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| re: Merrily now described as "acclaimed" | |
| Posted by: musicaldirny 04:22 am EDT 08/31/19 | |
| In reply to: Merrily now described as "acclaimed" - peter3053 03:36 pm EDT 08/29/19 | |
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| "Candide" is another example of a big flop whose reputation improved with time and revision. "Anyone Can Whistle" is just too dated. The score will always be there, and a handful of songs from "Whistle" will always be performed. |
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| re: Merrily now described as "acclaimed" | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 06:03 am EDT 08/31/19 | |
| In reply to: re: Merrily now described as "acclaimed" - musicaldirny 04:22 am EDT 08/31/19 | |
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| Candide ran rather longer than Merrily did, although if you include the Broadway previews of both shows, the difference was only 18 performances. But an important difference is that Candide got generally much better reviews, including raves from several of the major critics. While Merrily's reviews were not quite as thoroughly negative as legend and some books have it, Candide's were unquestionably much better. As with Merrily, legend and some books (including Look, I Made a Hat, where Sondheim described it as "a critical disaster," which is seriously inaccurate) say misleading things about the Candide reviews. The score easily won both for music and lyrics in the Variety poll of New York drama critics. It won three votes in the New York Drama Critics Circle voting for best musical, coming in second, although well behind winner The Most Happy Fella, which got nine votes. (The Most Happy Fella was not competition for Candide in the Variety poll as it had been eligible for that the year before. Back then, the Drama Critics Circle award was given in April, more than a month before the season was officially over. And since the Tonys were usually given earlier still, it all gets very confusing sometimes.) Variety tallied the Candide reviews as "four affirmative, one negative, and two yes-no." Lots of hits have not gotten as good reviews. I hope I'm not being too nitpicky but I think there is a really big difference between Candide and Merrily in terms of their initial critical reception. Anyone Can Whistle actually got several favorable and even rave reviews, but they didn't come from the three critics with the most influence, all of whom seriously panned it. |
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