Posted: 4/6/14 at 8:05pm
Posted: 6/12/15 at 8:11pm
Show Boat
Oklahoma!
Pal Joey
Kiss Me, Kate
Gypsy
Annie Get Your Gun
Guys and Dolls
My Fair Lady
Fiddler on the Roof
Hello, Dolly!
Carousel
The King and I
South Pacific
The Sound of Music
Cabaret
Chicago
Promises, Promises
The Music Man
West Side Story
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Posted: 6/12/15 at 8:19pm
Here is my list:
1. NEWSIES
2. Wicked
3. Lion King
4. Beauty and the Beast
5. Rent
6. Singin in the Rain
7. American in Paris
8. The King and I
9. Phantom of the Opera
10. Les Miserables
11. Cats
12. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
13. My Fair Lady
14. Guys and Dolls
15. West Side Story
16. Evita
17. Mamma Mia
18. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
19. Gypsy/Mame
20. The Sound of Music
Posted: 6/12/15 at 8:25pm
Someone upthread mentioned Oklahoma as the first musical to introduce "dance" and I guess that's meant in having dance as integral in pushing the narrative, ie the famous dream dance sequence.
It was the dance, not dialgoue nor a song that was front and center so I guess that makes Oklahoma a pioneer.
Updated On: 6/12/15 at 08:25 PM
Posted: 6/12/15 at 8:41pm
What about On Your Toes?
Posted: 6/13/15 at 1:54am
"What about On Your Toes?"
Oh you're right, "Slaughter on 10th avenue."
Posted: 6/13/15 at 3:22am
Musicals
1. Oklahoma
2. A Chorus Lind
3. Into the Woods
4. Rent
5. West Side Story
6. Man of La Mancha
7. My Fair Lady
8. Carousel
9. Fiddler on the Roof
10. Gypsy
11. Guys and Dolls
12. Threepenny Opera
13. Les Miserables
14. Cabaret
15. Sweeney Todd
16. Company
17. 110 in the Shade
18. She Loves Me
19. Hello Dolly
20. Jesus Christ Superstar
Drama/Comedy
1. The Crucible
2. Death of a Salesman
3. The Ruling Class
4. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
5. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
6. Night of the Iguana
7. Angels in America
8. Proof
9. Amadeus
10. Boys in the Band
11. The Lion in Winter
12. The Odd Couple
13. Long Days Journey Into Night
14. Raisin in the Sun
15. Born Yesterday
16. Equus
17. Deathtrap
18. How I Learned to Drive
19. Six Degrees of Separation
20. The Piano Lesson
Posted: 6/13/15 at 5:46am
1. Show Boat
2. Of Thee I Sing
3. Porgy and Bess
4. Lady In The Dark
5. Pal Joey
6. Oklahoma
7. Carousel.
8. Guys and Dolls
9. My Fair Lady
10. West Side Story
11. Gypsy
12. She Loves Me
13. Hello, Dolly
14. Fiddler On The Roof
15. Hair
16. A Chorus Line
17. Evita
18. Sweeney Todd
19. Les Miserables
20. Urinetown
Posted: 6/13/15 at 7:02am
All great suggestions, except Wicked. Which is nothing more, than a polished turd.
Posted: 6/13/15 at 10:45am
Wicked isn't a masterpiece and time will tell if it stays a classic or becomes a relic. But it's not going anywhere, and I suspect that those who say "oh, I don't know Wicked at all" are either being naive or pretentious.
Look at the show with these questions: what works? What doesn't? Why is this show so popular and so successful, when other shows like it have failed or not reached its heights? Regardless of the comparatively mediocre material, a show that runs as long and as hot as this must have SOMETHING going for it. Figure out what that something is.
Posted: 6/13/15 at 10:52am
Curious Incident...
Fun Home
Hedwig
You cant take it with you
Avenue Q
Side Show
Pippin
Catch Me if you Can
Hair
Once
13
Matilda
Fiddler...
Next to Normal
Billy Elliot
In the Heights
Hamilton
Spelling Bee...
If/Then
This is our Youth
Posted: 6/13/15 at 11:00am
It doesn't get much love around here, but as an impressionable kid I saw the original BW run of "Grease" and it certainly was raw and a bit vulgar belying a " nostalgic" 50's.
Back in the day it was the little musical that could.
Posted: 6/13/15 at 11:16am
I neglected a Kaufman and Hart show. I'll x out Deathtrap and give you either Man Who Came to Dinner or You Can't Take it With You.
Posted: 6/13/15 at 12:14pm
Obvious, Finding Neverland and It Shoulda Been You
Posted: 6/14/15 at 11:39am
"Obvious, Finding Neverland and It Shoulda Been You"
Haha, good one :)
Posted: 6/14/15 at 12:08pm
Holding at 20 means losing: ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, KISS ME KATE, FINIAN'S RAINBOW, 110 IN THE SHADE, SHE LOVES ME, 1776, GODSPELL, CHICAGO, and nearly every hit since 1980.
Still gotta get a shout out to each of the greatest songwriting teams, (and apologies to Larry Hart, Burton Lane, Yip Harburg, Adler and Ross, Cy Coleman and Stephen Schwartz...) so--
SHOWBOAT
ANYTHING GOES
PORGY AND BESS
OKLAHOMA
ON THE TOWN
CAROUSEL
GUYS & DOLLS
MY FAIR LADY
WEST SIDE STORY
THE MUSIC MAN
GYPSY
HELLO DOLLY
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
CABARET
HAIR
COMPANY
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
A CHORUS LINE
EVITA
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
RAGTIME
BILLY ELLIOTT
and THE FANTASTICKS off Broadway.
Which comes out to 23, so f*ck you for arbitrarily holding me to 20.
Updated On: 6/14/15 at 12:08 PM
Posted: 6/15/15 at 12:24pm
these top 20 should be playing at all times in NYC and in regional productions in major cities
just saw My Fair Lady in the round with a strong equity cast at music circus sacramento
and would go see a production of MFL every year if it were offered....
my top twenty i would recommend to a new musical theatre student who wants an immersion in musical theatre are:
My Fair Lady-perfect musical
Les Miserables-a musical masterpiece
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying-pulitzer, a perfect musical
South Pacific- a perfect musical
The King and I- a perfect musical
A Chorus Line-a game changer when released and a classic
Cabaret-fosse, baby and Kander & Ebb
Chicago(longest running american musical)
Jersey Boys(the best of the jukebox musical genre- it aint going away so again a format and show that should be studied)
Wicked (#11 running show of all time and will be #2 or #3 by the time it closes...if the poster wants to study musical theatre, they'd better study whats working and selling)
Fiddler on the Roof=perfect musical
Sweeney Todd-great example of sondheim at his best
The Phantom of the Opera(longest running musical in history..ask why?)
West Side Story- a perfect musical ala romeo & juliet
Gypsy-perfect musical
The Producers(most Tonys won ever show as a student i would ask why?)
Book of Mormon(biggest musical of the 2000s along with Wicked. Ask why?)
Rent(the angst filled step father of modern rock musicals)
Into the Woods-incredible musical and another great example of Sondheims genius
Guys & Dolls-perfect musical
agree with other posters that limiting this to 20 shows is a painful and unfair exercise....these below all deserve a place on the list as do many others...
Oklahoma
Company
Hair
Mame
anything goes
the music man
A little Night Music
Avenue Q
Posted: 6/15/15 at 3:30pm
Not necessarily the best, or my favorites, but my essential 20 to be familiar with would be:
Anything Goes
Porgy & Bess
Guys and Dolls
Oklahoma
South Pacific
My Fair Lady
West Side Story
Gypsy
Hello Dolly
Fiddler on the Roof
Hair
A Chorus Line
Company
Cabaret
Chicago
Sweeney Todd
Phantom
Les Miz
Rent
Wicked
Updated On: 6/16/15 at 03:30 PM
Posted: 6/15/15 at 4:38pm
"Chorus Line, aside from being the longest running American musical"
I'm pretty sure Chicago is the longest running American musical. It surpassed A Chorus Line a couple years ago.
Posted: 6/15/15 at 6:34pm
ilovebroadway2: So, what are your 20 now that you have graduated from MT?
Posted: 6/15/15 at 10:55pm
A lot of people, including me, were left scratching our heads when we first learned that The Music Man bested West Side Story for best musical in 1958 in a strictly one on one contest. The latter almost stands alone among scores for a brilliance that has supported The Symphonic Dances to the point where that has become a regular part of the repertoire for many symphony orchestras. (I guess Gershwin and Porgy and Bess and the two orchestral suites from that score are similar.)
But Meredith Willson was a pretty talented composer who had made his musical the center of his life, writing like 40 songs and going through 30 revisions for over eight years before he got it right. He had the benefit of one of the great virtuoso performances in a musical by Robert Preston and having Barbara Cook along (Tony for Best Featured Actress) sure didn't hurt.
His score included a march, "Seventy-Six Trombones," that guaranteed that almost every high school band would know of his musical and one of those ballads, "'Til There Was You", that many, many vocalists would perform and/or record.
Even the Beatles (Sir Paul) recorded "'Til There Was You" that was on an early 1963 album. Willson's widow has said that the estate of her husband receives more money from royalties generated by the Beatles' recording than it does from the musical.
West Side Story is winning out over Music Man here by a lot. I respect the hell out of Music Man, but would probably have gone for West Side Story.
Posted: 6/15/15 at 11:30pm
For those who picked Annie Get Your Gun as one of the best musicals (whether in the top 20 or not), I'm curious what made you select that show. I've seen the revival with Ethel Merman in the 60's or 70's, and other than the contrapuntal "Old Fashioned Wedding," which was added for that production, the music seemed mediocre. The story is dated and racist. I would say that the show hasn't stood the test of time.
For those who disagree with me, I'd love to hear your rationale; I'm probably missing something.
Audrey
Posted: 6/15/15 at 11:53pm
I would say that calling the music in Annie mediocre is just incorrect. There's No Business, Can't Get a Man, What Comes Naturally, there are just so many great songs. A true Broadway classic. To call an Irving Berlin score mediocre but have Phantom as your favorite show just seems impossible. But art is always subjective...
Posted: 6/16/15 at 2:06am
AHLiebross wrote: "For those who picked ANNIE GET YOUR GUN as one of the best musicals.... [O]ther than the contrapuntal "Old Fashioned Wedding,"... the music seemed mediocre. The story is dated and racist."
Fantod wrote: "I would say that calling the music in ANNIE mediocre is just incorrect. There's No Business, Can't Get a Man, What Comes Naturally, there are just so many great songs."
I agree, the score of Annie Get Your Gun is fantastic, filled with a number of classic, witty and tuneful songs. The original book is problematic and while the 1999 Peter Stone revisal tried to address some of its issues, it perhaps created other problems - one of which was the "let's put on a show" framework created for the production. I think the solution lies somewhere between the two and requires far more subtle editing, cutting the racist depictions of the Native American people while preserving the other characters' attitudes towards them as a reflection of the period in which the piece is set. It's a fine line though, but it certainly makes for an interesting discussion on the ever-shifting politics of representation in musical theatre.
