what is the most overrated musical of all time

[Rainbowhigh23]

Phantom - booooorrrring! Same with the upcoming The Bodyguard.

[After Eight]

At this point, I'd say Book of Mormon and Once are tied for that distinction.

But one never knows what tomorrow will bring.

[bdn223]

At least from this past season the most overrated show was definitely ONCE. Yes the show is beautiful but it is also boring as f****, honestly there is more action watching paint dry. As well as I think it's outrageous that they are charging $150 a ticket.

[finebydesign]

Contact
King and I

[JayG 2]

The Producers
Spring Awakening
Rent
Lion King

All over-hyped beyond any sense of reality.

[GlindatheGood22]

I'd say Cats, but it has the throngs of people who acknowledge it's awfulness, so I'm going with The Sound of Music.

[little_sally]

Even though a lot of people have come to acknowledge just how mediocre it truly is, I still think this distinction goes to The Producers. It didn't deserve every Tony it won.

[SondheimFan5]

Cats. There's no plot. It's just Cats.

[newintown]

How to choose just one? I'd go with any show that touts itself as having a "rock" score. Put a bass, guitar, synth, and drums on a stage and the musical illiterates (the ones who couldn't tell you the difference between a fermata and a suspension) start throwing words like "relevant" and "contemporary" about. As long as the marketing team says it's "rock," things like story, character, and craft seem to be unnecessary.

But up for valid discussion as well would be Cats, Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables, all rather mindless/artless/astonishingly successful examples of inflated children's theatre.

[AngelorPhantom1359]

Wicked easily. Listening to all the tweens horribly sing Popular and Defying Gravity makes me want to pull my hair out.

Also, I don't see what's so great about Oklahoma

[Idiot]

Newintown, how can you classify Les Miserables as 'mindless' and 'artless'? I don't think that position can be substantiated. Children's theatre... but with more whores and suicide than a Disney show?

[CarlosAlberto]

But up for valid discussion as well would be Cats, Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables, all rather mindless/artless/astonishingly successful examples of inflated children's theatre.

^ LOVE!!!

[kieranbec]

First Place: Cats
Second Place: Phantom

[broadwaydevil]

Cats, Wicked, The Producers.

[newintown]

" Newintown, how can you classify Les Miserables as 'mindless' and 'artless'? I don't think that position can be substantiated. Children's theatre... but with more whores and suicide than a Disney show?"

Anything can be "substantiated." Les Miserables is an exceptionally simple-minded show - utterly devoid of humor (I'm aware that the Threnardier scens are meant to be "comic," but no one is laughing much at them), with a score that borders on Composition 101 level simplicity (much of the score can be sung to the same accompaniment). As far as narrative is concerned, the show is told in a string of sentimental clichés; when a potentially political moment does happen, the audience (unless they've studied it prior) has no idea what the students are "rebelling" against at all (nor do they seem to care much).

"Children's theatre," as I used it above, isn't about specific content, but about artlessness, lack of sophistication or deep thought, and superficiality (even when it pretends to be profound, generally by eschewing any semblance of humor).

[Idiot]

Newintown, you're just flat out wrong. They may well be your opinions, but your opinions are wrong.

The story of Les Mis is intricate, complex, and deeply layered, steeped in the complexity of the most difficult questions life has to offer. The music is soaring and intricate and serves the story perfectly. The original staging was beyond artful -- it was complex in a way that seemed simplistic because of it's inventiveness and flawless execution.

[Mister Matt]

Also, I don't see what's so great about Oklahoma

Probably the fact that it's one of the most influential pieces of musical theatre ever written. It's not so much how the show comes across now (which I still adore), but how it came across when it premiered. And how it changed musical theatre forever.

Les Miserables is an exceptionally simple-minded show

Or...it's the opposite of that.

Cats. There's no plot. It's just Cats.

I don't know...lack of plot doesn't really bother me when it is intentional. Like a revue or when the source material itself has no plot (i.e. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats). It's what you do with the material that I find interesting, and Cats was extraordinarily creative and innovative when it opened. I found its instant global appeal very apparent when I saw it.

[MillieDillmount]

The Book Of Mormon
Mamma Mia
The Phanton of the Opera
Newsies
Wicked

All shows I saw that I don't understand the hype. I enjoyed Wicked more than I thought I would, but I wouldn't say it's the most amazing show ever. The rest I was highly disappointed and underwhelmed when I left the theatre.

[mikey2573]

MY FAIR LADY --overlong and BORING!!!

[newintown]

Mais non, non, non, Idiot; you're just flat out wrong. They may well be your opinions, but your opinions are wrong.

See how effective that sort of discourse is? Delightful, oui?

[Mr Roxy]

WICKED

[CHOOKA2]

At the end of WICKED I said--Is that all there is?

[Wynbish]

Is that all there is, my friend? Then let's keep dancing.

[matineeidol2013]

Couldn't agree more with your assessment of Les Mis, newintown.

My vote as of late would go to "Book of Mormon". I laughed out loud maybe three times. By the middle of the second act I found myself checking my watch quite frequently.

[emida]

Wicked, Cats, Rent, Mamma Mia

[CarlosAlberto]

The responses to my (completely false) reply to the OP's thread and newintown's opinion of Les Miserables proves my point.

Some people on this board are not interested in reading other peoples opinion so much as they are looking for someone to agree with and vindicate their likes and dislikes. WHATEVER.