10 essential musicals for MT MAjors and MT lovers

[soulman83]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 1:58am

WHat are the top 10 Musicals for MT MAjors and MT LOVERS? or just your top 10.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 2:10am

Could you please be more specific? Do you mean musicals that MT majors should study, or the top ten musicals of all time?

[soulman83]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 2:18am

i would say as it applies to you as a either an MT major or a MT lover. what are YOUR top 10 essential musicals.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 3:08am

Okay, here are what I consider to be the ten best musicals of all time (right now, tomorrow I may feel differently).

1. Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2. The Light in the Piazza
3. Les Miserables
4. Cabaret
5. West Side Story
6. My Fair Lady
7. The Phantom of the Opera
8. The Last Five Years (not really a musical, but whatever)
9. Kiss Me, Kate
10. Oh, I don't know. A tie between Fiddler on the Roof and 1776.

And of course both "A Chorus Line" and "Gypsy", neither of which I personally have any particularly strong feelings for, but which most people would consider among our very best musicals.

Runners-up:
-She Loves Me
-Assassins
-Kiss of the Spider Woman
-Miss Saigon
-Jekyll and Hyde (OK, not really, but I like it)

And finally, overrated shows that many people would probably want on the top-ten but really shouldn't be (IMHO):
-Rent
-Wicked
-The Producers
-Ragtime (*ducks for cover*)

[clarkstallings]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 5:02am

I would really like it explained how "The Last 5 Years" doesn't qualify as a musical? It has minimal dialogue, and relies on the songs to convey emotion and move the story along. I think Phantom is less of a musical than L5Y, its songs are more about moments and don't get you from point a to point b like the songs in L5Y.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 5:07am

I would say...

Sweeney Todd
The Last Five Years
Dreamgirls
A New Brain
Urinetown
Once On This Island
The Light in the Piazza
Pippin
A Chorus Line
RENT

For me, it's a combination of my favorite shows, and the shows that I think MT's should know and love. (of course there's always the classics, but these are the shows that are the ones MT's get really excited about)

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 9:42am

Here goes:

1. Wicked
2. Rent
3. Ragtime
4. Hair
5. A Chorus Line
6. Show Boat
7. Fiddler on the Roof
8. Guys and Dolls
9. The Phantom of the Opera
10. The Producers

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 9:50am

1) A CHORUS LINE
2) LES MISERABLES
3) THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
4) MISS SAIGON
5) THE PRODUCERS
6) DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS
7) THE SOUND OF MUSIC
WICKED
9) RENT
10) INTO THE WOODS

[catstagestud]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 10:00am

Mine would have to be, in no specific order.

1. The Light in the Piazza
2. Dreamgirls
3. Sweeney Todd
4. The Lion King
5. The Last Five Years
6. A New Brain
7. She Loves Me
8. Show Boat
9. Side Show
10. Cabaret

Cheers,

Christopher

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 10:20am

"And finally, overrated shows that many people would probably want on the top-ten but really shouldn't be"

Haha, I was just going to post that.

[parker russel]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 11:01am

I think these are essential for MT majors b/c of how they helped shape or change the genre.

1. Gypsy
2. Show Boat
3. West Side Story
4. A Chorus Line
5. One of the big British ones b/c of its impact on American musicals (ie Phantom, Les Miz)
6. Oklahoma (not by fave. by any means...but an important one in the development of the genre)
7. Rent
8. Caroline or Change
9. Cabaret
10. Porgy and Bess

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 11:09am

I'm sorry, but Ragtime is a thousand times better than Jekyll and Hyde.

My list:
#1 - Miss Saigon
#2 - The Light in the Piazza
#3 - Parade
#4 - Ragtime
#5 - Sweeney Todd
#6 - Side Show
#7 - Jane Eyre
#8 - The Secret Garden
#9 - West Side Story
#10 - The Last Five Years

[bigbigbill]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 11:30am

Yeah, Rent is garbage.

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 11:31am

These are what I consider to be the best/most striking/most influential of my favorites. In no particular order:

1. Sweeney Todd
2. A Chorus Line
3. The Last 5 Years
4. Gypsy
5. South Pacific
6. The Light In The Piazza
7. Dreamgirls
8. West Side Story
9. Assasins
10. Cabaret

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 11:35am

1. Sweeney Todd
2. Cabaret
3. A Chorus Line
4. Oklahoma!
5. Showboat
6. Gypsy
7. Sunday in the Park with George
8. West Side Story
9. My Fair Lady
10. Company

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 11:37am

Before I list my top ten, I think what parker said about musicals that changed the genre is extremely important, so with that in mind:

1. The Light in the Piazza
2. Nine
3. A Chorus Line
4. Les Miserables
5. Cabaret
6. Sweeney Todd
7. Oklahoma (very important as it's considered by most to be the first book musical)
8. West Side Story
9. A New Brain
10. Gypsy

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 12:23pm

bigbigbill, Rent is garbage? Tell that to the people who award the Pulitzer and the Tonys and the Drama Desk Awards. Oh, and also the millions who have seen it around the world and who have given it a ten year run on Broadway.

You may not like it but it's not garbage.

Shows every MT major should see (there are many others, ten isn't really enough!):

Ragtime
Rent
A Chorus Line
Cabaret
Gypsy
Showboat
West Side Story
Les Mis
Parade
The Wild Party

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 12:25pm

7. Oklahoma (very important as it's considered by most to be the first book musical)

Except that it ISN'T. All musical comedies and operettas had books. If you mean integrated with the songs SHOW BOAT did that 16 years earlier and even that was not the first. Because of its historic importance and long-term popularity, OKLAHOMA! is often incorrectly credited with innovations.

It was Broadway's first musical to play over 2,000 performances, and it was a show that gained attention far beyond the New York theatre-goers.

It was NOT the first show to have an "original cast recording": Decca had alredy recorded PORGY AND BESS and THIS IS THE ARMY. (OKLAHOMA! was the first OCR to sell over a million copies.)

It was also, NOT the first show to use ballet. (ON YOUR TOES did that in 1936.)

But it is an important show and one that still works for audiences despite its simplistic story.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 12:32pm

I don't think he's asking for a 10 of your favorite shows. I'm not sure Light in the Piazza, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, or the Producers have changed the face of musical theater, but whatever. I'd say:

1. RENT - it was groundbreaking and brought modern music to the stage.

2. Oklahoma - was the first of it's kind

3. Cats - the first of the "spectacle" shows

4. Company - the first of it's kind. It introduced the "concept" show.

5. Fiddler on the Roof - It's just a solid show with a great book, lyrics, and score.

6. A Chorus Line - A very bold concept that worked.

...I'm sure there is more but I think those are the ones that all MT majors should had least be familiar with.

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 1:14pm

My top 10

1)West Side Story
2)My Fair Lady
3)Oklahoma
4)A Chorus Line
5)Les Mis
6)Showboat
7)Sweet Charity
Kiss Me Kate
9)Gypsy
10)Fiddler

[RentHead2]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 2:35pm

The top ten change sometimes but I will stick with this:

1. RENT
2. Wedding Singer
3. Bright Lights, Big City
4. The Last 5 Years
5. See What I Wanna See
6. Wicked
7. The Wild Party (Lippa)
8. Jersey Boys
9. The Full Monty
10. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

[LostLeander]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 2:36pm

I would HARDLY call Cats the first spectacle show.

The most important musicals for me, as an MT lover, and MT major are, in no particular order:

1) Light in the Piazza. The best show I've seen on Broadway - our of 25 or so. (I know, since I've seen so many).
2) Cabaret
3) West Side Story
4) Kiss Me, Kate
5) Caroline, or Change
6) Sunday in the Park with George. My Favorite Musical of all time.
7) Sweeney Todd
Company
9) Ragtime
10) LaChiusa's Wild Party.

I do think LaChiusa will be more widely revered in years to come as one of the most important writers in modern Musical Theatre history.

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 5:16pm

frontrowcentre -- you're right, of course, technically. However, Oklahoma is given credit with starting the trend of book musicals as we know them today. Showboat was an anomaly of its time -- between that and Oklahoma there was NOTHING that matched the style of musical as we know it today.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's also the first musical that started with a solo number rather than a chorus number.

Porgy and Bess starts with Summertime, but I've never really considered that a musical -- it's an opera.

[alwy15]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 5:36pm

1. Carousel
2. The Light in the Piazza
3. Sunday in the Park With George
4. Caroline or Change
5. LaChiusa's The Wild Party
6. Nine
7. Into the Woods
8. A New Brain
9. Floyd Collins
10. Dreamgirls

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/23/06 at 5:51pm

I assume you mean from an academic standpoint and not just "pick your favorites." I would go with landmark shows that either advanced the art form or propelled it into a new direction. Here are my picks in chronological order:

The Black Crook
Show Boat
Porgy & Bess
Oklahoma!
West Side Story
Hair
Company
A Chorus Line
Les Miserables
Mamma Mia!

Updated On: 7/23/06 at 05:51 PM