...either in attempting to overcome your heartfelt opinion of the form or at least in sitting seething through many of them while keeping a wife/girlfriend/mother/non gender-specific life partner or working choreographer happy while *they* enjoy one. I feel the same, except for The Hot Shoe Shuffle, which is fuckin' A.

And you get a Fats Waller song in the first half.

ps the one second left falls off at the end. I'm thinkng he's the one hoping there was no-one in that night with a camera.

Sorry, this can't stand.

Cabaret : brilliant. West Side Story : a thing of awe.

And yes , dismissing shows by all of the Lloyd Webber and those Les Mis blokes is fine by me : like a 70s "A Song For Europe" writ hideously large. And I really, really hate Grease, with a passion.

But to dismiss, say, Showboat, then sorry, not with you.

Sweeney Todd : I saw the Opera North version, where you came out whistling the joys of cannibalism at the interval, and then Act Two brought you up short.

Chicago : a bit mixed I grant you, but with the right cast...

Sondheim is still going, and I've seen brilliant shows of Company, Merrily We Roll Roll Along, and even the local college made a good fist of Into The Woods.

Even with movies, where Hollywood ruins so many good musicals (Kiss Me Kate, the what-should-have been-wonderful South Pacific, why did Ethel Merman did not get the lead in Gypsy (don't bother to reply....I know...I know...)) you have Singin' In The Rain, Carousel, The Band Wagon and the 1936 version of Showboat, even Sweet Charity.

On the other hand I don't want all these third-rate versions of movies cluttering up the West End. Versions of Priscilla , Queen Of The Desert and Sister Act ? It had better be good. And usually isn't. The Lion King ? Poor to start with.

Don't get me started on We Will Rock You.

Musicals have far too prominent a place on the London stage. There is some awful pish, not least those shows revolving around songs from Abba, Queen, Buddy Holly and the rest. I know so much of it is coach-party fodder, but in its pomp it is as good as anything.

...is matching Elaine Paige gin for gin on a Sunday afternoon on radio 2. All musical theatre is writ large there. It is like a Musical sampler. Dip in, dip out. Wax on, wax off.

There's a line in the Roger Waters song, "It's A Miracle", talking about Andrew Lloyd Webber "knocking out his awful stuff, for years and years" and the piano lid coming crashing down to "smash his fucking fingers. ... It's a Miracle!".
But whilst I dislike most musicals a great deal, I do have a soft spot for a tiny handful, including a couple (like West Side Story) that others have mentioned here, and Rocky Horror Show.

...is making it impossible for you to appreciate the content. I've enjoyed many musicals while avoiding quite a few (Andrew Lloyd Webber included) but I would no more mount a blanket defence of the category than I would do the same with, say, jazz. If you don't like it, pass by on the other side.

is brilliant. That is all.

from "Singing in the Rain"

A desert island film clip if ever there was.

Have a good day

Oliver

• The wicker man
• This is Spinal Tap
• Cabaret
• that’s it

Nuff Said.

it didn't get much better than the MGM musical films of the late 40s/early 50s

in advance for posting a link to one of my posts but it does kind of fit in with the thread. Also I would heartily recommend you having a go at this. Take your favourite band and use their songs to come up with a story and then put it all together. I had a huge sense of accomplishment when I'd finished. http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/jimmy-blue-a-del-amitri-musical

I‘m not sure why ALW get’s the stick he does here’s some reason to like him.
I enjoyed singing in Joseph as a kid and school choirs continue to do so it’s a shame it’s been elevated higher than the school hall. Oh and you’ve not seen rock and roll until you seen our head of geography ride the woodwork teacher’s Honda on stage to do the pharaoh Elvis song.
Jesus Christ Superstar had as big an effect on the 1970’s as all the prog bands put together. I remember it being played way more than the selectively hip tunes people bang on about. My parents didn’t have any Joni Mitchell records I thinking of applying to the social services with claims of child abuse! JCS even was taken up as football chant, a sure sign of pop greatness.
I know “memories” has been overdone but the rest of cats is good(had a good librettist) We spent a happy summer driving round France listening to it and my Dad’s other 2 cassettes The Goons and Glen Miller.
Oh and I saw ALW Dad playing a mighty organ once it was a bit scary.
Other musicals
Well Oliver should be included in any list of great pop music moments of 1960’s well above much of the over praised fare you find in rock mags (on football chant count alone 3-4 it beats Frank Zappa)
Then there is Calamity Jane.
Bugsy Malone
The wizard of Oz
Singing in the rain
The Jungle Book
This one’s from the Heart
O brother where art thou
Oh and Tommy

is the only musical I've ever enjoyed, it's hilarious.

But that's probably because it takes the p*** out of the whole genre

The Smiths musical! I saw it at the Lyric theatre a few years back. Not quite sure what I thought of it to be honest but some of the renditions were kind of interesting and I'd like to hear them again someday if I could find them.

... mainly because the wife loves 'em.

My most enjoyable were SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (London), WEST SIDE STORY & 42nd STREET (both on Broadway)

We're going to see JERSEY BOYS in the West End in a couple of weeks. Music should be great, if nothing else.

Frank, Bing and Louis.
"What a swell party..."

But I do quite like My Fair Lady.

On stage, I've only ever had two musicals inflicted upon me. Annie and Kiss Of The Spiderwoman. Not, shall I say, to my taste.

The thing with musicals is that if you never actually bothered to see one your life would hardly be diminished. I have seen Chicago in NY and it was good but not life changing.

no - one mentioned Guys and Dolls yet?
Not a fan of many musicals - but G n D? Aces.