Be Excellent To Each Other

I don't believe that musical theatre is any more of an art form than, say, psychology is a science. If I want a decent story, I'll go and see a play. Or if I want to hear good music, I'll go to the Philharmonic. If I want both, I'll attend the opera. Musicals seem to exist in the shadowy ground of mediocrity, and seem to me to serve no real purpose in the cultural evolution of society. So, why are they so popular? I vote we ban them.

They're for bumlords, aren't they?

Avenue Q wants to fight you both.

[edit]So does Blood Brothers.

Good musicals are only good in the context of all the ones we're familiar with that really aren't. It's the Ouroboros art formn - has to engage in cynical cannibalism to achieve any kind of value.

Never heard of Avenue X, but I've enjoyed, in my time, a few Gilbert and Sullivans at RAF Cranwell. I like the odd musical film, such as Moulin Rouge, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, or the classics like High Society and Singin' in the Rain which gave me one of my most enjoyable Xmas afternoons ever last year. Ultimately though these fail to prevent musical theatre being complete bullshit, bcause of the following:

1: The entire Lloyd-Webber ouvre
2: 'Message' musicals like Hair, Rent, etc.
3: Mama Mia and everything else that's remotely regurgitating pop classics for whatever reason.
4: Sondheim. Fuck him. Really.

Though the appeal wore off very quickly, Glee managed to blur the line between arch-knowingness coupled with genuine killer lines and twee populist schlock unit-shifting appeal. The clever idea there has simply become the platform for a charater based drama-com of little merit though, so bollocks to that as well.

I disagree, I think we should ban Sondheim, Lloyd-Webber, and any rock operas.

However, if you're agreeable to removing dressage from the Olympics, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement.

I'd gladly remove the Olympics from the universe. They're the musical theatre of sport. They should at least do them in the nuddy like they did originally.

Avenue Q. It's fucking brilliant. Turns out that watching muppets having sex live on stage in front of you is very, very funny.


You don't like The Blues Brothers?

Depends on what you define as art. If music and theatre together as opera are fine by your measure but musicals are not, then maybe it is just snobbery that makes a distinction between the two.

Or maybe it is the same line drawn between art house cinema and the latest Twilight movie. Maybe one exists as art and the other as entertainment.

In both cases there are many examples of bad art and good entertainment, though. I also like Blood Brothers, and think it functions as good theatre in its own right.

If you were to ban musicals I'd never see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on the TV ever again, and that would make me a sad panda.

Of course. The genre for Blues Brothers is "John Belushi Movie" though, not musical.

This thread is Mali's 'beard'.

You ain't fooling nobody.