Musicals: Do You Love Them or Hate Them?

[John_Welles]

Do you love or hate musicals? It's a plorising genre, but I for one love them, because of all the great songs they have given us over the years.

[AceHigh]

Completely Hate Them. Nothing worse in life than to endure Oklahoma! or The Sound of Music or any other full-blown musical. Watching those are like fingernails scrapng across the chalkboard.

[Paco_Roman]

That's a weird question on a SW Board. I don't hate them but I don't care much for them either. I enjoyed seeing Musicals like Phantom of the Opera, Dance of the Vampires, Freudiana on stage but I'm not a fan of ballads.

[scherpschutter]

You mean in theatre or on the big screen?

I was in London last year, the place to be talking about musicals, but the last thing I was thinking of back then, was going to a musical, be it Mama Mia or The Phantom of the Opera or Les Misérables.
I don't know what caused this 'musical hype', but I know of people who wouldn't have ever thought of going to a theatre, who were in queue for hours to get a ticket for one of the above mentioned musicals.
I guess they do so, because other people do so, and again those other people do so, because ... etc. Hypes are like jokes: it's impossible to say where and when a joke was told for the first time. All of a sudden everybody's telling it. All of a sudden everybody was going to the musicals.

On the other hand, I've seen most of the classic musical films like Oliver, My Fair Lady, Funny Girl, Hello Dolly and of course The Sound of Music, which is one of my favourite films. Why? I don't know, maybe because it stars a singing nun, or it's set in the Alpes, like some of Corbucci's best movies.

[Paco_Roman]

You mean in theatre or on the big screen?

That's a good question. I can't stand Musical Films or movies with singing.

On the other hand, I've seen most of the classic musical films like Oliver, My Fair Lady, Funny Girl, Hello Dolly and of course The Sound of Music, which is one of my favourite films. Why? I don't know, maybe because it stars a singing nun, or it's set in the Alpes, like some of Corbucci's best movies.

Don't care much about Sound of Music. I would prefer any Corbucci Movie.

[John_Welles]

You mean in theatre or on the big screen?

I ment the big screen.

Nothing worse in life than to endure Oklahoma!

I switched off "Oklahoma!" (a singing cowboy!?! I mean, come on, thats just stupid!), but generally I like most musicals, espesically if they are from the thirties or fourties.

[scherpschutter]

That's a good question. I can't stand Musical Films or movies with singing.
Don't care much about Sound of Music. I would prefer any Corbucci Movie.

The Sound of Silence?

[Paco_Roman]

The Sound of Silence?

A SW Musical would be nice. The Great Silence - The Musical or Django - The Musical !
There is even an EVIL DEAD Musical. So why not somebody is composing a SW Musical.

[Reverend_Danite]

The Sound of Silence?

A SW Musical would be nice ... So why not somebody is composing a SW Musical.

Little Rita

I quite like Calamity Jane - always had a bit of a thing for Doris Day :-*
... and I like some of the songs in The Boyfriend with Twiggy ( :-* as well).

[mrchallenge]

I remember going into a cinema to watch Sweeney Todd and getting up and leaving about 30 minutes into it. I didn't even realize it was a musical. How stupid of me!

[Phil_H]

I quite like Calamity Jane - always had a bit of a thing for Doris Day :-*

You and me both Rev.

[Phil_H]

My old mum is a big fan of musicals so I grew up watching them on the telly and as a result some of them have become genuine favourites. Calamity Jane was always number 1 for me but I've also always enjoyed Singin' in the Rain, Oliver! and a whole bunch of others too numerous to mention. The Sound of Music was very big when I was a kid so quite liked that but on the whole Rogers and Hammerstein ones like Oklahoma didn't really do it for me.

I guess it's a genre like any other. You have to accept its conventions at the get go and let go of reality for a couple of hours.

[I_I_Idiot]

I hate them, although I do like a few. Wizard Of Oz & Grease are good as well as The nightmare Before Christmas (as are a lot of other CG kids flicks) but standard...
'hey I was just talking & now...I'M RAN-DOM-LY SING-IIIING!' type shit I can do without! 'MY HAT-MY HAT..HOW DID YOU GET MY HAT?' How mindless. Musicals about 'Rent' & 'autism' & 'killer Barbers' (OK that is pretty cool) are just not something I can relate to.

[ENNIOO]

I sometimes sing when I watch a film...this is good enough for me.

[I_I_Idiot]

I sometimes sing when I watch a film...this is good enough for me.

[stanton]

I love all sorts of dancing scenes, so I also like many musicals for the choreography of the dances alone. Even if some have only stupid stories, like the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers classics of the 30s (or on another level Cabaret).

Many great scenes by Astaire, Kelly, Donen, Fosse, Minelli etc. But too often I don't care too much for the complete film.

I love the dancing scenes in John Ford films.

[mrchallenge]

I used to watch alot of the Shirley temple movies with my mom.

I shamed to admit, but I also sort of liked dreamgirls LOL

[Dillinger]

I'm a big jazz fan. Therefore I like many musical songe, because they became jazz standards.

But this doesn't mean, I love musicals. A musical is not only one song, it is musical theatre.
I don't want to sit an entire evening in a theatre, watching and listening to a dull, boring and unispired piece of crap. I think musicals are the bastard of the opera. A minor version of it.

[Phil_H]

I'm a big jazz fan. Therefore I like many musical songe, because they became jazz standards.

But this doesn't mean, I love musicals. A musical is not only one song, it is musical theatre.
I don't want to sit an entire evening in a theatre, watching and listening to a dull, boring and unispired piece of crap. I think musicals are the bastard of the opera. A minor version of it.

Yeah but I'd rather sit through an opera with songs by Cole Porter any day.

[Dillinger]

I prefer the opera, for it is intellectually more stimulating for me.
I go to the opera maybe once a year.