Musicals
Angie and I have a tradition (which we missed last year) where we see a Broadway show around Angie's birthday. Looking at the list of shows for this year, Angie wasn't overly excited at anything. We would have been okay with The King and I, but it apparently closed last summer. So looking at upcoming musicals, Angie was interested in Sunset Boulevard, which I never heard of. It starts previews in February, so I wonder if its good to go during then to be first or if its better to wait for an official opening since they probably refine during previews.
Anyway, since I figure I'll make a list of the musicals that we saw in order of how much I like them. I did not include plays (Warhorse) and operas (The Magic Flute) for simplicity, but it seems to me that an opera and a musical are very similar.
Broadway Shows Ranking
I'll start with the lowest ranking and move via tiers. So starting at the bottom, in a tier of musicals which I didn't like, we'll begin with...
8 - Rent
Rent will be the only entry into the "bad" tier of musicals which I didn't enjoy. My main gripe with Rent is primarily based on the characters and general story. I honestly don't recall the songs, which Angie says are good. But the story is too much of a starving artist, hipster fest for me to pay much attention to the songs. An interesting note is that Rent is somewhat comparable to American Idiot in story, and I vastly enjoyed (spoilers for upcoming musicals). But I would say there's a nobility or righteousness in not working which Rent seems to be pushing. I guess its hard to explain, or understand possibly.
But generally, Rent is about a fairly large group of friends who are artists with dreams, but living in poverty due to pursuit of those dreams jobs. I kind of think its a mix of pretentious artists who are too good for "normal" jobs, coffee shop hipsters, and people who are told that they can anything they put their mind to. Who knows, maybe I'm being too harsh. I saw the musical once and honestly don't remember it too well, so let's move on.
I'd say the next group would be musicals which I thought were good, but not great. This group would include Rocky and The Little Mermaid.
7 - The Little Mermaid
This musical is based on the Disney film which I'll assume everyone knows the general plot and songs. So based on that, the musical is pretty good since the source material is pretty decent. This was the musical that started our "tradition" since I surprised Angie with tickets for her birthday after a fancy dinner at a celebrity restaurant (Craft). She was very surprised and we had to march across town very quickly, I remembered.
Anyway, I think the adaptation is okay, although nothing spectacular like the other two Disney musicals which will appear on this list. I thought some of the undersea effects were okay, but generally, nothing is amazingly memorable.
6 - Rocky
This musical is based on the first Rocky movie, although they feature Eye of the Tiger which started in the third movie, if I recall properly. Anyway, its pretty much and adaption of the first movie, so it focuses on a low level boxer and his "one big shot", plus a love story. Since I'm a big fan of the movie series, I thought this musical was pretty good. I would actually say the songs are very unmemorable and the majority of the musical is fairly forgettable/generic.
But the last part of the musical is actually really good. There's a super epic training montage which is really well done. I was a HUGE fan of that. And afterwards, the boxing match between Rocky and Creed is very interesting. The theater actually changes (this happens during a break) and a ring is built in the orchestral area and fancy patrons are moved to sit around the ring. The match itself was pretty well done and fun.
So in general, I think the Rocky musical was a generally okay, but not special musical, but with an amazing montage and a worthwhile boxing match scene.
The next tier will be the very good tier. These would be musicals which I think are a step above the previous tier and includes Wicked and The Lion King.
5 - The Lion King
Neither of us were dying to see this musical since people dressed as animals typically isn't amazing. But I think we watched some Lion King show at Disney World, which used similar styled costumes and were impressed by that. So we decided to check out the Broadway shows since its so incredibly popular.
The Lion King is based on the Disney movie but its big call to fame is the costumes and scale. The songs are very memorable, and the musical starts off very strong with basically a parade of "animals" coming through the entire theater to the stage. The costumes have a very African motif and some are super elaborate. During the intro/overview "parade", there are even giraffes, which are quite large walking down the aisles of the theater. So I think the sense of scale in the costumes make it a very different experience.
And of course, the songs, story, and characters are good since its the Lion King.
4 - Wicked
This is actually the only Broadway show that I didn't see with Angie. It was also the first Broadway show that I watched; I was working, so I was probably around 2004 or 2005. Anyway, Wicked is based on the Gregory Maguire book by the same name. Its basically a retelling of the Wizard of Oz, but with the Wicked Witch of the West as the protagonist. Its part prequel, part retcon.
The general story and characters are pretty decent. They are fairly likable and I'm always a fan of famous stories from different views. I think the songs are very good, like excellent. The soundtrack is definitely one which I like a lot. I also think when I saw it, the actor who played Steve from Married with Children played the Wizard, which was cool since I used to watch that show.
Lastly, we have my top tier of favorites. They are obviously my favorites and they include Aladdin, American Idiot, and Les Miserables.
3 - Aladdin
Angie and I were both pretty excited when we heard that Aladdin was being made into a musical. In general, I would say its the best Disney movie with great songs, so it seems natural to make into a Broadway show. I think a big thing about the musical is that so many of the songs are big scaled productions with lots of dancing which leans itself to the "Broadway experience" very well. Like "Prince Ali" has such a large cast of singers and dancers with so many props. "Friend Like Me" is very extravagant feeling with the Genie. I guess its hard to explain, but I just think the songs fit really well into a staged song and dance routine.
I also thought the actors were very good. The person who play Aladdin was really good, as was the Genie. Jafar was played by the voice actor from the movie, so that's pretty good too. I'd say Jasmine wasn't overly good, though. I'd generally say that Aladdin was just a very fun show and with great songs (obviously).
2 - American Idiot
American Idiot is based on the Green Day album of the same name. First of all, I'm a big Green Day, or at least used to be since I'm not a huge fan of their newest stuff. In my youth, I was somewhat punk rock, or at least pretended to be. So we were quite excited about American Idiot being made into a musical, although at least I was a bit unsure how it'd turn out.
And not to sound like a douchebag, but I'd say this musical "spoke to me" the most. Basically, its about a quarter-life crisis and then surrendering to the man. They all start out very punk and have to go on the next step of their lives. The primary character basically go to the big city, lives as a rebel, finds love, basically loses everything to drugs, and resigns to working a meaningless 9-5 job. Another character pretty much just stays at home and is a loser who never leaves his town. The third goes to war.
I'll start by saying I was never so exciting or anything, but that's definitely how I felt post schooling. It feels like you have such dreams when you are younger, especially about making your own way, doing something of value, but then reality sets in. So I winded up the first path, where I left home then got beaten into a soulless 9-5. Its probably not that extreme. And I definitely see the other paths were I have plenty of friends that never left our house town and do basically nothing. And one also joined the military, although he winded up unscathed then went back to option 2.
So I guess it just speaks to me where you have hopes and try to break away from an empty life, then reality hits. And I'm actually fine (very happy) with my life, so I don't want to make it sound like I don't like it, but in the context of little punk rock me, I'd be disappointed. But I guess part of the story is the acceptance so yeah, I guess it fits.
And on top of all that, the songs are good and punkish, although Green Day was definitely less punk and more rock at that point. So yeah, I would actually think American Idiot could be my #1, but I put it as 2 for no good reason.
1 - Les Miserables
So that brings Les Miserables as the top musical. Les Miserables has extremely high quality songs to go with a pretty vast story with memorable characters. The book is still better (although super slow), but the musical is pretty darn great.
The story centers around Jean Valjean and the idea of redemption against perception and other factors. The dynamic between Valjean and Javert is very good and I really liked the actor who played Javert. There's the backdrop of the French Revolution and tons of supporting characters, both positive and negative. I think its just a very vast story with great songs. I think the songs are really amazing and it's good that Angie has so many different versions of the soundtrack. Also, when we saw it, Lea Salonga, who was the singing voice of Jasmine, was in it. She played Fantine. So that was pretty cool (she should play Jasmine).
Les Miserables is just such a classic, which is good since it seems like it gets remade or revived often. And I guess Les Miserables and American Idiot could either be #1, so they really should be tied. But for this list, I'll not put a tie.
That was really long. So long that I started writing it on Thursday. I was planning to write about other things too, but I'll save those for another entry.
Anyway, since I figure I'll make a list of the musicals that we saw in order of how much I like them. I did not include plays (Warhorse) and operas (The Magic Flute) for simplicity, but it seems to me that an opera and a musical are very similar.
Broadway Shows Ranking
I'll start with the lowest ranking and move via tiers. So starting at the bottom, in a tier of musicals which I didn't like, we'll begin with...
8 - Rent
Rent will be the only entry into the "bad" tier of musicals which I didn't enjoy. My main gripe with Rent is primarily based on the characters and general story. I honestly don't recall the songs, which Angie says are good. But the story is too much of a starving artist, hipster fest for me to pay much attention to the songs. An interesting note is that Rent is somewhat comparable to American Idiot in story, and I vastly enjoyed (spoilers for upcoming musicals). But I would say there's a nobility or righteousness in not working which Rent seems to be pushing. I guess its hard to explain, or understand possibly.
But generally, Rent is about a fairly large group of friends who are artists with dreams, but living in poverty due to pursuit of those dreams jobs. I kind of think its a mix of pretentious artists who are too good for "normal" jobs, coffee shop hipsters, and people who are told that they can anything they put their mind to. Who knows, maybe I'm being too harsh. I saw the musical once and honestly don't remember it too well, so let's move on.
I'd say the next group would be musicals which I thought were good, but not great. This group would include Rocky and The Little Mermaid.
7 - The Little Mermaid
This musical is based on the Disney film which I'll assume everyone knows the general plot and songs. So based on that, the musical is pretty good since the source material is pretty decent. This was the musical that started our "tradition" since I surprised Angie with tickets for her birthday after a fancy dinner at a celebrity restaurant (Craft). She was very surprised and we had to march across town very quickly, I remembered.
Anyway, I think the adaptation is okay, although nothing spectacular like the other two Disney musicals which will appear on this list. I thought some of the undersea effects were okay, but generally, nothing is amazingly memorable.
6 - Rocky
This musical is based on the first Rocky movie, although they feature Eye of the Tiger which started in the third movie, if I recall properly. Anyway, its pretty much and adaption of the first movie, so it focuses on a low level boxer and his "one big shot", plus a love story. Since I'm a big fan of the movie series, I thought this musical was pretty good. I would actually say the songs are very unmemorable and the majority of the musical is fairly forgettable/generic.
But the last part of the musical is actually really good. There's a super epic training montage which is really well done. I was a HUGE fan of that. And afterwards, the boxing match between Rocky and Creed is very interesting. The theater actually changes (this happens during a break) and a ring is built in the orchestral area and fancy patrons are moved to sit around the ring. The match itself was pretty well done and fun.
So in general, I think the Rocky musical was a generally okay, but not special musical, but with an amazing montage and a worthwhile boxing match scene.
The next tier will be the very good tier. These would be musicals which I think are a step above the previous tier and includes Wicked and The Lion King.
5 - The Lion King
Neither of us were dying to see this musical since people dressed as animals typically isn't amazing. But I think we watched some Lion King show at Disney World, which used similar styled costumes and were impressed by that. So we decided to check out the Broadway shows since its so incredibly popular.
The Lion King is based on the Disney movie but its big call to fame is the costumes and scale. The songs are very memorable, and the musical starts off very strong with basically a parade of "animals" coming through the entire theater to the stage. The costumes have a very African motif and some are super elaborate. During the intro/overview "parade", there are even giraffes, which are quite large walking down the aisles of the theater. So I think the sense of scale in the costumes make it a very different experience.
And of course, the songs, story, and characters are good since its the Lion King.
4 - Wicked
This is actually the only Broadway show that I didn't see with Angie. It was also the first Broadway show that I watched; I was working, so I was probably around 2004 or 2005. Anyway, Wicked is based on the Gregory Maguire book by the same name. Its basically a retelling of the Wizard of Oz, but with the Wicked Witch of the West as the protagonist. Its part prequel, part retcon.
The general story and characters are pretty decent. They are fairly likable and I'm always a fan of famous stories from different views. I think the songs are very good, like excellent. The soundtrack is definitely one which I like a lot. I also think when I saw it, the actor who played Steve from Married with Children played the Wizard, which was cool since I used to watch that show.
Lastly, we have my top tier of favorites. They are obviously my favorites and they include Aladdin, American Idiot, and Les Miserables.
3 - Aladdin
Angie and I were both pretty excited when we heard that Aladdin was being made into a musical. In general, I would say its the best Disney movie with great songs, so it seems natural to make into a Broadway show. I think a big thing about the musical is that so many of the songs are big scaled productions with lots of dancing which leans itself to the "Broadway experience" very well. Like "Prince Ali" has such a large cast of singers and dancers with so many props. "Friend Like Me" is very extravagant feeling with the Genie. I guess its hard to explain, but I just think the songs fit really well into a staged song and dance routine.
I also thought the actors were very good. The person who play Aladdin was really good, as was the Genie. Jafar was played by the voice actor from the movie, so that's pretty good too. I'd say Jasmine wasn't overly good, though. I'd generally say that Aladdin was just a very fun show and with great songs (obviously).
2 - American Idiot
American Idiot is based on the Green Day album of the same name. First of all, I'm a big Green Day, or at least used to be since I'm not a huge fan of their newest stuff. In my youth, I was somewhat punk rock, or at least pretended to be. So we were quite excited about American Idiot being made into a musical, although at least I was a bit unsure how it'd turn out.
And not to sound like a douchebag, but I'd say this musical "spoke to me" the most. Basically, its about a quarter-life crisis and then surrendering to the man. They all start out very punk and have to go on the next step of their lives. The primary character basically go to the big city, lives as a rebel, finds love, basically loses everything to drugs, and resigns to working a meaningless 9-5 job. Another character pretty much just stays at home and is a loser who never leaves his town. The third goes to war.
I'll start by saying I was never so exciting or anything, but that's definitely how I felt post schooling. It feels like you have such dreams when you are younger, especially about making your own way, doing something of value, but then reality sets in. So I winded up the first path, where I left home then got beaten into a soulless 9-5. Its probably not that extreme. And I definitely see the other paths were I have plenty of friends that never left our house town and do basically nothing. And one also joined the military, although he winded up unscathed then went back to option 2.
So I guess it just speaks to me where you have hopes and try to break away from an empty life, then reality hits. And I'm actually fine (very happy) with my life, so I don't want to make it sound like I don't like it, but in the context of little punk rock me, I'd be disappointed. But I guess part of the story is the acceptance so yeah, I guess it fits.
And on top of all that, the songs are good and punkish, although Green Day was definitely less punk and more rock at that point. So yeah, I would actually think American Idiot could be my #1, but I put it as 2 for no good reason.
1 - Les Miserables
So that brings Les Miserables as the top musical. Les Miserables has extremely high quality songs to go with a pretty vast story with memorable characters. The book is still better (although super slow), but the musical is pretty darn great.
The story centers around Jean Valjean and the idea of redemption against perception and other factors. The dynamic between Valjean and Javert is very good and I really liked the actor who played Javert. There's the backdrop of the French Revolution and tons of supporting characters, both positive and negative. I think its just a very vast story with great songs. I think the songs are really amazing and it's good that Angie has so many different versions of the soundtrack. Also, when we saw it, Lea Salonga, who was the singing voice of Jasmine, was in it. She played Fantine. So that was pretty cool (she should play Jasmine).
Les Miserables is just such a classic, which is good since it seems like it gets remade or revived often. And I guess Les Miserables and American Idiot could either be #1, so they really should be tied. But for this list, I'll not put a tie.
That was really long. So long that I started writing it on Thursday. I was planning to write about other things too, but I'll save those for another entry.