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Post by Phantom of London on Oct 30, 2016 17:07:19 GMT
Thinking of this today out on my walk listening to my Ipod and had Dolly Parton's 9-5 playing and thinking this is a very good score.
Off the top of my head I can think of:
Young Frankenstein
Wicked
Notre Dame de Paris
So this is what generated this thread on our message board. Also looking for new stuff to put on my IPod.
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4,369 posts
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Post by Michael on Oct 30, 2016 17:16:04 GMT
If the score's awesome, it's not a terrible musical for me.
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Post by Scswp on Oct 30, 2016 17:16:25 GMT
Wicked? Lots would disagree with you there about it being a terrible musical!!! Interesting choice.
'Chess' is the obvious one that comes to mind for me.
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Post by danb on Oct 30, 2016 17:33:21 GMT
Another vote for both 'Chess' and 'Notre Dame de Paris'; both great scores being dragged down by their confused books. NDP particularly was overblown nonsense which could have been crafted into something sensitive & heartbreaking had it not been for the need to stage it in an aircraft hangar!!!!
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Post by viserys on Oct 30, 2016 18:08:44 GMT
I love Notre Dame de Paris, the French spectacles just have their own different kind of staging, which is indeed more concert-like. I can't wait to see the revival in Paris in December!
Otherwise, I'd agree on Chess and the one that immediately sprung to mind when I read the title: Love never dies. I keep wishing ALW had used the terrific score for a wholly different musical with a fresh story.
I might also add Frank Wildhorn's entire output, he has a gift for writing fantastic pop ballads, but the lyrics are usually dire as are the "stories" in which he mauls about European history or classic literature.
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Post by samsam1985 on Oct 30, 2016 18:11:52 GMT
I Cant Sing had a brilliant score. It was such a fun show. Sad it wasn't given a chance.
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Post by crabtree on Oct 30, 2016 18:25:31 GMT
Lest not forget the much loved/much maligned Martin Guerre.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2016 18:31:30 GMT
If the score's awesome, it's not a terrible musical for me. Agreed. A good score is the first thing I look for in a musical and it's too big of a part of a musical for me to think it is amazing but the show is still overall terrible. I will say The Bridges of Madison County is a much better score than it is a show. Also, In the Heights has a fantastic score and a mediocre book (but also has other great elements such as choreography). |
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Post by loureviews on Oct 30, 2016 19:00:42 GMT
Martin Guerre - before the score was tampered with
Just So
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2016 19:16:14 GMT
Les Mis. Have always loved the score but DETEST the show/film
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5,056 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Oct 30, 2016 19:29:18 GMT
If the score's awesome, it's not a terrible musical for me. Agreed. A good score is the first thing I look for in a musical and it's too big of a part of a musical for me to think it is amazing but the show is still overall terrible. I will say The Bridges of Madison County is a much better score than it is a show. Also, In the Heights has a fantastic score and a mediocre book (but also has other great elements such as choreography). Score accompanies the book, the book has to be good. As someone wisely said the 3 components that make a great musical and that is: book, book and book. |
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Post by mrtumnus on Oct 30, 2016 19:41:12 GMT
Aspects of Love
Ghost
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Post by Michael on Oct 30, 2016 19:43:12 GMT
As someone wisely said the 3 components that make a great musical and that is: book, book and book. As someone wise - let's call him Michael for the time being - said the 3 components that make a great musical are: score, score and score. I can easily sit through a musical with a paper-thin book as long as the score is amazing. The opposite, not really. Yes, preferably both are great, but for me it's score first. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2016 19:59:44 GMT
Agreed. A good score is the first thing I look for in a musical and it's too big of a part of a musical for me to think it is amazing but the show is still overall terrible. I will say The Bridges of Madison County is a much better score than it is a show. Also, In the Heights has a fantastic score and a mediocre book (but also has other great elements such as choreography). Score is accompanies a the book. As someone wisely said the 3 components that make a great musical and that is: book, book and book. Gotta disagree! I really like In the Heights but if it was a play I'd think it was pretty dire. |
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Post by crabtree on Oct 30, 2016 20:20:18 GMT
and I'm afraid I will never sit through another production of it, but I do have a fondness for some of the songs from Salad Days
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2016 20:22:21 GMT
CAROUSEL.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2016 20:33:46 GMT
Phantom of the Opera
Jekyll and Hyde
By which I don't think they are "terrible", but I think the score is definitely stronger than the book and/or lyrics.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2016 22:23:44 GMT
On A Clear Day You Can See Forever. The book has never worked. It's like crabtree's Salad Days in that the story is ridiculous and makes no sense, but Salad Days knows its story is nonsense and revels in it while On A Clear Day takes itself painfully seriously.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2016 22:54:50 GMT
The Bakers Wife. A brilliant score by Stephen Schwartz but the story doesnt work. The titular character all but disappears in the second act and the ending where he forgives the cat is silly.
Mack And Mabel. Again, a score with songs that many people know, but it has never had a production that did it justice, or one thats been a huge success.
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Post by anthony40 on Oct 30, 2016 23:01:11 GMT
Jeckyll & Hyde.
Great songs (despite the line "To kill outside St.Paul's, requires a lot of balls") but a rubbish show. I saw it on Broadway. Great vocals, sets, costumes, etc. but overall extremely disappointing.
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Post by crabtree on Oct 31, 2016 8:30:43 GMT
I'll also throw Brigadoon into this melting pot. Some truly great songs (and a few that seem to have 'influenced' Lloyd Webber - 'come to me, bend to me' particularly), but if you start to question how they live the other 364 days of the year then the whole thing falls to pieces. The central maguffin is just a ticking clock device but it's rather hokey.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2016 8:34:56 GMT
YES it is glorious to listen to but painful to sit through.
Another vote for Chess. My god I wish someone would finally figure out what to do with it because I LOVE the music so dearly.
I also agree on Love Never Dies, some lovely music, awful everything else.
Have to disagree on Ghost though, aside from 'With You' I struggle to remember a single bit of music from it.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2016 9:46:28 GMT
Also agree re Love Never Dies. Some of ALWs finest melodies put in to what was a controversial and ultimately doomed project (though personally the book doesn't bother me; not a massive fan of the original Phantom however).
Chess, yes, amazing music. Think the problem lies in that the writers were never sure what they were conveying and has been in a constant state of flux.
Wicked also. Listen to the CD regularly. The show I find very saccharine American and slightly tedious. The fan girls don't help though appreciate that's not Schwartz's fault!
I Can't Sing - again some great songs. Subject matter sadly didn't catch on (advertising campaign, choice of theatre, and Cowell likely pulling it without giving it a chance - word of mouth was growing - didn't help).
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Post by jaqs on Oct 31, 2016 10:09:10 GMT
Agree re Love never dies.
For me it's Spring Awakening, really not keen on the musical, but love the score.
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Post by viserys on Oct 31, 2016 10:45:49 GMT
I'd agree on Spring Awakening. I love the score and some of the songs individually, but the story is just way overblown in a soap opera way. Of course we have to blame Frank Wedekind for that, not Sheik & Sater. And I could see how during Wedekind's lifetime he would have wanted to shock the audience, but these days the Wendla story just seems unnecessarily contrived to to me. I could just about buy her falling pregnant from one sexual encounter but to ALSO promptly die from a botched abortion? I find Moritz' story more touching and relevant for today, trouble in school, having no one to talk to etc. Although Wendla's story may feel just as relevant in small-town bible belt America. Mind, the original production with its silly hairdos and "choreography" doesn't do it any favours. Maybe one of the fringe theatres will give it a go. I still kick myself for deciding I didn't need to see it again in London after seeing it in New York and on tour in San Francisco, thus missing the then unknowns Iwan Rheon and Aneurin Bernard. Dang it.
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