Elements that Bother Me in Musicals I Love
Nothing will ever be perfect. However, sometimes I wish certain musicals were a little closer to that mark. Here are five musicals I love with elements I hate.
Note: Spoilers ahead! Shows are listed in no particular order.
Waitress: Dr. Pomatter, the Obstetrician
Waitress is a beautiful musical that follows Jenna, a young waitress and brilliant pie-maker, as she comes to love herself as she awaits the arrival of an unplanned baby. Stuck in a relationship with her abusive husband, Jenna finds herself drawn to her new obstetrician, Dr. Pomatter, who adores her pies. She ends up having an affair with him, though she later leaves him and her husband to start a new life by herself with her baby. My question: is it necessary that Dr. Pomatter is her obstetrician? To be honest, it’s creepy that Dr. Pomatter would sleep with one of his patients during an appointment, knowing full well she is emotionally unstable and currently pregnant. Couldn’t he be her dentist, or optometrist? I’m just saying… it’s hard to buy into Jenna’s romantic elation when her lover is unprofessional at best, and predatory at worst.
Oklahoma!: Aunt Eller and All the Men
I first saw Oklahoma! as a high-school production when I was in late elementary/early middle school. I didn’t realize until I watched a pro-shot of the London production starring Hugh Jackman about a year ago that so much went right over my head at that age. For example, Jud, who lusts after Laurie, is a deranged and incredibly dark character. However, it struck me upon a recent viewing that Aunt Eller was the most disturbing character of all to me. Aunt Eller is Laurie’s caretaker, and they live together on a piece of land, where Jud serves as a farmhand. After Jud makes advances on Laurie, she goes to tell Aunt Eller that she feels uncomfortable, even unsafe, when he is around. She points out that, among other questionable behaviors, his walls are covered in photos of naked women. However, Aunt Eller shrugs it off, more or less saying that “men will be men”. While Jud is undoubtedly a deeply disturbed and perverse man, he is clearly written as the villain of the story. Aunt Eller, however, makes the audience fall in love with her humor and spunk. Therefore, Aunt Eller’s response feels dangerously dismissive, and, at least in my opinion, the material doesn’t necessarily feel self-aware of this fact. Especially in a post-MeToo world, it just doesn’t sit right, and for me, it tarnished my admiration of the character as a whole.
Additionally, I also despise that, perhaps with the exception of Curly, most every male in the entire show is obsessed with sex. Many characters enjoy looking into a telescope-like device that is implied to be pornographic. Additionally, in a song called “Kansas City”, Will Parker sings lightheartedly about a burlesque show he saw: “I could swear that she was padded/From her shoulder to her heel/But latter in the second act when she began to peel/She proved that ev’rythin’ she had was absolutely real/She went about as fur as she could go”. Frankly, it makes me wonder what is especially perverse about Jud in comparison with the rest of the town. If Jud’s sex obsession had been written in a similarly comedic tone to match the rest of the show, I don’t know that he would have felt any more dangerous than the rest of the townsmen. It simply feels unnecessary to me, and diminishes Jud’s plot-relevant sinister nature.
Carousel: Billy Bigelow and the “Clam-Bake” Song
Though I am criticizing another Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, I would like to reiterate, I love Carousel. I think it is a beautiful story with a gorgeous score, and I so wish I didn’t feel so uncomfortable every time I saw it. Billy Bigelow is the elusive love-interest of Julie Jordan. He is depicted early on as an attractively misguided man on the wrong side of the law, and several characters warn Julie against acting upon her feelings for him; however, they are soon wed, nonetheless. Soon after, we hear Julie confiding in a friend that Billy has hit her. Though Julie is, of course, shaken by this turn of events, she ultimately defends her relationship. In “What’s the Use of Wondrin’”, she sings: “What’s the use of wond’ring/If he’s good or if he’s bad?/He’s your feller and you love him,/That’s all there is to that”. My problem with the show is not that Billy is depicted as an abusive husband; I think such stories deserve to be told, as long as they are handed with delicacy and care. My issue is when Billy Bigelow returns to Earth after his death in order to “make amends” so that he can go to Heaven. Already, it is easy to perceive Billy’s journey to Earth as nothing more than an attempt to aid himself and get to Heaven. Then, when he tries to reveal himself to his lonely daughter, he grows frustrated with her panic, and slaps her. Yes, he actually slaps his daughter on the one day he is allowed to come back to Earth to make amends so he can enter Heaven. Clearly, he hasn’t changed. However, since he is able to tell Julie that, despite abusing her and not providing for her, he really did love her, he is able to ascend to Heaven again. The fact that the consequences for his actions are slim to none, the show’s entire dissection of an abusive relationship seems trivialized to me. The entire show, I found myself hoping for justice to coincide with redemption for Billy, but the fact that his redemption was achieved apart from facing the repercussions of his actions spoiled any cathartic reaction I might have had at his redemption.
A much smaller qualm I have with this show is, why did Rodgers and Hammerstein open Act II with the song, “This Was a Real Nice Clambake”? The title is the entirety of the song. For three and a half minutes, the audience must sit through an ensemble of picnickers singing about food. No, it is not really plot relevant. Yes, it could be communicated with a single line. And honestly, I find it hard to fathom that the creatives who are attributed with creating the modern, integrated musical decided to make the audience wait through a three and a half minute, mediocre song before allowing the plot to move forward. Keep in mind, this is directly after Billy Bigelow plans to attempt a robbery, lies to his wife about said robbery, and grabs a knife from the kitchen before exiting suspiciously. With all due respect, Rodgers and Hammerstein, what were you thinking?
Gypsy: The Vaudeville Numbers
Gypsy is based on the memoir of Gypsy Rose Lee, who has been accredited with perfecting the burlesque performance. It follows the titular character’s mother, Mama Rose, who attempts to live her stardom dreams through her two children, June and Louise. The show follows this woman as her passion drives everyone she loves away from her, and it is truly jaw-dropping in its dramatic structure. However, in the first act, there are four complete vaudeville numbers featuring Baby June, and here’s the catch: they are not designed to be good. Therefore, when watching the show, the action is constantly interrupted by a series of vaudeville numbers that don’t move the plot forward and are unexciting to watch, at best. For this reason, I feel that the pacing of the first act suffers: after each vaudeville performance, the story has to fight to regain the audience’s attention. The only number that I feel is necessary in its entirety is Baby June’s debut, “Let Me Entertain You”. The cutesy, innocent lyrics are introduced in the first act, only to take on an entirely new connotation when they are sung by Louise as she performs her strip-tease near the end of the second act. Though this number pays off in full, most of the following numbers do not, and instead distract from the story and its message.
Cabaret: Why is Cliff Bradshaw “Gay”?
NOTE: When writing this, I had not yet read the most recent revision of the show, and was primarily drawing from the movie adaptation’s portrayal of the character.
Cabaret lives in the world of a seedy, sexy joint called the Kit-Kat Club in Germany during the onset of the Third Reich, where wanna-be actress Sally Bowles is forced to make a living. Early in the show, she meets an aspiring writer seeking inspiration for his next work, Cliff Bradshaw. In a rather awkward scene where Sally tries to sleep with Cliff, it is revealed that, though Cliff has experimented sexually with several women, he has concluded he is gay. Nonetheless, he soon succumbs to Sally’s advances, and they become lovers for a time, which implies that Cliff is actually bisexual. However, at no point in the show do you ever see Cliff in a relationship with a man, and even his sexuality is seldom talked about after his relationship with Sally commences. Therefore, I kept asking myself, why was he written as gay? His role in the story is almost exclusively to be Sally’s lover. Therefore, it comes off as an unnecessary attempt to be edgy, or perhaps a half-hearted attempt at representation. If it isn’t necessary, why is it included?
What aspects trouble you about some of your favorite musicals? Let me know in the comments below. Additionally, if you’d like to read about another musical with concepts I don’t appreciate, check out my blog on Hairspray vs. Grease!
November 7, 2021