UKC

I hate them (all of them, every single last one).

I think musicals, like marmite, split people into two camps.

I am a marmite loving, musical hater (and, yes, I've seen bits, even supposedly crticially acclaimed ones and evrytime I do, I jsut hate them even more)

What are you?

In reply to Flinticus:
I like some (mostly older - hello dolly era) but have no time for any lloyd webbers.

In reply to graeme jackson:

Hate every single one although I make the odd exception for the "rock opera" genre such as Tommy and The Wall.

In reply to Flinticus:

A hater. A hater of them all. That said, the episode of Curb about the Producers was real class. And to be fair, I've only seen one in the flesh -- Spamalot; it's hard to know which was the more loathsome; the musical aspect of it, or the 'student-prank-know every-line' nature of the crowd. And it was a birthday gift from Mrs F. I found it hard not to whinge on and on and on, but I think I managed...

In reply to Flinticus: generally no for me, with the odd exception such as rock operas and we will rock you, which I found very amusing

In reply to Flinticus:

I was in the same camp as you and then I saw 'Into the Woods', which was clever, witty, sharp, sophisticated and funny. So I was suddenly on the fence. Then I saw 'Company' which just blew me away. Again, it was witty, cynical, clever, moving and very very well observed. I didn't expect to find a musical that I could relate to.

So I'm not particularly a fan of the genre but it is a genre than can be used to create great music and great pieces of theatre in the right hands.

And Sondheim is a genius.

In reply to Flinticus: As a rule, Hate. I sort of enjoyed Return to the Forbidden Planet, but the likes of Blood Brothers or Lloyd Weber are just grim.

Oh yeah, Heresy alert. Rocky Horry show is massively over rated. Just about manage it the once, but I've probably had to see it half a dozen times and it just gets crapper every time

In reply to Flinticus:

I generally dislike them.

Some exceptions i like:

paint your wagon
Calamity Jane
My fair Lady
Mary Poppins
Wizard of oz

all the rest are Pretty rubbish

In reply to Flinticus:

Oh and Cannibal the musical. I like that. very Funny

In reply to toad: oh. I'd completely forgotten The Threepenny Opera -it was brilliant, but I'm not sure it counts?

In reply to Flinticus: I like some. Calamity Jane, the Sound of Music, Paint your Wagon, Cabaret, Chicago, Chitty Chitty...., The Blues Brothers, Grease to name a few. I've never really liked the Rocky Horror crap show. Does Muriels Wedding count? Mamma Mia was total sh*te.

In reply to Flinticus:

Musicals are in a special category of activity, like shopping, celebrity TV / talent shows and football - they do nothing for me personally, yet I'm glad they exist otherwise the crag might get *really* crowded

In reply to Flinticus:

Oh, and the happiness of the katakuris.

A totally mental Japanese musical horror must see. The best!

In reply to Flinticus:

Hate them, what's more I couldn't trust anyone who likes them.

Proper theatres creepy uncle to paraphrase Charlie Brooker.

In reply to Flinticus:

They aren't my cup of tea but hate is too strong a word.

In reply to The New NickB:

Now youve done it. Last Time i invoked Charlie Brooker on here i was called a BBC Tree Hugging Immigrant Loving commie. Or something like that 7;^0

In reply to Flinticus:

Generally hate, with a few exceptions. My parents are kind of Lloyd Webber fans, so I'm all too familiar with most of his work and hate the lot.

Les Mis is probably the most bearable musical I've seen on stage, but I liked the book and thought it worked quite well. Mary Poppins brings back happy childhood memories, and I enjoyed the Sweeny Todd movie much more than I thought I would.

In reply to Choss:

Only by Simon4, it is how they talk on his planet, be tolerant!

In reply to Flinticus: Want to hate but actually love

In reply to knthrak1982:

That's because it's Sondheim - he writes musicals for grownups. I'd recommend anything by him.

In reply to Flinticus:

Ok to buck the trend... I love musicals, with the odd exception.

I even belonged to a local am-dram group until I moved, and we did 4 musicals per year!

My favourite... Moulin Rouge!

In reply to Flinticus:
So a general tendency to Hate, with some exceptions (which I will tolerate without adding those who have confessed to this strangeness to my 'no room on my spaceship as we escape this dying planet' list).

I might even be intrigued by the mention of intelligent, sharp, witty, adult musicals...

In reply to Tony the Blade:
I bet your user name is from a musical... or it could be.

In reply to Flinticus:

I'd try the film of 'Sweeney Todd' (which I'm yet to see but is much admired) which should give you an idea of whether you like Sondheim or not.

In reply to felt:
Christ! How long had you been married?

Thankfully my wife hates musicals even more than me! She also hates theatre in general, while I've seen a few very good plays.

In reply to Flinticus:
Mixed. Some good some bad. Last one I saw was in March - Hairspray- utterly brilliant.

In reply to Flinticus:

West Side Story? haha

In reply to Flinticus:

Oh god now I'm not gonna get any work done!

My wife and I sing this to each other, hahaha... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSouEKEbVQ8&list=PL12556E39FB6F67F2

She's not called Maria though!

In reply to Flinticus:

And my gift to you (but I warn you, it's nearly 4 minutes you will lose forever!

It was a new years eve a few years ago with a small gang of mates (with kids) from all over the world... I give to you (a rather drunk) U 'n' Nicole, enjoy (I certainly did!):

youtube.com/watch?v=zUhCA8-VgxE&

In reply to Flinticus:

I would hate to be dragged to a stage musical, I think.
I am not generally a fan of film musicals like Carousel, Calamity Jane etc. but I have to admit that there are some that capture my imagination e.g. The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T.

Bizarrely, although I really don't like The Beatles AND I don't generally like musicals, I was blown away by "Across The Universe"....

In reply to Flinticus:

An abomination.

Musicals contrive to combine the very worst of music with the worst of acting and yet still manage to create a turd larger than the sum of its parts.

Not a fan.

In reply to Flinticus:

Never seen a live performance but I think they are essential cinema viewing, older stuff especially.I'd rather watch 10 seconds of Cyd Charisse than an hour of Nicole Kidman.

In reply to TMM:

So you'd put 'Over the Rainbow' up there with the very worst of music?

In reply to Tony the Blade:


Hilarious! 10 out of 10 !!!

I love Moulin Rouge, me and the other are always singing it.

Another vote for Sweeney Todd and wasn't expecting it but really enjoyed Les Mis as well.

In reply to SuperstarDJ:
Despite having enough room on my laptop / MPS player & phone for more songs than I could listen to in the rest of my life, 'Over the Rainbow' will still never make it onto either.

TMM has summed it up well*!

*I do keep an open mind (and I love music and films) but so far, only one musical has impressed if you count 'Romeo & Juliet' (1996 film with Leo DiCaprio)

In reply to Flinticus:

For something a bit heavy, but utterly amazing, von
trier's dancer in the dark. I'm also a huge fan of Burtons nightmare before Christmas and less so Sweeny Todd.

In reply to paulcarey:

we sing Elephant Medley at any opportunity.

I share your thoughts on Les Mis.

Hell, we even listen to EP on R2 on Sundays if driving anywhere!

In reply to Flinticus:

Reading up until 21.26, I think you are right about Marmite.

Most of the people i know who say they don't like Marmite have actually never tasted the stuff.

In reply to Flinticus:

I hate musicals. However I can take or leave Marmite. It's a late night after beer topping.

In reply to Flinticus:

I'm with you..can't stand them. To me they all seem some sort of awful halfway house between classical/pop and bad acting

In reply to Tom Valentine:

I have even sung in half a dozen and still hate them. It is the tawdry price one has to pay if one really wants to put on a bit of Gilbert and Sullivan. Now they knew how to write a tune or two.

In reply to Flinticus:

Hate the genre but like some exceptions. Mostly those with sinatra or dean martin.

Tommy id class as opera as theres no spoken narrative and the songs are not incidental.

Marmite is the half-assed cousin of vegemite.

In reply to Flinticus:

hate hate hate them...


Apart from Rocky Horror

In reply to stroppygob:

God this site is full of miserable, over-serious grumps isn't it? No doubt all too busy listening to worthy radiohead or some such . Can't beat a musical for a bit of undemanding fun, so long as the songs are well written.

If I were a rich man, Yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum...


Saw Tim Michin earlier this year in JCS, an unusual production and catchy tunes. Mind you, that didn't compare to the mighty Barry Gibb at Manchester, but I digress. (How times change- I used to be a crusty goth type!)

In reply to Tony the Blade:

Occasionally we try the tango number from Moulin Rouge around the kitchen until one of us trips over something....


I will give the EP show a try!

In reply to Flinticus:

Would never go to see a musical much to the distain of my wife. I can't see the attraction of going to theatre land and sitting through a stage production.

Saying that, I'll happily sit and watch Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, Sound of Music and such like on the telly with the family but going to a musical? never!

In reply to Flinticus:

Some of the oldies which I really like listening to are

South Pacific
Camelot
Sound of Music
West Side Story

In reply to ice.solo:


Wrong. Vegemite is just Marmite with added grease.

In reply to graeme jackson:

Crazy talk. Its the extra grease that makes it a superior product.

In reply to graeme jackson:

I love marmite, but if there's one musical I despise over all others, it's Grease.

In reply to knthrak1982: How can anybody not like Caberet, it is as big a work of genius as I Am A Camera by Chris Isherwood on which it was based. And if Liza Minelli didn't get the oscar for that she should have done, great acting, great sexiness, great singing. She did her mother proud.

In reply to Al Evans: Come to that Julie Andrews made a bit of a special thing out of Sound Of Music.

In reply to Al Evans: Sorry that should have said Cabaret.

In reply to Al Evans:

She did. It was a bit of a thin year for Best Actress nominees though, by the look of it

In reply to Al Evans:

And Chicago, I've seen it 4 times!

And Starlight Express - saw it 3 times.

In reply to stroppygob:

Exactly this

In reply to Flinticus:

The hiiiiiills are aliiiiive
With the sound of muuuuuusiiiiic......

sob sob

Love it.

In reply to stroppygob:

I would agree, but the last time I saw this the theatre had a heavy security presence ensuring that anyone who even thought about using a water pistol, lighter, or throwing rice would be swiftly removed.
Kind of defeated the whole point.

In reply to Flinticus:
Odd how musicals provoke such strong reactions. I'm fine with ballet and find opera a bit of a snooze, but five bars into a musical and I want to buy an assault rifle and 15 minutes worth of ammunition. I have no idea why.

In reply to Al Evans:

Easy, being straight has some advantages.