8/10
-
On The Town (1944)
OK, things Gil didn’t know about this show: The plot is essentially that Warren G and his homie Nate Dogg are cruising for skirts in the 213, and… wait, what? Well, c’mon, this does sound a bit like “Regulate” only set in the 1940s. Anyway. OK, this is the tale of three sailors on twenty-four Continue reading
-
Passing Strange (2006)
“I let my pain fuck my ego and I call the bastard art”… It’s difficult to tell exactly what’s going on in this one. From the songs, you can tell that a musician goes off on a journey, taking in Amsterdam, where he spends some time getting high, and he has some relationships which help Continue reading
-
The Pajama Game (1954)
(Pajama? Pyjama? Whatever…) This is a musical from Three Million Years BC – er, 1954. I have the 2006 revival recording with new songs. You know how I sometimes grumble about revivals over-egging the pudding by updating the orchestrations? It doesn’t happen here that I can tell. Brilliantly, this show has a female lead called Continue reading
-
Simply Heavenly (1957)
OK, so as you can see from the above, this was written by Langston Hughes (an actual poet, it’s based on his own work) with music by David Martin. It had a brief but successful run in New York in 1957 but flopped in London, and was revived in the “off-West End” in 2003. I Continue reading
-
Songs From An Unmade Bed (2005)
This show is short – I like that – and a revue – I usually like that – and features one singer singing eighteen songs with lyrics by one guy, Mark Campbell, and music by eighteen different composers – which is interesting. The result is eighteen vignettes of single gay life in New York – Continue reading
-
Tarzan – The Musical (2006)
Here at Gil Hates Musicals, we (er, I) are… am… anyway, GHM rarely shies away from controversy. But usually that’s because it’s fun annoying people by saying “Your favourite old / venerated musical is, in fact, horrible tacky outdated crap”. On the occasions where I boost a show, either it doesn’t come as a surprise, Continue reading
-
The 3 Musketeers (2010)
(its official title appears to use the digit… not sure I like that) Sometimes you just cringe, don’t you? You hear of an adaptation from one form to another of something you like, and you think “Oh god, please, no”, or sometimes you advance straight to “Just don’t fuck it up”, or you can’t stand Continue reading
-
Urinetown (2001)
This musical was apparently inspired by the author’s encounter with a pay-toilet in Europe. (There are also, you may wish to know before you travel, pay-turnstiles at London train station toilets.) How to describe “Urinetown”? It somewhat reminds me of “Evil Dead – The Musical” and also of “The Threepenny Opera”. At the start a Continue reading
Gil Hates Everything 