10 Most Important Musical Theatre Songs?

Hello all,
Let's just imagine for a minute that a record is going to be made containing 10 songs from the musical theatre to be a permanent documentation of this art form for the human race and you are in charge of choosing the 10 songs to go on this record. Which songs would you add? (excluding movie musicals)

My list:

"Put On Your Sunday Clothes" from HELLO, DOLLY!
"I Could Have Danced All Night" from MY FAIR LADY
"Everything's Coming Up Roses" from GYPSY
"Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" from OKLAHOMA!
"Edelweiss" from THE SOUND OF MUSIC
"You'll Never Walk Alone" from CAROUSEL
"Tonight" from WEST SIDE STORY
"Seventy Six Trombones" from THE MUSIC MAN
"There's No Business Like Show Business" from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
"Anything Goes" from ANYTHING GOES

Honorable mention for "Ol' Man River" from SHOW BOAT

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Updated On: 9/28/14 at 09:17 PM

Add Memory from Cats

"Role of a Lifetime"- Bare
"Defying Gravity"- Wicked
"Fabulous, Baby!"- Sister Act
"Don't Rain on My Parade"- Funny Girl
"I'd Give My Life for You"- Miss Saigon
"Lot's Wife"- Caroline, or Change
"So Much Better"- Legally Blonde
"One Song Glory"- Rent
"If I Can't Love Her"- Beauty and the Beast
"The Music and the Mirror"- A Chorus Line

mjohnson, while I appreciate your list of classics, I think there should be something totally Sondheim on the list as he is the master of modern musical theater and Gypsy doesn't belong to him completely. Maybe "Being Alive" "Not While I'm Around" "Losing My Mind" or one of his comic songs.

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I like a lot of Sondheim's music (his shows not as much, unless its MERRILY), but I couldn't think of a single song that he wrote that felt important enough to include. My favorite song of his is "Sunday" but good and important are two different things. If I were to include one, I would probably do "Being Alive" or "Send in the Clowns" but I don't think either of those are as important as the other 10 (11) that I included.

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I think transcendence between genres is important here as is the context and the piece as a whole.

To that end:

1. "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man of Mine" from "Showboat"-groundbreaking in so many ways (the material, context and its timelessness)
2. Oklahoma! from "Oklahoma!" (this could have been America as a whole for that post WWII American audience)
3. "It's Too Darn Hot" from "Kiss Me, Kate"-it exudes sexuality and sensuality using words and incredible style (and it has a life of its own aside from the show)
4. "Hello, Dolly!"-from "Hello, Dolly"-this song spent a loooong time at the top of the charts
5. "People," from "Funny Girl,"-This song at least to me while not as far-reaching as "Don't Rain on My Parade"-had one singular impact of showing the other, softer side of Fanny (oh and Barbra too)
6. "Don't Rain on My Parade" from "Funny Girl"-This has been covered more than "People" and has been heard in commercials and is very well-known
7. "One"-from "A Chorus Line"-this is one of the best known song and dance routines in theater
8. "Send in the Clowns"-from "A Little Night Music"-this is Sondheim's most transcendent song and has been recorded by many artists-it stands beautifully on its own
9. "Memory"-from "Cats"-this is another that has seeped into the pop genre and introduced people to theater
10. "I Dreamed a Dream"-the song has a universal theme and is awfully catchy.

Honorable Mention: "Luck Be a Lady" from "Guys and Dolls"

Updated On: 9/28/14 at 11:25 PM

1. No one is Alone-Into the Woods
2. When I Grown Up-Matilda
2. If I were a Rich Man- Fiddler On the Roof
4. Anything Goes-Anything Goes
5. Oklahoma or People Will Say We're in Love-Oklahoma
6. Edelweiss-Sound of Music
7. Bring Him Home-Les Miserables
8. You'll Never Walk Alone-Carasuel
9. Angel of Music- Phantom of the Opera
10.Another Hundred People-Company

This is in no particular order.

UPDATE: I actually would put any Side Show song on this list. Who Will Love Me As I Am? And I Will never Leave you are perfect.

Updated On: 10/5/14 at 11:55 PM

I was looking forward to posting in this thread but mjohnson, you nailed it. I have nothing to add.

Not sure about "most" but here's ten songs from the theater which are "important" in the sense that they are thematically profound, ambitious and highly accomplished:

Soliloquy CAROUSEL
And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going - DREAM GIRLS
Old Man River - SHOW BOAT
Lost in the Stars - LOST IN THE STARS
Pirate Jenny - THREEPENNY OPERA
Epiphany - SWEENEY TODD
Being Alive - COMPANY
The Ladies Who Lunch - COMPANY
You've Got to Be Carefully Taught - SOUTH PACIFIC
No One is Alone - INTO THE WOODS

Updated On: 9/29/14 at 09:22 AM

duplicate post

Updated On: 9/29/14 at 11:10 AM

These are the songs that have been important to me as an actor.
1. Have a Little Priest- Sweeney Todd
2. Move On- Sunday in the Park with George
3. Wilkommen- Cabaret
4. Skid Row- Little Shop of Horrors
5. Losing my Mind- Follies
6. Soliloquy- Carousel
7. Beat Out Dat Rhythm on the Drum- Carmen Jones
8. No One is Alone- Into the Woods
9. Loving You- Passion
10. Bring Him Home- Les Miserables

1. "This Nearly Was Mine" from South Pacific
2. "Tonight" from West Side Story
3. "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from Gypsy
4. "Guys and Dolls" from Guys and Dolls
5. "My Heart is So Full of You" from Most Happy Fella
6. "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady
7. "One More Kiss" from Follies
8. "No One Is Alone" from Into the Woods
9. "All The Things You Are" from Very Warm for May
10. "Good Thing Going" from Merrily We Roll Along

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"I Could Have Danced All Night" from MY FAIR LADY
"Everything's Coming Up Roses" from GYPSY
"Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" from OKLAHOMA!
"I Dreamed A Dream" from LES MISERABLES
"Sunday" from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
"Tonight" from WEST SIDE STORY
"Seventy Six Trombones" from THE MUSIC MAN
"There's No Business Like Show Business" from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
"Anything Goes" from ANYTHING GOES
"Defying Gravity" from WICKED

I just made a couple of changes to the initial list, which is fantastic in its own right!

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