When the book does not work and you think you can do better

La Cage Aux Folles is an absolutely wonderful musical, and Jean-Michel is a little turd. ALL THEY NEEDED TO DO was have Anne be the one who lied to her father (which I believe was the case in the original play/film?). They can still have the emotional journey of being disappointed that Jean-Michel would rather go along with the deception than be proud of his fathers, and honestly Anne's not that deep a character that we need the uncertainty of will she or won't she accept Jean-Michel's family for who they are, as long as it's reasonably clear she lied to her father because she was panicking rather than out of malice.

I like this thread





 The Sound of Music needs some edge?



Not all the guards at that concert hall would have been asleep.



Last scene.

The family ascend the hill towards Switzerland, softly Lisle(?) starts humming “the Hills are alive….” When a shot rings out and she falls.



Maria starts to sing and the others join in as they race up the hill. One by one they are picked off as the Orchestra gets quieter.

Finally, Maria stands alone and turns to face her pursuers.

The curtain falls as she’s singing “’til you find your….”

A shot rings out…

I think the biggest disappointment for many of us was Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. It just didn’t work. I sat there thinking of my set, new book, songs from the film and how everything SHOULD have been. Broadway added more songs but I hear made the set WORSE. Such a shame as the film is incredible!!!!

It’s been a loooong time since Dennis Lawson and Sian Philips hooked me into musical comedy with a WE revival of Pal Joey. I thought is so good I went about 5 times in one summer.

It doesn’t get revived despite some of the best songs ever, Bewitched, I could write a book (Lady is a Tramp in the film version) etc. I read an interview where Hytner said he wanted to do it but couldn’t work out a ‘fix’ the second half. I’ve never quite understood that. I’m sure just one more Rogers & Hart song added after the interval is needed. Also when it was first produced they were wary of the fact the main character is something of a ‘heel’. Today we are used to plots featuring this and an ending showing Joey, down on his luck until some new woman has the misfortune to meet his considerable charm could show the cyclical behaviour of such characters and end on a bittersweet upnote.

(Although in the age of “Me Too” the timing might not be right for a musical about a “loveable rogue”. There’s no suggestion of coercion, but a womaniser he remains.)

The main problem I had with Love Never Dies is that the Phantom is a multiple murderer who kills whenever he doesn't get what he wants, and somehow everyone else — and the show itself — acts as though this is a minor quirk of personality instead of a reason to keep the hell out of his reach forever.

I disagree here. I think everyone went in with the pre-conception this was a musical of the original 1971 Movie. It wasn't. The movie, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory was a variation of the original book, of the same title as the musical. But they were all separate entities. 
Its like saying The Phantom of the Opera was a massive failure because it didn't feature any of the music from the Lon Chaney film.

I'll also bid for a rewrite of 'Love Never Dies'. It had plenty of story, but no subject matter; no 'reason to be'. Fans of 'Phantom' were insulted by the LND retcon of events in the original - with made out that Christine and the Phantom had...made out... when we weren't looking, during the original.

Christine's young son Gustav in LND is pivotal. The Phantom becoming obsessed with him is interesting. But he didn't need to be the Phantom's biological son for this to happen. As well as annoying the fans to engineer that, it takes all the subject matter out of it, and reduces it to fan fiction plotting.

Surely it's more interesting if the gift of music, that Gustav gets from his mother, is something the Phantom feels responsible for - and ownership of - having taught her secretly at the Paris opera house. In doing so he unlocked the music in Christine, stifled until then by grief for her dead father. Battles for possession of Gustav would then enact an exploration of where 'talent traits' come from - nature or nurture. The Phantom would feel that, united by some higher muse - via music - Gustav is truly his son, and he is his true father.

Early in the show we could be introduced to some of the truly bizarre exhibits of Coney Island - bizarre because they are closer to our world than contortionists, clowns and stilt walkers. Imagine the weirdness of a song about the 'baby incubator' attraction:

"for 40 years, from 1903 to 1943, America's premier amusement park was also home to a genuine life-and-death struggle, played out beside the surf.

Martin Couney's Infant Incubator facility was one of Coney Island's most popular exhibits. "All the World Loves a Baby" read a sign above the entrance. Inside, premature babies fought for their lives, tended by a team of dedicated medical staff. To see the babies, you paid 25 cents. A guard-rail prevented visitors getting too close to the tiny figures encased in incubators" From BBC News website

Oddly, I think I first heard about this baby incubator exhibit in an interview with ALW. So, it's surprising this fascinating aspect didn't make it into the show, and wasn't recognised for its usefulness to the themes.

I think you are blinded by "Me Too" to what's going on in Pal Joey.  Mrs Simpson is a rich predatory woman who makes Joey sleep with her before she will fund his night club.  Or is it all right if a woman does it?

Possibly but I think he was attracted by another feminine conquest as much as her wealth, and the financial deal was her way of keeping him interested. She's quite the sophisticated lady and she's fully aware, where as Joey is just a man thinking with his "little brain".



"Lost my heart but what of it?

My mistake, I agree

He's a laugh, but I love it

Because the laugh's on me"



A similar case in point was the recent An American in Paris. Several on here said they felt uneasy about the 4 guys chasing the uninterested girl. No one commented on the older lady who was clearly modelled on, but not nearly as deeply drawn, as Mrs. Simpson. I felt she was as predatory as the men.

I wish someone would completely rewrite The Bakers Wife. Cut back on all the villagers and find a way to not have the title character offstage for most of the second act.

Definitely a lost cause. Though it probably makes more sense if your watching the show after having a couple of drinks!

In a similar vein, the WWRY plot is pretty naff!

Not lost the plot.  Just pointing out that a rich woman using her money and another's ambitions to get the sex she wants isn't beyond coming out badly under moral scrutiny.

Oh, and I've always wondered whether her name was an allusion to Edward VIII's bride.  I have read the O'Hara original and I don't think the name "Simpson" figures.