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Best Musical for each Decade

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#1

Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 6:05pm

'20s: Show Boat (duh)
'30s: Anything Goes
'40s: Carousel
'50s: My Fair Lady
'60s: TIE: Fiddler on the Roof and Cabaret (I'm also choosing based on how they represented their era, Fiddler being the last of Golden Age, Cabaret the first of the expeiremental era)
'70s: Sweeney Todd (hard to go against A Chorus Line, though)
'80s: Les Miserables
'90s: Rent (hard to go against Ragtime, too)
'00s (so far): Hairspray

What are YOUR picks?
"Who is Stephen Sondheim?" -roninjoey
"The man who wishes he had written Phantom of the Opera!" - SueleenGay

GO CARDINALS!!!
#2

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 6:30pm

80's... Sunday in the Park with George. Brilliance.
Les Miserables is nice. *Ducks*.
It's not brilliant though, IMHO.
It's powerful music, great story, yes... but as far as writing creativity.. it pails in comparison to the brilliance of Sunday.

And I'm gonna say Ragtime, or Parade for the 90's. Moreso Ragtime, because they are just SO well-written. Sometimes, Rent lacks... *Dodges knives*

And I would definately choose others over Hairspray for this decade. Light in the Piazza, Caroline, or Change.. LAST 5 YEARS... even though it wasn't on Broadway.. but you didn't specify.

Personally, I think I have too much bloom.
#3

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 6:55pm

Yes yes I know I will get yelled at for this but I do think that so far this decade either Wicked or Producers would be the best. This just being based on it success. However I do think these two shows are both amazing.

I would also have to say Chorus Line and not Sweeney Todd. ST is a great show but I don't think it had the impact that Chorus Line did!
(Martha Graham from a letter to Agnes de Mille) "There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening That is translated through you into action, And because there is only one of you in all time, This expression is unique. If you block it, It will never exist through any other medium And be lost. The world will never have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, Nor how valuable it is, Nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, To keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware Directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, A blessed unrest that keeps us marching And makes us more alive than others."
#4

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 7:05pm

30s-Anything Goes (I was in that show today as Mrs. Harcourt!)
40s-Carousel
50s-My Fair Lady
60s-Cabaret
70s-Sweeney Todd
80s-Nine
90s-The Secret Garden
And although the decade's not over, The Light in the Piazza so far.
#6

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 8:26pm

What criteria is this based on? Just favorite of each decade or ones that made the biggest impact or most successful?
(Martha Graham from a letter to Agnes de Mille) "There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening That is translated through you into action, And because there is only one of you in all time, This expression is unique. If you block it, It will never exist through any other medium And be lost. The world will never have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, Nor how valuable it is, Nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, To keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware Directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, A blessed unrest that keeps us marching And makes us more alive than others."
#10

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 9:14pm

There are several better contenders for the '30's honor than "Anything Goes", which is basically a revue. "Pal Joey" was a major groundbreaking show of the thirties (it brought cynicism, sex, and acrid wit to the musical), and "The Boys from Syracuse" is certainly up there as well.

I agree with "Carousel" for the forties, but "Guys and Dolls" is fierce competition.

There's a LOT of competition in the 1950s. I'm going with "Gypsy" (1959) which is tougher, funnier, and more enduring than "My Fair Lady" (which now seems dated and overdone).

And for the sheer brilliance and entertaining sweep of its score, I'm going with "City of Angels" for the 1980s. I don't care if it was overshadowed by the ultra-pretentious "Les Miz" and "Phantom".

"Ragtime" for the 1990s, all the way.

I ask in all honesty/What would life be?/Without a song and a dance, what are we?/So I say "Thank you for the music/For giving it to me."
#11

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 10:11pm

20s: Showboat
30s: Err?
40s: Carousel
50s: Gypsy
60s: Cabaret
70s: Follies
80s: Sunday in the Park with George
90s: Passion
00s: Caroline, or Change

Runners-up: West Side Story, She Loves Me, Sweeney Todd, Ragtime, The Light in the Piazza
#12

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 10:36pm

My Fair Lady seems dated??? Overdone, maybe, but dated?
Hi, Shirley Temple Pudding.
#13

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 10:41pm

20's - Showboat
30's - Anything Goes
40's - Carousel
50's - Gypsy
60's - Caberet
70's - Sweeney Todd
80's - Sunday in the Park With George
90's - Rent
00's - Wicked
#14

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 10:43pm

30's- Lady in the Dark
40's-Carousel
50's- Gypsy
60's-Cabaret
70's-A Chorus Line
80's-Les Miserables
90's-Ragtime
This decade is not over yet, but I would say Light in the Piazza so far.
My answers are based on both impact in musical theatre history and my opinions of them (all favorable)
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
#15

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 10:50pm

20's - Showboat
30's - Anything Goes
40's - Carousel
50's - Gypsy
60's - Cabaret
70's - A Chorus Line
80's - Les Miserables
90's - Ragtime
00's - Thoroughly modern millie
#16

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 11:03pm

60's: Dear World
70's: Mack & Mabel
80's: Bring Back Birdie and Carrie
90's: Ragtime
00's: The Light in the Piazza and Caroline, or Change
#17

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/9/05 at 11:04pm

20s: Showboat
30s: umm...
40s: South Pacific
50s: West Side Story
60s: Fiddler on the Roof
70s: A Chorus Line
80s: Into the Woods/Sunday in the Park with George
90s: RENT
00s: The Light in the Piazza
"No two shows are alike in the making. Each show is a living piece of your life in a small unreal world with its own character and integrity; its own new set of memorable experiences and incredible happenings. You begin to love and adapt to its strangeness. Dreams harden into substance. Values come into focus. You wish it would never end. The dream world vanishes like mist before a rising sun; part of you vanishes with it. And back you land in the real world with a thud- fogged, uneasy, jittery, difficult to get along with. There is only one cure. A new show. A new, small unreal world; new visions, experiences, incredible happenings. Again you love it, adapt to it, wish it would never end. But end it does. Another part of you vanishes. That's show business."-Anonymous
#19

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/10/05 at 12:47am


OOs - Don Claude Devious
Who can explain it, who can tell you why? Fools give you reasons, wise men never try -South Pacific
#20

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/10/05 at 12:50am

60's: Cabaret
70's: JC Superstar
80's: Les Mis
90's: RENT
00's Wicked
#22

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:03am

'20s: Show Boat
'30s: the beginning of 42nd Street
'40s: Oklahoma!
'50s: My Fair Lady [and the dame Julie]
'60s: Camelot revival?
'70s: Sweeney Todd
'80s: Phantom of the Opera
'90s: Rent [Miss Saigon]
'00s: Hairspray or Wicked
NIL MAGNUM NISI BONUM "No greatness without goodness."

RENThead, enLIGHist, Ozalot, Grobanite, Ringer, Pickwick LW, Wicked, Lost, American Dreams, West Wing
Lea S. Hugh J. Adam P. Idina M. Matt M. Taye D.

#23

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:20am

MY criteria was a combination of impact, how they represented their respective eras, and my personal opinions on the best. I.E., I would consider BOTH Gypsy and West Side Story better than My Fair Lady, but neither were very influential in the '50s, nor did they really represent the Golden Age, as they were more forerunners of the expeiramental era (i.e., Cabaret, Sondheim, etc.). Also why Les Miz was my pick for the '80s, because while Sunday in the Park with George is great, the '80s were defined by the Brit shows like Les Miz. That's just how I did mine, anyway.
"Who is Stephen Sondheim?" -roninjoey
"The man who wishes he had written Phantom of the Opera!" - SueleenGay

GO CARDINALS!!!
#24

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:25am

30's anything goes
40's carousel
50's South Pacific
60's Fiddler on the Roof
70's Sweeney Todd or Company
80's Sunday in the Park with George or Phantom of the Opear
90's Ragtime or Rent
00's Wicked or Avenue Q
<------ Me and my friends with patti Lupone at my friends afterparty for her concert with audra mcdonald during the summer of 2007.
"I am sorry but it is an unjust world and virtue is only triumphant in theatricle performances" The Mikado
#25

re: Best Musical for each Decade

Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:54am

70s: Rocky Horror or Pippin (ok, technically late 60s, but whatever...)
80s: La Cage
90s: Tick...Tick...BOOM!
00s: TOUGHIE, but I'm tied between Taboo or Ave Q
I hold a degree in Musical Theatre from Montclair State University. It is useless. Now I'm funny for money. Oh, and I sing.

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