Poll

Am I mistaken or has Cary never experienced "Sweeney Todd", "Assassins" and "Company". Music theatre has come a long way from one catchy tune after another. Lets look at opera in context. Lets take a look at "The Barber of Seville", on eof my favourite operas. Is that not too a collection of catchy tunes one after the other, tied together with a little recitative? Even "Rigoletto" is filled with what to me are "catchy tunes". PLease correct me if I am wrong, but are you suggesting that if a piece of music is pleasant to listen to, it just isn't good enough? True, some, dare I say most if not all, I don't know, early musicals deal with trite subjects for simple escapism? I think that some opera buffs (please don't get me wrong I adore opera) should get off their high horse and experience music theatre as a different art form, not an inferior one. What is wrong with enjoyiong oneself? Why should every single peice of work be "serious"? IN relation to the other response, if Music Theatre belittles the work of Hugo et al, what about when Verdi wrote Rigoletto, Ernani and so forth? Did he damage Hugo's original works, did he belittle them? What about Puccini? If it weren't for his operas would anyone actually remeber the original plays and stories Tosca, Madam Butterfly and so on are based on? I have read Les Miserables and I have seen the musical version and I enjoyed both. I found it extremely offensive to have Music Theatre refered to as "fast food".