BEST MUSICAL EVER- Page 2
BEST MUSICAL EVER
Joined: 12/31/69
#25re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 7:01pm
Can't just pick one - and in no particular order:
MY FAIR LADY
A CHORUS LINE
DREAMGIRLS
THE KING AND I
CHICAGO
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
SHOWBOAT
SECRET GARDEN
LITTLE SHOP
FIDDLER
Kind of odd to like all these things that are having revivals right now. I haven't seen any of them, so my love has to do with the originals.
#26re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 7:28pmLes Mis...saw it 16 times :)
"I'm gonna jump!
Don't do it!
Okay!"
#28re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 7:32pmCongrats on your 16, I'm up to 15 for Avenue Q and ended Les Mis at 30 (although Im going to see it in London in July)
And hang on, when did you win the discus?
broadwaybaby486
Swing Joined: 5/27/03
#29re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 7:47pmI'd say GYPSY, simply because the book is so well-written that it could work well as a play, and the musical just adds new definition to the story.
"Make the most of the music that is yours." -Stephen Sondheim
#30re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 7:51pmWest Side Story and Carousel. Ragtime is my all-time favorite but I wouldn't say it's the best!
"Did you know that if you take the first two vowels in Olive and rearrange them it spells I-Love?"-Spelling Bee
"It's night like this that hotel bars were specifically made." Light In The Piazza
#31re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 8:33pm
Well this is sort of my personal favorite rather than me actually judging what the best musical ever is becuase I really dont think that we can do that but i would like to say Millie.
I also love The Sound of Music, Rent, Aida, ITW, Wicked
"Take a breath. Take a step. Take a chance. Take your time." -L5Y
#32re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 8:58pmIt would certainly be MY FAIR LADY, though GUYS AND DOLLS, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, LES MISERABLES, and A CHORUS LINE are way up there.
Praying Decca Broadway will put "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" on CD!
Musetta1957
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/03
#33re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 9:04pm
"What Is The Best Musical Ever To You? I Dont Have One, Ive Seen Alot, But Im Not Speaking Yet.. And No, Its Not Wicked"
Why are you capitalizing all your words?
#34re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 9:53pmI have 3: Rent, JCS, Godspell
I have my books and my poetry to protect me...
GovernorSlaton
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/14/04
#35re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 10:02pm
Favorite would be Assassins. Or Bat Boy. Or Parade. Or Rent. Or The Last 5 Years. Or Sunday in the Park with George. Or Little Shop of Horrors. Or Songs for a New World. Or Sweeney Todd. Yup, that's all of 'em. Also The Fantasticks. 
#36re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 10:24pmIncluding films: Ragtime, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors (the 1986 film), Cabaret (the 1972 film), Chicago (stage musical and film), The Wizard of Oz, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
BwayTheatre11
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/25/03
#37re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/11/04 at 11:16pmI am too open-minded to have a absolute favorite.
CCM '10!
Jamie Hat
Broadway Star Joined: 4/5/04
#39re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/12/04 at 1:34amI can't believe that anyone would have AIDA anywhere close to this list. Sad.
Bohoboy
Understudy Joined: 5/9/04
#40re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/12/04 at 2:21am
Someone who I got hooked on musical theatre once asked me, "What cast recordings should I get?" I spoke without thinking (something I often do) and said get Showboat and Oklahoma, they're the start of the book musical. Then get Sweeney Todd, that's the peak of the book musical. Not to say there haven't been great shows since, but for scale, depth, and just plain getting everything right, Sweeney Todd is as close to perfect as it gets for me. Having seen most productions available to be seen living on two coasts, I've been shocked by my seemingly contrarily familiarity with and new found affection for the score. The script really does it service. It's everything that Follies aimed to be, grand, yet literary, but just needed Sondheim to get that true inspiration. It was Hugh Wheeler's best work. There's something to be said for the fact that when any major production of it is done, they do the show "as directed by Hal Prince."
That being said, my favorite musical is a Sondheim/Prince failure. I absolutely adore Merrily We Roll Along. I think, as far as score, that's as close to perfection as it gets. It builds like a tragedy in reverse. It's a lesson of failure that ends on a high note. It SHOULD work. I've only seen it work in concert with the original cast. Anne Morrison was a revelation on stage. When she took the stage you realized why she won the role after a year and a half of not being able to cast Mary.
Again, 2 cents.
I wish the stage were as narrow as the wire of a tightrope dancer, so that no incompetent would dare step upon it. -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
#41re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/12/04 at 2:32am
I want to peaceably add some clarity here (if I may). This is not a "my favorite musicals" thread. This is a thread where we are sharing what we think is indeed the best musical ever written. Not your guilty pleasure. Not the first show you ever saw on Broadway and ooh what magic it was. Let's ask of ourselves the ability to make a critically minded decision and choose the musical that we truly think stands the test of time. A musical that is well WRITTEN as the precious effects and designs will not be around for future generations. I love you all so dearly, but PLEASE think it over.
Hint: It probably wasn't written in the last 5 - 10 years, if anything but that a musical needs to actually test some time.
Updated On: 6/12/04 at 02:32 AM
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#42re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/12/04 at 6:05am
I agree with JRB. While it's difficult to be objective in this, one of the most subjective of all art forms, there are works that are, by any definition, "perfect" in their primary elements -- book, music, lyrics -- and that in their original productions (or in a few rare cases, in later definitive productions) demonstrated an ideal marriage of performance, direction and design. There are several shows that I love that I must admit have flawed books, or brilliant shows that have songs in the score that aren't great or constitute filler, or that overall flat-out work better on paper (or on CD) than they ever do in performance. By this criterion, I eliminate several of my favorite shows, but with that in mind, how about these 20 candidates (chronologically):
-- "Showboat" (momma of them all -- a little clunky these days, but still effective)
-- "Porgy and Bess" (really an opera, but interlaced with jazz and written FOR the musical theater, debuting for the Theatre Guild in 1935 -- the greatest musical score ever written by an American composer to this day ....certainly unparalleled by any other composer who's primarily associated with musical theater. A masterpiece on every level from beginning to end)
-- "Pal Joey" (ahead of its time then and perhaps still; great score, but the dark, anti-hero protagonist is still a hard sell -- maybe Hugh could have a go at it)
-- "Oklahoma" (plot + music + dance = it still works)
-- "Annie Get Your Gun" (not crazy about the last revival -- though Reba was great -- but who can argue with the score)
-- "Guys and Dolls" (maybe the greatest musical comedy; flawless book that is still extremely funny over 50 years later; every song is perfection and perfectly placed; even when it's not well cast, it's such an amazing piece of construction that it still works)
-- "Threepenny Opera" (the first off-Broadway hit show)
-- "My Fair Lady" (we all take it for granted -- myself included -- but Lerner's adapation of Shaw's Pygmalion is masterful, as is the score by he and Loewe)
-- "West Side Story" (I wonder if I'll ever see a production that is worthy the work by Robbins, Bernstein, Sondheim and Laurents. I'm a bit underwhelmed by the OBC recording by Kert and Lawrence and the movie nailed the choreography, but then also had Richard Beymer (????) and Natalie Wood in a black wig. Hopefully, someday somebody (Jerry Mitchell?) will do a revival that matches the brilliance of the creators).
-- "The Music Man" (Corny, but flawless)
-- "Gypsy" (Perfection. But Rose must be truly larger-than-life for the show to completely work and few, if any, Roses can match the intensity of the orignal)
-- "Hello Dolly" -- not sure why to include it, but not sure why to leave it off.
-- "Fiddler On the Roof"
-- "Cabaret" -- ??? (personally, I think the Fosse movie improves greatly on the 1966 original -- remember this last revival incorporated numbers from the movie -- and Fosse was right to ditch the Fraulein Schneider/Herr Schultz subplot which is a drag on the book, IMO. Still.....)
-- "1776" (never has such a hoary subject matter been made so endlessly compelling and entertaining)
-- "A Chorus Line" -- (a seemless marriage of book, score, choreography, staging and performance)
-- "Chicago" -- (Fosse's and Kander & Ebb's best work; prescient book; brilliant score and choreography)
-- "Sweeney Todd" (hard to choose a "Sondheim's greatest," but hard not to choose this one; Genius score and book and great staging from Prince)
-- "Evita" -- (Webber's best, I guess)
-- "Les Miz" -- (the best of the mega-musicals)
There are another half dozen or so I might add (including a few favorites of mine) but they're all harder to defend because of certain flaws. Anyway....
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#43re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/12/04 at 8:25amWest Side Story, Carousel, Chorus Line, Rent, Ragtime.
Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!
#44re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/12/04 at 9:48amMargoChanning, I really enjoyed your posting and wanted to say how nice it is to have someone defend their views so well.
#45re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/12/04 at 10:15amI have to many musicals that i love that is way too hard of a decision.
Bobby is my hobby and I'm givin' it up!
#46re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/12/04 at 3:21pm
Anything Goes
&
The Last 5 Years
I starred in a short film called Magnetic Personality. Check it out!
#47re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/12/04 at 4:12pm
Hmmm, this IS hard.
LES MIZ - This show, to me, is perfect, and encompasses everything I love about musical theatre. It's both epic and intimate, highly emotional and engaging. Plus, it has the most beautiful score I've ever heard. The show has really profound themes and characters that represent the full spectrum of humanity. To me, Les Miz is like the Bible of musical theatre, the musical about all of us.
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE - My favourite Sondheim musical. Intelligent yet earnest, it's a touchingly poignant play.
AVENUE Q - A recent one, but it's pretty flawless. It has a perfect balance of irreverence and heart.
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF - The current revival notwithstanding (I haven't seen it, but from the clips available, it looks like they've forgotten the musical's joy and colour), a very strong musical with a very strong book, no wonder it's a classic.
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH - The best rock musical. Completely different in every way and features, for me, one of the most complex and memorable characters ever to be written for a musical. Hedwig is hilariously witty, yet has such pathos. And the amazing set of songs could easily be rock classics in their own right.
OLIVER - One of the first "modern" musicals, and still plays really well. A good production could make this classic fly.
THE LION KING - A lot of theatre people have blasted this, but for a family musical, there's nothing quite like it. It's definitely a production piece that can't be revived or anything, but still, what a startling piece of theatre it is! It's a strange and unique marriage of family fare and avant-garde high art.
CABARET - Although I do love it, it's not one of my favourites, but I'm always intrigued and delighted how flexible this show is. It can be restaged and re-envisioned in so many different ways. A highly adaptable show.
I know there are more, but they're not coming to me now. Ah well.
BlueWizard's blog: The Rambling Corner
HEDWIG: "The road is my home. In reflecting upon the people whom I have come upon in my travels, I cannot help but think of the people who have come upon me."
Updated On: 6/12/04 at 04:12 PM
#48re: BEST MUSICAL EVER
Posted: 6/12/04 at 4:35pmI would have to agree, pretty much word-for-word with Margo. Kudos for including 1776, wich is often overlooked.
"Singing is the lowest form of communication" - Homer
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