"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
What qualifies these shows as hokey? I think several shows mentioned here have darker elements that are being overlooked.
OKLAHOMA is about Curley and Laurey, who sublimate their feelings to the point that Laurey takes Jud, an obsessive lonely sexual deviant to a party to make Curley jealous. It results in Jud threatening Laurey’s life and attempting to kill Curley not once but twice, before dying a violent death.
GYPSY is about a woman living vicariously through her daughters until she drives one to run away and the other to take up a seedy profession. It concludes with the comforting message that your parents destroy your life until they grow old and you get to take care of them.
ANNIE has all the elements of hoke – kids, dogs and a Christmas tree. But the Broadway revival and the two movies dulled and softened the show’s more adult elements that were present in the unparalleled original Broadway production. An orphan pining for the parents who abandoned her. An abusive, alcoholic orphanage matron. A kidnapping plot. Hooverville bums. A country in the midst of the depression. Also, ANNIE has to be viewed in the time in which it opened – 1977 – with New York City on the brink of financial ruin, and the country still reeling from the Vietnam War and Watergate. ANNIE was a corollary – a reminder that the country faced tough times before and a leader with vision and our own optimism for the future (tomorrow’s only a day away after all) saw us through.
ANYONE CAN WHISTLE does have a sentimental streak – the Fay/Hapgood romance – but it is surrounded by a very unconventional, somewhat cynical show.
BYE BYE BIRDIE and ANNIE GET YOUR GUN seem to have nothing on their minds but to entertain. They are models of the musical comedy form, both with sublime scores. (Is there any score with more song hits than ANNIE GET YOUR GUN?) ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, with its original book, creaks a bit, but the 1966 Lincoln Center rewrite that removed Tommy and Winnie actually made a huge difference and that version of the show still plays beautifully.
As far as THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE…I can’t get a good handle on that show. The score is outstanding, but I’ve never seen a satisfactory (or satisfying) production. The 1963 Off-Broadway production produced my favorite recording of the score, but I’m still holding out hope to see a good production of the show.
I have to say Oklahoma. The who;e story line was who was going to take Laurey to the dance. I saw it because I like musicals and I wanted to see Patrick Wilson as Curley.
"Life is not measured by the number
of breaths we take, but by moments
that take our breath away."
"Life isn't about how to survive the storm,
but how to dance in the rain."
I have to say, Krisjoseph - thats one of the funniest posts I've seen on here - a HOCKEY musical - just what this f**ked up country needs!
"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!"
Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!
oh come one now.....obviously its BOYS FROM SYRACUSE! i mean whats hokier than a bunch of guys dancing in circles...and i mean just look at the title first of all they are MEN not Boys and from SYRACUSE(no offence to anyone who lives there) but i never hear anything about that city! and also You're A Good Man Charlie Brown....good show....but very hokey
Glinda:its good to see me isint it?.....no need to respond, that was retorical!
The Syracuse in the title of The Boys from Syracuse is the Syracuse of ancient Sicily, not upstate New York. But the title was also an in-joke. Brothers Lee and J.J. Shubert, of the famous Shubert theatre chain, hailed from Syracuse, NY and were often referred to as "the boys from Syracuse". (There is even a biography about the Shubert Brothers named The Boys from Syracuse). Rodgers and Hart's title, while appropriate for the show itself, was a sly allusion to the Shubert brothers.
"Bye Bye Birdie"....Ahhhhh, after seeing several times, I'm not to sure I could take it again....Hahaha!!!
Later!
Phantom05
------- "We Drink Your Blood And Then We Eat Your Soul, Nothings Gonna Stop Us Let The Bad Times Roll"
-------"Past The Point Of No Return, No Backward Glances, Abandon Thought And Let The Dream Begin"
Joizey defines "hokey musicals" as "...Those really corny musicals that have that ole' feel good lesson that's learned with some pretty crazy and lovey dovey songs along the way!"
Here's one that wasn't produced 70 years ago, nor 60 years ago, nor 50 years ago, nor 40 years ago. In fact, it was produced on Broadway just 2 or 3 years ago. Can you name it?
Yes, that's right...HAIRSPRAY!
Do you love it any less?
The moral of this is that hokey, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder.
Hokey, dokey?
Yours for no hokes on Broadway!
Bulldog
P.S. "MyNameInLights" get the award for being the first to identify most contemporary hokey musical.
krisjoseph, I thought I was the only one who read about how if ever they revive Starlight Express, Affleck would star in it. That's the funniest thing I've heard... ever!
"The stage is where I live and come alive and act out all the things that go on in my life. It's not just what I do for a living, it's my shrink and my love affair. No one in my life has ever or ever will kiss me on the mouth like this lover called my relationship with my performance."
I think I'd have to go with The Music Man too, although I do enjoy the music.
"Did you know that if you take the first two vowels in Olive and rearrange them it spells I-Love?"-Spelling Bee
"It's night like this that hotel bars were specifically made." Light In The Piazza
ooh I forgot The Music Man! I hated it when I saw it on Broadway, then my school did it and I fell in love with it - strange. The music is good though.
uh, alterego - the Secret Garden is a bad show? have you ever done a production of it? Its really wonderful to be in and is so beautiful to look at and listen to...but hokey? no way...and bad? Thats an opinion you are entitled to.
"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!"
Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!
"Chicago is it's own incredible theater town right there smack down in the middle of the heartland. What a great city! I can see why Oprah likes to live there!" - Dee Hoty :-D
I don't think most posters on this thread understand the meaning of the word "hokey:" mawkishly sentimental, corny. "Hokey" doesn't mean, "A musical I didn't like" (and, in reality, probably didn't have the brains or good taste to appreciate).
My Maryland Yes! Yes! Yvette Hello, Daddy Fine and Dandy Take A Chance Dubarry Was A Lady Panama Hattie (And as filthy as they get!) Beat The Band Something For the Boys Follow The Girls (Still my favorite!) Star And Garter Toplitzky of Notre Dame High Button Shoes Barefoot Boy With Cheek Where's Charley?
Don't you wish you could have seen these!!!
Miriam
Every movement has a meaning--but what the hell does it mean!
FIN AND DANDY DUBARRY WAS A LADY TAKE A CHANCE PANAMA HATTIE SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS FOLLOW THE GIRLS STAR AND GARTER HIGH BUTTON SHOES WHERE'S CHARLEY?
You're one lucky lady based on the experiences you've shared with us.