Adele ‘f*cking hates musicals’ – but maybe she hasn’t found the right one yet
© Kristopher Harris from Charlotte, NC, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
It was a bitter pill to swallow – during James Corden’s final “Car Pool Karaoke” episode, Adele discussed the possibility of reaching EGOT (for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony wins) status and in the process revealed she “f*cking hates musicals”.
Corden raised the question during his final automobile sing-along session – given Adele has already won the first three, would Adele aim for the fourth? She shot down the suggestion: “I really don’t think that [EGOT] is ever gonna happen. I would never write a musical or anything like that because I f*cking hate musicals.”
You could almost hear millions of voices suddenly cry out at that point – which was made all the worse when Adele launched into a note perfect rendition of “Don’t Rain On My Parade” from Funny Girl (you can watch it below, from around 15 minutes in).
The “Hello” singer went on: “I just don’t need to hear everything in f*cking song all the time, you know? I also think the EGO suits me better.”
Now, it’s worth emphasising, you don’t need to write or appear in a musical in order to win a Tony (New York’s prestigious theatre awards). Many famous stars, including Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer Hudson, have picked up the award for producing award-winning shows – gaining EGOT status in the process. So maybe down the line, Adele will decide to go down that route and complete the set.
But in the meantime, we wanted to take up Adele’s point that musicals have “everything in f*cking song all the time”. Some of the best musicals are excellently adept at blending song and text – take, for example, the Olivier Award-winning Standing at the Sky’s Edge, where Chris Bush’s brilliant book weaves time periods, themes, characters and emotions with amazing precision.
Similarly, Conor McPherson’s Girl from the North Country has a captivating story alongside the music, while the off-the-wall experience of Lazarus pushed at the artform in novel ways. Some musicals, like Cake, firmly stray into the territory of dance, rave experience – again – showing what musicals can become.
Of course, it’s totally fine for people to decide that musicals aren’t for them. All we’re saying is that they aren’t just about the singing – maybe Adele still has time to find her favourite.
