child-self near the end. I felt myself react the same way. 'Coupla years of therapy might help me understand this. Objectively, I know how cornball the device is. Isn't it tough when you KNOW you're being manipulated ... and you can't stop yourself?

Updated On: 11/21/03 at 09:34 AM

[Cadriel]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 9:35am

Aspects of Love. It just gets no respect at all. Jekyll & Hyde as well - not that there aren't fans, but a lot of people bash it for a variety of reasons.

Oh, and Martin Guerre, but I mostly love what I've heard of the London version and not the American rewrite.

-Wayne

[TEACHEROFTHEATER]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 10:00am

A Boy _from oz?

Everyone seems to hate Grease? I don't think so.

[magruder]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 10:04am

Judging from a thread yesterday, Sunday in the Park With George.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 10:43am

I love Mamma Mia- I know it's no Shakespere, but it was never meant to be... I don't know why people object to it so strongly. It won't, no matter what we say, single handedly bring upon the demise of 'proper' musicals. It's just plain fun and I enjoy it.

Don't know if this is really hating, but I've also heard people say "Medea" was a little too much for them, and that Fiona Shaw was overacting. I thought it was the most brilliant piece of acting I had EVER seen on stage (and I've seen both Julie Harris and Vanessa Redgrave perform, so that is saying a lot.) and the play moved me immensly.

[RobbO]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 1:20pm

urban cowboy!!

[A_Boy_From_Oz]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 1:43pm

To Teacher, whenver I mention to someone that I'm a "Grease!" fan they usually groan and roll their eyes.

[TEACHEROFTHEATER]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 1:55pm

I loved the original Broadway production of Grease. The show soared. Barry Bostwick and Timothy Myers were great:)))

[A_Boy_From_Oz]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 3:08pm

I saw a bus-and-truck tour of Grease and loved it. I never got a chance to see the revival with Rosie, Brooke Shields et al. But from what I hear I didn't miss much.

[kyle.]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 3:15pm

wicked. haha.

and carrie. the score is hauntingly beautiful.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 4:01pm

Robb, you like it because of Matty in underwear with major bulgeing!

Updated On: 11/21/03 at 04:01 PM

[bestofbroadway]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 6:41pm

Mack & Mabel- I would love to see it with a reworked book

Passion

[DofB5]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 6:50pm

I have the feeling it would have been DOTV.

D

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 6:58pm

I'm with Kyle re "Carrie." I still play my bootleg copies, to listen to the mom-daughter material. It's a shame Pitchford won't let anyone perform it, though Buckely and the drag queen Varla Jean Merman did "And Eve Was Weak" in Betty's Bottom Line show back in the late 90s. But using a drag queen as Carrie turned it into something else, needless to say. What made it work was how seriously Buckely and Linzi Hately invested in it.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 7:03pm

I love 42nd Street.

[erniesgirl96]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 7:25pm

I would have to say Dance Of The Vampires.........

[Sally]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 7:31pm

Dance of the Vampires

I had read so many terrible things about it before I saw it that I was surprised when I really enjoyed the show---easy to please, maybe. I wouldn't say I LOVED it, but I had a good time.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 7:42pm

I don't think it was around long enough to be hated by the public, (although the critics tore it to shreds)I absolutely loved Fascinating Rhythm. If only for the songs and the singers singing them. Not a great show but oh, what a cast.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 11/21/03 at 7:55pm

But Al...I thought you hated everything

[Audrey]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 1:38am

Absolutely, Dance of the Vampires!

It wasn't perfect, but the cast was wonderful. I have a whole list of young people whose careers I hope to follow from now on.

And I love Michael Crawford!

[Old Bat]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 6:42pm

Audrey, I'm right in there with you. Perhaps we're both on another planet but Dance of the Vampires blew me away! I adore Michael, but even without him, the Broadway production of DOTV was something else! You're right, it wasn't perfect, but wasn't it fun?

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 8:15pm

CADREIL, there is a whole thread a while back about ASPECTS. Use the search engine. You'd be surprised, i think, how many people on the board have some admiration for it.

Mine would be my much-self-lamented IMAGINARY FRIENDS (true, a play with music, but let me just say eight names: Nora Ephron, Marvin Hamlisch, Jerry Mitchell, Swoozie Kurtz, Cherry Jones, Dirk Lombard, Bernard Dotson, and Harry Groener. Those ain't the 8 reindeer, folks). Add to that list the lesser-known Craig Carnelia and Jack "Hairspray" O' Brien.

Loved and revered on the West Coast tryout, panned in NYC. Go figure. *sigh*

[aurora1958]

Posted: 11/23/03 at 12:20am

Audrey and Old Bat...let's make it a trio. Definately Dance of the Vampires. Definitely a fabulous cast of very talented people who I am having a great time keeping up with these days, and yes, I adore Michael Crawford.

[mcphan19]

Posted: 11/23/03 at 10:21am

Audrey, Old Bat and aurora1958, make that a quartet - I definitely enjoyed Dance of the Vampires - it was a fun show with an very talented cast (and, yes I adore Michael Crawford as well) I think a lot could have been done with the show (marketing-wise, etc) but it was just a fun show, with humor and drama (and a rockin' score)

Jen