Paid Members Carbomb Posted July 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 9, 2020 Am not a fan of musicals in general - I think maybe Oliver! and Jersey Boys are the only ones I've enjoyed. There may be a couple more, but I forget which. Problem is, at least in the West End prior to Covid killing it off, Theatreland has been saturated with musicals at the expense of plays, which pisses me off no end, especially as a lot of musicals are just bad from a general perspective - largely because musicals make money, whether they're good or not. Thriller Live, for example, is utter trash. It's structured more like a live performance of the first half of Moonwalker, basically Michael Jackson music videos - lazy and unimaginative, but because it's Jackson's music (and a fair bit of The Jackson 5/Jacksons), and because Jackson carked it about nine months into its run, it's been going since 2009. And its already-low quality suffers from the same problem that most long-running musicals do, like Les Misérables and Phantom Of The Opera: it's now a tourist trap, so will always make money from a high rate of one-time watchers, so the producers can afford to put on sub-standard cast, usually dancers, actors, and singers only just out of stage school, which ups the company's profits ridiculously, but puts experienced and trained performers out of decently-paid work. In a way, it makes it a minor miracle that The Mousetrap was able to run so long that they could make its record-breaking nature a part of its selling point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted July 9, 2020 Moderators Share Posted July 9, 2020 (edited) Yeah the film of Oliver is great due to the law of Reed. He also makes the film of Tommy all by himself. Oliver Reed should be in every musical. Here he is shouting at a deaf, dumb and blind child. Edited July 9, 2020 by PowerButchi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gmoney Posted July 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 9, 2020 1 minute ago, Carbomb said: And its already-low quality suffers from the same problem that most long-running musicals do, like Les Misérables and Phantom Of The Opera: it's now a tourist trap, so will always make money from a high rate of one-time watchers, so the producers can afford to put on sub-standard cast, usually dancers, actors, and singers only just out of stage school, which ups the company's profits ridiculously, but puts experienced and trained performers out of decently-paid work. The other side of that is that it gives huge breaks to new faces, rather than having avenues closed off. I must admit, I've never heard the argument you use there, it sounds remarkably bitter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted July 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 9, 2020 Just now, gmoney said: The other side of that is that it gives huge breaks to new faces, rather than having avenues closed off. I must admit, I've never heard the argument you use there, it sounds remarkably bitter. To clarify, I'm specifically talking about the major/main roles, for which most inexperienced performers are for the most part not ready enough to do yet. This is evidenced by the actual poor quality of the shows. I worked at the Lyric Theatre when Thriller Live started; the way the production company treated their main performers, who were excellent, after only eight months was absolutely disgraceful, and the decline in quality was quite visible when they brought in the new casts. I've worked in various theatres, and I've seen first-hand elsewhere with other productions exactly what I described. The only theatres I've seen running musicals where that doesn't usually happen are those run by Delfont-Mackintosh/Cameron Mackintosh, mainly because they tend to insist on production companies maintaining high standards if they want to keep their theatre contracts. I've no reason to be bitter, I'm neither a dancer, nor a singer, and the reason I didn't make it as an actor wasn't because of this, I just wasn't good enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gmoney Posted July 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 9, 2020 4 minutes ago, Carbomb said: To clarify, I'm specifically talking about the major/main roles, for which most inexperienced performers are for the most part not ready enough to do yet. This is evidenced by the actual poor quality of the shows. I worked at the Lyric Theatre when Thriller Live started; the way the production company treated their main performers, who were excellent, after only eight months was absolutely disgraceful, and the decline in quality was quite visible when they brought in the new casts. I've worked in various theatres, and I've seen first-hand elsewhere with other productions exactly what I described. The only theatres I've seen running musicals where that doesn't usually happen are those run by Delfont-Mackintosh/Cameron Mackintosh, mainly because they tend to insist on production companies maintaining high standards if they want to keep their theatre contracts. I've no reason to be bitter, I'm neither a dancer, nor a singer, and the reason I didn't make it as an actor wasn't because of this, I just wasn't good enough. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you were the bitter one, I was implying the you were parroting a bitter opinion you'd heard. Thriller is shite anyway, so does it really matter if Johnny Stageschool is in the lead? Also, didn't Peter Andre just do a run in it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted July 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 9, 2020 Just do a musicals thread ffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted July 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 9, 2020 Just now, gmoney said: Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you were the bitter one, I was implying the you were parroting a bitter opinion you'd heard. Thriller is shite anyway, so does it really matter if Johnny Stageschool is in the lead? Also, didn't Peter Andre just do a run in it? From my perspective, yes - when I was working as an actor, it was a problem because it and many other shite musicals were helping to drive a race to the bottom for performers in general. As an agent, it means a constant battle to get decent wages and conditions for the performers on my roster. We're often having to bring Equity in when the casting briefs come through. Flying Music, who produce Thriller Live, are a notorious company for that sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 For me it really depends on the musical. Something like Avenue Q put a smile on my face from start to finish, but stick me in front of The Sound of Music and I want to kick my TV in after a while because IT NEVER FEELS LIKE IT'LL FUCKING END. So yeah, pretty much the same as any genre - there are good and bad ones. Think it's a bit tough saying they're all shite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted July 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 9, 2020 Wicked is a spectacular piece of shit filled to the brim with the blandest most unmemorable songs in history and an incredibly dumb story. No idea how that's been running so long to packed houses every night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted July 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 9, 2020 1 minute ago, LaGoosh said: Wicked is a spectacular piece of shit filled to the brim with the blandest most unmemorable songs in history and an incredibly dumb story. No idea how that's been running so long to packed houses every night. Because the audience are gullible and nostalgia-fuelled with no sense of critical reason, who'll clap and cheer like a seal at any slight reference to 'yellow roads', 'a scarecrow' or 'stealing my sister's shoes', because they get the reference. And because they were pandered to enough with shit like that, they convinced themselves it was a good show. It was the single worst, most annoying crowd I've ever sat in, and I've gone to Sing-Alongs at the Prince Charles Cinema. Not going to hate on Defying Gravity, because I quite liked that song, to be fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 My kids loved Wicked, and I don't think they're nostalgia fuelled. They are gullible though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted July 9, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 9, 2020 6 minutes ago, SuperBacon said: My kids loved Wicked, and I don't think they're nostalgia fuelled. They are gullible though. I mean, I don't want to judge them based on one thing they like, but I'm going to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathrey Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 Personally I thought the rapping in Hamilton was alright. Not amazing but certainly not bad, I think they did a good job. I enjoyed watching Hamilton on Disney Plus but probably wouldn't ever watch it again and I won't see it in the theatre. The only musical I've ever wanted to re-watch (and hope to one day) is Book of Mormon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members waters44 Posted July 9, 2020 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 9, 2020 A load of my distant family are part of a big am dram troupe so I’ve been dragged to countless awful musicals. The only highlight was when the robot in Forbidden Planet accidentally rollerskated right off the stage into the band Musicals are awful but thinking about it am dram is the devils work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Coconut Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 We Will Rock You is better than Houchen. All other musicals can fuck off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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