Inspired by a recent "Ask Jeph" post.
Why do you hate musicals?
Because they are bad
I'll admit that I actually have one musical that I enjoy, Hedwig and the Angry Inch but that's the only one. Oklahoma can suck my ass (the state as well as the musical,) South Pacific can blow me and don't get me started on fucking Rocky Horror Picture Show. I was forced to sit through a group showing of that piece of crap and I actually fell asleep halfway through because it was so bad (and I was drunk.)
Musicals suck and unless it's the aforementioned Hedwig you'll never get me to agree otherwise.
Discuss.
I agree with your general stance on musicals, though I strongly disagree with your way of stating it.
I am an actor. I have participated in many productions at my high school, and I am planning on pursuing acting in college. I have been in about the same number of musicals as non-musicals, even though I consider myself an actor and not a singer by any means. I have participated in musicals because I have made a point of being in as many theatrical production as possible. Through my experiences I have drawn several conclusions as to why I have a general dislike of musicals:
-They place a premium on singing, too often forgetting that acting is what drives theatrical performance.
-They usually have terribly written plots (exceptions, see below).
-The music is often formulaic and not to my tastes (exceptions, again, see below).
The first and second are probably the two biggest reasons for me. I personally believe acting is the driving force behind live theater, and I dislike it when someone gets a role based on only their singing ability and not their acting ability, or when they lean heavily on singing to make their character, and ignore acting, Unfortunately, most musicals encourage this phenomenon by having terribly written librettos. I recently performed in
The Secret Garden. The script had obviously been written as an afterthought to the music; the lines were simple, boring, uninspired, and at times so cliche that it was painful to listen to them. I believe that a truly great actor would have been able to make those lines seem so natural that the awkwardness of the script would melt away, but he/she would have to be truly great actor indeed.
An exception to these rules, in my opinion, is
West Side Story (because it borrow practically its entire plot from Romeo and Juliet, which ironically Shakespeare jacked from someone else also; Leonard Bernstein also was a great composer). I also greatly enjoy the movie musical
An American In Paris, because it has brilliant music by Gershwin and better writing (not to mention acting) than most other musicals. Finally, I consider
My Fair Lady to be an absolutely first-rate piece of theater, because it builds on the already fantastic foundation of George Bernard Shaw's
Pygmalion, adding fantastic music and incorporating Shaw's plot and even his exact words in to most of the songs and action. Also, there is more action and less singing, but when singing occurs it is memorable and effective. The movie version has skilled, believable, and genius performances by Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.
Music-wise, I find most musical music to be simple, formulaic, and shallow. I don't find that most musicals are able to convey complex emotions through their music. I can't say that I have been challenged to think as much by a song from a musical than by a piece of music written outside the context of a musical. The exceptions are those previously noted.
I also think that something must be said for musicals which fully realize and own up to the fact that they are shallow entertainment and not art. I performed in a fantastic production of
Anything Goes which had one purpose: to entertain the audience through silly singing and impressive dancing. It completed its purpose very well.
Andrew Lloyd Weber though. Geez. Nasty shit.
