History MusicalHell / TropesSToZ

* ShoutOut: Creator/MontyPython clips are brought up in abundance.
** Whenever a moment worthy of a FacePalm comes up, the clip of the mass face-palming from [[Film/TheNakedGun "Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult"]] comes up.
** From the GrandFinale, Donna tells Diva "A great philosopher once said, 'Laughter can be a powerful thing. Sometimes it's the only weapon we have.'" Diva flatly tells her she just took that from Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit.

** After reviewing ''Film/TheCountryBears'', Diva shows that she ''still'' hasn't learned better:

* WTHCastingAgency: [[InvokedTrope This is a common source of sins]]:
** Diva points out Creator/LucilleBall's performance in the title role of ''Theatre/{{Mame}}'' as one of the most notorious cases of miscasting in history. Among her issues, she cites Ball's unenthusiastic singing voice, "phoned-in" Lucy shtick, and the egregious soft-focus on her closeups to disguise her age. Overall, her Mame comes across as an irritating and annoying eccentric, rather than a lovable one.
** Diva is unimpressed with either lead of ''Film/{{The Phantom of the Opera|2004}}'', Creator/EmmyRossum and Creator/GerardButler. She points out that Rossum's singing voice, while fine, falls painfully short of being the great singing prodigy Christine is supposed to be. Her DullSurprise acting doesn't help either. Meanwhile, Butler's singing voice as The Phantom ranks among the worst vocal performances Diva's ever heard, while the film emphasizing his sexiness detracts from his intriguing nature.
** Diva sins Lesley-Anne Downe's performance as Anne ''Theatre/ALittleNightMusic'', pointing out that she comes across as too smart to play an [[TheIngenue ingenue]] like Anne.
** Diva sins the 2003 TV movie version of ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'' for casting Creator/MatthewBroderick as Harold Hill, pointing out that he doesn't have the energy or singing voice for the role.
** Creator/LeeMarvin and Creator/ClintEastwood are cited as the first two sins, in that order, of ''Film/PaintYourWagon''. For the former, Diva admits that his voice suits the role of an old mountain man, but it's not a voice most might want to hear for long. For the latter, Diva feels that he's not comfortable playing the nice guy of the pair. Overall, their singing falls short of the score and comes off as flat.
** Diva agrees with Creator/DrewCarey that he was miscast as the titular ''Film/{{Geppetto}}'', noting that his snarky comic persona is better off as [[Theatre/TheMusicMan Marcellus Washburn]] or [[Theatre/AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum Pseudolus]] rather than a sentimental character like Geppetto and that he is clearly uncomfortable in the role.
** Diva takes issue with ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}''[='=]s three leads, Creator/RichardHarris, Creator/VanessaRedgrave and Creator/FrancoNero. Harris's timber as Arthur is pleasant, but his random tonal shifts during his songs and dramatic scenes is quite jarring. Meanwhile, Redgrave's singing as Guinevere is too sedate and underpitch to sell her as a naïve romantic, especially in her first scene. Finally, Nero, whose singing was dubbed, fails to present Lancelot as a [[SmallNameBigEgo braggart]] with his stiff performance. This is problematic as it sterilizes the building animosity between Lancelot and the other Knights that explodes when Mordred enters the picture later on (plus, it bemuses Diva that Lancelot and Guinevere show none of the chemistry [[RomanceOnTheSet which translated off-set between Nero and Redgrave]]).
** Diva sins Music/DianaRoss' performance as Dorothy in ''Film/TheWiz'', noting that while Dorothy was [[AgeLift aged]] to an adult schoolteacher to accommodate Ross's casting, her behavior was not, which makes Dorothy much more irritating as a result.
** While Diva is forgiving of ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' as a whole, she takes issue with Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter as Mrs. Lovett, feeling her subdued performance lacks the character's sinister edge. In particular, this makes the "A Little Priest" number, in which she and Sweeney plot their [[IAmAHumanitarian meat pie]] business, fall flat.
--->'''Diva''': Come on, woman! You need to go all [[Franchise/HarryPotter Belatrix Lestrange]] on this number!
** Diva gets a few sins out of this in ''[[Theatre/PeterPan1954 Peter Pan Live!]]'' Her first sin for the film is its eschewing the ActingForTwo tradition for Captain Hook and Mr. Darling, feeling that Creator/ChristianBorle, who played Mr. Darling, would've made a far better Hook than Creator/ChristopherWalken, whose flat performance earns another sin. She also points out that Alison Williams, [[CrosscastRole as Peter himself]], is "too sophisticated and introspective" for someone that's supposed to be "thoughtless, arrogant, and self-centered".
** Diva has mixed feelings over the casting of "the diminutive, cherubic" Music/PaulWilliams as [[SatanicArchetype Swan]] in ''Film/PhantomOfTheParadise.'' She admits that Williams does make Swan into a manipulative and sinister TragicVillain, but also says one can't forget they're looking at a "human Muppet" and composer of several of their songs.
** She points out that TheAntagonist of ''Film/TheBestLittleWhorehouseInTexas'' is played by Creator/DomDeluise, who in any other work would be [[PigeonholedVoiceActor pigeonholed]] into a BigFun NiceGuy role.
--->'''Diva:''' Oh, there goes my last lingering shred of confidence in the film.
** Creator/RexHarrison as the title Doctor in ''Film/DoctorDolittle'' leads off Diva's sin count. She points out that his performance is a retread of [[Theatre/MyFairLady Henry Higgins]], which makes the Doctor much more of a {{Jerkass}} than the film intended. That's before Diva notes Harrison's real-life [[ThePrimaDonna Prima Donna]] attitude during the production.
** Creator/GlennClose as Nellie in ''Theatre/SouthPacific'' also leads off Diva's sin count. She notes that Close is too old for the role, especially [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole when lyrics describing Nellie's youthful age are intact]], and it's impossible to make her look anything other than poised and sophisticated. As Nellie and Emile are now similar in age, and again, the lyrics are intact, the writers blunt their romantic arc. Speaking of Emile, Diva is also underwhelmed by his actor, Rade Sherbediga's tepid acting and flat singing.[[note]]For those curious, Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi from the 1958 film had a 15 year age difference. Close and Sherbediga have an age difference of ''one year''.[[/note]]
** Diva notes her bewilderment at ''Country Strong'' casting country music legend Music/TimMcGraw as the only one of the four lead characters who does ''not'' sing.
** Diva explains that Maddie Ziegler's casting as the title character in ''Music'' is the latest entry into Hollywood's long tradition of casting non-disabled actors as InspirationallyDisadvantaged characters in OscarBait films. As such, the very neurotypical Ziegler's performance as the high-support autistic character comes across as [[CopycatMockery a mocking imitation of autistic people]] rather than true representation. Diva does not blame Ziegler herself, who reportedly hated playing the role and cried with guilt over how harmful it was, but rather director Music/{{Sia}} for her seeming refusal to even consider hiring an autistic actress for the part.
** Diva sins ''Mr. Quilp'' for casting Creator/AnthonyNewley as its title character, noting that his song-and-dance man persona is far better suited for [[TheDandy Dick Swiveler]] than the vile villain Quilp is supposed to be. She compares his casting to if Tommy Tune played [[Literature/{{Lolita}} Humbert Humbert]].
** Creator/JamesCorden as one of the mice in ''Film/Cinderella2021'' earns it a sin just for his presence alone. To the point, Diva finds him better suited as the StraightMan, and him playing the wacky man, as he does here, comes across as forced and insufferable.

* TroubledProduction: [[InvokedTrope Diva opens her review of]] ''The Thief and the Cobbler'' by discussing its legendarily protracted production, noting that it's what happens when ExecutiveMeddling and [[DoingItForTheArt artisitic ambition]] go out of control.

** Diva calls out The Phantom again in the show's sequel, ''Theatre/LoveNeverDies''. While The Phantom in the original musical is a JerkassWoobie, being a psychotic murderer with a sympathetic backstory who ultimately lets [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Christine go with Raoul]], The Phantom here lacks any of the original's redeeming qualities. Since The Phantom is now a wealthy impresario instead of a sewer-dwelling outcast, this makes him nothing but a bully hiding under weak excuses.

** [[InvokedTrope Diva's criticisms]] of ''La La Land'' focused mainly on the male protagonist, Sebastian, who is supposed to be a tragically under-appreciated genius, but whom she finds to be a pretentious KnowNothingKnowItAll with a [[MightyWhitey white savior complex]].

* SoundtrackDissonance: Diva considers this the biggest failing of ''Theatre/DearEvanHansen'', noting that Music/PasekAndPaul's uplifting songs do not fit the story of a teenager who exploits another family's trauma for his own gain. It doesn't help that said teenager, Evan, struggles to carry a conversation in spoken dialogue but becomes eloquent in song form.

** Diva takes issue with ''Theatre/{{Camelot}}'s'' three-leads, Creator/RichardHarris, Creator/VanessaRedgrave and Creator/FrancoNero. Harris's timber as Arthur is pleasant, but his random tonal shifts during his songs and dramatic scenes is quite jarring. Meanwhile, Redgrave's singing as Guinevere is too sedate and underpitch to sell her as a naïve romantic, especially in her first scene. Finally, Nero, whose singing was dubbed, fails to present Lancelot as a [[SmallNameBigEgo braggart]] with his stiff performance. This is problematic as it sterilizes the building animosity between Lancelot and the other Knights that explodes when Mordred enters the picture later on (plus, it bemuses Diva that Lancelot and Guinevere show none of the chemistry [[RomanceOnTheSet which translated off-set between Nero and Redgrave]]).

** Diva feels the Murphys in ''Theatre/DearEvanHansen'' would've made far better protagonists than its titular one, as their family drama compounded by Connor's suicide is quite compelling. She sins the film for its misuse of Creator/AmyAdams, who gives it her all in an underdeveloped role that barely allows her to sing.

** Diva feels the Murphys in ''Theatre/DearEvanHansen'' would've made far better protagonists than its titular one, as their family drama compounded by Connor's suicide is quite compelling.

---> "This session of the infernal court in Musical Hell is now adjourned, and please let the next case be anything but a bad Disney cash grab... [[OhCrap No. No, I didn't mean]] ''[[OhCrap anything]]'', don't you '''dare''' use that as an excuse to send me something truly heinous like - ''[[Film/Music2021 oh]]'', '''[[Film/Music2021 for fuck's sake]]]'''!"

---> "This session of the infernal court in Musical Hell is now adjourned, and please let the next case be anything but a bad Disney cash grab... [[OhCrap No. No, I didn't mean]] ''[[OhCrap anything]]'', don't you '''dare''' use that as an excuse to send me something truly heinous like - " (the next case is revealed to be ''Film/{{Music|2021}}'') " - oh, ''for fuck's sake''!"

** Discussed in her review of ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax''. She thinks that Audrey would have made a better protagonist, because she is interested in trees and cares about them, unlike Ted who’s really just doing it because his crush on her. Not to mention that the movie never really explains why she knows so much about the trees when barely anyone else does.

** Creator/JamesCorden's as one of the mice in ''Film/Cinderella2021'' earns it a sin just for his presence alone. To the point, Diva finds him better suited as the StraightMan, and him playing the wacky man, as he does here, comes across as forced and insufferable.

** [[InvokedTrope Diva's criticisms]] of ''La La Land'' focused mainly in the male protagonist, Sebastian, who is supposed to be a tragically under-appreciated genius, but whom she finds to be a pretentious KnowNothingKnowItAll with a [[MightyWhitey white savior complex]].