In the land of opera, a bad book doesn’t seem to matter. Il Trovatore springs to mind. In the last two seasons, we’ve had several musicals reassessed. Great score, bad book. For audiences, the impact of Merrily happened despite the book. Chess had yet another new book, but audiences don’t mind much because of the score. Some critics loved Love Life, some hated it because of the book. Yet the score sang for its supper.
