Favorite Musical About American History?- Page 2

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 9:04am

The most personal to me is Falsettos, which tells a lot of American history even as it uses fictional characters.

Less personal to me, but equally important is Luis Valdez' Zoot Suit. The characters are composites, but not total inventions.

***

Among the choices we were given, I'm torn between Assassins and Ragtime.

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 9:06am

1776

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 2:02am

Evita is not American history.

And such shows as Falsettos and Zoot Suit tell a fictional story with made-up character inspired by a particular era. I like both of them, but it's hard to call them musicals about American history.

Anyway, here are the results of the poll so far:

1. Hamilton

2. Ragtime

3. 1776

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 9:26am

"Evita is not American history.
And such shows as Falsettos and Zoot Suit tell a fictional story with made-up character inspired by a particular era. I like both of them, but it's hard to call them musicals about American history.
Anyway, here are the results of the poll so far:
1. Hamilton
2. Ragtime
3. 1776"

I beg your pardon, I got it right the first time. Falsettos tells of all too real events using fictional characters (as I said). The characters in Zoot Suit are drawn from composites, but the Sleepy Lagoon Murders were real events as were the subsequent trial and the Zoot Suit riots, though not every historian agrees with Valdez' interpretation of events. (I'll wager the same is true of 1776.) The major characters are all based on real people: El Pachuco on the stereotypical Chicano gangster of the 1940s and Henry on several members of the Sleepy Lagoon "gang"; Alice was a real lawyer for a left-wing legal aid group. (As I said, based on composites of real people, at least as Valdez understood them.)

But if you want to get technical about fiction v. nonfiction, then why even ask about musicals? all the entries in your sample are out of place. It's nearly impossible to do a purely nonfiction musical, as real people rarely sing about their deepest feelings while walking down the street. (I know there have been attempts to tell stories using songs from the actual period of the tale, but these haven't often succeeded, at least not without turning those pop songs into personal statements.)

Instead, the purest nonfiction theater about American history might be Execution of Justice, where Emily Mann takes every word from court transcripts or media interviews; or Twilight Los Angeles where Anna Deveare Smith takes every word from media accounts or her own interviews with the real-life people she portrays.

Updated On: 7/7/15 at 09:26 AM

[bekk99]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 9:47am

1. Hamilton

2. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

3. Assassins

[minicko88]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 11:46am

One of the toughest polls I've ever done. I absolutely adore 1776 and Ragtime. 2 of my favorite shows of all time. But, I just can't get enough of Parade. Jason Robert Brown's score is amazing, the performances of Brent Carver and Carolee Carmello were flawless, and the story moved me to tears. I know some people do not agree with my assessment of Parade, but I keep going back to that performance over and over again in my mind. It is Parade for me, but I completely understand voting for any show on this list. 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 12:20pm

I agree that PARADE has a great score, though the show onstage for me was a little less than the sum of its songs. But at least it truly qualifies as a musical on American History.

According to the OP, "such shows as Falsettos and Zoot Suit tell a fictional story with made-up character inspired by a particular era. I like both of them, but it's hard to call them musicals about American history." You are correct-- they along with RAGTIME are chiefly about fictional characters set against the backdrop of real events. I'm sure E.L. Doctorow would get a kick out of all the folks here confusing his fictional story at the center of RAGTIME with American history, even if (as is the case with me), it's our favorite show of this bunch.

[JayG 2]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 5:03pm

1776 is one of the very best musicals of the 20th century. Everything about it is perfect. And it will never age, unlike others with their anachronistic, contemporary scores, which excite people today, but will seem terribly dated in fifty years.

[Consistency]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 5:50pm

"anachronistic"

To be fair, though the score to 1776 has a more "classical" feel than a lot of the other musicals being discussed, it still doesn't sound much like the music that was actually being written in the 18th century. 

Agreed that it's a great show though. That, Ragtime and Assassins would be my top three (though not necessarily in that order.) 

I still haven't seen or heard [i]Hamilton[/i]. 

Updated On: 7/7/15 at 05:50 PM

[MVintheheartland]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 7:26pm

Well, I haven't seen Ragtime, and I am seeing Hamilton in a few weeks, so for this week, I would have to say 1776.