10 Most Important Musical Theatre Songs?

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 9:17pm

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

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

[Showface]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 9:21pm

What a cool thread!

"Hello Dolly" from Hello, Dolly!
"I Could Have Danced All Night" from MY FAIR LADY
"Everything's Coming Up Roses" from GYPSY
"Edelweiss" from THE SOUND OF MUSIC
"Do Re Mi" THE SOUND OF MUSIC
"Being Alive" from COMPANY
"There's No Business Like Show Business" from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
"Anything Goes" from ANYTHING GOES
"America" from WEST SIDE STORY


I cant think of another one...so those were 9.

Posted: 9/28/14 at 9:40pm

Add Memory from Cats

[Feste]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 9:56pm

Great list! Also for your consideration...

Rose's Turn/ Some People/...Roses - Gypsy
Seasons of Love - Rent
Aquarius - Hair
Bring Him Home - Les Miserables
Mama Will Provide - Once on this Island
Another Opening, Another Show/ So in Love - Kiss Me Kate
What More Can I Say? - Falsettos
I Got Rhythm - Girl Crazy/ Crazy for You
A Little Priest/ Nothing's Gonna Harm You - Sweeney Todd
If I Were a Rich Man - Fiddler on the Roof
Some Enchanted Evening - South Pacific

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 10:08pm

"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

[Feste]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 10:21pm

DOH!! How could I leave out Funny Girl???

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 10:31pm

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.

[gfaustswa]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 10:44pm

Liking most of the songs I see listed on here. Can't leave out "What I Did For Love" and "One" from A Chorus Line. Those two seem pretty important to me.

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 10:46pm

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.

[CurtainsUpat8]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 11:05pm

What about "If I Loved You"? from The groundbreaking "Bench Scene" in Carousel.

[dreaming]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 11:25pm

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

[Jarethan]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 11:30pm

IN NO ORDER

I Have Dreamed -- The King and I
Rose's Turn -- Gypsy
If I Loved You -- Carousel
Memory -- Cats (I hate the show with the exception of this song)
Embraceable You -- Girl Crazy
Tonight -- West Side Story
Once Upon a Time -- All American
The Party's Over -- Bells Are Ringing
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face -- My Fair Lady
Easy to Love -- Anything Goes

Posted: 9/28/14 at 11:55pm

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

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 12:25am

If I Loved You-Carousel
Hello Dolly-Hello Dolly
There's No Business Like Show Business-Annie Get Your Gun
Roses Turn-Gypsy
What I Did For Love-A Chorus Line
All That Jazz-Chicago
America-West Side Story
Memory-Cats
Music of the Night-The Phantom of the Opera
Defying Gravity-Wicked

[Speed]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 12:42am

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

[broadwaysweetheart]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 2:37am

1. Ol' Man River
2. Some enchanted Evening
3. Anything Goes
4. There's No Business like Show Business
5. I could have danced all night
6. Tonight
7. Hello Dolly
8. Send in the Clowns
9. What I did for Love
10. Memory

Super tough topic :) I'm missing Don't rain on my Parade, Defying Gravity, Tomorrow... So many

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 9:22am

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

[Patash]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 11:05am

I think there might be a big difference between the many lists here which seem to be "great songs of musical theatre" and what the thread title asked for -- "most IMPORTANT musical theatre songs".

I think it would be hard not to include "You've Got to be Carefully Taught" from South Pacific or "I Am What I Am" from Le Cage aux Folles or even "What I Did For Love" from A Chorus Line.



Updated On: 9/29/14 at 11:05 AM

[Patash]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 11:10am

duplicate post



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

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 12:36pm

As someone probably from an older generation, surprised at the quality of almost all of these lists. People know their Broadway going back six decades.

Not a big fan of Sondheim as a composer, although he is a brilliant lyricist. I really love "Not a Day Goes By" sung with real angst. Being covered a lot by major vocalists.

Biggest surprise is the omission of Ol' Man River by so many. Thirty years ago it would have been near the top of everyone's list. Sung by William Warfield or Paul Robeson or someone with an equally powerful voice, it was still socially relevant in 1927 depicting the de facto slavery of many negroes in the South over fifty years after they had been given their freedom. I would think that many in times of deepest trouble have recited this couplet to themselves:

I gets weary and sick of tryin'
I'm tired of livin' and scared of dyin'

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 2:05pm

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

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 2:11pm

I'd include 'you can't stop the beat' as a perfect example of an uplifting joyous song to get everyone on their feet and bring the house down

For a more serious emotional connection I'd add 'I know where I've been' too

[pinoyidol2006]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 2:33pm

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

[Renthead1980]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 3:34pm

Sessions of love rent
Without you rent
One song glory rent
You don't know next to normal
Wish I were here next to normal
Women pirate queen

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 4:29pm

"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!