Part of the equation in why I don’t like show music is the lack of talent. Don’t get me wrong they can mostly sing very well, but they lack the natural singing talent of a rock star (or the ones I like at least.) As much as I appreciate hard work, I can’t force myself to like something I dont’ like just cause someone worked hard at it.
This doesn’t really equate. I don’t like rock concerts, either. I like to go see musical comedies-I like live theater (most of it). I enjoy the songs furthering the plot (or not); I like people bursting into song and dance at random intervals (please not in here). I don’t like some lounge singer attempting to sound like Curly (or even worse, modernizing Curly) or Sky Masterson. Show tunes need the show, IMO.
YMMV.
Just a thought: show tune selling of a song and rock selling of a song are polar opposites in approach, emphasis and pacing of a song. There is nothing wrong with either one, just a matter of taste, and a person can like both. (but you knew that).
You need to see this one! I have a friend at work that’s just like the OP - although she hates musicals as well - and I loaned her my CD of Wicked and she loved it! Mangeorge, you might like to see (and hear) this one yourself - it just might change your mind!
If I did like it, I’d just deny that it’s show tunes.
Well, thanks to iTunes, I won’t be buying the CD out of curiosity. I sampled every song and it’s everything I don’t care for. Show tunes are pompous in a “Lookame, I’m not at all pompous” way. Liza is a perfect example in her stage mode.
About your friend; Does she like cheeseburgers and Guinness? 
Why, yes, yes she does. Cheeseburgers, Guiness and girls, unfortunately. 
Oh! D
Well dang. Me too. Make that cheeseburgers, Guiness, and women. And oysters.
Seems like all the good ones like girls. 
Well, if you also hate crossword puzzles, you’ll like this diatribe…
…and if you like to do xwords, you’ll absolutely love the article.
Very few musicals appeal to me. “Sound of Music” worked, for the most part, but when the Mother Superior is singing “Climb Every Mountain,” nah. “Rocky Horror” was also good because it’s supposed to be campy.
I think it’s either a convention you can buy into or you can’t. Like when you’re carpooling one day and somebody breaks into song.
♪Well, it’s Monday again my friend ♪
♫Sometimes I think it will never end ♫
And everyone else spontaneously adds in harmony, begin moving in sync and…
Oh, wait: that never happens, does it? For me, that’s why most musicals feel so phony. If a guy in your car pool started singing like that, you’d probably question his sanity.
Some songs from musicals are good and can stand on their own. Others die without a context. Maybe theatre goers can put themselves back into that moment of the play and appreciate it?
But there’s something else. Live plays seem to be exaggerated, maybe because the actors on stage have to get their “point” across to the person sitting in the most distant seat. “Moulin Rouge” was a movie that seemed to be just a film of a play—except they HAD the closeups etc. that should have nullified the need to play to the most distant seat. And it was much too cloying, for my taste.
Of course, YMMV.
I went to a couple of those off-broadway plays in NYC where the cast would come out to the audience and (try to) engage you. The interaction part was kinda fun. I love to try to sing, but the music, well, sucked. I’d never sing any of it in a carpool.
Now give me a shot at Cocker’s version of A Little Help From My Friends and I’m on!
Of course, everybody else leaves.
That gives me an idea for another thread!
Like this one.
I’ve always wondered.
I like easy crosswords. My favorite solitaire game is freecell. I don’t like any games that I can’t pause, or that won’t wait for me to fix a cup of coffee.
I also have a problem with long articles. 
Anytime I’ve said “hate” in this thread, I’ve meant like I hate other people’s farts. Not the violent kind of hate, like for Hitler, but more like a pretty strong annoyance.
Yeah, greasers dancing may not be your thing. So move the picture to the background and just LISTEN to the music:
The “Tonight” ensemble, where five separate and independent parts (the two gangs, Maria, Anita, and Tony) are all playing off each other, is a truly stunning example of polyphony. Nothing like it had been seen onstage since the days of the Renaissance. It has inspired countless other examples since (Just to name two, "At the End of the Day, from Les Misérables, and “Walk Through the Fire” from the Buffy musical episode), so it may not seem quite as fresh, but it is still a remarkable performance.
“Somewhere” (A Place For Us) is a tragic lament of what the characters want and hope for themselves, even as they both know the chances of its ever coming true are slim. A heartbreaking melody, with close harmonies and a haunting final chord.
“One Hand, One Heart” (song starts about 3:20 in). Anyone who can hear this gentle yet soaring hymn to a marriage that can never take place without tearing up hasn’t got even one heart.
Forget the greasers, forget the dancing (although the choreography is notable), forget the finger snaps, forget the visuals altogether. Just listen to the damn music.
But why should I have to just listen to the music? Are you admitting that the presentation as pointedly created is severely lacking? Are you saying we should rescue the good part from the bad? If you/ya’ll are, then just admit it, because the other stuff is part of what makes the rest of us roll our eyes all the way around in our heads.
You shouldn’t have to just listen to the music. But if the dancing greasers business is annoying to you, you can still take something valuable and memorable away from the experience by choosing to “just listen” to it.
Goes without saying.