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| re: not bad, CINDERELLA | |
| Posted by: theaterislife 02:59 pm EDT 04/06/23 | |
| In reply to: not bad, CINDERELLA - standingO 11:15 pm EDT 04/04/23 | |
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| I agree with everything in your post! It's a fun show. Far from perfect masterpiece, but I had a good time. Since the score was a hot topic below, my two cents is I thought the music was great. Bad Cinderella has some good tunes, big ballads, and catchy melodies. Especially if you enjoy ALW, I felt there's some good stuff in there. I hope it gets nominated for Best Score. It's all subjective, but I haven't heard a score from any new musical this season that in my view is better than Bad Cinderella. It's kind of ironic about the "forgettable" criticisms below because usually the flack that ALW gets is how unforgettable his melodies are and that you leave the theater with them stuck in your head like bubble gum, especially after the signature melodies are repeated throughout the show. So not sure which way people want it. In some ways, I would think every musical score kind of "forgettable" the first time you hear it, and the more you listen to it, the more you start to remember and recognize the writing. Someone mentioned below the critical reception to back up their claims. In my reading of the reviews, I think ALW's score got off the easiest, with a number of critics evening saying it was good. A few I remembered: - Talkin Broadway: "This is true despite the fact that Lloyd Webber has given both Linedy Genao and Jordan Dobson some lovely ballads and soaring power numbers to perform, and the score overall boasts a wide range of styles that will probably sound much better on a cast recording, unencumbered by the convoluted plot." - NY Post: "Then there are Lloyd Webber’s lushly orchestrated and tuneful ballads, which — all chandeliers aside — are why we come to any show by him. The wonderful song “Only You, Lonely You,” sung not by Cinderella but by Prince Sebastian (Jordan Dobson), is the single best moment of the musical, which is unfortunate because it happens during the first 25 minutes. Cinderella’s “I Know I Have A Heart (Because You Broke It)” and “Far Too Late” are pretty — the too-wordy lyrics are by David Zippel — but there’s no powerful narrative build to help them soar like they should." - Bloomberg: "At least Lloyd Webber’s music is often catchy and sure-footed, even as it repeats itself in his usual style, and the 17-piece orchestra adds lushness. The title song features an earworm affectionately lifted from In My Own Little Corner in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s own splendid Cinderella. It’s lodged in my brain like a hatchet." - AMNY: "much of “Cinderella” is written with an eye for catchy pop anthems, including the title song" - NY Daily News: "Lloyd Webber has penned a self-defining title number, which is catchy and belted out by Genao with genuine chops. There are a couple of ballads that his fans (which will always include me) should enjoy and a few moments of that signature Lloyd Webber wall of sound (eat your heart out, Phil Spector), which is a positive trigger for me of so much of my early affection for musicals. But, along with JoAnn M. Hunter’s choreography, in a few places, that’s about all this pretty terrible show has on its list of positives." - Variety: "“Bad Cinderella” at least offers a viable framework for a few of Webber’s signature power ballads, designed to showcase blunt sentiment and athletic vocals, which Genao and Dobson both deliver with rousing and admirable confidence." Anyway, I hope the score is recognized. I enjoyed Kimberly Akimbo a lot but didn't think the music was it's strongest selling point, and not sure anything else will really emerge. I'm not sure how Bad Cinderella will make it through the summer, but I think the reception has been a little extra vicious because it's ALW. Especially after the "costly mistake" misquote. |
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| re: not bad, CINDERELLA | |
| Posted by: GavinLogan1 09:00 am EDT 04/08/23 | |
| In reply to: re: not bad, CINDERELLA - theaterislife 02:59 pm EDT 04/06/23 | |
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| 100% agreed. I’ve always hated the statement about it being an unmemorable score… Whenever that is used, I roll my eyes. No score is memorable after one listen, even if a couple of tunes might stick in your head… It’s after repeated listens that you become familiar with a piece. Stephen Sondheim always hated when people would talk about how his melodies were unhummable. Every melody is unhummable if you’ve heard it once—it’s the repeated familiarity with a show that allows you to start understanding the nuances in intricacies of all the different songs, as well as how the melodies of certain songs are woven into others to make a tapestry of a score… You’re not getting that on one listen, and especially not getting that if you go to the theatre deciding already that you’re going to hate the show because of who wrote it. |
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| re: not bad, CINDERELLA | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 10:53 am EDT 04/07/23 | |
| In reply to: re: not bad, CINDERELLA - theaterislife 02:59 pm EDT 04/06/23 | |
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| I would think every musical score kind of "forgettable" the first time you hear it, and the more you listen to it, the more you start to remember and recognize the writing. Thank you. That's exactly it. |
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