I'm wondering who has a few suggestions for shows that I ABSOLUTELY MUST KNOW!
(and please, no mention of wicked. lol. Like it, but the novelty wore off when it became super popular. I'm a little sick of everyone singing wicked ALL The TIME, especially for talent shows.)
I'm looking for some out-there shows, too. Though a few theatre staples would be good, too.
I'm going script and cd shopping this weekend.
So here's what i'm asking, what shows do you think people REALLY MUST know/hear/read and a brief synopsis, I guess. Or a reason why it's so amazing. Just your opinions, of course.
"I'd rather be 9 people favorite thing than 100 people's ninth favorite thing."
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There are many older (pre 1970) shows, fine, interesting, experimental or just enjoyable that are well worth exploring.
I'll skip the operettas and go right to musical comedy:
LADY BE GOOD (1924) Fun Gershwin score and preserved by a great cast on Elektra.
GOOD NEWS (1927) Typical 20s fun. Jay has the 1990s revival cast on CD and its well worth a listen.
OF THEE I SING (1931) Another Gershwin score but this one in comic operetta style and great fun. The 1952 revival cast makes a good case for the show (despite a few lyric updates.)
BABES IN ARMS (1937) Not a great book but a score crammed full of evergreens. New World has a great CD using original orchestrations.
LADY IN THE DARK (1941) Ahead of its time and highly experimental. Jay has the complete score on Cd with Maria Friedman. (There is an older Columbia disc with Rise Stevens also quite good)
ST LOUIS WOMAN (1946) Encores restored this and did a concert version with Vanessa Williams and recorded by Mercury.
KISMET (1953) Encores will be doing this next spring and if you have never heard the original cast with Alfred Drake you are in for a treat! It's in Sony's Columbia Broadway Masterwoks series.
THE MOST HAPPY FELLA (1956) Complete show on a 2 CD set from Sony Broadway. A real gem!
110 IN THE SHADE (1963) Another gem. Great score by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. The OCR is out-of-print but Jay offers a magnificent 2 CD set of the complete score including additional songs written for later productions.
THE APPLE TREE (1966) - a trilogy of 3 one-act musicals. Great songs by Bock and Harnick. Barbara Harris and Alan Alda are perfectly cast. CD is on Sony Broadway label.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks." Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
Are you meaning within the musical theater, "straight" theater, or both? Well, in any case, I believe that all professional stage actors should be familiar with most of the major plays of the last ten or fifteen years, as well as these classics:
MUSICALS Most of Sondheim's shows Most of Rogers and Hammerstein's shows Kiss Me Kate Anything Goes Damn Yankees The Fantasticks Fiddler on the Roof Guys and Dolls Little Shop of Horrors Cabaret The Music Man Gypsy Chicago West Side Story Pippin 42 Street A Chorus Line My Fair Lady ...and at least the "big three" of the G&S shows: The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, and H.M.S. Pinafore
NON-MUSICALS Shakespeare's major works (Hamlet, R&J, Macbeth, etc.) Chekhov's major works (Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya, etc.) Tennesee Williams' major works (Streetcar, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, etc.) Harold Pinter's major works (The Homecoming, Betrayal, etc.) Eugene O'Neill's major works (The Iceman Cometh, the Tyrone plays) Noel Coward's major works (Blithe Spirit, Private Lives, etc.) Death of a Salesman The Crucible Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Hurlyburly (well, maybe that's not a classic, but it's famous nonetheless) Major Barbara A Doll's House Waiting For Godot True West Equus Amadeus
OK...that's a start! I'm sure there's many I've forgotten to list.
Start out with "Sweeney Todd" and "Les Miserables". That should keep one busy for 10 good years. (And Goddess knows, You will have something to sing for the rest of your life with just these two!)
"It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance." -
Elizabeth Taylor
Well, this can be huge. And of course it is quite subjective, since there can be arguing about the importance of each show. I'll just mention some musicals for you, because with straight plays the list could be endless. So, In my opinion, some of the shows that a musical fan MUST know, because they are representative of the different styles, are :
The Sound of Music Showboat Funny Lady West Side Story My Fair Lady Into the Woods Hair A Chorus Line Dreamgirls Gypsy 42nd Street Cats (longest running ever) Les Miserables Fiddler on the Roof Cabaret The Phantom of the Opera Rocky Horror Show The Lion King (Disneyfication of Bway) Rent The Producers (most Tony awards) Mamma Mia (the beginning of jukebox musicals)
Now, I am not saying that I like all of them or that they are the best, but each one left a big mark in musical history, for one reason or the other, so I think that someone should be familiar with them. And for some that can be controversial, I add in brackets the reason I think they should be included. I am sure there are many others, that don't come to mind right now !
Showboat Oklahoma Carousel South Pacific King & I Sound of Music Brigadoon My Fair Lady Camelot Anything Goes Kiss me kate Music Man West Side Story Bye bye Birdie Annie Get Your Gun Gypsy Guys and Dolls Most Happy Fella Cabaret Chicago Fiddler on the Roof Godspell Pippin Company Follies A Little Night Music Sweeney Todd Into the Woods Nine Dreamgirls Jesus Christ Superstar Cats Evita Phantom of the Opera Les Miserables Rent Wild Party (La Chuisa) Ragtime Lion King Producers Hairspray Wicked (I guess)
AND - a general familiarity with the American Popular songbook. Many others to mention, but I would make sure to know these pretty well first.
bebe de broadway --- I won't overwhelm you. I'll give you my TOP FIVE. Most are considered landmark shows that either helped change the course of musical theatre, or elevated the art form to another level:
SHOW BOAT I think this is the birth of the modern dramatic American musical. It took a serious, literary subject and pulled it up out of a (then) standard Vaudevillian presentation. Most shows prior to that would have a little plot, then a song or two (sometimes having NOTHING to do with the plot), then another "sketch" or scene, and a big chorus number. They would tell a story eventually, but the material wasn't contained or focused on storytelling. "Show Boat" changed all of that. It was enormously controversial, too. Can you imagine tackling the themes of interracial marriage, alcoholism, compulsive gambling and miscegenation back in 1927? In a splashy show produced by Ziegfeld, for mainstream audience? Extremely daring. After that, you can throw in the classic score by Hammerstein & Kern, which would be reason enough to list this show. I believe they had EIGHT "hit songs" that swept the nation. The only reason it didn't run longer was a little thing called the stock market crash. Ziegfeld was forced to shut it down.
OKLAHOMA! Considered the father of the modern American musical (although I would give that honor to Show Boat, personally). Hammerstein again, this time teamed with Richard Rodgers on their first effort together. They, along with director Rouben Mamoulian and choreographer Agnes de Mille set the bar for everything to follow. It's classic storytelling from head to toe, and was a monster hit in its day.
GYPSY This is modern musical theatre at its very best. Probably the best written show ever (book, music & lyrics). It's pretty much a flawless effort. Start with the original Merman version, not one of the many revivals, and you'll see why.
A CHORUS LINE This is the ultimate concept musical. Not the first, but for me, the very best. It's a brilliant show from start to finish, that evolved in such an organic way---from a group of dancers getting together to tell their stories. And if you're a performer, it will get under your skin and stay with you forever. A pure theatrical experience.
SWEENEY TODD Sondheim's masterpiece. Not theatrically ground-breaking (as his "Company" was), but this show definitely took the art form to a new and higher level. It will leave you breathless. When I first listened to the OBCR, I played it three times in a row without moving from my spot (and it's not a short show!). I didn't know musical theatre could rise to such heights. A crowning achievement.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
WOW. thanks so much. I'm glad to see so many shows I LOVE listed.
hah I'm a big Sondheim fan, so yeah... lovin' the Sweeney Todd and Assassins and Gypsy (which I'm in right now!).
I'll check out the ones that I don't know.
How about recent shows? I'm familiar with a lot of the older shows and a lot of the REAAALLY old movie musicals (TCM is my friend) but not so much all the new stuff everyone is always talking about.
I'm probably the worst excuse for a Musical Theatre Major ever.
At least I can always get the cd's from my friends. lol
Because they have ALL of them. lol
"I'd rather be 9 people favorite thing than 100 people's ninth favorite thing."
http://youtube.com/profile?user=nekoexcel
heh while I don't know jelly's last jam, I have a song from it because I have the Broadway: The American Musical five cd set. Got it for Christmas last year and almost died. ^_^
I love Ragtime, and have hear Urinetown at least. lol
how about straight plays? I have easy access to lots of musicals, but I REALLY need to know straight plays. Especially some good ones for females. I need to buy a lot of scripts so I have a good monologue resource.
"I'd rather be 9 people favorite thing than 100 people's ninth favorite thing."
http://youtube.com/profile?user=nekoexcel