Favorite Musical?

[Dong Zhou]

I admittedly have only seen one musical in my life: Oklahoma. (Which I loved, btw.)

I feel uncultured!

That’s about to change though. I have tickets to see Kinky Boots in a couple weeks. I’ll make sure to write my impressions.

In terms of actually seeing a musical live, once when young. Joseph and his multicolour dreamcoat. Most of mine are films or recorded for TV productions (ditto Shakespeare plays). Mostly cost but also personal preference (and other issues) so I wouldn't worry about feeling uncultured

Hope Kinky Boots goes well, look forward to hearing your thoughts

[Sun Fin]

I'm very fortunate that my parents and school encouraged me to see a lot of live theater, an opportunity I took with both hands. I loved Joseph, the first time I saw it H, formerly of boy group Steps, was playing the titular role and it was amazing. I think that was the first musical I saw.

I'm yet to see Kinky Boots but my mother went to see it a few years ago. She loved it but said she blushed in a few places!

[Jia Nanfeng]

Oh, if we count musical movies, I've seen a bunch more than just 2.

I saw Kinky Boots on stage last night! What a great show! I don't think I stopped smiling the entire time.

It had a great message of accepting people for who they are, without being heavy-handed or preachy about it. I feel like that's the best way to approach issues like these (in case anyone doesn't know, Kinky Boots is about drag queens and gender expression, and indeed half the cast are drag queens).

Outside of the overall friendly feel and message, it's also downright hilarious. The audience was sometimes laughing so loud that I missed out on dialogue.

Musically, there's some really catchy tunes and lyrics, but that's to be somewhat expected considering Cyndi Lauper wrote the songs. Any song that featured the Angels is particularly memorable.

As far as blushing, as Sun Fin mentioned, I can completely understand why people might. The dialogue is overall "PG" except for a couple more risqué lines and a few slurs, but the drag queens can be... quite scantily clad at times! One instance in particular involves a tiny bikini and my mom about had a heart attack (in a good way). Many hoots and hollers for these fierce girls all around. I can totally see some people having their sense of attraction challenged. (It happened to me too. )

And just how the heck do these girls perform so expertly in high heels?! Some of them were doing flips!!

Outside of the show, there was also a highlight from intermission, as I watched all the older folk around me read the cast list to confirm the girls are really played by boys. The gasps of shock and surprise were worth the price of admission alone.

[Sun Fin]

The closest experience I've had to that was Miss Saigon. In the opening scene there are women pole dancing on either side of the stage, scantily dressed too. Then the same thing happens in the opening number of the second half. Only part way through I realised that they were men dressed as women. I was blushing profusely through both songs. I love musicals and thoroughly enjoyed the show but am the first to admit I'm a bit of a prude and so it was a step out of my comfort zone!

[Dong Zhou]

I have watched the Rocky Horror show a few times in the safety of my home so I'm used to that feeling Glad you had a great time Jia Nanfeng

[Dong Zhou]

Watched La La Land which was a critical hit at the time. Technically I see why, it has colourful and impressive visuals, the dancing is impressive, it reflects a mirror on Hollywood, it has a notable cast, some clever use of certain music as a theme. Yet I didn't love it, I liked the songs well enough within the context of the film, I liked Emma Stone's Mia and she provided a fair bit of charm but I never warmed to Ryan Gosling's Sebastian, even when the character grew a brain after spending so long being an arrogant idiot, or them as a couple. I found that as film went on, I would occasionally find myself wondering if I should turn it off then be pulled back in by something like a moment or a piece of music. Overall I had a nice enough time but it wasn't for me

[Sun Fin]

My wife and I did something we've never done before... left a West End musical at the break.

Our decision was aiding by the fact our under ground line was closing at 10 PM but even so we just weren't enjoying 42nd Street. There were no particularly strong singers, nor did any song jump out at us. The story-line itself was alright but whenever it went into the show within the show I just lost interest. The only really strong part was the tap dancing, an art form I know next to little about and not enough to properly appreciate. It isn't one I would recommend but if you do enjoy tap dancing then perhaps it is for you!

[Dong Zhou]

Sorry that musical didn't work out and your money was wasted, hope next one goes a lot better

[Dong Zhou]

Tried Funny Girl with Sheridan Smith as the lead, Sky Arts possibly went with too long an intro in what felt like an attempt to ensure people were excited. It didn't click for me, the lead character seems to require comic touch and pizzas to work and Sheridan Smith didn't bring that in this performance.

[Dong Zhou]

We went to see The Greatest Showman. I'd heard positive things and it lived up to all of them! Music was awesome, acting believable and the story line was interesting and engaging! We got home and put the soundtrack on straight away! Would definitely recommend! Might even get a 9 from the Dong's!

It got a 2 Probably a 6 to 6.5 but will see it again at some point in future as a family film. I remember the critics going "the whitewashing is hilarious but otherwise it is alright, not memorable" and then being rather puzzled by the massive sales and popularity. I'm less on the puzzled but we more lean to the it is alright.

It has flaws, the pace is extremely fast as if "scenes between songs" were cut as short as possible, timelines can get confused as suddenly you're months later. There is the feeling that, bar a traditional character journey P. T. Barnum is whitewashed particularly the founding of his circus, it is the first musical in a long time where I have felt "ok now for the random singing" whereas I usually sink right into the fantasy required.

There was something likeable about it, a charm and goodwill that kept us going. The casting by Tiffany Little Canfield and Bernard Telsey was very good, not for the singing as such (Keala Settle as the bearded lady and Rebecca Ferguson as Jenny Lind the best two for that) but for good performances that helped one like the people beyond their thinly written characters. Also for finding romantic chemistry, each pairing had a certain charge despite the female characters (Michelle Williams doing very well as wife) being secondary to the two male leads P. T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) and Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron). Its story follows certain tropes and despite being thinly done, it pulls off the scenes well enough and its big theme has some good moments as well as some heavy handed ones.

The music? I really like A Million Dreams, the rest had a bit of energy, some moments like chorus of opener or the reprise of never enough but wasn't memorable. I was more impressed by the dancing which could easily have looked silly but was well done and sometimes more memorable then the songs.