As a rule, Broadway musicals since the Golden Age -- the 50s and early 60s -- do nothing for me. I mean, everything Steve Sondheim did after A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is complete shit, IMHO, the sort of schmutz that the late critic Gene Lees accurately described as Quack Opera. Boring, pretentious, lousy theatre and mostly unlistenable. (I will go further and say that "Send In the Clowns" may be the worst song ever written and inflicted on a long suffering public.) And don't get me started on pieces of pandering fake hippie crap like Hair or Jesus Christ Superstar. I'm also not a fan of jukebox shows, although I'll concede Jersey Boys and the Carole King thing were tolerable.
That said, over the last year or two, I'd be in a cab or a restaurant and a song from DEH would come on and my reaction would be -- well, that's not bad at all. So the other day I broke down and grabbed a copy of the album, listened to it and flipped. It's actually rock, that kid is a fantastic singer, and it made me want to see the show now that it's back on Broadway. (I'm told the movie version was a letdown, but I'll probably watch it to avoid paying Broadway prices).
Anyway, the album's great and I highly recommend it. Enjoy!!!
1 comment:
I watched the movie last weekend. I enjoyed it, but there are a number of scenes where it's distracting that Ben Platt is obviously way too old to be playing a High School senior. The music *is* great, though.
And, hey, the soundtrack to "Mean Girls" is great.
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