Top 10 Best Muscials ever. . .- Page 5

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 1:39pm

This is all totally ridiculous. Maybe less of us would be running around like headless chickens if we at least could come to a consensus on whether we're discussing each poster's top ten FAVORITE musicals, or what each poster considers to be the top ten BEST musicals in history. Hopefully the majority of you can recognize that there's a difference in those two things. Just because you personally don't love something doesn't give you any right to discount how influential or "great" it may have been.

Even if you haven't SEEN as much theatre as some of the other people on here, or as much as you might wish you did, there should be enough sense to recongnize that there are plenty of shows you haven't seen that are much greater and more influential than the things you have had the opportunity to see. I've seen over fifty shows on Broadway, but I'm only eighteen. I wasn't even thought of when things like Oklahoma!, West Side Story, and Cabaret were originally running. Granted, I've seen revivals of two of those three examples, but case in point being that just because I'm far too young to have seen many of the great shows myself, does that mean I should be so naive as to pretend they don't exist, and forget that they're lightyears better than most of the stuff I *have* seen? No. That's absurd.

Updated On: 4/9/05 at 01:39 PM

[Johnnytoc]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 2:06pm

*Applauds Emcee*

[FreakyMartian]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 3:01pm

just to add to Emcee's comment, there is almost no possible way that anyone could answer this question fairly - there is no objective way, period, unless someone tried to come up with some sort of USNews-like ranking by percentages of gross, cast album sales, Tony awards, whatever, but art is inherently subjective so no one would believe those ratings either. if you had seen all the musicals in existence, or even just all the musicals that have ever played on broadway, maybe you could TRY. but as much as I love Avenue Q I wouldn't even begin to try to place it in the top 10 of the best musicals ever produced, simply because I have very little to compare it to (and I see a lot of theatre, comparatively speaking). I don't even want to suggest more generally respected Sondheim shows like Assassins or Sunday in the Park or A Little Night Music or Pacific Overtures - not that any of those are that similar - simply because my lack of experience with musical theatre from all eras precludes my ability to offer any definitive opinion on the "best" musical theatre EVER. I am almost certain that none, or at the least very few of us are qualified to make that judgment.

[Broadway_freak]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 3:46pm

1) Passions
2) Bombay Dreams
3) Wonderful Town
4) Evita
5) Les Miserables
6) Little Me
7) Phantom of the Opera
Into the Woods
9) Sweeney Todd
10) RENT

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 4:49pm

"Even if you haven't SEEN as much theatre as some of the other people on here, or as much as you might wish you did, there should be enough sense to recongnize that there are plenty of shows you haven't seen that are much greater and more influential than the things you have had the opportunity to see."

Bingo.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 4:55pm

1) A Little Night Music
2) Wes Side Story
3) Swenney Todd
4) City of Angels
5) Les Miserables
6) South Pacific
7) Oliver!
Cabaret
9) Pippin
10) Ragtime

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 5:01pm

When I see shows like FOOTLOOSE listed amongst a list of the "Top 10 Best Musicals ever.." I suspect the person hasn't seen many musicals. (I reviewed the original Broadway production when it opened. Gave it ** out of 5, mainly on the strength of the cast.)

But here are my choices and why....(and yes I have seen all of these):

SHOW BOAT - it opened the door for a more serious story to be told in a song-and-dance formula. It merged techniques of operetta, revue, and musical comedy. It seems old-fashioned now but Hal Prince's 1993 staging proved it can still work for modern audiences.

OKLAHOMA! - among the R&H musicals SOUND OF MUSIC is most popular (thanks to the movie), KING AND I has the best book, CAROUSEL has the best score but OKLAHOMA! has all the elements and it's just so damn entertaining! ALso, if OKLAHOMA! hadn't happened first none of the others would have been possible.

MY FAIR LADY - another sparkling mix of text, score and staging. I have seen many productions and the show always works.

WEST SIDE STORY - this one DOESN'T always work but the score still has power and attracts new fans all the time. Sadly the underlying message is a relevent today as it was in 1957. The staging techniques that were grounbreaking in 1957 are less so now (because they have been re-used) but a new creative director, choreographer and design team could come up with a dazzling new version for the 21st century. (I actually prefer GYPSY to WEST SIDE. It has tight, fast-moving book, believable characters, a star role that is the Lady Macbeth of musicals, and some juicy supporting roles. A great score written in the brassy broadway style but with lyrics that are rich in details of character and story.)

CABARET - the next legical step in the process combining a "plot" musical and a "concept" musical. Maybe not as perfect as some of the others but still a powerful show.

COMPANY - a unique show, a non-linear story told using songs as comments on the action, and with a "contemporary" sound that has not dated the way rock musicals such as HAIR have.

SWEENEY TODD - So many Sondheim shows deserve mention (both ASSASSINS and SUNDAY IN THE PARK deserve to be in this spot as well) but SWEENEY is a towering theatrical achievement. It can be done huge (as with leading opera companys) or small (as in "TEENY TODD") and it always works.

LES MISERABLES - a modern opera, based on a classic novel. Epic themes, a lush score with many accssible tunes, and production that has reached out and touched audiences well beyond the Broadway realm.

GRAND HOTEL - more a triumph of style over substance, this is still for me the best staged musical I have ever encountered. Minimalist theatre: Nothing was there but everything was there. The score is uneven as is the book because of the various people working on both, but I still listen to this OCR more than some of the big hits of the same period. I wish more modern musicals had taken their cue from this show instead of the elaborate specatcles. (TITANIC in particular would have benefitted from this approach.)


RAGTIME - Musical summation of the 20th century drawing elements from many of the above a fusing them into a terrific show with a powerful score. The original production was very lavish and elaborate. A second tour was staged more simply and was just as powerful. Sad to say no show has come along since that has eclipsed it.

I notice one common element: most of these can be staged on a very grand oppulent scale or on a very simple modesnt scale and still work effectively which is a testement to the quality of the writing.

Bubblng under the top 10 in addtion to ones I mentioned above are PORGY AND BESS, GUYS AND DOLLS and MUSIC MAN , 1776, CHICAGO, & CHORUS LINE, DREAMGIRLS, NINE.

As to the bottom of the list (and this is based only on shows I have seen. I never saw some of the big disasters like SHOGUN, CARRIE or THE GIRL FROM NANTUCKET and they left behind no recordings or scripts.)of the musicals I have seen the five worst are...

COPACABANNA - this was in a pre-Broadway try-out that folded on the road. Based on the Barry Manilow song it was the most ineptly put together musical I have ever seen. Watching it I had to wonder if Barry Manilow had ever even seen another musical.

R.S.V.P. BROADWAY - another Broadway boudn musical that died quickly after its premiere in Toronto. Not as inept as COPACABANNA but just as bad.

SUNSET BLVD. - a wonderful screenplay mashed into pulp by ALW who didn't even bother writing an original score for it, choosing instead to recycle a bunch of trunk songs. Terrible lyrics and boring, needless recitative that set the original dialogue to music then stopped dead while the big arias were pluggd in to merely re-state the same idea. Yes the set was dazzling, and the leading ladies were given true diva showcases but given the source this could have been a much better show. The fact it won the 1995 Tony was a disgrace but there were no other new musicals that season!

STARLIGHT EXPRESS - how this even got into the running as a Best Musical of 1987 is beyond me. Horrible book, Horrible score. the only thing it had going for it was the staging which was fun to watch for about 10 minutes, then like most theme park attractions I wanted to move on. I couldn't. I was stuck there for another 2 1/2 hours.

THE ACT - Liza Minnelli had th star power to make the evening worthwhile but the book (by George Furth!) was plodding and full of tired cliches. And the Kander & Ebb score was the low point in their career because the book didn't give them any dramatic moments to amplify, so they were stuck writing a series of nightclub pastiches.

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 5:19pm

Is this what I enjoy most? If that's it then Wicked all the way.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 5:39pm

OK, I'll play, but my list is going to be of just my own personal favorites, not the most "influential," most "important" or some quasi-objective "best" (I've done those lists before and am not in the mood to go down that road again at the moment). This is my own highly subjective "Best" List -- the shows that I enjoyed and admired the most in terms of their book and score and overall construction and were the most thrilling and powerful in performance (I've seen all of these on Broadway, as well as in other professional contexts):

Porgy and Bess
Dreamgirls
A Chorus Line
Gypsy
Sunday In the Park with George
Caroline, or Change
Sweeney Todd
Company
Chicago
Follies (despite its book problems, a brilliant show)

Honorable mentions (some of which could easily be in my top ten):
Pacific Overtures
Guys and Dolls
1776
Show Boat
Candide (various revival versions)
How to Succeed
Threepenny Opera
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
A Little Night Music
Urinetown
Carousel
West Side Story (though I've never seen a truly first rate production of it on stage)

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 5:47pm

Well, there we have it.

The definitive list.

Thankyou Margo!

[CrAzIaBoUtReNt]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 5:49pm

Best:

1. A Chorus Line
2. The Phantom of the Opera
3. West Side Story
4. Wicked
5. Rent
6. Company
7. Hairspray
9. Chicago
10.Cabaret

[hyperchet]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 5:51pm

I'm still appalled that Avenue Q won Best Musical. Wicked was THE best show of 2003, next to "The Boy From Oz"

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 5:52pm

I think "The Boy From Oz" was a great star vehicle with a cast that made it worth the price of admission, but I found the show itself to be quite mediocre.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 5:53pm

If they hadn't had Jackman for their leading man, the show would've been awful, rather than mediocre. I love Hugh, and he did WONDERS for that material, but he's the only reason it was even passable.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 5:58pm

The show was a lot better in Australia, and our leading man rivalled Hugh Jackman.

Todd McKenny was quite fabulous, and the material worked quite a lot better..

However, they changed it to bring it to Broadway, and lost a lot of the quality along the way...

[zippyjen]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 6:02pm

sweeny todd
west side story
cabaret
rent
passion
caroline or change
hair
last five years

now my favorites that i wouldn't consider the greatest of all time
Little shop of horrors
avenue q
tick tick boom
you're a good man charlie brown

[sassypanz]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 6:38pm

Wicked Aida Rent Gypsy Producers Hello Dolly Kiss Me Kate Millie Hairspray Aida Aida and Wicked

[catstagestud]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 6:57pm

Let's see...

Music Man
Aida
RENT
Sweeney Todd
Side Show
Les Miserable
Joseph...
The Secret Garden
Into the Woods
Carousel

No particular order on this list just my 10 favs.

[DefyGravity23]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 7:01pm

In no order:

Phantom of the Opera
Les Miserables
Hello Dolly
West Side Story
Sound of Music
Wicked
Sweeny Todd
Aida
Chicago
Man of La Mancha

[lac77]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 8:17pm

Gypsy
West Side Story
Funny Girl
Cabaret
Sunday in the Park With George
42nd Street
Guys & Dolls
Chicago
Company
Sweeney Todd
Rent
Phantom of the Opera
Les Mis
Wicked
South Pacific

[broadway86]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 8:22pm

1. Ragtime
2. Gypsy
3. Carousel (and every other R&H musical)
4. West Side Story
5. Fiddler on the Roof
6. Guys & Dolls
7. Hello, Dolly!
8. Into the Woods
9. Cabaret
10. Kiss Me, Kate

But there are SO many others that could just as easily make the list.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 8:26pm

"THE ACT - Liza Minnelli had th star power to make the evening worthwhile but the book (by George Furth!) was plodding and full of tired cliches. And the Kander & Ebb score was the low point in their career because the book didn't give them any dramatic moments to amplify, so they were stuck writing a series of nightclub pastiches."

I actually adore THE ACT. "The Money Tree" is one of my favorite showtunes.

[stonewall2]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 9:01pm

Not in Any Particular Order:
West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Man of La Mancha,My Fair Lady,Carousel, Oklahoma, South Pacific,Show Boat, Guys and Dolls and perhaps Brigadoon(sorry, that was 11!) They have stood the test of time, and I think that is what we have to use as a yardstick now. Perhaps, in time, Rent, A Chorus Line and Wicked will join the list, at least if OCRs count for anything, but it will be interesting to revisit this question every 10 years or so. The wonderful thing about the theatre is that there is something for everyone, young,old,male,female, gay, straight, we all get a little chill when the house lights go down........

Updated On: 4/9/05 at 09:01 PM

Posted: 4/9/05 at 9:07pm

shut ya piehole

[Emmy1234]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 10:59pm

In no particular order (and only from what I've seen since I in the last 6 years since I first saw a Broadway Show or was old enough to care):

Oklahoma (I'm not a huge fan of it, but I live here, and it's good.)
Rent (I've never seen it on Broadway because we moved from New York before I was old enough to see it so I've just been able to see a travelling show when it rolled into town. I was still too young, but my mom loves the show, and I insisted that I be allowed to go.)
Chicago
42nd Street (I can barely remember it, but I loved it)

That's only 4, but I didn't include anything that I haven't actually seen as theatre(living in Oklahoma, I live for recordings and movie musicals)