True fact- Bjorn and Benny were replaced by talentless automatons made by Ikea in December of 1981.
Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Nah, that was much later. Like Mama Mia-era. Talentless automatons couldn't write something like this:
Or this:
And now I'm going to take this more seriously than maybe I should.
Now, I'm not afraid to admit that musicals are as much subject to Sturgeon's Law as anything else – particularly musicals that just take an artist's oeuvre and spin a tale to connect some works that really don't belong in a musical (again, like Mama Mia). There are indubitably a lot of bad musicals. But music is a powerful way to evoke emotion, and mixing music with storytelling can make both of them stronger.
Like Ares's wooing of Xena in the dream world of Illusia:
Or Elsa's triumphant announcement that she is done denying her true nature:
Or Aaron Burr getting fed up with his passive nature leaving him unable to access real power:
Or, to use a good example of pre-existing music chosen for its ability to enhance a story rather than writing the story to accommodate the music, Harold Zidler lamenting the merciless nature of the show business in which he finds himself:
The Show Must Go On - Moulin Rouge lyrics Eng/Esp
These are all amazing works of art, and I will not hear anyone saying otherwise.