Ramble: Least Favorite Musicals

God I wish I could hear her thoughts about the tick tick boom movie, it ended up really good 😭

Giselle

I like songs from a lot of these admittedly bad genz shows but agree with the criticism. The tick tick boom critique did make me upset though 😭. I agree the songs aren’t necessarily amazing but the movie and its themes really spoke to me haha

Caitlyn Hancock

Whoa now Jenny, I realise this video is 2 years old but I gotta defend Groundhog's Day. Tim Minchin is a genius, and makes great music.

Vaelyhn

Hell yeah Jenny hates tick tick boom too i thought i was going insane. Feels good to be vindicated

degree

The “Bug Fish” musical is in fact great. I like it better than the movie (and the original book).

Emily Lewis

My whole heart aching over Groundhog Day and Big Fish. They deserve the world.

As an ex-theatre kid who sang Therapy for our school cabaret and used it to compete, and who also did Sideshow, I feel personally attacked... You are right, but still. Et tu Jenny

the only muscial my friends ever talked me into doing was our high school's production of seussical, and our only set was a tree, and the one bit of joy that I got being cast as a tiger in the ensemble was knowing i would get cool tiger makeup, BUT THEY DECIDED TO CHANGE THE ANIMALS TO LOOK LIKE PEOPLE WITH REAL JOBS, SO THEY TURNED ME INTO A SOCCER PLAYER WTF they literally took the only ounce of fun you can have with seussical and squeezed out all the possible creative options.

I have the most distinct memory of watching the Tony’s the year that ghost the musical premiered. I also have a video of my mom reacting to seeing a scene from ghost the musical that was being performed for the Tonys in which she is horrified. I absolutely freaked out when I Jenny brought it up!

Heljhammack

the sequel of phantom of the opera, love never dies, is unwatchable entirely

Bryn Bachmann

i agree across the board but i must defend groundhog day. it’s actually a really enjoyable hidden germ with incredible sets & staging. it also has an entirely different vibe from the movie, which is admirable for a broadway adaptation.

griffin

The Lord of the Rings Musical was actually in the early 2000s! I saw it in London w/ my parents and I really loved it! It was definitely strange and I think one of the actors seemed to not know all of their lines, but the music was rather pretty and the set was really cool! It had a lot of moving panels in the stage (that's how the Frodo actor eventually broke his leg) so the actors could mimic walking long distances during songs, it had orcs on those jumping stilts things so they could flip around during the combat sequences, and there was a lot of verticality! I think when they went to Lothlorien all of the elves slowly descended on aerial silks and floated and danced in the air... Anyways, I saw it when I was about 10 years old, so I cannot vouch for the overall quality, but it certainly was an experience!

April Feldman

I like that your dear evan hansen opinions were not only largely the same from this to the full video, but became even roastier with time. I usually also hate fiction about writing but I actually loved tick tick boom which I think is mostly because of andrew garfield. Also loved mamma mia not so much about the strength of the plot itself but the vodka aunt vibes. MM2 was definitely worse but also I loved it more because I first saw it getting drunk with my roommates and we just about cried when cher came on screen. I can't watch it again for fear of the vibes being ruined by the cold light of day.

Alex Andra

As someone who saw The Little Mermaid with the original cast on Broadway, I agree with your issues. The only new song I really liked was the If Only Quartet. Prince Eric’s songs were OK. It’s clear that Glenn Slater, while sometimes he can be very good, is no Howard Ashman, who unfortunately passed away. And it was both over designed in terms of costumes and under designed in terms of set. It had a good cast. Like it brought Titus Burgess to the spotlight as Sebastian.

Mallory W

i did not like the mean girls soundtrack but seeing it on broadway before most of the orignal cast left was so much fun!! material is whatever but it was so full of great performers and was a great time

YOU HAVE THE STAR ROD KIRBY??????????

Aisubun

My local community theater did elf the musical last November and it was pretty good! Buddy was perfectly cast which really is imperative. There was a song with all the Santas who work at malls and stuff and it was the best one.

Natalie

i’m so happy you talked about the monstrosity that is Tik Tik Boom

Hope Reed

JRB’s ex wife did sue for the last five years and he had to revise it bc it was too close ro her life if you go on YouTube and look up I Could Be in Love With Someone Like You it’s from the pre-lawsuit version of the musical

Erin Healey

when I did in theatre in highschool I had to see two high school productions of Tarzan the musical, an experience I hated so much that the second time I saw it it made me realize that I hate musicals, plays, and theatre in general, and left it forever.

Nowhere Girl

Sondheim also did a musical about being a writer called "merrily we roll along," and it also sucks. It's not among the worst of all time, but it's probably his worst musical sadly. Also, funnily, Linn Manuel Miranda plays the role of the "sympathetic best friend side character," in a revival of that musical. Which might explain why he's involved with Tik Tik Boom.

Nicholas Nagawiecki

Sad to hear about the issues with the Halloween costume video. I usually watch it like once a year around the season and still laugh to the point of tears at the vampire costume. Still, looking forward to see what you come up with for the next iteration!

Pale Fire is a great novel "about writing", but it's also fundamentally impossible to adapt into any other medium.

Jed Grahek

I’d love to get Jenny’s take on Annette which, from what she posted on Twitter, I *think* she liked? (I did, too.) And if she were to make a video she already has the bathrobe for it.

Dash

I saw a community show. The actors did their best and were really good, they did some cool set stuff, but there was no saving it

Sage Walund

fuck the last 5 years

Elizabeth DeSantis Miller

I'm late to this but re: Six, I saw it back at Edinburgh Fringe Festival the second time it was there, and it was great, but I'm honestly surprised it went on to West End and Broadway. It is much more of a concert experience than a musical and I enjoyed it by thinking of it as such. As you say it was basically created by students and I think their success at things like Fringe maybe took them by surprise and they got swept up in it getting bigger than they imagined. I'm honestly not sure it was designed as a musical or with the idea that it would ever have been on a Broadway stage which I think explains a lot of its concept being the way it is. My friends saw it the year it was first at fringe on a tiny stage with only half the production quality that I saw it with (which was less still than its West End and Broadway production). So its something that did start as a very small student production and has been scaled up larger than it ever really should have been as you say. I think the concept and the songs are fun, but it's not a /musical/ and I just refuse to think of it that way

Nick Louise

I'd be interested to see your full take on the legally blonde musical. in my opinion, it completely destroys the feminism of the film. it takes all of elle's agency and gives it to the luke wilson character. they also got rid of the cool female law professor who is shown to also have feminine interests. Elle is cool because she shows that having traditionally girly interests doesn't mean that you're less than or not smart and the show just completely trashes that. Huge disappointment for me personally because I loved bat boy as a teen and this is the same team

A few things: Definitely look up the LOTR show because the production design was kinda rad. Galadriel had cool costumes. But the only song I like from it is a folk song Sam and Frodo sing when they are feeling homesick. Wedding singer was SO CLOSE to being awesome. It’s one of my favorite musical soundtracks. I’m literally using a track in my wedding. For years I couldn’t figure out why it had closed so quickly because the music was so fun. And then I got a hold of the script and holy crap it has the clunkiest ending to a musical ever! Will happily go into detail if anyone wants to know. I want Jenny to try and find a community production of Lion Witch and the Wardrobe. It’s an ok script and I would say there’s 2 stand out songs. But seeing how theatres try to deal with the whole talking lion thing is fucking hilarious. Googling Aslan costumes is a great way to cheer yourself up.

JoTheRiveting

My high school did a production of Big Fish the Musical and it was very terrible

LW

I will say, when I lived in NYC for 6 months, it was super easy to win the Groundhog Day lottery (online and not many people signed up I assume) I went twice. Not good, but the lead was good and def carried it the best he could. The staging (when and if the mechanisms worked) was cool. I had fun the first time, less the second. Not good, but had some okay moments if you’re a lonely 20 year old in NYC on an internship who likes musicals if she can get a lottery ticket hahaha

Sage Walund

I think the reason I like Six so much is because I don't listen to it as a show, but just as like a fun collab album. I really liked the music and didn't hate any of the lyrics, but I remember listening to it the first time and thinking "WOW! I really liked that! How is this going to work as a musical?"

I feel so validated right now. A lot of these shows my theatre friends LOVE and I just... don't understand it.

Nicole Elizabeth

I can't disagree with anything on this list but I will say that I personally found the second Mamma Mia movie to be better than the first in almost every way

Kat S

I’d love to know if Jenny or any of you all have seen/enjoy Repo the Genetic Opera. It’s a movie musical that originally was a 30 minute stage musical. I really loved it in high school even though it’s got some faults and it has a pretty decent cult following.

Prop-Like-It’s-Hot

Wait Groundhog Day the musical has some really good songs in it actually 😭

Rita D.

Won’t lie, hearing Colm Wilkinson’s name pronounced like that threw me for a loop for a second

Love that you hate Six!

As soon as u said angsty musicals for teens I started praying you wouldn’t mention spring awakening :(( I know it kinda sucks but it’s my soft spot lmao

i was in the charlie and the chocolate factory musical when i was like 13 and yeah its bad like you nailed it like its not good i played a squirrel

AJ Reinhardt

Sideshow wants what Evelyn Evelyn has

on the insane adaptation front they made a musical version of the movie Big and we performed it at my high school and it's as bad as you think it is

Evan Bobrow

I’m surprised you didn’t see the Lorax movie musical! It’s great you avoided any knowledge of that insane fandom- everyone wanted to f**k the once-ler… super weird, but the movie was pretty average and super teenager- edgy and on the nose.

Emma Tindall

this is how I first found out Evan Hansen was supposed to be a teen.

holly adkins

okay i actually work in theater so i’ve done some of these shows—elf is actually a pretty solid show! if you get a good production it’s fun and a good christmasy time!

Lauren M

Great video! I was an embarrassing Broadway obsessed teen who saw Spring Awakening two dozen times, and I loved hearing your reasons for disliking it, you're not wrong! It definitely skews to grab a young audience, which I think shows in how it pushed "Totally Fucked" as a tagline. I liked hearing about older theatre that I'd forgotten about too, like Sideshow. Thank you for this video!

Lo

also something very funny is that half of these shows are the ones my hs theater department did

Just watched the Dear Evan Hansen movie and once again Jenny was 100% correct especially about the actor's vibrato. Like I'm trying to sympathize with Evan but it's like bro quit yelling I'm on your side! Also I could not get past his age and how they tried to hide it with all that makeup he just looked really weird throughout the movie :/

Luis

weird connection: i happen to know someone who worked on COVID compliance stuff for tick tick boom while it was being filmed. that's all i know about the show, except now that it's not great apparently!

Noel Warford

We don't need the evermore video I'm sorry I'm sorry

Andrew Hill

Sad about the Halloween costume video._That's the first Jenny video I ever saw

Put the halloween costumes on the porg for your costume video!

Rebekah Wilson

I honestly hate Pasek and Paul as a songwriting duo anyway so I feel validated

Sabrie Colbert

For Halloween costumes you should see if you can find a skeleton that can be used like a mannequin and put the costumes on it! Bonus points for putting a skeleton costume on the skeleton

A Targ

Also, Groundhog Day was one of the biggest surprises of all time for me. I only went because my husband loves Tim Minchin (who wrote the score) and I left in tears because it was so moving. Truly a great experience, and such a surprise!

Alys from Cold Takes

Finally! Someone who hates Six as much as I do.

Alys from Cold Takes

I love Six, but I am also really interested in Medieval and Tudor England in general, so I think I fit in the right niche for it. It's definitely not a musical, I agree. I totally think you're right that it never would have happened without Hamilton, or at least not in the US. Not sure if someone else mentioned this, but thought I'd share because honestly as a musical fan, I just found the timing of this to be gutting for the cast. Six did a North American tour in 2019, and they were clearly trying out for Broadway. It was eventually picked up. Six did start previews on Broadway in early 2020, but they never officially opened as the pandemic shut down Broadway on their opening night. 😱 However, They are starting previews again this week, and they will finally open on October 3rd.

Cynethryth

If you haven't watched this classic well then you're a bad car

Luis

This video has fewer than half a million views which seems ... incongruous 😁😠🚙 https://youtu.be/-OXylWiZ-9c

Shred Cadmium

def just blush. her makeup looks incredible here

Logan Kooistra

It feels like unbelievably low hanging fruit honestly

Logan Kooistra

This video made me listen to Therapy, from the Tick Tick Boom soundtrack !! Coincidentally, that was the last time I'll ever listen to Therapy, from the Tick Tick Boom soundtrack !!

Logan Kooistra

Frozen is interesting because even though I think the Broadway show is lackluster, I think that the Frozen show at California Adventure is really fun. It’s a tight 45 minutes and makes interesting usage of puppetry, and the large ensemble “Love is an Open Door” is way better than the large ensemble “Let it Go” that they wrote for Broadway. My partner and I have made it a habit to see it whenever we go to the park because we love seeing how the revolving cast impacts it, too.

RiteofWriters

Dear Evan Hansen I was aware of but Next To Normal too? I'm mostly exposed to musicals through the online soundtracks so I never know if the plot is good or bad, and if I ever do get to see one I'm too enamored with the whole experience of seeing a live stage musical for once to not like it. Bad taste is better than not getting to taste at all right? Right?

LL

Kinda surprised Be More Chill didn't make this list. Heinous soundtrack

Miriam Gold

I also really don't like DEH, but to throw it a bone, the reason Evan lies is not because he has a crush on Zoe (at least, at first, in that scene with Zoe and Connor's parents). He tries to tell the truth and the Murphys don't listen to him.

That was my last family thanksgiving 😂

Hailey Dixon

Seussical hate has no home here.

Hailey Dixon

Love Never Dies was a fantastic musical because the music was terrible, the staging was terrible, the concept was terrible, and the plot was terrible. It also managed to seem derivative of The Greatest Showman despite, I think, being created years before it. I can't wait to hunt down recorded performances of everything on this list I haven't seen-- how many of these are on that Broadway subscription service?

An Extremely Smol Bunny

The best way to watch Mamma Mia is to put on subtitles and have an ABBA karaoke watch party with your friends

Okay, I actually love Seussical the Musical and moved around so much as a kid that I was in three separate school productions of it. One of my lowest moments is breaking into tears after a bad breakup while "Alone in the Universe" played and the P.E. coach trying to comfort me with his drawn on Cat in the Hat whiskers and top hat.

Tiffany Clark

Nice slime. I brought mine from my desk to watch with me!

Tiffany Clark

I got the exact same impression of Six, that someone pitched "Hamilton, but British history, and feminism!" I did really like "All You Wanna Do" as a song though.

Minivet

I really think that a huge problem with media in general is that it's...written by writers? Like, it's nobody's fault, really, but people who are drawn to that career are not necessarily representative of all of the people whom media is supposed to inform and entertain.

Eileen Nguyen

Yes! I came away from it enjoying the songs but strongly disliking the composer.

Eileen Nguyen

AND it’s Cambridge so you can imagine the level of wealth & privilege already on that team

Grace Curtis

Fun fact: I know a guy who worked on the original run of Six at Cambridge - he was the producer & even came up with the tag line (‘divorced, beheaded, maligned’). When Broadway approached them he was written out of the contract & never saw a penny - they didn’t even invite him to the premier. Just in case you wanted another reason to hate it. #girlbossing

Grace Curtis

My high-school did Big Fish and while our production was a complete mess I think it's generally good. Like not amazing or anything but still solid. Decent music, lyrics and plot. Passable is probably the best word for it. I feel like you could do a really, really magical production of it with the right creative tech team. I think my personal pick for weirdest musical adaption is the Death Note musical that almost happened. There's a demo album with Jeremy Jordan that sorta slaps? It's wild and I feel like there's gotta be some sort of story behind all of that. Also the Pokémon musical. God. Dear God.

I'm amazed I'm still friends with the people I took to see a local theatre production of Seussical with an all child cast. My justification is being a big Suess fan, a friends kid was performing as the Grinch and I heard Eric Idle was involved in the production, so figured it might be funny or creative. To make matters worse, the sound system in the theatre was really bad, so you could barely hear the children mumbling their weird rhymey Seuss lyrics.

Joshua Marchant

Did the director portray Michael Jackson as a protagonist or as the villain?

Steve Ray

Rambles are far too refined and informative for the common YouTube viewer.

Steve Ray

like hoo boy have I HEARD of side show

Cory Steele

I feel like the exact target audience of this video

Cory Steele

When will you be uploading on your main channel?

Diana Pugh

I saw a proshot bootleg of Ghost The Musical before the West End version of the show came out. I enjoyed that mostly because it was proshot BUT honestly I think it is a case of a really strong opening number (or at least catchy) and the rest of the show is just really boring. It came around the same time or a year or so after Sister Act. Which I also saw a bootleg of from the West End version. The Broadway version was just not good and I think the smaller stage did not help it at all.

L A Michaels

Starlight express slaps

Big Fish is a pretty fun musical, I think the dad is much more like able in the musical vs the movie. Plus it’s kind of a country musical. Not the best ever, but a personal favorite

One thing that annoyed me so much about Mamma Mia is that when Here We Go Again came out it suddenly became extremely taboo to criticize them in any way even though they’re generally regarded as being pretty poorly made. Bad writing, bad acting, bad directing. Yes, a lot of the criticism was rooted in misogyny, but the claim that “it’s okay for some films to be mediocre and just fun” isn’t some shield against criticisms. Especially since at that point we were in a dearth of bad musicals and this talking point shut down any discussion about how musicals could be made better.

Thomas Degroat

I can’t believe Jenny dislikes both mean girls and spring awakening, but seemingly likes Heathers

Reading the synopsis for Dear Evan Hansen made my skin crawl off my body then all 1,429 miles to the Music Box Theatre to shush Steven Levenson.

Amanda Kay

groundhog day was actually pretty good!! bad lyrics tho

Girafarig

god I'm SO glad I'm not alone in hating that specific Mean Girls line; it's just full-body cringe all the way down

Jane Mahoney

Never not bitter about it

Amanda Kay

Pardon me as I gather the roasted remains of my favorite mediocre musicals for burial lmao.

Corynn

honestly this is awesome news 😆📰🚫🛼

Shred Cadmium

Frozen on Broadway robbed that opportunity from Hunchback which is a legitimate masterpiece and I am still soooo salty because of it

Logan Stromberg

Punching down hahahaha 💀☠💀 txtx very fun

Andrew Hill

I actually saw Groundhog Day on Broadway and consider myself super lucky to have done so, because while it’s not *perfect* it’s actually really fun

Jadecore

i think it’s even more fun that in the little mermaid they weren’t wearing roller skates they were HEELIES because 2007

Emma Sweeney

I've only really watched certain film musicals, so most of this ramble is unknown territory for me (interesting to read people's opinions in the comments though). I keep looking over at Aragog, who seems to be trying to balance a dinosaur egg on his head. I'm sure it isn't, but it's stuck in my head this way now!

Rushka Unverricht

Hot take: FNL: The Musical is MUCH better than the movie.

Jiminy's Journal

I don’t think they make twelve-foot costumes.

Jiminy's Journal

Dirty Dancing’s stage adaptation is…a choice. Obviously, it’s a jukebox show. But, you may have noticed that I did not call it a musical. Because it’s not. It’s a bunch people performing the movie Dirty Dancing live on stage, while two separate people sing the songs above the stage (or, in some productions, to the side; I imagine this is affected by the theatre). Every song. It’s incredibly awkward. Also, The Rat Pack is not a bioshow about the titular group of performers but, in fact, a fictional concert that you’re seeing. There is no plot. These are two shows that have the opposite problem.

Jiminy's Journal

Honestly surprised that your favorite bad Mean Girls lyric isn't Regina's: "I am, like, drunk with power / this whole school humps my leg like a chihuahua", i.e., rhyming power with chihuahua to force a line that is not a thing anyone has ever said. The Groundhog Day musical is similarly weird lyrically-- the lyrics were written by an Australian and the show was premiered in London and it really shows (did they not remember that the characters would be doing American accents so many things would not rhyme?? did they not care??). Anyway, great video, I feel very vindicated for many of my unpopular takes. Thank you for making charming and well-thought-out content, it's the best!

Bailey Share

When she started with the list of Inexplicable Movie Adaptations I was really curious to see if The Wedding Singer would slide its way in there. I saw it in a local theatre production bc a family friend was in it. Can confirm that no one asked for this on broadway and it does not need to exist.

Alexis

Watched a few numbers from Side Show out of morbid curiosity and omg 😬 "I'm very well connected." "So are we." Also Houdini can't sing.

Luis

I will see you all of these and raise you Starlight Express live. :|

jason (james) dean, after all. it works...Slater in Pump Up the Volume is jd lite.

Ramble: best musicals please Jenny 🙌🏻

Given that all previous long-form, highly researched Jenny Nicholson works have been excellent and/or nominated for a Hugo, pretty happy with waiting for more Evermore.

Martin

The wire work and draping Ariel in a ton of flowy chiffon is so much better a choice than the bizarre roller skating rigs. I love that set too with the giant statue! That's gorgeous. I get what they're doing with her wig under water but I think it could be a little less silly than coming up into a point, but otherwise they're leagues ahead of the US production. Thanks for sharing this!!

SweetAlissum

“edgy musicals that teens like” brb flashing back to high school where i knew girls that crushes on jd from heathers, specifically the musical

god, i remember watching the 2017 tony’s and being shocked that DEH won best musical/soundtrack

katieeatsrocks

You could get a skeleton and put the costumes on it.

Patrick Harris

Every phrase is its own rollercoaster.

Shaun Cheah

Oh my highschool did Suessical my senior year, they were amazing. I think it was probably the best musical they did while I was there, but 100% it was down to the casting (The Cat in the Hat MC guy carried) and they had like, elementary kids from a performing school in as well who were amazing. It definitely wouldn't have been as fun with a different cast.

Mae

The Lord of the Rings musical originated in Toronto. It was the most expensive original production in Canadian theatrical history.

Island Boy

I was in Wedding Singer in high school and it is not a jukebox musical but it is admittedly pretty eh.

sucks that ppl are being creepy, i'm sorry :( looking forward to the evermore video!!

Jack Holmes

i agreed with all of your musicals and then you said spring awakening and i got so scared. but i see where you're coming from with the lyrics and i respect your opinion. would love to hear about your favorite musicals!

Katherine Barbera

What I found interesting about this is how much it is all recent musicals. I suspect that is because these are ones that Jenny actually got to see staged and on/off Broadway, but it was surprising to me that none of the older musicals (looking at you Carousel) got called out. I also suspect that we know less of the equivalent Love Never Dies or Tick, Tick BOOM because they were doomed to obscurity.

Dawn Earp

Does Jenny know that finding neverland was also a stage musical 😅 probably would have made the list too

Lindzzz

If Jenny wanted to "mix it up", she could try a lettered list instead of a numbered list. And we could have deep discoussion about item G on the list in the comments.

Stephen Gillie

You can get a mannequin and put the costumes on the mannequin instead of subjecting yourself to creepies

I will (for) forever maintain that Pasek and Paul's best score was Dogfight. The compositions were so much more inventive and experimental than their later work. The best thing to come out of Across the Universe was TV Carpio singing I Want To Hold Your Hand. The Lord of the Rings musical soundtrack actually had some gorgeous moments, like "Lothlorien" (the harmonies give me chills) and "Now and For Always" (because it's the closest thing we'll get to a Frodo/Sam love song). Also I still love N2N and TL5Y lol They've got a special place in my heart

Gian Balangue

I went to college where the writers of Tuck Everlasting went (or one of them, I think?) so we were constantly exposed to Tuck as well as their wildly unnecessary adaptation of Amelie, as well as a children’s theatre musical called Noah’s Art, in which the title character sings “I wake up in the morning, Think about a train set / Pretend to brush my teeth, think about a train set / Mom makes me breakfast, scrambled eggs and train set / She hands me my sack lunch… I hope she packed a train set”

Nick Oswalt

Jenny your make up is always so gorgeous ❤️

Jay Taylor

I think I might've heard Groundhog Day was good. I know Tim Minchin was involved in the writing, so there's that. Speaking of which, I remember him talking once about how the original Frozen director was trying to actually do something interesting with it, so of course Disney fired that director and hired a new one to make the boring version they wanted

matt

Also, i played the geek in my community theatre production of side show as a favour to my mate who was directing and needed more guys. oh man. that was a thing.

Robert Woods

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on Annette....

Robert Woods

In high school I was on the tech crew for a production of The Wedding Singer. Surprisingly, it was not a jukebox musical--all original songs. But shocker, still very, very bad.

I used to work on Broadway and Off Broadway and I am embarrassed at how many of these I was involved in. Also, I met my wife at a live performance of The Last Five Years that JRB did. Also also, I'm amazed "Rocky: The Musical" wasn't on the digression list. Yes, THAT Rocky.

Case Aiken

I love most of these shows still and I’m 28. I must have a stunted intellect lol. I’m curious which shows you do really like!

Monika

The secondhand embarrassment I felt just describing it And the bad cgi

Jenny Nicholson

Maybe you could do different Halloween costumes for Aragog and the Giant Porg for Halloween? Most creeps probably aren't into that. Hopefully

Anna Mott

I just want to note for the record that there is a 1994 musical* called “The Worst” (by Josh Alan) based on the life of infamous writer/director Ed Wood, and I really enjoyed the album (tho some of the songs are slightly problematic, in terms of offensive language). * Actually, I now realise it was probably more of a concept album (or a demo for a proposed musical?) and was never actually staged... d'oh!

Dee Crosier

Ohhhh I really did not like the Legally Blonde musical, and feel the same way about it as you did about Mean Girls. I thought it did the movie absolutely no justice, including (spoilers I guess?) kind of vindicating the ex boyfriend at the end? And also taking away Elle's agency in showing people how valuable she is & instead making a man tell her she can do it. Some of the numbers are fun (the jump rope number, for example) but I was like, why was this needed?

Jessica David

are the red cheeks e-girl makeup or like, a fever? looks awesome but hope you're okay lol

Someonetobe

Jenny I’m begging you please find a Groundhog Day bootleg

Elaine Waite

I only know Side Show from philosophytube using The Devil You Know in a video and I still listen to it cause it's a v fun song, I guess maybe I shouldn't check out the context lol

Paul Ganzevoort

I look forward to the Halloween season episodes!

Sarah Jesness

Lol I didn't expect Sideshow to be mentioned! I never heard anyone talk about it.

Sarah Jesness

I'm really glad you mentioned the "She's So Heavy" scene from Across the Universe, because that is burned into my memory as one of the worst scenes I've ever witnessed in a movie. Even in 2007 when I was in high school, the obnoxiously blunt symbolism made me cringe.

J. Francis

This is my new favorite video of yours!

Brent Black

You're Dear Evan Hansen description of "a bunch of people sing separately about how they're sad" reminds me of how much I hated Annette.

I’m here to ride for Finding Neverland. It’s much better than you think it would be.

James OSullivan

I've never seen the lord of the rings musical but i have heard 'now and for always' and like most things about hobbits it does make me cry every time

Jacqui Sutherland

listen i love mamma mia but specifically because it has 'drunk karaoke night with friends' vibes more so than 'a musical theatre experience. i'm also strongly biased towards both ABBA and colin firth

Jacqui Sutherland

the best and only true way to experience next to normal is to go see it with your high school drama class with very little background info on the show (in this scenario, you are a severely depressed 17 year old not addressing said depression and fighting a LOT with your mom), have the most intense, uncontrollable public cry you will ever have in your life (starting near the end of act 1 and just continuing for the rest of the show), and never revisit it because it was simultaneously so cathartic and so traumatic. not that i’m speaking from lived experience or anything. very glad dear evan hansen was after my time lol

absolutely livid that porg vacuuming didn't win

Ola Sarcasm

I feel so vindicated as a great comet fan with this new wave of dear evan hansen criticism/hate. It’s as generic and bad now as it was in 2017.

I heard a song from Groundhog Day completely out of context (I think on a Spotify playlist) that I thought was pretty good, and was shocked when I realized where it was from. I still haven’t listened to the full album, but I should.

BrittaBott

I don't really like live musicals (not a fan of live performances in general, I get like secondhand stage fright from them for some reason) and I'm always surprised to hear just how <em>many</em> there are. It's like a whole other world directly under my nose, lol. And I even know some of these by name! I've heard DEH songs before and when I went to read the Wikipedia summary I was... well, the plot sure is a thing that someone wrote. And tbh I thought SIX was a concept album and not a full show. Don't know how I missed that; I think it even says 'musical' in the cover. I guess that just supports your point, haha. And here is my tepid jukebox musical take: They are basically a <i>Now That's What I Call Music</i> CD but with skits after every song. <b>Re: Outro</b> I'm so looking forward to the Evermore video, I've probably watched the first part like 10 times already! It was cool to hear the cameos by other theme park channels—in part because it made me realize that for someone that doesn't really care much about or enjoy going to theme parks I watch a weird amount of theme park content. And UGH, why do people have to be so disgusting? The halloween costume video was super funny, but of course the creeps have to go and ruin it. But I feel like weird costumes are funny even on a mannequin or even just the product photo, so I'm sure you'll find a solution! The travel video sounds intriguing; I wonder if it will be in the vein of Spider Quest? Phew, this comment is long, I wonder if Patreon will delete it as it tends to do with my other rambling walls of text. :'D

Lea Chinelo

Referring to Ben Platt as “the actor who plays Evan,” then name-checking Colm Wilkinson.. 🥰

BrittaBott

the way you said "it was a matinée, so it was MORNING" is the most relatable you've ever been ngl

TalysAlankil

I had the exact same edge-to-cringe arc with Next to Normal! Weirdly, I think the moment I stopped being fond of Next to Normal was when I saw The Last Five Years. They both try to "reveal hard truths" in a way that feels (unintentionally) dishonest and skewed

big bird (not that one)

Wow - This list on its own includes like twice the number of musicals I’ve seen in my entire life put together. Now I’m wondering if I’ve seen an oddly low number of musicals 🤷🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️

Aaron Smith

Never been so excited to see the credits for a youtube video.

Eric MacMillan

Counterpoint, when you're a high school production with no budget for sets you really need the ability to drop a curtain sometimes

Jenny Nicholson

Sorry I love the idea of a high school doing Side Show

Jenny Nicholson

I'll always have a bit of a soft spot for Dear Evan Hansen, only because it was the first Broadway show this guy I went to High School with got to be in. He was always super nice and quality of the musical itself aside, super happy for him to finally get to live his dream on stage!

Theresa

What about rating costumes based on the model photos of the costumes as a hip and fun way to avoid trying on clothes on camera?

God do i hate dear evan hansen. i am still soooo bitter great comet lost the tony to it

We did it in middle school, strongest memory is during dress rehearsal our Horton trying to do a dramatic slide on his knees and then sliding completely off the front of the stage because he was unprepared for how slidey the elephant onesie was

MW

totally agree that The Little Mermaid adaptation is bad, BUT I do legitimately love a lot of the staging choices this Japanese production made: https://youtu.be/uxuN4MnO1j0

Jane Mahoney

I am a Greatest Showman apologist. I know its terrible. But I love it, and will sing along at the top of my lungs to the soundtrack. I also have a soft spot for Mamma Mia but that's probably mostly related to my ABBA love. I saw Shrek the Musical live in NYC when I was in 8th grade and it was...okay? The staging was nice at least I think. Can't stand Rent. Currently that remains my least favorite musical. I haven't listened to Dear Evan Hanson but the plot is just a deterrent to me.

MW

back in 2019 my high school did production of side show, oh boy was it an experience. the funniest part was when the girls playing the twins got into fights and started to hate each other by the time we started performing, and on closing night, before the show, one of them threatened to not go onstage because she didn't want to get harnessed in with the other girl because they hated each other so much.

Also feel the same about Sideshow! A pretty esteemed theatre company where I live put it on a while ago so I was HYPE for it and left feeling so underwhelmed

Going to join the crowd of people recommending Groundhog Day!! It isn’t mind blowing but it’s a rly solid show I enjoy. So glad to hear somebody say what I’ve always thought about Six too, I felt like I was going crazy when everybody was hyping it up so much considering it’s so bland

I haven't heard anything from it (because I have no interest in the original movie), but the Groundhog Day musical was written by Tim Minchin, so it might actually be good despite all odds.

Markus D

A Disney-movie-based musical that I think is fantastic is The Hunchback of Notre Dame because it's made more mature than the movie and takes away the tonal whiplash it had by trying to be kid-friendly. Also, all the songs in it are great except maybe "Flight into Egypt" (which I don't think is bad, but is the one song that I feel could be cut because it doesn't progress the plot very much and therefore seems too long). I personally like "Fathoms Below" and "The World Above" from The Little Mermaid musical. Not enough to save it, especially since besides "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and "Part of Your World" and it's reprise I didn't really like the other songs in the original movie, but the musical adds SO MANY mediocre-to-bad tracks.

Markus D

Spider-Man the Musical was mentioned in passing, but it didn't make the list? Seems odd for a famously disastrous show.

The Bearded One

You are awesome too!

Johnnie

I don't really watch a lot of musicals, so I don't hate on a whole bunch of them. I really dislike Rent. I think that Hamilton and Hadestown are both overrated, but it's mostly down to me not being exceptionally fond of either styles of music. Hadestown ESPECIALLY. I tried listening to the whole soundtrack and I couldn't find a single song I wanted to hear again because they just seemed boring. Definitely agree on Mamma Mia! I like a fair amount of the songs in the musical, but that just means I like ABBA songs in their original context.

Markus D

I can confirm, Groundhog Day did not translate well. The repetition gets tiring, the music is not memorable, and the townsfolk are very one dimensional and obnoxious.

I read the "Dear Evan Hansen" book and the entire time I just felt so uncomfortable the character of Evan. Waving through a window is the only song I really like though.

Totesnotasheep

Would love a full Tarzan video with deets on that Community Production you saw!

johnthebard

Saw Little Mermaid as an outdoor production a few years ago and as it hurtled towards the conclusion, I realized the original finale was probably going to cause problems, but I was not expecting that the end result was to go so far the other way as to essentially not even try for something interesting. I haven't seen this one yet, but I hear that's also what kind of flattened the Broadway adaptation of Anastasia. Sure, the supernatural elements are outlandish, but at this point we also know that Anastasia surviving the massacre was apparently also fiction, so... if you're gonna do it, why not go full throttle?

Michael Harle

I was worried she was going to throw Spamalot in there, 'cause I truly enjoy it. Glad to hear Big Fish has some merit; my dad loves the movie, but the musical kind of came and went before I even realized it existed.

Michael Harle

I'd describe The Last Five Years as "did you ever have someone tell you about an argument they were in... and you can feel yourself taking the other person's side?"

S G Matthews

My dad and I found that we both enjoyed Mamma Mia! in the moment, but the farther away we got from the theater, the more it dawned on us that it was crap. Happened with both the stage play and the film. Cursed indeed.

Michael Harle

Finding Neverland and Big Fish are actually both really beautiful as musicals!! They're two of my all-time favorites. Almost all the songs in FN are bangers IMO

Jeeeeeeeze. This week is a breadtube patreon jackpot. New stuff from natalie, lindsay, and jenny. Don't even know what to do with myself.

run_away

Unfortunately not 😂 I would love to hear her take on it. I went from absolutely hating it to loving it for how unabashedly cheesy and bad it was during the duration of the film

Moose

I think definitely use Giant Porg or Aragog for the costumes if you don't want to use a mannequin, that'd be funny. I'm surprised you didn't mention Repo! The Genetic Opera - a film SO bad it's good but I forgot its name and had to google "bad futuristic goth musical film" 😂

Moose

I signed in to comment about how well regarded the musical is! One of my great sorrows is that a regional theater was supposed to put it on by me in 2020 but they had to cancel it because it was too expensive 😭 (and then well, 2020 happened)

I was anxious the whole time like "Oh god she's definitely gonna list one of my favourite shows" but most of them were shows I decided to skip because they looked bad XD

Mariayuri Kumagae

I was so excited to listen to the cast recording and then the songs are so bad. Just a terrible adaptation

Bat Boy is absolutely bonkers, but it's also VERY aware of what it is and doesn't shy away from it at all, and it's hard to not admire that.

I already miss Big Porrrrrg ☹️

Shred Cadmium

There's a musical called Bat Boy and it's based on a Weekly World News story about a half boy half bat found in a cave. I haven't seen it but I've heard one song, and I really like it but the lyrics are so hilariously bad. "They stripped him of his dignity, they beat him like a gong, and he was kicked repeatedly. And that was wrong!"

Vincent Briggs

Frey, the last five years is so transparently mean spirited, to an already uncomfortable degree even before knowing the backstory to it. And if you know, it’s kinda unwatchable in its own context - it’s the DEH problem that the songs are quite good, (I like Sincerely, Me!) just when you divorce them of the plot of their own show

I love this community. I haven't watched the video yet - I've just skimmed the comments - and just on that basis I know I'm going to see something funny, interesting and thought-provoking You are all awesome and I want you all to take a brief moment &amp; concentrate on that 🙌✊😁

Shred Cadmium

patience young grasshopper

Shred Cadmium

I was shocked when I learned that Six is just a cabaret/concert format. Because I’d heard good things and the TikTok kids were freaking out about it. And I thought the songs were silly and might be fun in the right show. But definitely not for me. I yelled when you said “how dare you stand where he stood” hahaha I watched Ghost the musical recently because I found it on YT and thought why not. And I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed some of the songs. That made the whole thing more enjoyable for me. But it’s an odd one to adapt into a music for sure. Like why?

Bailey Wise

i had an extremely similar experience to your mama mia one. after seeing moonrise kingdom i had a terrible backache and it turned out i had 4 knots in my back the size of tennis balls. have not rewatched but my mom got me a poster :\

Em Buehler

I really like the story I told myself in my head, listening to Dear Evan Hansen without reading anything. I imagined he was doing it on purpose, knowing it was two-faced and kind of parasitic but hating the thought of losing his new social connections, and so I thought it was a story where the main character was probably awful but had agency and something interesting going on. Then I read the novelization. You know how someone seems really cool when they're at a bit of a distance, but when you get a little closer, you feel embarrassed that this person captivated you so much?

Crescent Minor

really not surprising that Jenny was a theater kid including the stereotypical angst towards the football team

Quesly

Lowkey sad you don’t like Next to Normal but I agree with pretty much all of these. Now we need a video of your favorite musicals!

Casey May

the eyeshadow looks soooo good!!!!

detunedpiano

Related to TTB - I also hate "writers writing about writing" type media and I have a theory about it! Basically, writers (or any media making person) is going to get a skewed idea of how much the audience cares about What Its Like to Be a Writer because 1) they wanted to be writer and cared about that stuff, and 2) aspiring writers are asking them about it all the time. So there's a small but vocal segment of the audience who really wants to hear all about What It's Like, and meanwhile everyone else is like "could you just... write a STORY" but they're not the ones asking about it. Add in the occasional ego stroking and back patting (especially when its Movies about Making movies) and you have a recipe for a lot of output that is only remotely interesting to a small number of people yet gets positioned as super important anyway.

Natalie Arnold

Great ramble, as usual! And the discussion at the end plus the preview has me so hype for the Evermore video

Sideshow Bob Stepping On Rakes

the groundhog day musical was so good!!

My opinions no one cares about: Spring awakening is terrible. I have listened to it all the way through and just awful. No song is good. A few good moments but that’s it. Next to normal: i have have only listened to I’m Alive and I’m Alive slaps. But also it has never inspired me to listen to the whole musical. Chicago in no way is a bad musical but i saw the movie after seeing the broadway production and the movie is better. Save yourself a lot of money and just watch the movie.

Spencer Hastings

Also thanks for your work on Evermore, it was more than expected, but the first hour was great, looking forward to the full video.

Dan Gibbins

rip my favorite &lt;/3 didnt even get a full rant

vera ☮︎

Wedding Singer is my guilty pleasure fave. Love some early Laura Benanti and 80’s-style jams

I've actually seen two amateur productions of the Wedding Singer musical, and to my surprise it is not a jukebox musical, and done right, kinda slaps.

Dan Gibbins

When I was 15, I dated this closeted 18 year old whose dad was literally an anti-gay rights activist. A running tension in our relationship was him trying to get me to listen to Dear Evan Hansen and Next to Normal. He lives in Canada now.

Jack

Not to sound ungrateful, but does Jenny do actual (non-Patreon) videos anymore?

Gilbert Aquino

It was enjoyable watching this having no experience with musicals. No stress over having opinions that needed to be validated.

Bryan Sutton

Anytime Jenny does a list of bad things I just sit there sweating, hoping she doesn't ruin any of my favorites. Panicked when she mentioned Heathers, but I think it's safe for now.

Nathan

Frankly, I enjoyed the Finding Neverland soundtrack when I heard it. It has some good songs.

Tori

I was in a high school theater production of The Wedding Singer! It is *not* a jukebox musical, if I had to describe it it’s basically the plot of the movie but with a lot more 80s nostalgia added.

Melissa Wright

I will not stand for this slander of thrust stages! They combine the best of both worlds of a round and proscenium setting. Honestly my favorite configuration to direct

Thomas Hartwell

I was initially pained by your inclusion of The Last Five Years but your reasoning was sound so I can’t fault you for it. Also she did successfully sue and as a result I believe one song was taken out and replaced entirely and there were lots of other lyric changes.

Simi Parquette

For a true Seuss musical, check out THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T, a film from the late 50s. The cast and score are superb, and the production design really goes for the Seuss look. There was a stage version many years later, but it used different music that I haven't heard because what's the point

Ham

I literally watched Mamma Mia last night! It was terrible!

James Peeler

I have not seen the wedding singer musical, only heard the tracks, but I have always been a big fan and even frequently used the song "Someday" as an audition piece when trying out for musicals back when I did such a thing. the guy who played Robbie is a musical comedian (Stephen Lynch) I was a big fan of back in the day, so I'm sure that helped my opinion!

Melissa

(also I actually DID write a whole ass paper on the LoTR stage adaptation, and my GOD it sounded like the most glorious trainwreck)

Emi Cohen

Was nervous at first, but this is a very accurate list! The one thing I slightly disagree with is the Six take; I could write a whole ass essay on how it utilizes a postmodern framing of historiography and is thus directly antithetical to Hamilton. That said, the lyrics run the gamut from mildly clever to OHGODNOSTOP, so I totally get why it has a place on this list

Emi Cohen

We ALSO did Seussical in highschool without a theater! Instead of a thrust stage, though, we went full in-the-round, because that was the only way we could fit enough audience into the multi purpose room we staged it in. I actually have really fond memories of that show... but yeah, it's not a good musical.

That channel has to be marked as PG and some of the subject matter in this didn't fit in those guidelines

Jenny Nicholson

Great list! I’d recommend checking out Groundhog Day, if only for the magic of Tim Minchin’s music.

Cam Adams

Not surprised Mamma Mia is here (watch it with friends and dance. It is just a dance party! It’s great!) I’m kinda surprised Grease isn’t on here. I like Grease but idk i just think of it as kinda similar to mamma mia.

Spencer Hastings

Aw, the movie or the stage version? I think the movie is absolutely sublime but I can defffff understand not liking the stage version

Thomas Hartwell

13:20

Gabi Christie

Ooh I hope you hate ONCE as much as I do

Lee

just the other day i listened to mean girl's 'i'd rather be me', and honestly i think the reason i listened to that song all the time when i was a high school sophomore was because i could just understand like 1/3 of the lyrics since my english wasn't good back then. also it was such an iconic "not like the other girls" song so of course it was one of my favorites. lol

ignacia maría

Can anyone tell the time when she stops talking about DEH?

Tori

100% on your Dear Evan Hansen rant. I've seen in twice and really REALLY wanted to try to like it... I just couldn't. Mainly for a lot of the reasons you mentioned. SiX is another one where I do like the "show" but you're right, it's really not a "show" it is more of a concert. Seeing it in the very small venue in the UK was a really fun night out, though. Groundhog Day was oddly an "okay" show. Nothing outstanding, but better than expected! And as a huge fan of the Frozen films, I just couldn't get into the Broadway show. It's a shame as I like some of the new music written, but I just couldn't find myself being a fan. Loved this ramble video, BTW! This is the content I'm subscribed for!

Theme Park Review

The Curse of Mamma Mia!

Luis

so glad to hear ghost the musical slander …. once i stage managed an under-rehearsed amateur production &amp; it was one of the Worst experiences of my life

Elliot Aitken

I loved the Groundhog Day musical tho the bootleg was real bad

The musicals are: The Greatest Showman, Dear Evan Hanson, Mean Girls (the musical), Tarzan (the stage musical), The Little Mermaid (the stage musical), Tick Tick Boom, The Last Five Years, Across the Universe, Mama Mia (I think the movie version), Six, Frozen (the stage musical), Spring Awakening, Ghost the Musical, Seussical, Love Never Dies, and Sideshow.

PRodger

Would love to hear what your favorite musicals are !!!!

That slime plush though

AppleSnaps

That’s a great idea! And if she can’t find a mannequin, she could use the giant porg!

Elizabeth Morgan

Groundhog Day was actually really good! I understand the hesitation, because I had no expectations when I rushed it (after disappointingly missing out on Great Comet rush) and was pleasantly surprised! I still put it on rotation every once in awhile. The tony performance is also great imo, if you want a taste.

Omg I was with you until we got to TL5Y 😩

Marissa Collins

I think an Aragog Halloween costume fashion show would be fantastic for the spooky season. His spider body seems to be around the right size, though the legs might be an issue...

I was so nervous but, other than Mamma Mia, this list told no lies… Ok fine I also love Seussical. And good news! Wedding Singer is NOT a jukebox!

Babs

Put the Halloween costumes on a manikin!

Johnny

thank you for putting into words why I don’t like mean girls. the lyrics are like nails on chalkboard

Brandon

Movies about writers sucking is why I did not like The Hours. So insufferable.

JANINE DAVIS

me, a 25 year old whose favorite show is spring awakening: *sweats nervously*

Bonnie

Absolutely no disrespect to the Unsinkable Molly Brown - she was amazing - but I didn't know there was a musical about her and absolutely cackled at the choice of someone so specific and so (as I thought at the time) utterly unrelated to the general subject matter.

Kav

I hope your next giant plush is a King Slime from dragon quest

virulencio

ugh, i saw the little mermaid show as a gift for my high school graduation back when it was on broadway, and was so disappointed. my least favorite part was how they couldn't figure out how to do that whole "ursula turns huge and they have to sail a boat into her" ending, so they just gave her a necklace that holds all her power and... had ariel run up to her and break it as the finale. like why could you not have done that from the beginning???

Shiny Skunk

Did you see World's Greatest Dad? Seems very similar in plot to Dear Evan Hansen but a lot better. It's with Robin Williams, super dark satire.

Trystan

Real talk, I was at original DC previews of DEH back in… 2014 I want to say? And I left at intermission and have never once felt bad about that decision.

Marissa Collins

I am hurt

I remember seeing a reference to Dear Evan Hansen somewhere, so I read up the plot and it made me feel queasy.

roses are red violets are blue pickleball is dumb and golf sucks too

I skimmed through it and it sounds like she didn't tear into Repo The Genetic Opera, thank god &lt;3

Voidscribe

I wonder if beetlejuice is gonna be on here (it’s my least fave) 🤭🤭

Wait the video's on the main channal. Did something happen to the the 2nd one?

Yoav Fine

Hello fellow commenters !! I'm a huge musical fan, can someone watch the vid and tell me what the musicals are beforehand so I know how much I should prepare myself lol. Nothing but love as always but I'd just like to know before I jump in! Thanks!

carlyimas

Happy Birthday!!

Yay right on my birthday :D

Luis

First 🥳

emily b