The Musicals Thread

[Richard A Thackeray]

@icowden

Wife & daughter are off to see 'Sister Act', at the Grand Theatre, in Leeds, tonight

That's not a bad show either, again - fun but not deep. My wife and children are big fans. Hope they enjoy!

I'll let you know

They enjoyed immensely, & came home in good spirits

 

[icowden]

They enjoyed immensely, & came home in good spirits

Glad they had a good night out
It's a fun show, not world changing, but sometimes you just want fun. My wife took part in an amdram version of it last year.

 

[postman]

Miss P and Mrs P have three shows lined up.I know Mamma Mia is one i think a proper ballet show Swan Lake and late in the year and this includes Postman, Sister Act in Edinburgh.I am only going cos i love Edinburgh not bothered about the show,its the couple of days there i am looking forward to.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Saw Rocky Horror at the Lyceum on Sheffield earlier in the year always a laugh.

As we're driving up the road to park the car there was a guy walking up & down the road in corset, stockings & suspenders holding his phone out in front of him obviously trying to get Google maps to get him to the theatre. We stopped & told him how to get there.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Saw Rocky Horror at the Lyceum on Sheffield earlier in the year always a laugh.

As we're driving up the road to park the car there was a guy walking up & down the road in corset, stockings & suspenders holding his phone out in front of him obviously trying to get Google maps to get him to the theatre. We stopped & told him how to get there.

My wife has told me that’s on at the Grand Theatre (Leeds) later this year, presumably it was just a comment?

Some of our Nursing staff used to go to see ‘SingalongaSoundofMusic’ when it was on, & dress as Nuns…….

 

[Deleted member 26715]

My wife has told me that’s on at the Grand Theatre (Leeds) later this year, presumably it was just a comment?

Or was it? Dare you take the risk?

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

My wife has told me that’s on at the Grand Theatre (Leeds) later this year, presumably it was just a comment?

Some of our Nursing staff used to go to see ‘SingalongaSoundofMusic’ when it was on, & dress as Nuns…….

Or was it? Dare you take the risk?

I have enough problems wearing a vibrantly coloured/patterned tie

 

[Tail End Charlie]

I saw "Shrek - the musical" at the weekend, put on by a young persons group. It was superb. The main players were brilliant and the way they did Lord Farquhaad had me in stitches.

 

[icowden]

I saw "Shrek - the musical" at the weekend, put on by a young persons group. It was superb. The main players were brilliant and the way they did Lord Farquhaad had me in stitches.

It's a fun show. We saw the budget appearance on the BBC's big night of musicals. A real kick in the teeth for the writers as they chose to do "I'm a believer" (the Monkees song) rather than an actual number written for the musical. I presume so they could get away with just having the three leads.

I saw it in the West End on the original run, happily when Amanda Hamilton was off (can't stand the woman - thinks she's far more talented than she actually is). Professionally they always seem to cast someone weak as Donkey, no idea why. They have this idea that because Eddie Murphy voiced Donkey in the film that they should always use a comedian that can't sing.

Glad you enjoyed it though!

 

[icowden]

BTW, can autotune be used live on stage, or is it just for studio recordings ?

Yes it can. The caveat is that the music needs to be loud enough that you can't hear the real voice of the person singing. It's certainly viable for pop stars in arena type set ups. Most eFX can be used live now thanks to increases in computer processing speed.

 

[icowden]

Went out for my birthday last week and took the kids (14 and 16) to see The Book of Mormon.
They have come out educated on both Mormonism and the healing properties of frogs... (they already knew all the swear words).

If you haven't seen it, it is an absolute belter of a show. Extremely strong, right from the opening, and very, very funny. Obviously it might upset the religiously challenged and those who don't like strong language, although the overall message of the show is not anti-religious, just anti-dogma and pro the idea that you can't just try and force Western beliefs on African residents.

The current cast are great. Elder Cunningham was absolutely brilliant. Elder Price not quite as strong but still delivering. The ensemble were fantastic.
It is a must see musical.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Quite bizarrely before seeing this I fancied a change in music so have put Blood Brothers on Spotify, spooky

 

[vickster]

Quite bizarrely before seeing this I fancied a change in music so have put Blood Brothers on Spotify, spooky

Wouldn't it have been more spooky if you'd put on the Book of Mormon soundtrack

 

[matticus]

All the "proper" musicals that peeps rave about share one problem: crap songs. The acting, dialogue, story in something like - say - Phantom are all crap, so they NEED good songs to have any appeal at all.

There are only a handful of decent ones ever made:
- Rocky Horror
- Blues Brothers
- Grease
- Sound of Music
- Jungle Book

Case closed.
(Mamma Mia commits the ultimate crime of somehow making a crap movie from great songs. But I can listen to Lily James singing the title song until time itself ends, so there's a dilemma ...

 

[icowden]

All the "proper" musicals that peeps rave about share one problem: crap songs. The acting, dialogue, story in something like - say - Phantom are all crap, so they NEED good songs to have any appeal at all.

<Spots can of worms about to be opened>
Many would argue that the music in Phantom is pretty dire. It's largely classical music rip offs, and the music gets reused constantly. It was the precusor to terrible shows like Aspects of Love and Woman in White where the audience is repeatedly beaten over the head with the same tune.

There are only a handful of decent ones ever made:
- Rocky Horror
- Blues Brothers
- Grease
- Sound of Music
- Jungle Book

So I think we have established that perhaps you are not really a fan of proper musical theatre :-)

Blues Brothers and Jungle Book are not theatre musicals, they are film musicals or films with music in, and in the case of Blues Brothers it's a juke box film - albeit a great film. I love the music in both but I wouldn't class them as musicals. Grease is overrated - very little depth to the music. The Sound of Music I like, but I am not a huge Rodgers and Hammerstein fan. I quite like their Cinderella but I find Carousel and Show Boat a little turgid. They are showing their age a little.

For a proper musical the show does not make sense without the songs. The music drives the film and brings you closer to the characters and their thoughts.

My list of truly great musicals includes things like:

• Sweeney Todd (Sondheim)
• Into the Woods (Sondheim)
• Sunday in the Park with George (Sondheim)
• City of Angels (Cy Coleman)
• Mack and Mabel (Jerry Herman)
• Taboo (Boy George)
• Mathilda (Tim Minchin)
• Gypsy (Sondheim)
• Cabaret (Kander and Ebb)
• Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Kander and Ebb)
• Hamilton (Lin Manuel Miranda)

That said there are good juke box type musicals:

• Our House
• The Commitments
• Mama Mia
• Bat out of Hell

And bad:

• Rock of Ages
• We will Rock You

Mama Mia does work better as a stage show than as a film.