my least favourite theatre of 2023 | the most disappointing plays and musicals I saw last year...

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OHMYGOD HEY!
In 2023 I saw nearly 250 plays and musicals, mostly in the UK and the US and recently shared some of my favourites.
However, for every show I love there will always be shows that leave me a little more disappointed.
Check out today's brand new video to find out which shows were my least favourites of 2023.
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00:00 | introduction
03:07 | New York, New York
06:06 | We Will Rock You
08:16 | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
10:57 | Shrek the Musical
13:56 | Hercules
16:54 | Berlusconi
19:55 | How to succeed in business without really trying
22:48 | Brokeback Mountain
25:50 | Head Over Heels
28:46 | Treason
31:45 | The Crown Jewels
34:01 | Here We Are
37:17 | Aspects of Love
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#westend #Broadway #theatre #review #musical

[@Mori-wy8my]

So i think what we can all take away from 2023 is that Mickey Jo‘s least favourite thing about the whole year was the somg New York, New York not having a kick line

[@testtrack321]

And Conrad deserves a Tony. 😂

[@emhu2594]

And kick and kick and jump and kick

[@loriseward7773]

That show was awful.

[@cameronclarkhull]

As a theatre technician, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was Just an led backdrop and not projection. With projection, you can be so creative with the set, and map to any walls or set pieces. LED is a fixed wall 🙂

[@raymonddigiacomo3072]

I saw the original production of Hercules The Musical at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park. It was a Public Works production directed by Lear deBessonet & starred Jelani Alladin, Krysta Rodriguez, Roger Bart, James Monroe Iglehart & Jeff Hiller. It was a special week-long engagement, the hottest ticket of the Summer, & was so well-reviewed that Broadway seemed imminent... UNTIL a little hiccup called the coronavirus pandemic came along. The production you described at Paper Mill seems pretty different. I don't know why it was overhauled, but I'm glad I caught the production at The Delacorte.

[@minirth.maggie]

Congrats on your channel growth, so happy to see it!

[@Showtunediva]

Congratulations to 60K my friend. When are you planning to go the city again? I hoping to go in either August or October. Happy New Year MickeyJo!

[@aideencooney1685]

I saw “Charlie and the chocolate factory” in Dublin a couple of nights ago and throughly enjoyed it. Very nostalgic and little Hadyn who played Charlie was outstanding. Gareth Snook was absolutely wonderful, all the Charm and charisma needed for the role, whacky and wonderful in equal measure. He also replied to a tweet I sent which was lovely, and doesn’t always happen. Really loved it.

[@christopherbutler1980]

I've been waiting for this! Hope you're back in NYC soon.

[@auntieashcraft]

Same!

[@dylansmith1833]

Aspects was just one of the most confusing musicals I had ever seen in London this year! However, nothing could be more traumatizing than Spitting Image: Idiots Assemble the Musical!

[@diewildefreiesee3123]

Honestly really disappointing that the only lesbian character in a Sondheim show is the offensive trope of a privileged hypocritical activist who isn’t actually lesbian but just a poser. The play A Walk Across America for Mother Earth has the exact same character trope, right down to falling for a man, so I was surprised to see it still being used. We need better representation 😭 I was quite enjoying act 1 of Aspects, I thought it was a fun silly soap opera with beautiful music, and then act 2 made me so uncomfortable that it kind of ruined the first half. I ended up reading the book it’s adapted from and the story is almost identical, including the plot weaknesses and abrupt ending, so I really question why the musical was made at all. Rose dumping the ashes on the ensemble was hilariously bizarre though

[@Glindaful]

We will Rock you: same! I coke from Germany where they solved this issue so well; they translated only the songs sung by Killer Queet etc to German and they made the English language the rebel thing - thus Rock was only the style in which this musical told its story. I was so confused how they solved this before I saw it in London, only to be disappointed that they just sang all in English and it didn't make any sense at all anymore. Still one of my fav shows, my first west end show and will always enjoy it even though its silly.

[@vi_m_]

As someone who sheepishly enjoys this show despite its nonsense, I really like this adaptation! That's a clever way to do it I think - or at least a straightforward way that very obviously portrays that key aspect of the story.

[@charliedl1626]

The two show I thought you would mention on this video you did ( aspect of love and broke back mountain ) in my view these shows aspect of love was a beautiful revival cut way before it time and broke back mountain such a elegant and poignant play demonstrating you can’t go back and change the past. I am really passionate about these shows Kinds regards Charles 🎭✨

[@eliawillinger4329]

i had to do a project for my intro to theater class on new york, new york at the end of the year because our teacher wanted us to learn about the shows nominated for the tony awards. from the reviews i read and my other research it seemed pretty bad. it seemed like a lot of people felt like the plot and characters were generic and that it didn't need to made into a stage musical. a lot of the reviews were variations of "the actors are good but the story and characters are boring and the songs are fine but its boring and it didn't need to be made the movie is good there isn't really a point to this." i saw some videos and agreed. the lead actress was good and has a great voice but the characters were boring and the plot was generic. it was interesting to learn about but if i saw it it would only be to see if i felt the same way not because i wanted to see a musical that i had learned about and loved like how i was with six and mean girls.

[@thedisneyhappychannel.12]

I had a thoroughly good time at Shrek the musical, the cast were so talented and the songs are fabulous! But I agree with everything you said about the production, the jokes about Lord Farquad’s stature didn’t land and there was very little set which disappointed me.

[@danjon8799]

Well I can't say I'm surprised to be honest and if anything a lot of these reviews you have done this year have been these which I have watched. In terms of me I don't go to the west end so I haven't seen these shows that you mentioned, But there was one show you saw in 2022 that I went to see last year and I hated every second and that was Strictly Ballroom. Now to give context I kind of came into this with the feeling that you had when you came in when you went to see Bad Cinderella as I had previously seen the world premier of it at Leeds, loved it and found out that they had tinkered so much with it that it wasn't the gem of the show that I knew it was at Leeds so I knew it wasn't going to be amazing but I was hoping it was still going to be a fun night. The other thing that made me a bit hopeful was the fact that it had been directed by Craig Revel Horwood who was an Australian himself so I hoped he would be able to get that humour out that is very orientated to Australians, and I was hoping he would get the spectacle right what with him being a judge (and needless to say as well the critical judge that strives for perfection) on Strictly Come Dancing - a show that had originated from this film. But the big hope was that the spectacle of it would be fantastic as it would be at the Bradford Alhambra. Now I don't know how big theatres in London are but to give you some context this is one of the biggest theatres I go to and hosts not just the small scale productions but also the big hitters such as Les Mis, Wicked, The Lion King and was going to be where Phantom would have toured had covid not cancelled that production (dare I say as well Hamilton will tour there next year). So I was hoping maybe this theatre would play well with its scale. Well all I will say is I don't know what happened there but it was one of the most unimpressive nights I had this year. For starters it seemed that the harmonies were not ok and some of the singing was actually quite dreadful (including from Kevin Clifton which was poor). The other thing was the music was messed about with so much that actually the songs were so poor beyond belief (I remember there was one song with a chant that went 'new steps, new steps....' and I thought in my seat 'If they chant this one more time I'm going to go to the techy and switch off his board because I am that fed up of this song' which does not happen) but the thing was everything seemed so cramped that I was really annoyed as it made everything look so unimpressive and on a stage like the Alhambra it is unacceptable to not use the space that is there. So really it was dreadful. The whole production looked so cheap and its made me think twice when Craig Revel Horwood directs as it seems he cheaps out like other producers.

[@moonlike19]

The most special show I saw this year was la cage aux folles at the Regent’s Park theatre, it was beautiful.

[@MayhemRecords]

Hey Mickey Just wondering if you’ve seen the new wonka movie and gonna review it as a musical

[@CharlotteAMcD]

I did an am dram pantomime of Pinocchio with the tiniest budget and even we had a growing nose... How does Shrek the Musical not have that? I'm glad I didn't go to it because I would have been so disappointed seeing clips online of the US production.

[@finmiles965]

39:24 Those two sentences are pure poetry and legit made me spit take

[@ConnorWardUK]

There is concept art floating around for updated costuming for Hercules in Hamburg and Phil is a satyr once more!

[@philippinto2310]

U need to see Here We Are again. It’s brilliant. And Aspects of Love was exquisite. It’s like a more incestuous version of A little Night Music

[@fundifferent1]

Has The Color Purple come to the UK yet? I'd love your take on all the changes?

[@MelissaBlue]

2:03 Giving us real parental "I'm not mad I'm disappointed" vibes!

[@44nobody]

MickeyJo, Are you going to have a live chat celebration when you reach 60k?

[@susantailby3755]

Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) was my disappointment - amazing performances, singing, band and staging, but I came away feeling a bit lacklustre about it. I think I wanted a more obvious romance and maybe a bit more reflection, and one of the main characters to complete the thing they came to New York to do! Or perhaps this was happening more gradually towards the end and the learning in the show was more complex and nuanced. But there was a kick line!

[@yankee04]

Not in a place where I can watch this right now, but really hoping that New York, New York isn’t the absolute worst of 2023! Will watch as soon as I am able.

[@DDTC73]

The one good thing about this list was that Diana wasn't on it.

[@emhu2594]

...it should have been!

[@bradwatson1048]

And I would argue that the worst thing about the Chicago film WAS the material they cut. OK, after Renee Zellweger.

[@cedgson91]

I really enjoyed We will rock you Cheesy yes, slightly light on the plot But I love Queen Remembering bad reviews for Aspects of love & possibly Shrek My least favourite productions I saw last year was Mousetrap and the Crucible

[@emhu2594]

My top worst for the year: 1) Julius Caesar, RSC 2) 7 Deaths of Maria Callas 3) The Tempest, Globe 4) Choir of Man

[@elliefowler2508]

As someone who previously played Farquaad, I honestly find it more insensitive for them to not make fun of his height because it's one of, if not the most defining features of his character and pretty much the whole point of him in the first place

[@yankee04]

Watched it. Thanks.

[@billieluscombe4334]

For me it was Rebecca at the Charing Cross Theatre. There was so much hype. And the material is pretty good! The score at least is superb, and Daphne Du Maurier’s story is brilliant. So there was so much potential. For me, it sounded glorious! The main trio sang the score perfectly. But the script was clunky, the lyrics were… bad, and the set was something I wouldn’t even expect to see in most community theatres. Really disappointed, as it was the show I was most eager to see last year!

[@nickie083100]

I actually really liked Brokeback Mountain on the West End, but I think some of the issues you had with it come down to the fact that it was an adaptation of Annie Proulx's original 1997 novella rather than the 2005 Ang Lee film (that was, itself, based on the novella). Everything about the story is subtle and it forces audiences to do the work to understand what is going on within the character's inner lives, particularly wrt Ennis. In the short story the narrator is speaking largely in a third person limited manner, and so when you later find out that Ennis has very real trauma around his queerness, it starts to make a little more sense why the tent scene felt so abrupt. Like... in those first weeks getting to know Jack, he probably didn't let himself confront the fact that he was attracted to him, but then Jack started getting him out of his shell and actually got him to speak about his past and his family (when in the West, these silent, unexpressive, stoic male figures are sort of the gold standard), and slowly this really lonely orphan (his parents were killed in a car wreck) starts to make his first friend. By the time the tent scene happens, Jack and Ennis were spending less time taking care of the sheep and more time talking to each other, until it culminated in the night they got drunk off their asses and Jack was finally bold enough (thanks to the liquid courage) to make a pass at Ennis. Since Ennis was also drunk, you're supposed to read the scene as him being no longer able to deny his growing affection for Jack and giving into his desires. Editing to say that the author also has an essay on her work in which she states that, while doing research for the setting, she spoke to actual sheep ranchers and learned that they frequently sent two men on the job so they "could poke each other" when they got bored and lonely. So like... with that in mind, it also changes the reading of that tent scene. I can kind of see how this might not have been clear for someone who isn't familiar with the original text, and especially for someone who hasn't obsessively analyzed the themes of loneliness and isolation within the story, as well as the psychological impact that these toxically masculine societies have on rural men, but yeah like it was a VERY faithful adaptation of the source material, and I really loved it. But to each their own, of course.

[@deborahjohansen1776]

Your comments about how suddenly the two cowboys in Brokeback Mountain started having sex in the tent...how out of nowhere it happened etc...that is EXACTLY how it was in the movie too! That was my exact takeaway as I watched it! 100% agree with you!

[@Lisapsullivan123]

I disliked New York, NY so much that we left when they were singing the title song! I felt like they had five leads and felt they had to give every one of them five songs each! The show had like 28 songs which was 25 too many! Lol

[@Sabrinajaine]

Oh I loved Brokeback Mountain! Each to their own though

[@skunkjo3195]

Thank you so much for getting me interested in theatre again! Here's to 2024!

[@IshScout]

No real surprises for those who watched all year but I'd say even the worst shows can have redeeming qualities that make them entertaining. It will be fun to see how 2024 shapes up in comparison.

[@aarushicrystalis7998]

my worst of the year was definitely between Hamnet and Kenneth Branaugh's King Lear. I've never been a major kenneth branaugh hater, but this was the worst shakespeare ive seen in years, terrible acting, no real interesting take on the play, they cut half the liines, the costumes were stupid, and the cheapest seats were still far too expensive for the end product. Hamnet was a weird one, bc i just hated it, but i may have been in the minority there. I thought they dropped loads of plot points for no reason, the main grief plot point appeared far too late, and a lot of the characters felt incredibly flat. However, at least the acting was pretty good. Other things I didnt love, but weren't inherently bad would be the globe's macbeth and Ride at the southwark playhouse. neither were terrible, but didnt quite live up to expectations.

[@aarushicrystalis7998]

i will say, the only thing I liked about kenneth's king lear was that kid from bridgerton. he was genuinely great. noone else was.

[@aschmarkl]

HOH in New York benefited from an amazing cast

[@mwmheps]

For me the most disappointing show was maybe Crazy for You - my expectations were just really sky high because I'd heard nothing but huge praise for it but I found the book extremely cliched and painful, and while the dancing and music was lovely overall it wasn't enough to save it after I'd been expecting to have an overall great experience. I also went to the one-night concert of "At Last, It's Summer" I think in the spring sometime which I didn't really know anything about so I guess didn't have strong expectations for other than liking a couple of the cast members - but that was my least favourite show of the year for sure, it felt like a dull script and shrill score, it had some kind of entertaining twists in the second act but again wasn't enough to save it. I also recently saw the new Broadway revival of Spamalot - it's a great cast and production but it left me feeling a bit cold overall - the humour felt more dated than I realised and I came out of it feeling like there didn't really seem to be a clear reason to revive this. However overall I saw a lot of fantastic theatre in 2023 that really blew my mind so it was a great year overall! But it is interesting to think about what does or doesn't work as well :) I missed/avoided most of the shows you talked about here. I did see New York New York which I agree with the criticisms but I think I enjoyed it maybe a bit more than you did it seems, just because I did find Colton and Ana's performances so strong and the set was beautiful, but whenever they weren't on stage it was pretty boring (and the beginning just weirdly seemed like a rip off of Runyonland from Guys & Dolls). I also saw How to Succeed which was OK but yeah I agree not particularly exciting.

[@emhu2594]

The music of Crazy for You should have been better.

[@loriseward7773]

I adored Crazy for You! To each his/her/their own.

[@loriseward7773]

And I thought Colton was horribly miscast and weak.

[@mwmheps]

@@loriseward7773 Yes exactly, all subjective :D

[@skunkjo3195]

Crazy for you was our musical in high school! Like a decade ago lol. Will always hold a special place in my heart

[@mayamelie20]

My worst watch year was 100% Oklahoma which surprised me considering the reviews, followed unfortunately but A Strange Loop which is saved only but it’s music. The shows were both ones I nearly just didn’t stay for, and I don’t have that feeling often. I nearly saw a few of the shows on here and I’m curious how they’d compare. A lot of people don’t seem to share this opinion so I’m interested to know what others think!

[@emhu2594]

Marisha Wallace saved Oklahomafor me

[@checkmarks182]

Oklahoma was also my worst watch. I enjoyed A Strange Loop but not nearly as much as my friends or as much as I'd expected to

[@interspace11]

Brokeback mountain was just weird, I’m sure people who liked it are forcing themselves to because Mike Faist was in it. And The Crown Jewels was stupid. I was at the first preview sat next to the creatives and even they had their arms in the air like ‘what’s going on?!?’. They basically had to force everyone to stand up at the end, so that they could have a standing ovation

[@joeburinskas8672]

I can't believe they made a musical of Berlusconi. Who played his underage victims?

[@korzyca]

The 3 most disappointing shows (great way to put this as sometimes there would be a few good bits in an overall underwhelming show) for me last year were: Aspects of Love, We will Rock You and Crazy for You. So definitely agree with you on those. Happy New Year, may 2024 be filled with mostly great shows 🥳🎭🖤🤞🏼

[@BonannoVictor]

I'm surprised Diana is not mentioned 😅

[@MickeyJoTheatre]

It is possible I forgot about Diana 🙃

[@teddysmusicmechanics6282]

We Will Rock You is abysmal. i think i hate it more than Mickey Jo!!

[@grantcurry4839]

I don't think you've seen Daniel Fish's 2019 production of OKLAHOMA! at the Circle in the Square, but I'd love to know if you've heard anything about it. I saw it three times in three weeks.

[@MickeyJoTheatre]

I saw it twice over here in London after the Broadway run, I think there are 2 separate review videos on my channel about it!

[@dorydoesdrawing4804]

Crown Jewels really was terrible

[@TheTradge]

Did you see Rebecca? That was one of the worst shows I saw, though Dirty Dancing probably takes the top spot 😅 Drifter’s Girl, Charlie and Oklahoma were up there too. Also WWRY was the first show I ever saw in the west end as a fresh faced 16 year old Queen fan, even back then I thought it was a terrible show, and I find it interesting you mention "rock and roll indulgence" when there really isn't anything rock and roll about the show, it's too clean-cut, and the performers tend to be too "musical theatre", a similar issue I had with American Idiot (an equally terrible show). If you want to do a rock musical, go go big or go home, don't wimp out and try to pander to the highest common denominator, it's a show first and foremost aimed at fans of Queen, and I think the band and creative team, try as they might, do the fans a great disservice by butchering their back catalogue for the sake of shoe-horning in a plot to fit with the content of the music, an issue I have with MANY jukebox musicals. As for "How To Succeed Inn Business", I was denied the chance to see it as the performance I had booked to see was cancelled due to injury, so didn't get to see it, however from the sound of it I didn't miss much.

[@IloveHeartlandX]

For me, Lizzie at Southwark Playhouse Elephant was probably my most disappointing show of the year because I felt like it had so much potential that wasn't really utilised. It felt like a show early in development rather than a decade or so down the line. I loved the songs (though there were a few too many) and I thought the performances were great but the choreography was not great, I didn't love the staging and it definitely had a massive case of tonal whiplash where it wanted to be both dark and funny but didn't quite succeed at either. It was such a shame because I feel like it could be a really good show, they just haven't managed to land on the best version of it.

[@palomafreitas3312]

See i thought how to succeed was very good for all the reasons you didn’t like. It’s a parody of American corporate life. So the “big man’s office” is just as crap as the rest of the building because that’s how it actually is. There were things I thought this production really missed the mark on but the point of this show is there is no real romance, nothing really every changed is set or design because it’s all a big much ado about nothing

[@stephensmall-dq5dc]

I agree ,Charlie and the chocolate factory was terrible

[@TheTradge]

It felt like more time, effort and money went into its marketing than into the show itself, so many aspects of the show felt amateurish, the first act dragged and the second was rushed, in terms of both pacing and how it was put together. Plus I was NOT a fan of Gareth Snook as Willy Wonka, he was brash and overly bombastic, lacking the enigma and fluidity of Gene Wilder's perfect portrayal, you need a softness and subtlety alongside the sarcasm and self-assuredness; it's meant to be a character oozing complexity, and Snook just overacted and came across as obnoxious. The big positive was the kid playing Charlie was brilliant (I think I had Haydn Court), but on the whole I wasn't a fan of the cast, plus there were some fairly mediocre vocal performances.

[@pereiraread6082]

Agreed. The magic of the chocolate factory was lost completely - where where the fantastical props? The levels? The sets?! And the first act was so damn long and dull that I literally can't remember anything else about it to comment on. I hope they reimagine it as it could be amazing.

[@maurinet2291]

Re: Berlusconi: Dear God, you mean we may be subject to a Donald Trump musical in the decades to come???!

[@kenroht]

get to the point!

[@MickeyJoTheatre]

Happy New Year! 😅