Best Original Musicals of the Decade- Page 5

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 2:43am

Original Score and book not based on previous play, film or novel....

AVENUE Q - Cute, clever and very funny.

BOUNCE/ROAD SHOW - Neither version was 100% but both had many fine moments.

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE - technically this premiered in Toronto in 1998, but it was substantially revised for the Broadway opening in 2006

THE LAST FIVE YEARS - each time I see it I find new things to admire in this show.

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS - easily my favourite show so far this season

THE STORY OF MY LIFE - The NY critics failed this show, and I do not know why. Fortunately, it is being done in regional theatres and will soon become another LAST FIVE YEARS.

**I have not seen CAROLINE...OR CHANGE as yet, so cannot comment on that show. Based on the enthusiastic endorsements by several BWW members whose opinions I respect I will probably like it a lot when I do get to see it. The cast album has not won me over as yet but maybe you have to see this show, and maybe the cast album doesn't do it justice.


Adaptations....

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS- Great fun and highly enjoyable score

FELA! - a unique theatrical experience (even tho the music is beyond my area of interest)

THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA - Beautiful show with a lush, romantic score. So glad it was shown on Live from Lincoln Center.

JERSEY BOYS - a play about popular music, though not necessarily a true "musical" it still combined an excellent book with some powerhouse acting and singing to make sensational entertainment.

THE PRODUCERS - The Broadway production was a joy. Letter touring production (and an underpowered Toronto production) have done nothing to dim the memories of the original.

TRISTAN - a chamber musical based on the Thomas Mann novel that premiered at the Shaw Festival in 2006. The cast album is available and well worth exploring.


Major disappointments...

THE ADDAMS FAMILY - great cast wasted with inferior material

AMERICAN IDIOT - Why is this even on Broadway? Shouldn't it be touring rock arenas?

BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON - I really wanted this to involve me more than it did, but Benjamin Walker was sensational.

SPAMALOT - The joke wears thin very quickly

SPRING AWAKENING - Nope - stick with the original play which still packs a punch that the musical trades for cheap laughs and sickening sentimentality.


Sensational revivals....

COMPANY - The actor/musician concept worked well adn Raul Esparza's sensitive portrayal made Bobby a more compelling leading character.

(**HONORABLE MENTION to the Kennedy Center's Sondheim Celebration in the summer of 2002, notably PASSION with Judy Kuhn and COMPANY with John Barrowman. The whole series was THE theatrical event of the decade.)

FINIAN'S RAINBOW - a sparkling production of this 1947 musical comedy. The critics raved yet audiences stayed home. Why?

GYPSY (Patti Lupone) - as close to Merman as we will ever likely get (**did not see B.Peters)

INTO THE WOODS - again the Stratford production (2005)delighted the eyes and ears in many unexpected ways.

OKLAHOMA! - The 2002 Broadway revival was exhilarating from the start of the Overture through the final curtain call.

RAGTIME - another show that got near unanimous praise from the critics (with one holdout) yet failed to ignite at the the box office.

WEST SIDE STORY - no not the Broadway revival (which I thought was very good) but the summer 2009 staging at the Stratford Festival in Ontario.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 4:58am

:: sigh ::

I remember when these boards went positively ape-sh*t over SPRING AWAKENING, and no one dared suggest it was a tawdry, sensationalistic piece of crap that would no doubt drop like a rock and disappear in a few years' time... just as it seems to have done.

CAROLINE was a mawkish theatrical soap opera, certainly not the hallowed event some of you are suggesting. It was so badly written I wanted to leave at intermission, and yet no one dares suggest that Tony K may just be one of the most over-rated playwrights of the decade.

AVENUE Q, DROWSY, and (yes, I'm going there) WICKED were without doubt the three major achievements of the decade. All three were entertaining, well-written, and gave the audience far more than its money's worth. None pretended to be anything other than what they were: fun, mindless, beautifully designed, beautifully performed, and -- best of all -- well written. These three are shows that we'll see still performed out there in the hinterlands (seriously, I cant wait for the first high school production of DROWSEY; it should be fascinating to see how they look back on Broadway history as that show does) when AMERICAN IDIOT finally finds its legs as a rock-arena tour and SPIDERMAN is doing two shows a day at the Bellagio... which is where it belongs.

I also give serious chops to IN THE HEIGHTS: great social commentary mixed with fantastic entertainment. I'm glad that Spike Lee decided the best way to film it was to just film the play; I shudder to think what he would have done in his (usually) misguided attempt to "open it up".

For the rest, LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA came close, but it just missed the mark, sorry. It couldnt decide if it was a musical or an opera, and it wound up being neither -- what saved it was a lovely design sensibility. SPELLING BEE was cute, but c'mon, this is off-Broadway fare, not something worth a hundred-plus bucks to see. And anyone who finds merits in that abomination called THE PRODUCERS should have his BWW.com membership card revoked. The only genuinely funny moments in the entire evening were the reveal of the all-white office and the actual presentation of SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER; everything else was just... lord, words fail me.

This was, all in all, a pretty sad decade for Bway. 2011, with its repackaged movies pretending to be musicals, aint looking much better, but let's hope otherwise will somehow happen.

[mallardo]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 5:38am

Caroline or Change
Light in the Piazza
Next to Normal
In the Heights
Urinetown
Grey Gardens
La Chiusa's The Wild Party

[CandiceElyse]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 9:36am

Next to Normal was definitely, in my opinion the best show of the decade. then, for me, thoroughly modern millie and wicked are also up there for reasons of just being an absolute joy of fluffy musical fun.

[algy]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 10:13am

Obviously haven't seen as many as lots of you guys - on account of being in the UK, but of what I've seen,

Avenue Q
Drowsy Chaperone
Altar Boyz

And of the "new" musicals

Billy Elliot
Hairspray
Wicked.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 11:57am

The decade technically runs 2001-2010. Technically.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 12:19pm

Forgive me if i'm wrong, but by that reckoning 1970 would be in the sixties?

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 12:37pm

^^ Yup. The last year of that decade.

Man, how did I forget ALTAR BOYZ! Silly, stupid, wonderfully performed. Thanks for the reminder!!

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 1:46pm

I have never known ANYONE to class that as such...

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 1:49pm

ALTAR BOYZ or 1970?

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 1:56pm

The latter! xD

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/31/10 at 2:20pm

Yup, tis so, good sir. The decade ends on the aught, not the nine. We didnt officially hit the 21st century until 2001.

And considering how well *that* year went...

[chewy5000]

Posted: 1/1/11 at 12:12pm

Since there was no year 'Zero', the first decade AD ran from Year '1' through '10', and it follows as such.

However, saying the 'seventies' refers to years 1970-79, and can probably be considered 'a' decade, but it was not 'the' decade.

[romgitsean]

Posted: 1/1/11 at 12:25pm

I say [title of show], Drowsy Chaperone and Urinetown as far as 100% original musicals. They were fun, quirky and well-written.

And although Wicked was an adaptation, I have to give credit where credit is due.

I personally like N2N, but I just really don't feel like it's that incredible. Infinitely better the second time around though.

[Wishing Only Wounds]

Posted: 1/1/11 at 12:26pm

EDIT: I already posted in this :P


But ouch... no love for Curtains.

Updated On: 1/1/11 at 12:26 PM

[Orangesaretuesdays]

Posted: 1/1/11 at 12:27pm

SeanMartin, the Drowsy thing already happend. I was in it this past summer, I played Aldolpho it was a great experience. The whole cast was really dedicated and I think it played quite well.

Posted: 1/1/11 at 12:54pm

obviously wicked was the BEST

[Overkill]

Posted: 1/1/11 at 2:13pm

In no particular order:

The Drowsy Chaperone
Avenue Q
Bounce/Road Show
The Frogs
Curtains
Next to Normal
Urinetown
Altar Boyz


No love for The Big Voice: God or Merman? ? LOVELOVELOVED that show!!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 1/1/11 at 2:20pm

Spring Awakening
Avenue Q
Hairspray
In The Heights
Billy Elliot

[algy]

Posted: 1/1/11 at 3:42pm

SeanMartin - I was surprised no one else had mentioned Altarboyz - so much so that when I wrote my list I went back and checked the date it started to make sure that it was actually eligible!

[dragonlp86]

Posted: 1/1/11 at 3:47pm

Next to Normal, In the Heights, Curtains

I'm sure I could list more, but these are the ones that I've seen and most enjoyed.

[AC126748]

Posted: 1/1/11 at 3:50pm

CAROLINE, OR CHANGE is easily the best musical of the decade, followed closely by SPRING AWAKENING and PASSING STRANGE.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 1/1/11 at 3:58pm

I also give serious chops to IN THE HEIGHTS: great social commentary mixed with fantastic entertainment. I'm glad that Spike Lee decided the best way to film it was to just film the play; I shudder to think what he would have done in his (usually) misguided attempt to "open it up".

Huh? Did you mean to type PASSING STRANGE?