What are some of your favorite rock star musicals? Sound off in the comments! Special thanks again to @SurfsharkVPN for sponsoring this video! Get an exclusive @Surfshark deal! Enter promo code WAITINTHEWINGS for an extra 3 months free at surfshark.deals/waitinthewings
I think what made Sara Bareilles's musical different from the other pop-rock musicals is that she focused a lot on the story. She already created the songs as a concept album. She joined up with Broadway veterans. She also got lucky that Waitress is a very simple story.
One of my fondest Broadway memories is seeing Lestat through student rush (twice). $20 a pop. Truly the best kind of disaster. Impossible to look away from. I didn't get a "the crimson kiss" tank top at the merch table and it is one of my life's great regrets (and I've had a few).
I saw it in San Francisco! And... I loved every minute but yes, and yes for the reasons you say. I don't buy that 70$ of the show was changed for Broadway, but one thing that was changed was the show within the show at the Theatre des Vampires. In SF it was this LONG sequence that went into the creation of the vampires going back to Ancient Egypt (it's been a long time since I've read the books, but I think basically stuff from Queen of the Damned.) And it was so stylized and weird and beautiful. I've read that they realized that no one cared, and everyone found it confusing, so the show at the Theatre des Vampires just gives Armand's back story which, I mean, yeah that makes more sense for the already damn confusing the story they're telling, but I don't care. And since we know the cast album was recorded and mixed--I wish Elton would just allow its release. No, it's not a hidden gem, but I want it and he's certainly released worst stuff.
I love that Sara Bareilles’ first attempt at theater was a failed audition with Stephen Sondheim, and then later she went on to star in Into the Woods and got a Tony nomination. We love a redemption arc!
It's amazing how every time I hear about something Dolly Parton has done, it just cements what a thoughtful, down-to-earth, hardworking, dedicated person she is. Americans, she is one of your national treasures, please cherish her always and forever.
Waitress has two distinctions beyond the history making all female creative team. It was the last 2016 Tony Award for Best Musical nominee to close which means for about 3 and a half years it ran alongside Hamilton which won in 2016 and it was the first of that class of 2016 to be revived. It’s a simple story and the songs are surprisingly short but a few songs like Opening Up, Bad Idea, I Didn’t Plan it and She Used to be Mine are still VERY good songs. IMO(which my musical knowledge is just barely two steps above Bono’s) if Hamilton wasn’t the juggernaut that year I think Waitress would’ve won.
@@ayindestevens6152 But that was likely because they were faithful to the original film, so it wasn't a new story. They did that to honor the late Adrienne Shelley, who wrote, directed, and played Dawn in the original film
As a bass player turned stage actor, I can see how “idealistically” the two worlds can merge. It just needs to be done for the right reasons, as well as a fair balance of innovation & caution.
Not sure if this is covered but for the movie she just happened to start making the song without anyone asking and they loved it so much it became the opening credits song. Edit: the actual 9-5 opening song in particular I meant this about lol sorry.
A lesser known one is The Hunchback of Notre Dame, written by Dennis DeYoung, formerly of Styx. It's been produced on and off regionally, and has an incredible score. The album, and some performance videos, are available on RUclips.
I'm genuinely surprised Kinky Boots didn't come up, since it's such a fun show with a phenomenal message and high kicking drag queens, and the music and lyrics are by Cyndi Lauper herself!
Not really a rock musical though, more leaning towards pop. Already including Waitress among these is a stretch, so Kinky Boots really wouldn't fit the billing.
@@emalaw1329The video is "when you let rock stars write musicals" not "when you let rock stars create entirely rock only musicals with no other musical influence allowed." Cyndi Lauper is an actual rock star, and she did the music and lyrics for a musical, so regardless of your opinion on the musical styling, it still fits the actual video topic.
No mention of Chess by Benny and Bjorn from ABBA? One Night In Bangkok is a crossover disco hit that gets played at every wedding in Canada til 1999. 🤣
The claim that musical theatre and rock n' roll are "as different as ALW and KISS" is... a very odd one. Especially because many rock shows, KISS in particular, heavily rely on spectacle to some degree. KISS is the band that wears face paint, leather studded costumes, Gene Simmons "vomits" blood on stage, and have a multitude of pyrotechnics in their shows. They're basically an ALW musical on crack! Rammstein, my favorite German industrial metal band I got to see live last August, incorporates pyrotechnics and acrobatics into their shows. Slipknot, Motley Crüe, U2, The Rolling Stones, The Who... and even getting away from rock and covering pop artists like Beyoncé' and Taylor Swift, they've all relied on spectacle to some degree in their live shows and music videos. And like musical theatre, you've got artist equivalents that are more low-key and paired down such as the folk and indie singers like Joan Baez, Sara Bareilles, Carole King, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Mumford and Sons, Gillian Welch... where it's more about the performance of the artists themselves, and if they have a little bit of spectacle, it's not going to be pyrotechnics or sitting on a glass horse while being hoisted above the audience a la Beyoncé's Renaissance tour. I'm just saying. Rock n' Roll and musical theatre are way more a like than you think.
the flaw in your argument is claiming that use of spectacle in rock and use of specacle in musical theater are somehow related rather than independent entities with their own histories. many other forms of entertainment use spectacle, it is not at all something unique to music of any sort. it's not something that links rock and musical theater in any unique way.
I'd love to see you tackle Jim Steinman's Tanz Der Vampire, it's phenomenal worldwide success and it's crushing failure on Broadway (which fans want no part of).
I really enjoyed 9 to 5. It's not the most memorable show, but it's a really good time. Allison Janney was hysterical, and Megan Hilty and Stephanie J Block were just as good.
I think he avoided adaptations of concept albums, in flavor of rockstars who wrote new music specifically for the stage, that would also explain why he didn't mention American Idiot.
Also, Tommy was first produced in 1992, much earlier than the ones discussed. Many RUclips creators don't realize human civilization existed and thrived before 2000. They're loss.
This is the same channel that has made videos on Carrie: The music (from the 80s) and Legs Diamond (late 70s) so no this channel knows his older stuff. He also mentions Sweeney Todd which is from 79 @raydunn8262
Crazy how many rockstars have gone into musicals. Not just written them. Like Paul Stanley was the phantom of the opera in Canada and Sebastian Bach played Jekyll and Hyde on broadway and was in a tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. There’s loads more I can’t remember at the moment
It was a remake but The Who's Tommy was so awesome. I saw it twice when it came out. Didn't know about the backstory of Waitress tho! I regret not seeing it
One musical that suprised me with the fact it worked was spongebob. So many different pop and rick stars wrote songs for it and it really shouldn't work because if that but somehow it does.
He's feeling fine, he's just a Broadway guy. To them, anything that sounds youthful and aggressive and features the slightest bit of distorted guitar can be classified as punk rock. He'd probably apply the same label to anything between MCR and Blink-182, which wouldn't be the farthest thing away from the truth, but it would be reductive. Also though, to be fair, in the video he wasn't as general as you seem to suggest, in applying the label. He describes U2 as punk rock up until Rattle and Hum, and states that the CONCEPT of the original Wedekind play "The Awakening of Spring" is punk rock in spirit. I can't attest to the accuracy of the U2 statement, I've never listened or appreciated the band that much, but at least he isn't placing their whole output in the wrong genre.
Another example: In 1998, Paul Simon opened a musical on Broadway called THE CAPEMAN, writing the music and co-writing the lyrics and book with Nobel Prize-winning poet/playwright Derek Walcott. It was based on the true story of Salvador Agron, a Puerto Rican gang member who killed two people as a teenager. The show was Paul Simon's baby, but when it started Broadway previews, it quickly spun out of control, with well-known Broadway hands Jerry Zaks and Joey McKneely coming in to try and edit and reorganized the material. Sadly, the show opened to negative reviews (Ben Brantley compared the show to a "mortally wounded animal"), and it closed after a few months, becoming a notorious flop. It also didn't help matters that Simon didn't seem to think much of the traditions of Broadway musicals, and wasn't very obsequious to Broadway in general: when the show closed, Jujamcyn president Rocco Landesman was quoted as saying, "''Normally in the theater community, people feel bad when they see someone else whose production has failed," and then, sarcastically, "But I think there is a feeling about Paul Simon that it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.'' However, the show has lived on thanks to its score (even though the official Broadway cast album was never released on CD, and can only be downloaded digitally), and years later, they did the show again at the Public as a kind of 90-minute oratorio, where it apparently worked better.
Would you count Sting’s foray into MT with The Last Ship, despite that score being largely folk-based? On a similar theme, I’m convinced Mark Knopfler would be a brilliant choice to compose for the right show - hopefully something original. (If you don’t believe me go and listen to Telegraph Road: a masterpiece of storytelling through song!)
@@WaitintheWings I think with the last ship sting tryed to do the dolly parton thing, I saw it in newcastle in 2019 (stings home town) and while I loved the boardway ablum it was a very different story and worked soo soo well!
It seems like the problem isn't usually the rockstar being involved in the show but the wrong rockstar being involved in a show. Bono and Edge have no business doing a Spider-Man musical, granted no one should've made a Spider-Man musical. Elton John wasn't right for Lestat, that needed a Danny Elfman type.
fine, but you could say Cindy Lauper had no business writing the songs Kinky boots, and yet... Biggest issue is do the writers care about the characters and the story?
This is definitely a slightly more obscure one, as it just showed in only LA at one theater last December, but I saw Invincible, a Romeo and Juliet retelling, written by Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo-it’s all of her hits, basically, reworked into musical theater. Yeah, it’s a jukebox musical, but I really enjoyed it, even if a lot of people didn’t, apparently, which is kind of sad? I of course had critiques of it, but I at least had a good time. And I met Neil! So I’d say it was a good experience : )
My favourite musical by a rock star is Sting’s The Last Ship. It’s unlike anything on Broadway and actually seemed to be a passion project for him. It wasn’t really right for New York but it’s very dear to me
An annoying thing to me was that, as I follow very thoroughly news about musicals coming to Norway where I live, is that I read in 2015 that The Last Ship was coming to a few countries in Scandinavia, among those Norway. And then it never happened, for some reason it didn't pan out and I've never learned exactly why. It also meant that I lost a contest because a theatre in Norway had a contest where you could win a ticket if you guessed which musical they were putting up next and I had just read about The Last Ship coming to Norway so I guessed that and felt hundred percent certain I would win and then it was another musical instead and it was so annoying.
I saw 9 to 5 and I loved it. I laughed until I cried. Allison Janney had powerhouse stage presence and Stephanie J. Block is my favorite Broadway actor.
I won't repeat previous comments, but give another example: Pop musicians have been writing shows forEVer (what about those Gershwin boys?). Ziegfeld Follies: the original jukeboxer. Bareilles did a great job with Waitress, one of the greatest indie movies ever.
YEEEESSS even though it was brief you spoke about Lestat the Musical!! I saw it as a teen when it was touring in SF and have been obsessed with it ever since! My favorite broadway flop
Also possibly blatantly ignoring the fact that Elton John has only ever written the music for his own songs, with Taupin or others tasked with writing the lyrics. I get that Bono had a composing partner, too, but it's still a variable which it doesn't sound like he considered.
Bono is a being of pure ego, and undeserved privilege masquerading as a caring human being. I've done security for U2 and their road crew, and the massive ego on display was truly astounding.
It would seem like the perfect fit, wouldn't it? Whenever he's not making parodies of existing material he's writing pop pastiche, and what are 90% of modern Broadway scores if not pop pastiche? A Something Rotten-type show with a score by Weird Al would be phenomenal.
I love U2 but the music for Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark was awful. How about they do a jukebox musical of their greatest hits instead? Now that would be wonderful.
Not sure I would consider Dolly Parton a rock star.(Though as I write this, she has a rock album coming out!) What about Duncan Sheik's "Spring Awakening?" I feel like that was the impetus for Bono to think, mainstream musicians can do this!
Rattle and Hum was a hit. Wiki said it sold 14 million copies. This is suspect, and Billboard counts double albums as two. U2's previous album, The Joshua Tree made them big. Previously, they were considered Alternative and critics loved them. They sold well. The 90s is when they became icons. Rattle and Hum was a rung on the ladder.
Rattle & Hum's running time was under 80 minutes, which I believe is under the threshold that the RIAA uses for double-counting in their certifications. 14 million worldwide is probably accurate.
Dolly saying "but if I'm no good let me know" as if she wasn't one of the greatest songwriters ever, and Sara Bareilles deciding to compose a musical because she was bored of pop stardom (and then staring in it). I love them both so much.
To this day, Spiderman is the worst show I have ever seen on Broadway. I liked the music, not awful by any means. Having silly string flung at me while ten Spidermen sprung through the audience though....
You go to Heck! WAITRESS is brilliant! SPONGEBOB is brilliant! Don’t lump them in with SPIDER-MAN. And you forget, Webber’s Jesus, School of *Rock*, Cats, Starlight, and yes, PHANTOM are all rock/partial-rock!!!
This is about musicals written by rockstars, i.e., people who became famous as rock recording artists rather than theater composers. It's not about rock musicals in general. Lloyd Webber has written a lot of rock musicals, but even in his heyday he wasn't famous as a stage performer who would chart on the Top 100 for playing his own music for the masses, so he doesn't really count as a rockstar.
Is there a reason why you didn't include an American Idiot? You don't even mention it. It's probably the most acclaimed rock musical in the last 20 years, and it did well financially. Like U2, it's purely rock. Sara is pop, and Duncan is somewhere in between. So Andrew Lloyd Weber inspired Bono. Well, he didn't surely inspire himself successfully, either. JCS is one of my favs of all time. It's a rock opera, not a rock musical. And he wrote it with Tim Rice. None his works since then come close to a rock musical. I saw Phathom 20 years, and I still can't get out of my head, 'All I Ask of You'. It seemed like they repeated it 20 times. That's how they brainwash. It worked.
Please watch your timeline. Love song was a hit in 2007 and Sara released more albums after. You made it sound like she was thinking of Waitress right after Love Song. The musical debut eight years later, a long time. Please stop exaggerating. It sounds like you should be a car salesman. Critiques of 3 out of 5 ain't good. Maybe be a salesman. Kidding, you're good. Thank you
What are some of your favorite rock star musicals? Sound off in the comments!
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Does SpongeBob count?
U NEED TO TALK ABT THE AMERICAN IDIOT MUSICAL!!!
Bare a Pop Opera’s gotta be up there
Matilda 😂
american idiot counts so hard and i cannot wait for some large mention of this show its so good :0
I love how Dolly was like, "Well, I've never done songs for theatre before. You tell me if they're not working." And then wrote some absolute bangers.
I love that my generation’s knowledge of U2 is largely limited to “that band Apple forced on everyone that one time”
I'm pretty sure than album is still kicking around my hard drive several computers and 20 years later.
I think what made Sara Bareilles's musical different from the other pop-rock musicals is that she focused a lot on the story. She already created the songs as a concept album. She joined up with Broadway veterans. She also got lucky that Waitress is a very simple story.
I was gonna mention this too. Love each song from the show!
I adore Waitress
You sound dismissive. Is it intentional?
The music is gorgeous, but I loathe the plot (I'm an OB/GYN). My kid was dying when we saw the touring company & I was critiquing his ethics.
@@artofdrinkingBless your heart, you tried.
One of my fondest Broadway memories is seeing Lestat through student rush (twice). $20 a pop. Truly the best kind of disaster. Impossible to look away from. I didn't get a "the crimson kiss" tank top at the merch table and it is one of my life's great regrets (and I've had a few).
"Remember, kids: you will never regret buying merch, only not buying it"
Seething with jealousy, I WISH I could watch any production of Lestat in person (instead of crusty bootlegs)
We miss you Lindsay
Wishing you all the best over at Nebula!
I saw it in San Francisco! And... I loved every minute but yes, and yes for the reasons you say. I don't buy that 70$ of the show was changed for Broadway, but one thing that was changed was the show within the show at the Theatre des Vampires. In SF it was this LONG sequence that went into the creation of the vampires going back to Ancient Egypt (it's been a long time since I've read the books, but I think basically stuff from Queen of the Damned.) And it was so stylized and weird and beautiful. I've read that they realized that no one cared, and everyone found it confusing, so the show at the Theatre des Vampires just gives Armand's back story which, I mean, yeah that makes more sense for the already damn confusing the story they're telling, but I don't care.
And since we know the cast album was recorded and mixed--I wish Elton would just allow its release. No, it's not a hidden gem, but I want it and he's certainly released worst stuff.
I love that Sara Bareilles’ first attempt at theater was a failed audition with Stephen Sondheim, and then later she went on to star in Into the Woods and got a Tony nomination. We love a redemption arc!
An unsuccessful audition is something you need to be redeemed from?
That’s not a redemption arc, brah. Everyone fails auditions. A-list actors still bomb auditions.
I see the two previous replies have ironically missed the forest for the trees
It's amazing how every time I hear about something Dolly Parton has done, it just cements what a thoughtful, down-to-earth, hardworking, dedicated person she is. Americans, she is one of your national treasures, please cherish her always and forever.
Believe me, we do!!!
Waitress has two distinctions beyond the history making all female creative team. It was the last 2016 Tony Award for Best Musical nominee to close which means for about 3 and a half years it ran alongside Hamilton which won in 2016 and it was the first of that class of 2016 to be revived. It’s a simple story and the songs are surprisingly short but a few songs like Opening Up, Bad Idea, I Didn’t Plan it and She Used to be Mine are still VERY good songs. IMO(which my musical knowledge is just barely two steps above Bono’s) if Hamilton wasn’t the juggernaut that year I think Waitress would’ve won.
The only reason I hesitate with that is the fact that Waitress was the only Best Musical nominee to not be nominated for Best Book.
@@laniejean6618 ahhh you’re right. I’ll amend my would’ve to could’ve
@@ayindestevens6152 But that was likely because they were faithful to the original film, so it wasn't a new story. They did that to honor the late Adrienne Shelley, who wrote, directed, and played Dawn in the original film
@@kateorgera5907 oh yeah I saw the film years back and I think Shelly would’ve been proud.
Waitress was absolutely robbed!!
As a bass player turned stage actor, I can see how “idealistically” the two worlds can merge. It just needs to be done for the right reasons, as well as a fair balance of innovation & caution.
Exactly!
The songs for "9 to 5" definitely make it clear that Dolly had a hand in writing them. "Backwoods Barbie" is the most obvious contender.
Not sure if this is covered but for the movie she just happened to start making the song without anyone asking and they loved it so much it became the opening credits song.
Edit: the actual 9-5 opening song in particular I meant this about lol sorry.
A lesser known one is The Hunchback of Notre Dame, written by Dennis DeYoung, formerly of Styx. It's been produced on and off regionally, and has an incredible score. The album, and some performance videos, are available on RUclips.
Is this the Disney one that almost went to Broadway but the ensemble was deemed too big?
@@erikdaniels0n nope, this is a different one. Dennis started this in the 80s, when Styx was taking a break. It predates the Disney animated film.
YES, this one's score is ridiculously good
YES I was going to mention this one too! Saw it in Milwaukee last year and I cried
Dolly Parton is a bright spot for humanity. She's just the best.
I'm genuinely surprised Kinky Boots didn't come up, since it's such a fun show with a phenomenal message and high kicking drag queens, and the music and lyrics are by Cyndi Lauper herself!
Not really a rock musical though, more leaning towards pop. Already including Waitress among these is a stretch, so Kinky Boots really wouldn't fit the billing.
@@emalaw1329The video is "when you let rock stars write musicals" not "when you let rock stars create entirely rock only musicals with no other musical influence allowed." Cyndi Lauper is an actual rock star, and she did the music and lyrics for a musical, so regardless of your opinion on the musical styling, it still fits the actual video topic.
@@ChibiJaime fair. Still, using "popstar" along "rockstar" to describe Bareilles, Parton, and Lauper would have been more fitting.
No mention of Chess by Benny and Bjorn from ABBA? One Night In Bangkok is a crossover disco hit that gets played at every wedding in Canada til 1999. 🤣
The claim that musical theatre and rock n' roll are "as different as ALW and KISS" is... a very odd one. Especially because many rock shows, KISS in particular, heavily rely on spectacle to some degree. KISS is the band that wears face paint, leather studded costumes, Gene Simmons "vomits" blood on stage, and have a multitude of pyrotechnics in their shows. They're basically an ALW musical on crack! Rammstein, my favorite German industrial metal band I got to see live last August, incorporates pyrotechnics and acrobatics into their shows. Slipknot, Motley Crüe, U2, The Rolling Stones, The Who... and even getting away from rock and covering pop artists like Beyoncé' and Taylor Swift, they've all relied on spectacle to some degree in their live shows and music videos.
And like musical theatre, you've got artist equivalents that are more low-key and paired down such as the folk and indie singers like Joan Baez, Sara Bareilles, Carole King, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Mumford and Sons, Gillian Welch... where it's more about the performance of the artists themselves, and if they have a little bit of spectacle, it's not going to be pyrotechnics or sitting on a glass horse while being hoisted above the audience a la Beyoncé's Renaissance tour.
I'm just saying. Rock n' Roll and musical theatre are way more a like than you think.
the flaw in your argument is claiming that use of spectacle in rock and use of specacle in musical theater are somehow related rather than independent entities with their own histories. many other forms of entertainment use spectacle, it is not at all something unique to music of any sort. it's not something that links rock and musical theater in any unique way.
I thought it was weird because Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote arguably the greatest rock opera of all time
I'd love to see you tackle Jim Steinman's Tanz Der Vampire, it's phenomenal worldwide success and it's crushing failure on Broadway (which fans want no part of).
YES! Dance of the Vampires was the big record breaking Broadway flop between Carrie and Spiderman lol. Also it's a helluva a story to tell XD
Second this.
i third this
The work of Jim steinman in general is very much theatrical
I saw Dance of the Vampires on Broadway. I remember someone in our group just burst out into wtf laughter at one point.
Crazy that Sara had a bad audition for Sondheim, she was magnificent as the baker’s wife in 2022
Not sure I'd class Dolly or Sara as rockstars, but loved the video 😊
lol, definitely a very "Broadway" perspective to classify any popular musician as a rockstar
I'd had the same thought! Not that I don't love Dolly, but rock she is not, hah.
I think rockstar is often used to describe high profile musicians regardless of genre.
@@michelledawn7446 yeah but it's just plain wrong, especially when a term like "popstar" exists.
I really enjoyed 9 to 5. It's not the most memorable show, but it's a really good time. Allison Janney was hysterical, and Megan Hilty and Stephanie J Block were just as good.
Dolly Parton's dedication to EVERYTHING exhausts me.
It is neat to see some make it and some just... not....
And though it hasn't made it to Broadway yet, let's not forget The Devil Wears Prada. It's another checked out musical by Elton John.
That’s a thing?!
SUPER surprised not to see Cyndi Lauper's Kinky Boots in either the video or the comments!
My heart hurts that The Who’s Tommy wasn’t included on this list! It’s the OG rockstar musical!
I think he avoided adaptations of concept albums, in flavor of rockstars who wrote new music specifically for the stage, that would also explain why he didn't mention American Idiot.
Also, Tommy was first produced in 1992, much earlier than the ones discussed. Many RUclips creators don't realize human civilization existed and thrived before 2000. They're loss.
This is the same channel that has made videos on Carrie: The music (from the 80s) and Legs Diamond (late 70s) so no this channel knows his older stuff. He also mentions Sweeney Todd which is from 79 @raydunn8262
Crazy how many rockstars have gone into musicals. Not just written them. Like Paul Stanley was the phantom of the opera in Canada and Sebastian Bach played Jekyll and Hyde on broadway and was in a tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. There’s loads more I can’t remember at the moment
I'll never forget that Spiderman Turn off the Dark thing from U2. That was so strange.
It was a remake but The Who's Tommy was so awesome. I saw it twice when it came out. Didn't know about the backstory of Waitress tho! I regret not seeing it
That was already a concept album so it was a good choice for a stage musical.
I was so glad when I heard Waitress did so well.
Love Dolly's dedication to whatever she does, and her willingness to try new things!
One musical that suprised me with the fact it worked was spongebob. So many different pop and rick stars wrote songs for it and it really shouldn't work because if that but somehow it does.
You've now described Spring Awakenings and U2 as punk rock.
Are you feeling okay?
He's feeling fine, he's just a Broadway guy. To them, anything that sounds youthful and aggressive and features the slightest bit of distorted guitar can be classified as punk rock.
He'd probably apply the same label to anything between MCR and Blink-182, which wouldn't be the farthest thing away from the truth, but it would be reductive.
Also though, to be fair, in the video he wasn't as general as you seem to suggest, in applying the label. He describes U2 as punk rock up until Rattle and Hum, and states that the CONCEPT of the original Wedekind play "The Awakening of Spring" is punk rock in spirit. I can't attest to the accuracy of the U2 statement, I've never listened or appreciated the band that much, but at least he isn't placing their whole output in the wrong genre.
I saw Lestat in SF, and there were only a few memorable songs, but the one that will always stay with me is "I Want More" that one was great :)
Dolly Parton is the QUEEN.
That's all I wanted to say. Great video as always!
Another example: In 1998, Paul Simon opened a musical on Broadway called THE CAPEMAN, writing the music and co-writing the lyrics and book with Nobel Prize-winning poet/playwright Derek Walcott. It was based on the true story of Salvador Agron, a Puerto Rican gang member who killed two people as a teenager. The show was Paul Simon's baby, but when it started Broadway previews, it quickly spun out of control, with well-known Broadway hands Jerry Zaks and Joey McKneely coming in to try and edit and reorganized the material.
Sadly, the show opened to negative reviews (Ben Brantley compared the show to a "mortally wounded animal"), and it closed after a few months, becoming a notorious flop. It also didn't help matters that Simon didn't seem to think much of the traditions of Broadway musicals, and wasn't very obsequious to Broadway in general: when the show closed, Jujamcyn president Rocco Landesman was quoted as saying, "''Normally in the theater community, people feel bad when they see someone else whose production has failed," and then, sarcastically, "But I think there is a feeling about Paul Simon that it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.''
However, the show has lived on thanks to its score (even though the official Broadway cast album was never released on CD, and can only be downloaded digitally), and years later, they did the show again at the Public as a kind of 90-minute oratorio, where it apparently worked better.
I want to know more about this!
Would you count Sting’s foray into MT with The Last Ship, despite that score being largely folk-based?
On a similar theme, I’m convinced Mark Knopfler would be a brilliant choice to compose for the right show - hopefully something original. (If you don’t believe me go and listen to Telegraph Road: a masterpiece of storytelling through song!)
Last Ship ABSOLUTELY counts. It almost made this list lol
I adore The Last Ship! I remember being so surprised at the sound of that show.
@@WaitintheWings I think with the last ship sting tryed to do the dolly parton thing, I saw it in newcastle in 2019 (stings home town) and while I loved the boardway ablum it was a very different story and worked soo soo well!
It seems like the problem isn't usually the rockstar being involved in the show but the wrong rockstar being involved in a show. Bono and Edge have no business doing a Spider-Man musical, granted no one should've made a Spider-Man musical. Elton John wasn't right for Lestat, that needed a Danny Elfman type.
fine, but you could say Cindy Lauper had no business writing the songs Kinky boots, and yet... Biggest issue is do the writers care about the characters and the story?
This is definitely a slightly more obscure one, as it just showed in only LA at one theater last December, but I saw Invincible, a Romeo and Juliet retelling, written by Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo-it’s all of her hits, basically, reworked into musical theater. Yeah, it’s a jukebox musical, but I really enjoyed it, even if a lot of people didn’t, apparently, which is kind of sad? I of course had critiques of it, but I at least had a good time. And I met Neil! So I’d say it was a good experience : )
A Pat Benetar jukebox musical I've never heard of??? I'm disappointed in myself 😆
My favourite musical by a rock star is Sting’s The Last Ship. It’s unlike anything on Broadway and actually seemed to be a passion project for him. It wasn’t really right for New York but it’s very dear to me
An annoying thing to me was that, as I follow very thoroughly news about musicals coming to Norway where I live, is that I read in 2015 that The Last Ship was coming to a few countries in Scandinavia, among those Norway. And then it never happened, for some reason it didn't pan out and I've never learned exactly why. It also meant that I lost a contest because a theatre in Norway had a contest where you could win a ticket if you guessed which musical they were putting up next and I had just read about The Last Ship coming to Norway so I guessed that and felt hundred percent certain I would win and then it was another musical instead and it was so annoying.
I saw 9 to 5 and I loved it. I laughed until I cried. Allison Janney had powerhouse stage presence and Stephanie J. Block is my favorite Broadway actor.
You leave Lestat alone Henderson 🥊
I won't repeat previous comments, but give another example: Pop musicians have been writing shows forEVer (what about those Gershwin boys?). Ziegfeld Follies: the original jukeboxer. Bareilles did a great job with Waitress, one of the greatest indie movies ever.
Bareilles is a legend.
Not me crying over Waitress. I love that show so much.
I saw 9 to 5 at a community theatre with my grandma and great aunt back in 2021. Honestly, it was a funny musical with some good music
Missing Dennis de Young's 'Hunchback of Notre Dame'
The more I learn about Dolly Parton, the more I admire and respect her character. It's impossible not to like her!
Anaïs Mitchell 's HADESTOWN is epic
9 to 5 is an absolute banger
Loved the video!
(And also the fact that it was a mix of obviously known musicals and lesser known owns…)
YEEEESSS even though it was brief you spoke about Lestat the Musical!! I saw it as a teen when it was touring in SF and have been obsessed with it ever since! My favorite broadway flop
For real though, why are there so many vampire musicals? There are like 5 musicals about Dracula.
Turns out you should hire composers for composing.
Lol Bono comparing himself to Elton Jon after Elton has done multiple shows. Who could have guessed that would go wrong?
Also possibly blatantly ignoring the fact that Elton John has only ever written the music for his own songs, with Taupin or others tasked with writing the lyrics. I get that Bono had a composing partner, too, but it's still a variable which it doesn't sound like he considered.
Spring Awakening will always have a special place in my heart. ❤️
Bono is a being of pure ego, and undeserved privilege masquerading as a caring human being. I've done security for U2 and their road crew, and the massive ego on display was truly astounding.
I'm still waiting for Weird Al Yankovic to write a musical
Now that would be incredible!
It would seem like the perfect fit, wouldn't it? Whenever he's not making parodies of existing material he's writing pop pastiche, and what are 90% of modern Broadway scores if not pop pastiche?
A Something Rotten-type show with a score by Weird Al would be phenomenal.
Cyndi Lauper's Tony Award winning "Kinky Boots"??!?!?
Dolly Parton is the original Hustler. Like, gurlie wrote songs for a musical, went on tour, filmed episodes. DAMN
I love U2 but the music for Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark was awful. How about they do a jukebox musical of their greatest hits instead? Now that would be wonderful.
Really Rosie!! Carol King!!
What about Sting and "The Last Ship"?
Bono tried to show up Andrew Lloyd Webber of all people and prove that writing a musical isn’t that hard, and got curb stomped hard. Big surprise.
By the way could you please do a review of hair the American tribal love rock musical?
What about Cyndi Lauper and Kinky Boots?
Id love to hear the story behind how American Idot when from album to musical
I WAS Jenna from waitress. Except I wasn't a waitress. Everything else tracks tho. Annnnd...I mean EVERYTHING 😮
Not sure I would consider Dolly Parton a rock star.(Though as I write this, she has a rock album coming out!) What about Duncan Sheik's "Spring Awakening?" I feel like that was the impetus for Bono to think, mainstream musicians can do this!
I would say arguably Tim Minchin counts
Dolly Parton is an angel.
I’m now thinking of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes - although he’s maybe not a rock ‘star’ as such.
I might be in the minority, but I love Lestat the Musical, wish I could watch it in person. I Want More and To Kill Your Kind SLAP!
Rattle and Hum was a hit. Wiki said it sold 14 million copies. This is suspect, and Billboard counts double albums as two.
U2's previous album, The Joshua Tree made them big. Previously, they were considered Alternative and critics loved them. They sold well. The 90s is when they became icons. Rattle and Hum was a rung on the ladder.
Rattle & Hum's running time was under 80 minutes, which I believe is under the threshold that the RIAA uses for double-counting in their certifications. 14 million worldwide is probably accurate.
Dolly saying "but if I'm no good let me know" as if she wasn't one of the greatest songwriters ever, and Sara Bareilles deciding to compose a musical because she was bored of pop stardom (and then staring in it). I love them both so much.
Much catchier title. Kudos
Where’s American Idiot?
Given that it’s a jukebox musical and not an original score like something like Lestat, 9 To 5 or Waitress, it doesn’t count
@@erikdaniels0nRight. If Idiot counted, then Movin' Out would *certainly* qualify, but that's a different video.
WitW please make more StarKid content!!!
No acknowledgement of Sting's musical The Last Ship
...how did I not know that Dolly Parton composed for a musical. I'll need to take a look at that!
What is your opinion on the Bowie musical "Lazarus" ?
No attention for Kinky Boots and Cyndi Lauper?
To this day, Spiderman is the worst show I have ever seen on Broadway. I liked the music, not awful by any means. Having silly string flung at me while ten Spidermen sprung through the audience though....
You go to Heck! WAITRESS is brilliant! SPONGEBOB is brilliant! Don’t lump them in with SPIDER-MAN.
And you forget, Webber’s Jesus, School of *Rock*, Cats, Starlight, and yes, PHANTOM are all rock/partial-rock!!!
This is about musicals written by rockstars, i.e., people who became famous as rock recording artists rather than theater composers. It's not about rock musicals in general. Lloyd Webber has written a lot of rock musicals, but even in his heyday he wasn't famous as a stage performer who would chart on the Top 100 for playing his own music for the masses, so he doesn't really count as a rockstar.
Oh Bono, Bono Bono.
you should talk about paul stanley in POTO canada
Great video
I'm shocked that Anne Rice allowed Lestat, given the way she was about fanworks.
No Green Day?
looooove your content 🫶🏼
Is there a reason why you didn't include an American Idiot? You don't even mention it. It's probably the most acclaimed rock musical in the last 20 years, and it did well financially.
Like U2, it's purely rock. Sara is pop, and Duncan is somewhere in between.
So Andrew Lloyd Weber inspired Bono. Well, he didn't surely inspire himself successfully, either. JCS is one of my favs of all time. It's a rock opera, not a rock musical. And he wrote it with Tim Rice. None his works since then come close to a rock musical. I saw Phathom 20 years, and I still can't get out of my head, 'All I Ask of You'. It seemed like they repeated it 20 times. That's how they brainwash. It worked.
jesus get a life dude
I guess he was avoiding jukebox musicals? These are mostly original songs
Uh... Jimi played a Fender Stratocaster. Sorry. Carry on.
"Pure Punk Rock?" DUDE, I'm not splitting hairs, U2 has never been punk.
I'm actually surprised that isn't the top subject in the comments, but I guess theater enthusiasts don't have strong opinions on Punk.
Bono succeeded to once more make the worlds biggest crap.
Wait - are there people who think that U2 was a punk band????
Please watch your timeline. Love song was a hit in 2007 and Sara released more albums after. You made it sound like she was thinking of Waitress right after Love Song. The musical debut eight years later, a long time. Please stop exaggerating. It sounds like you should be a car salesman. Critiques of 3 out of 5 ain't good. Maybe be a salesman.
Kidding, you're good.
Thank you
No American Idiot? Disappointing
I definitely thought about it, but it's more a jukebox musical as opposed to a purely original score.
Algorithm
I know this is a very unpopular opinion but I’m gonna say it anyways. Bono isn’t nearly as talented as he thinks he is.
Kinda sad you left out Cindy Lauper and Kinky Boots!
I mean it won the Tony for best musical in ‘13