Musical Theatre Characters You Can’t Stand

The two spies in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I know it's a family-orientated musical but they're just too pantomime.

Yes! Definitely!

I never saw the most recent Palladium version as I hadn't as yet arrived in London but I have 'The Making of' DVD and the cast recording and from this- and the film too- I feel the same way. 

Again, I can't comment on the recent Palladium production but I love them in the film- especially their interaction together.

I'd give two reasons: The "kinder" explanation (for the other cats) is that Grizabella was a haughty "glamour puss" who thought very highly of herself while she was in her glory days and it's now a "look how the mighty have fallen" disgust and the others not forgiving her for her earlier uppity attitude (think of many C-list celebs who turn their back to the normal world they came from, think they're suddenly a cut above them and when they've fallen by the wayside and try to return, realize they have alienated everyone at home).

The other "crueler" explanation: They are just disgusted by a formerly "gorgeous" glamourous cat, who's now old and scruffy, just like humanity often goes "ugh, have you seen what has become of her? Awful!" (and it's usually her, rarely him, men can go wrinkly and bald all they like).  The line in her short poem goes "The postman sighed as he scratched his head: 'You'd really had thought, she'd ought to be dead'".

Then of course the poems were written in early 20th century, when there was a whole other attitude towards prostitution and "loose women" who were out to have a good time (and not nicely married, staying at home to serve their husbands and masters), so this might also be reflected in the other cats' attitude, even though the show is somewhat timeless. 

Also don't forget that Grizabella used to look a lot scruffier in her earlier 80s version with the unkempt curly mop of "hair" (fur?) and played by older singers. I personally really can't get behind the "new look Grizabella" being played by extremely good-looking youngish performers like Nicole Scherzinger and that new glossy sleek wig she wears.

I'm afraid the drag queens in 'Jamie' get on my padded boobs.

The two Asian characters with the harro accents in Anything Goes. Yuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Alana in Dear Evan Hansen. A terrible human.

He doesn't annoy me as much as Robertson Ay. I really don't remember him being so stupidly comical and annoying in the past (seen Poppins a few times since it first opened in Bristol) but when I saw it last year I couldn't stand him. I do think they have purposefully made him more comical but in a really bad way.

Just remembered the baby man in Eugenius. Top of my list.

Yikes!

I think people forget what it was like to be a teenager sometimes. A lot of people will do a lot of stupid things to fit in. He was not a narcissist as he had genuine remorse for what he did. He just made a stupid mistake and it spiralled out of control.

I don’t think the show was meant to be taken as seriously as a lot of people did, I thought of it as more as a ‘what if’ cautionary tale. I think the main problem is in the writing of the entire show more so than with the character. The reasons for why he did it are so banal and unfleshed out that it makes him completely unsympathetic. I think the performance of the lead also changes its impact depending on whoever you get.

Have you ever seen the Robin Williams film Worlds Greatest Dad?

It is the exact same story only with an adult in pretty much the same situation.

I wonder if you’d feel any different about it because it is about an adult with a real history.

I personally enjoyed it much more as it put the blame more on the ‘followers’ who swept him up on the journey than on the person who created the situation and the set up/reason for him doing what he did was more understandable because he’d lived such a sh*tty life.

Yikes again!

Tell us how you really feel lol

I thought it was bland, didn’t love it or hate it, but it certainly didn’t offend me in the way it did other people. Maybe because I’d already seen the same story done better elsewhere it didn’t affect me either way.

It definitely shouldn’t have beat either Comet or Come From Away though, it is not a patch on either of them.

This is interesting... I only saw it once, in the 80s, and Grizabella was definitely being portrayed as an alley cat... kind of the feline equivalent of a street person. (Did the UK have the phrase 'catting around'? Mid-century slang for a promiscuous woman...)

So is the character more of a 'faded beauty' now?

If I may recommend Gerard Carey, current West End cast, whenever theatres reopen. He and Josefina Gabrielle have no qualms about being the worst innkeepers in town and are themselves horribly amused by the fact. While many Thenardiers before them characterise this self-awareness with the kind of wink-wink humour that easily becomes panto-like, this pair gives absolutely zero f*cks about playing it up for the audience, intently focusing on their crookedness and letting the script/blocking carry out the jokey aspect- farthest thing from Matt Lucas's interpretation I've seen. Gerard's Dog Eats Dog is brilliantly creepy as well.

I personally really enjoyed Vivien Parry (final cast of original), thought she brought a good balance of menace and comedy.