#142

Archy the cockroach is a bug who can rhyme. (Or at least tap out some free verse on a typewriter).

http://donmarquis.com/archy-and-mehitabel/

#143

Best one: http://donmarquis.com/reading-room/moth/

1 Like
#144

Genuinely the first clip I’ve ever seen from that film. Looks shitter than I imagined it was.

And I imagined it was really shit.

2 Likes
#145

not even going to watch it

there’s clearly a lot of different types of musical (singing in the rain type >>>>>>> hamilton type >>>>>>> mamma mia type) and mamma mia is clearly the absolute worst of the bunch

#146

Let’s close with agreeing that the only good musicals are the ones that would be as good, or even better, with the songs taken out.

(that episode of Buffy was ace though)

Thanks all.

#147

Nah. My favourite’s Jesus Christ Superstar, and that would be about two seconds long with the songs taken out.

#148

Anyone else attempt to get Hamilton tickets today? Managed to get a couple for March 2018. I imagine that’s what Glastonbury ticket buying is like.

#149

lighten up poppet

1 Like
#150
#151

Surprised there’s been no mention of Lazarus on this thread. It’s cracking stuff.

#152

Yes it is! Saw it just before Christmas, and I was sat right on the back row, so it was possible to make out at least a dozen people shaking with tears during Where Are We Now.

#153

Yeah thoroughly enjoyable, shame it’s finishing this month.

1 Like
#154

Thing is, both these options are different kinds of terrible. You either have someone trying to shoe-horn showtunes into a story or taking popular song and fudging a tenuous story around them.

Marginally, if subjected to it, I’d rather watch a musical with really great music but a terrible story rather than a great piece of theatre ruined by people breaking into corny songs.

There’s probably examples of really brilliant, innovative musicians being matched with incredible playwrights to produce musicals with brilliant soundtracks that have gone on to be classic albums and gripping scripts that stand on their own as great theatre but I can’t really recall any.

#155

Not at all?

You’ve described the same thing twice.

I mean a story which is written, and a good songwriter who writes songs to fit within that story. You do then sometimes end up with wonderful songs that work outside of the context (or even do better than the musical - for example Night and Day (Gay Divorce) or Anything Goes (Anything Goes)?

#156

That’s the first one! Someone writes a story and someone writes corny showtunes to fit in with them.

You’d have to accept that your wording is leading too. Should be “Stories which have songs written to be in them, no matter how banal and derivative” vs the tenuous option.

#157

But it’s not ‘shoe horning’ it in if it’s done correctly, the shoe horning comes with the latter choice. If you look at how Porter, Gershwin and Berlin for instance built the songs in to their shows they managed both. Yes, certain songs ended up so popular out of context because they were good songs, but that doesn’t mean they don’t work in context anymore.

#158

Ehhh. I feel like there was maybe a golden era of these things, say 1920s-50s or so where popular music was the music you would see on film and on stage and some of the best and most enduring popular music came in that form. Generally, to my ears, that era is long gone and most musicals are tripe, particularly in terms of the music.

#159

Lion King? That had both imo. I agree that it’s taken a downturn, but I imagine there are other factors. There are still musicals with great songs/use songs correctly, but will concede that a lot of the best have quite throwaway songs/approach or use it more lightheartedly or as a comedic device (Avenue Q, Book of Mormon)

You can still go and see a lot of those musicals and there are still some more current gems though. (Hamilton)

#160

Aye, I agree with that completely. And I’d go further than to say that they use it as a device, but they satirise the form precisely because it’s become stale/mock-worthy. Even the lighthearted approach has been pummeled into the ground now. I bet if you look at the Edinburgh festival programme for last year there was probably three different “hilarious” rushed comedy productions of Harembe: the Musical!

#161

yeah but that’s a hotbed for shite - it’s hardly broadway