Unpopular Opinions You Hold- Page 23

[In Buddy's Eyes]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 1:20am

I HATE Laurie Beechman's voice and find the sound of her voice to be unbearably whiny.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 1:27am

Where to begin...
-I absolutely HATE Wicked. I think it is the worst Broadway musical.
-I can't stand Aaron Tveit's voice.
-I actually like Mamma Mia! (not a musical masterpiece by any means, but with a great cast the show is just FUN)
-I think The Lion King is completely overrated.
-I think Idina Menzel's acting and singing are beyond boring and lifeless.
That's all I can think of at the moment.

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 1:28am

My friends are raving about "Priscilla" and keep trying to convince me how good it is. It was pretty much a bare stage with a bus. Things and people sliding in and out but it looked cheap. Yeah, the production numbers were fun but the show still looks cheap. They have all seen it 3 times and I would never go back to see it again. Someone left this show out in the rain. There, I said it.

[hyperbole_and_a_half]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 2:03am

Raul Esparza is smug, bland, unattractive, and can't sing. He's Nathan Lane without charisma.

Jennifer Damiano is a chore to watch on stage, and has a passaggio rougher and larger than most men, rendering a full quarter of her range unlistenable.

[metropolis10111]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 7:43am

I think Sondheim fan's smugness hurt his reputation more then help it .

I don't get the appeal of LaCage

I'm REALLY hoping BoM takes the Best Musical Tony this year

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 7:45am

I want the 2 1/2 hours I suffered through PRISCILLA back. One of the most overrated, pointless, boring, ridiculous shows ever mounted that takes a giant shlt on an amazing film.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 2:18pm

I can't stand old movie musicals. Most of them are fine on stage, but they usually drag on screen when there's no intermission and no live audience.

I love both of John Doyle's Broadway productions and am really excited for his production of Merrily We Roll Along. I love the idea of the actors playing the instruments.

From what I've seen of Hal Prince's work, I'm really not impressed. I think he did well with Pacific Overtures, but his staging of Sweeney Todd, while effective in telling the story, didn't really scare me as much as it should have. I thought his staging for Merrily was just dreadful, although the book had major problems at that point. I'm curious about what he did with Company, Follies, and A Little Night Music because I think those are Sondheim's best shows, and, of course, there is no video footage of those productions (apart from the Follies footage which shows Michael Bennett's brilliance).

[Idiot]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 6:24pm

HA! This thread is a scream. So many unpopular opinions that I hold have already been covered here, but here goes:

*NEXT TO NORMAL is just not a good show.
*Hal Prince's staging makes the vapidity of PHANTOM kind of worth it.
*WICKED is the worst successful musical I've seen in decades. It took a great idea and made it mediocre.
*CARRIE was a great (no, really - GREAT) show, ruined by abysmal, 'opposite day' direction and two bad songs.
*The only place RENT worked for me was on the CD.
Updated On: 3/27/11 at 06:24 PM

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 10:12pm

I was lucky enough to see all the original Broadway productions of Sondheim musicals Company thru Passion (some of them numerous times).

You'll be shocked and outraged but I disliked FOLLIES (a jaw-dropping statement I know) and hated SUNDAY IN THE PARK (I prefer the film version -- for the closer proximity I suppose).

I loved SUGAR BABIES.

Most musical flops I saw between 1971 and 1990 were just that in my opinion. The only two flops I truly enjoyed were THE FIRST and OH, BROTHER!

Not a fan of Betty Buckley. (Among the many times I've seen her was CARRIE -- really!)

In her early days, I greatly disliked LuPone, but I think she's much better in recent years. The first show I loved her in was MASTER CLASS. She's really come into her own, and this seems to be her most successful period as a leading lady. (I saw THE BAKER'S WIFE in Boston. Bizarre.) Too bad her recent autobiography is lousy.

As others have stated in this thread, I much prefer the film version of WEST SIDE STORY than the stage version.

The same with THE SOUND OF MUSIC. It works MUCH better as a film.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 10:31pm

1)I dislike a majority of R&H musicals (with the exception of "The Sound of Music")
2)Music Man is superb
3)GYPSY is a great show but not the "king of musicals" that people on here make it out to be
4)Just because a show becomes a major success doesnt mean it's bad
5)"POTO" has it's good moments, but as a whole I found it to be a bore
6) Colm Wilkinson's voice grates my ears
7) No matter how much I hate a show...I will always find something good about it
WICKED is a fantastic show (something REALLY unpopular here haha)
9) Idina Menzel is great (again...very unpopular here)
10) Audra McDonald is a gem and IMO one of the best female vocalists we have
11) CARRIE is just a bad show...with a few decent songs and one great one

[In Buddy's Eyes]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 10:50pm

@hyperbole_and_a_half I agree that Raul Esparza should go away for a long time.

@AwesomeDanny, I think you would like Hal Prince more if you saw the staging of Evita.

@egghumor I really love Betty Buckley, but I get how her presence and voice can be off putting

@fingerlakessinger I love Audra and she has never delivered a vocal performance I didn't like.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 11:03pm

In buddy eyes, thanks for not freaking out over the fact that I was disappointed in FOLLIES.

I agree, Audra McDonald is one of God's great gifts to the theater. No missteps thus far. Each and every performance exquisite!

I think the stae of musical theater would be much better in general if producers would have the guts to allow stars to be created on Broadway again.

The emergence of Broadway stars such as Sutton Foster, Norbert Leo Butz, Kristen Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Audra McDonald, and perhaps Aaron Tveit and Andrew Rannells have been the happy and often thrilling result of such decisions.

Nathan Lane and Harvey Fierstein became a Broadway stars first before they went on to film careers, and we need to keep making such careers possible rather than going for the safe, economic casting choice of film and TV stars. I'm not knocking most of those folks, but we need to keep letting stars emerge from the theater world as well.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 10:59am

Musicals I do not get and do not like that have been successful.

Phantom of the Opera. (snoozefest)
Titanic (Snoozefest)


Sister Act (well the jury is out on this one)
The New production of La Cage with Douglas Hodge and Kelsey
Legally Blonde

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 11:32am

Yeah, Mr. Catalano, except perhaps for Tony Sheldon (Bernadette's a great part), PRISCILLA sounds like one big cow pie. I adore the film, and I think the story (if it is to be even slightly plausible) is better served on celluloid.

These drawn-out, over-cranked, ubiquitous songs can't possible boost the material, but rather weigh it down. The amount of "performance" in the film is just right.

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. Would NEVER pay Broadway prices for such vacuous stuff -- and I'm a queen!

Give me Charles Busch, please!

[Idiot]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 11:56am

Heavens to mergatroid, I enjoy this thread.

[princessem721]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 4:11pm

this thread is hysterical.

i think that nathan lane's caterpillar eyebrows do more work in any given performance than the rest of the production (including the amazing ensemble dancers, moving sets, light up costumes, and anything else that has a hint of animation). i think he is disastrous and haven't the first clue why he still such a big draw...

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 4:20pm

Tony Sheldon gave the best performance in the show. The costumes were great but didn't save the show.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 4:21pm

I think Audra McDonald makes boring choices and then inflates them to the size of Macy's parade balloons. And she shrieks and sobs, rather than singing.

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 5:01pm

@egghumor I totally agree about the creation of stars. Hollywood has nearly lost that; my generation doesn't have Katharine Hepburns or Cary Grants or Elizabeth Taylors. I'm glad to see that hasn't happened yet on Broadway.
Also:
-Wicked is my favorite show, period. And not just for entertainment, I think it's a great show.
-I love Glee; I've watched since the first episode and find it wonderful.
-I love classic, jazz-hands, show-tune style musicals. I wish more modern shows used that style of music.
-I think that a popular show can also be a very good show. Backlash against really popular shows isn't my thing.
-I don't like that a handful of shows- not many, but still- seem to think that the more "subversive", the better.
-I really have no interest in Book of Mormon at the moment Updated On: 3/28/11 at 05:01 PM

[secondarycharacter2]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 5:24pm

I LOVE the concert version of Chess. (minus the weird chorus crap)
I HATE wicked (can't tell if this is a popular or unpopular opinion...)
I have never understood why Evita is so great
I like the movie recording of Chicago more than the OBC
I love Annie
I hate Hair

[hottieho13]

Posted: 3/29/11 at 12:23pm

I hate Glee

I hate Lea Michele and her voice, there's nothing special about it.

I love Rent

I kinda like Love Never Dies and was very dissapointed it didn't get to open in NYC with Ramin Karimloo

and I also don't care about people's spelling online