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EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



We had a chat about musicals and stage shows the other day in Couch Chat, and hopefully if we behave ourselves nicely and don't cause a jets vs sharks style ruckus, the mods will let us have a little thread here. There's not really anywhere else it fits in the forum, afterall.

So, who likes going to the theatre?

I'm lucky that my city gets a good Broadway touring program each year, and we're in driving distance of 2 other cities that get a variation (although they're often ones we'll get next year, or had the previous year). They did a good job of mixing up a program of classics and current hypes, so this year in total I have

Phantom of the Opera
The King and I
Hamilton
Fiddler on the Roof
Dear Evan Hansen
Anastasia
A Bronx Tale

All shows I've not seen before, which is nice as last year I had both 'Jersey Boys' and 'School of Rock' which I'd seen before. Amusingly, we had Love Never Dies last year, the sequel to Phantom. Which we got this year. D'oh.

Our local production company is really solid too, recently caught their performances of Freaky Friday (which was really quite fun, same basis as the one they aired on the Disney channel recently) and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

----

Just to split things off, the conversation started when I said I had tickets to go see Hamilton and wasn't as hyped for it as others. Well, that's been and gone now (although I have another pair of tickets I'm trying to sell, as my bro/sis in law can't make their date), and despite being a bit jet lagged and my wife being ill we hit it up.

First of all, never heard the theatre sound so full. I sit front row, center on the balcony and usually the crowd fizzles out as it goes back. It's a 2,900 capacity room and most shows do a 2 week stint (Hamilton has 4 or 5), and wow does it make a difference. Especially for getting around the place, ouch.

Anyway, my reservations did kind of come to fruition.
1. I'm British, so American history is not something I grew up learning and honestly don't really know the first thing about the era the play is about. Naturally, most people growing up here are going to have at least learnt good chunks of this stuff from a young age. Just meant I had to pay more attention and make sure I knew who was who, no big deal.
2. The hip hop elements are kind of embarrassing. Lin Manuel's style just doesn't work for me, and it just comes across as cheesy. Someone in GBS compared the show to Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew and... yeah it's not a million miles apart. I can only deal with so many variations of single syllable rhymes with 'Burr', show could've been 30 minutes shorter just by trimming that. The debate parts felt like Epic Rap Battles of History, and egh I really don't care for that stuff either. I don't know how Thomas Jefferson is portrayed on the original Broadway production, but I didn't care massively for him in the touring cast (although the crowd were into him, dude had charisma for sure). Same with the comic character of King George... not for me. Crowd loving loved him though.

But! the other songs worked a lot better for me, the ensemble stuff was really good, the speed they moved between scenes was great. It had a good flow to it for a long show, and a lot of it I did enjoy.

Funnily enough, I've listened to the 'mixtape' album a bit, and a lot of that stuff really works better for me. The Roots doing 'My Shot'? Yes please. Even Jimmy Fallon's approach to the king worked more.

So, a mixed review really. I still don't really understand why it is so hyped through the roof, but there was a good amount of stuff that I appreciated and I'm glad the crowd seemed to have a super good time. Definitely felt like a lot of them had seen the show before, I wonder what the split is.

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Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

The tools of a hero mean nothing without a solid core.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_TvKH-qEJk Corden isn't my favorite late night host but I love these bits where everyone's clearly into it and having fun.

I don't get out often due to cost, and when stuff does come to Portland it's usually sold out before I even hear about it. Still I love musicals and music in general. My only disappointment was Starlight Express, and that was because my brother saw it in London where they had a track around the theater for the races. It was a travelling show out here so they couldn't do that, instead it was a video screen and 3D glasses. Just didn't compare to the image my brother had painted.

Big Bad Voodoo Lou
Jan 1, 2006
I got a decent deal on Hamilton tickets on Broadway in May. Now all I need is to nail down a hotel for a few nights and a flight. We're going up there to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, and we haven't been back to NYC since our honeymoon in '09. We've seen a few Broadway shows on previous trips: Les Miserables (I went in completely cold and unspoiled, and it blew me away), Rent (starring Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, the original Mark and Roger), Spring Awakening, and West Side Story.

My wife was a child actress who did community theater, and she's the one who really got me to appreciate live theater. I'm grateful to her for it. Back home, I've also taken her to see touring productions of Les Mis, Rent, and West Side Story, plus Wicked, Lion King, Avenue Q (didn't like it as much as I expected to), Book of Mormon (same), Chorus Line (hated this one), Pippin (hated it too -- maybe I just don't like '70s musicals), Fun Home (a concert performance with the original Broadway cast as well as a local production), and local productions of Assassins and Little Shop of Horrors (which I've loved ever since I was a kid in the '80s, watching the VHS tape over and over and memorizing all the songs). I'm probably forgetting one or two other shows we've seen.

But anyway, I've been obsessed with the Hamilton original cast recording since early 2016, and I'm psyched to finally be seeing it live next year, "in the greatest city in the world." I can understand why some people might find it corny or cheesy, but I think it's brilliant. I love musical theater, hip hop, and American history, so it feels like it was tailor-made for me. I think Lin-Manuel totally deserves his certified genius designation and every accolade he's earned, and Daveed Diggs (the original Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson) is a multi-talented superstar in the making. I got to see him live with his noise-rap group clipping. in 2017, and he was an amazing live performer at that tiny venue. I just know the current Hamilton cast will feel like a "cover band" to me, no matter how great they are, based on how much I've listened to that original cast recording.

Big Bad Voodoo Lou fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Dec 30, 2018

esperterra
Mar 24, 2010

SHINee's back




OP, may this thread also house movie musicals because gently caress descending into CD?

George H.W. Cunt
Oct 6, 2010





Went to Avenue Q when we last visited NYC and it’s just such a fun show. It really hit home for me since I graduated 2009 with an English degree. Absolutely terrible time trying to get a job and find my place in life.

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



Bruceski posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_TvKH-qEJk Corden isn't my favorite late night host but I love these bits where everyone's clearly into it and having fun.

I don't get out often due to cost, and when stuff does come to Portland it's usually sold out before I even hear about it. Still I love musicals and music in general. My only disappointment was Starlight Express, and that was because my brother saw it in London where they had a track around the theater for the races. It was a travelling show out here so they couldn't do that, instead it was a video screen and 3D glasses. Just didn't compare to the image my brother had painted.

Ah neat, I saw that in my YT feed but didn't click it... will make some time now I know it's good.

Yeah, I guess the prime benefit of having a venue for multiple years compared to a tour for a few weeks is you can do cool setups like that. I read that Hamilton has two copies of its stage, so they can setup in the next venue while still at the current one. Kinda neat idea, and makes me wonder how many other productions do that as the Hamilton stage was pretty basic, but maybe that rotating element is more complex than it looks.

Big Bad Voodoo Lou posted:

But anyway, I've been obsessed with the Hamilton original cast recording since early 2016, and I'm psyched to finally be seeing it live next year, "in the greatest city in the world." I can understand why some people might find it corny or cheesy, but I think it's brilliant. I love musical theater, hip hop, and American history, so it feels like it was tailor-made for me. I think Lin-Manuel totally deserves his certified genius designation and every accolade he's earned, and Daveed Diggs (the original Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson) is a multi-talented superstar in the making. I got to see him live with his noise-rap group clipping. in 2017, and he was an amazing live performer at that tiny venue. I just know the current Hamilton cast will feel like a "cover band" to me, no matter how great they are, based on how much I've listened to that original cast recording.

Sounds like you'll have a great trip, how difficult was getting tickets now it's been touring a while? I was able to secure my bro/sis in laws ones fairly easily, but I know other cities still queue like crazy.

esperterra posted:

OP, may this thread also house movie musicals because gently caress descending into CD?

There's not going to be huge amounts of traffic in here just for physical shows, so I think movies/TV episodes etc should all count. I don't know what house movie musicals are, but go for it!


George H.W. oval office posted:

Went to Avenue Q when we last visited NYC and it’s just such a fun show. It really hit home for me since I graduated 2009 with an English degree. Absolutely terrible time trying to get a job and find my place in life.

Ave Q is another one of those ones that I've just not been into from what I've seen, but everyone I know whose seen it absolutely loved it. I think I just have weird tastes!

Big Bad Voodoo Lou
Jan 1, 2006

EL BROMANCE posted:

Sounds like you'll have a great trip, how difficult was getting tickets now it's been touring a while? I was able to secure my bro/sis in laws ones fairly easily, but I know other cities still queue like crazy.

Ave Q is another one of those ones that I've just not been into from what I've seen, but everyone I know whose seen it absolutely loved it. I think I just have weird tastes!

Hamilton is coming on tour to my Southern city at the end of January, and as you might guess, everyone wanted tickets and they were almost impossible to get. The online ticketing system for the venue was a shitshow, and it took some people 6, 7, 8 hours of attempts to get through, for the lucky few who got through at all.

But earlier that same week, I got word they were opening up a whole new block of tickets for sale on Broadway, from May through November. I signed up online to get a chance for "first dibs" and was alerted that I got randomly selected for the presale. I chose a date in late May and was in and out in just a few minutes. After that, I didn't even bother with the aggravation of trying to score local tickets.

But you can bet I'm gonna enter the $10 ticket lottery every day it plays in my own city in January just in case, and if I win, I'm going to scalp the hell out of our NYC tickets to bankroll more of our May trip.

I have to agree on Avenue Q. Thought I would love it, wanted to love it, but it didn't do much for me. My favorite part was when the cardboard boxes came to life, with faces, and started to sing. That was the high point.

Big Bad Voodoo Lou fucked around with this message at 13:37 on Dec 31, 2018

The Harlatan
Sep 10, 2013

For I am a cat, you see.

George H.W. oval office posted:

Went to Avenue Q when we last visited NYC and it’s just such a fun show. It really hit home for me since I graduated 2009 with an English degree. Absolutely terrible time trying to get a job and find my place in life.

2008 with an English degree. What up, fellow Avenue Q-is-too-real buddy!

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



Aw yiss, both the broadway touring and local subscription details are up for next season for me now...

Local: Shrek, Christmas Story, Groundhog Day, Ragtime, Footloose
Touring: Les Mis, Margarittaville, Aladdin, Mean Girls, Come From Away, Bandstand

Pretty happy with both sets, don't really know what Ragtime is but up for all the other locals, and Les Mis means I don't have to go to another city that has that before the summer, and Mean Girls should be fun. I've seen Come From Away on a ton of people's Playbill posts so I'm guessing it's well liked, and have zero clue about Bandstand. Cool!

e: Don't care for Jimmy Buffet, but at least it should be easy to sell those here in So Flo if we decide not to bother with it!

esperterra
Mar 24, 2010

SHINee's back




I can't wait for Mean Girls to find its way to Vancouver.

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



Managed to sell my spare Hamilton tickets, I had them up on StubHub literally at the price to make my facevalue+fees money back (so they weren't cheap still, given that stubhub charges fees to both buyer and seller) but nobody bit for like 3 weeks. So with 24 hours to go I bumped them in price as a risk, and it seems every ticket ended up going to the local rich-os who decide to do these things last minute. To say we could do with the money right now is an understatement, so thanks superyacht owners.

Big Bad Voodoo Lou
Jan 1, 2006
The live production of Rent is airing on Fox tonight, from 8 to 11 PM, EST.

esperterra
Mar 24, 2010

SHINee's back




I'm super excited to see Valentina as Angel, even if I'm very over RENT at this point in my life.

Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

The tools of a hero mean nothing without a solid core.

Big Bad Voodoo Lou posted:

The live production of Rent is airing on Fox tonight, from 8 to 11 PM, EST.

The only part of that show I know is Seasons of Love, because when I was in Fiddler in high school the choirs were doing it as their big medley piece for the end of year show so EVERYONE was practicing it when offstage. I wasn't in choir that year and I think I still have it memorized. I'll have to check it out.

Big Bad Voodoo Lou
Jan 1, 2006
It's very dated, and I'm mostly over it, despite having seen it live three times. But Brandon Victor Dixon is in it, and he was so amazing as Judas in the live Jesus Christ Superstar, and was supposed to have been even more amazing as Burr in Hamilton on Broadway.

So while people in my city as seeing Hamilton for real tonight, at least I'll get some free live theater.

Toxic Fart Syndrome
Jul 2, 2006

*hits A-THREAD-5*

Only 3.6 Roentgoons per hour ... not great, not terrible.




...the meter only goes to 3.6...

Pork Pro

Big Bad Voodoo Lou posted:

It's very dated, and I'm mostly over it, despite having seen it live three times. But Brandon Victor Dixon is in it, and he was so amazing as Judas in the live Jesus Christ Superstar, and was supposed to have been even more amazing as Burr in Hamilton on Broadway.

So while people in my city as seeing Hamilton for real tonight, at least I'll get some free live theater.

Oh whoa. Yeah, that dude is amazing! I guess I'll have to catch this on Hulu tomorrow.

MichiganCubbie
Dec 11, 2008

I love that I have an erection...

...that doesn't involve homeless people.

We moved to NYC five months ago, so we're really excited to have access to basically everything. We already saw Network with Brian Cranston, which was freaking awesome, and we saw Avenue Q last weekend. It's closing in April, so catch it now if you haven't seen it yet. We're going to try to catch Waitress next month, we have tickets to Beetlejuice in March, and we're going to try for Hillary and Clinton in April.

My wife was a major Renthead, and was not happy about a lot of last night's liveshow. I understand, because I'm crazy about Rocky Horror and that live show was just awful, even though LaVerne Cox is amazing.

Escobarbarian
Jun 18, 2004


Grimey Drawer
I’ve seen Hamilton 3 times 🙃

Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!
You could call Rent dated, but I think it's more of its time and reflective of Larson's life. It would be easy to hate on that if it weren't so drat good. I'd posit that it just got overplayed among millennials, and that movie certainly did it no favors. It'd be nice to see it set aside to breathe for a little bit so that people can get back to appreciating it.

I've never seen Avenue Q so I'm pretty bummed about its closure. There's absolutely no way I'm making it to New York by April :smith:

esperterra
Mar 24, 2010

SHINee's back




tbh I really like the movie, it cuts a lot of the fluff-- tho losing Contact is a sin-- and Dawson and Thoms were great as Mimi and Joanne. Worst thing about the movie is the awkwardness of the original cast tryna pull off being in their 20s.

garthoneeye
Feb 18, 2013

esperterra posted:

tbh I really like the movie, it cuts a lot of the fluff-- tho losing Contact is a sin-- and Dawson and Thoms were great as Mimi and Joanne. Worst thing about the movie is the awkwardness of the original cast tryna pull off being in their 20s.

I like the filmed live on broadway version because it has the whole show and keeps the best part of the movie (Thoms’s Joanne).

MichiganCubbie
Dec 11, 2008

I love that I have an erection...

...that doesn't involve homeless people.

I wish the Live on Broadway version was the original cast though.

esperterra
Mar 24, 2010

SHINee's back




garthoneeye posted:

I like the filmed live on broadway version because it has the whole show and keeps the best part of the movie (Thoms’s Joanne).
I'll have to check it out!

Big Bad Voodoo Lou
Jan 1, 2006

garthoneeye posted:

I like the filmed live on broadway version because it has the whole show and keeps the best part of the movie (Thoms’s Joanne).

We have that DVD, and I just realized that Renee Elise Goldsberry (the original Angelica Schuyler from Hamilton) plays Mimi in that 2008 performance! I had no idea who she was when I bought it for my wife a decade ago. Now I need to watch it again.

Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!

esperterra posted:

tbh I really like the movie, it cuts a lot of the fluff-- tho losing Contact is a sin-- and Dawson and Thoms were great as Mimi and Joanne. Worst thing about the movie is the awkwardness of the original cast tryna pull off being in their 20s.

I like the movie more than I dislike it, but other than losing Contact, the shoddy production value got to me. The cgi cold-breath was garish and I understand the need for auto tune but it soundedlike t pain.

saladscooper
Jan 25, 2019

THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019
Saw The Prom last month with a friend and generally liked it! The music had a nice, pleasant pop-y sound and there were a lot of well-done story beats and funny enough one-liners. Wasn't a fan of how they seemed to not realize one of their plots was more compelling than the other until it was too late to do anything about it. The end of Act I was the best moment by far - it actually made me gasp in the theater.

Anyone else seen/planning to see it?

garthoneeye
Feb 18, 2013

I saw Waitress last night and I really liked it. It was a small story very well told. Sara Bareilles’s music was fantastic; I particularly liked the “Sugar...Butter...Flour” motif that played throughout the show. The show was funny, sweet, sad. It was one of the few musicals I’ve gone into blind (deaf?), not knowing anything about the show and also not really knowing very much about Sara Bareilles’s music either, it really made me want to check out some of her other stuff.

esperterra
Mar 24, 2010

SHINee's back




garthoneeye posted:

I saw Waitress last night and I really liked it. It was a small story very well told. Sara Bareilles’s music was fantastic; I particularly liked the “Sugar...Butter...Flour” motif that played throughout the show. The show was funny, sweet, sad. It was one of the few musicals I’ve gone into blind (deaf?), not knowing anything about the show and also not really knowing very much about Sara Bareilles’s music either, it really made me want to check out some of her other stuff.

Waitress was lowkey an amazing movie, and I reaaaally want to see the musical. Glad to hear i t's good! I didn't even realize it was Sara Bareilles on music and lyrics, I loving love her.

RoastBeef
Jul 11, 2008


I watched the Waitress movie after watching the Americans. I kept expecting Keri Russel to brutally murder somebody.

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivf58k53nu0

Anyone whose not checked out Off Book before really should. Jess and Zach do a podcast where they improvise a musical every episode. While it sounds like it must be a train wreck, it actually turns out to usually be hilarious with songs with great hooks. They’ve worked together enough that they can read where the other is going, and just run with it. Naturally rough in places, it just adds to its charms.

They filmed a live one in front of an audience, a pretty solid way to give it a shot.

Big Bad Voodoo Lou
Jan 1, 2006
Last night's new episode of Documentary Now on IFC was a parody/homage to the Company: Original Cast Recording documentary, which I've never seen, but is apparently beloved by musical theater fans. It was written by John Mulaney and Seth Meyers, and it featured a tense, behind-the-scenes look at recording the cast album for the fictional Co-Op musical. Even not knowing Company, it was clearly a spot-on Sondheim parody, with Mulaney playing the Sondheim stand-in character. Renee Elise Goldsberry from Hamilton, Tina Fey collaborator Paula Pell, Richard Kind, and James Urbaniak (Dr. Venture himself) were also in it.

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



I’m not always the biggest fan of DN, but saw Mulaney tweet this out so I’m gonna watch it regardless.

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



I'm a huge fan of live theater, and, living in New York, my family gets discount Broadway tickets through various websites so I can go reasonably often. Between that and local theater, I tend to get to see shows 3-4 times a year.

I saw The Prom a couple months ago, and it was a super fun musical. Tickets right now are easily available so if you're in New York, rush it. It's about a girl who is not allowed to take her girlfriend to the prom, so these four washed up actors looking for a capital-c-CAUSE go to try to help her out (and look philanthropic).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uc5tIKzXKk

Only downside is there's not much legroom so if you're a tall person you may want an aisle seat.

Beyond that, next big thing I'm probably going to see is Beetlejuice because that looks like a thing I'd go see. I like Alex Brightman and Kerry Butler.

garthoneeye
Feb 18, 2013

I saw the tour of Anastasia last night. It was not great. I liked the second act, but the first was a bit of a slog. I’ve enjoyed the other Flaherty and Ahrens musicals I’ve listened to before, but they weren’t as good as they have been. It’s an adaptation of the ‘97 animated film and kept a few of the songs from the movie and for the most part they were the best songs in the show, particularly in the first act. Disappointing.

esperterra
Mar 24, 2010

SHINee's back




I finally got around to listening to Waitress. Had been putting it off due to Waitress being one of my favourite movies, I didn't realize 'til recently that Sara Bareilles did the music and lyrics for it. I enjoy the soudtrack a lot, and I'm curious to see how they handle the story itself when the show comes to Vancouver this year.

Also goddamn is Jessie Mueller talented. She was amazing in Beautiful and I think even better in this. Shame I'll never see her in the role, or Kimiko Glenn as Dawn.

I think RENT is also coming this year, and I figure I should see it live at least once in my lifetime, or I'd be a bad theatre gay otherwise tbh

e: in fact i learned it was bareilles in this v thread lmfao

esperterra fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Mar 7, 2019

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



s u g a r

garthoneeye
Feb 18, 2013


b u t t e r

esperterra
Mar 24, 2010

SHINee's back




f l o u r

Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!

esperterra posted:

I think RENT is also coming this year, and I figure I should see it live at least once in my lifetime, or I'd be a bad theatre gay otherwise tbh

I got to see it on Broadway. The set and staging is just intensely creative and effective. If you can make it happen you owe it to yourself.

The comedy bit is that this is when Mel B of Spice Girls fame played Mimi and she was the worst part by far.

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EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



Mel B is a loose canon. I’ve seen her on America’s Got Talent and I want to know what they’re drugging her with as she’s almost lucid on that show in comparison to others.

She was so unhinged on this one British tv show someone edited her out and put the cut on YouTube.

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