In general, NO. Some of the older classics are good (hence, they're classics) and there have been maybe one or two worthwhile musicals recently on the big screen (I liked Moulin Rouge and Evita, for example). However, most musicals are just trite and stupid. They're usually so bad they could be parodies of themselves.


I like traditional opera, but contemporary selections tend to be terrible. The reason that I tend to like opera is certainly not because the stories are compelling - they're awful - but because the quality of the music is outstanding. You have the greatest musical minds of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries producing some of the best music of the later "classic" era (by which I mean most opera really falls in the Romantic period).


They're mostly so bad I have problems saying that anything in the genre could be considered a "favourite". The musicals I've liked have been Moulin Rouge, Evita, Chicago (though a bit less so than the others), The Sound of Music and Grease. I also can, in the right mood, enjoy Fiddler on the Roof, The Music Man, The King and I or (very, very rarely) Camelot.


An eight ball of cocaine couldn't elevate most musicals above the rest.


Operas I've enjoyed have included La Traviata, Tosca and Le Nozze di Figaro. I HATED The Gambler and was underwhelmed by Salome.


Nothing, really.


It feels just fine, thank you.