Best Successful Musical (or Most Successful Great Musical)

[jam_man]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 12:08am

This idea for a thread came about in the My Fair Lady 50th Anny thread. I called it the best balance between the success of a show and its quality. Then someone came and said they thought that title belonged to South Pacific, which I said was a topic for another thread. And since the My Fair Lady celebration is over (at least for you East Coaster, since you're usually the only ones that matter for anything), here that other thread is.

I'm not trying to find out what you think is the best musical ever (Sweeney Todd for me) or the most successful (toss up between Phantom and Les Miz), but which had the best of both worlds the most. I still submit that it's My Fair Lady. Anyone care to rebut?

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 12:11am

Kiss of the Spider Woman.

[knows_too_much]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 1:07am

The King and I

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 1:08am

Kiss of the Spider Woman flopped on Broadway and opened to mixed reviews, although it is a great show in my opinion, but it was not successful.

I don't think you can limit things to one specific show, there's a lot of great successful shows apart from My Fair Lady and South Pacific. There's Guys & Dolls which is considered by many the best book musical. There's also Oklahoma! which was the first show to produce a cast recording and to run for such a long time, it also established rules for musicals that are still used today.
However, my pick for the best successful musical is A Chorus Line. I never got a chance to see it on Broadway (I was only 10 when it closed), but I saw a production by Baayork Lee and it was mesmerizing. It has such an abstract structure, and yet it works so well, Bennett truly created a masterpiece with this show and it also became a smash hit.

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 1:18am

Hello, Dolly !

Dreamgirls

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 2:33am

Like I said in the My Fair lady post that prompted this thread

SOUTH PACIFIC

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 5:33am

I will include AVENUE Q and SPELLING BEE. Both shows broke even a few months after opening to critical praise and are still playing to full houses. Not to mention that AVENUE Q won 3 Tonys and SPELLING BEE won 2.

These two shows proved that it doesn't take lots of expensive glitz and glamour to make a successful, endearing Broadway musical.

Updated On: 3/16/06 at 05:33 AM

[brad3]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:03pm

Okay I thought Spelling Bee was hard to sit through..

Mamma Mia!

No other shows has had this many productions around the world..

[Craig]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:06pm

I'd guess with the amount of productions (regionally, internationally, etc) that The Sound Of Music would be considered one of the most "successful" musicals. I'm sure an email over to Samuel French and MTI to ask what shows have the highest requests for performances would also clue you in.

Not sure what criteria you are setting up by saying successful...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:10pm

A Chorus Line -- 9 Tonys, a Pulitzer and a 15 year run.

[brad3]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:10pm

okay?? Congratulations??

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:18pm

I just know that since 1949, South Pacific has been produced around the world more than 25,000 times

That is slightly more than 1 production for every single day since then...
Updated On: 3/16/06 at 03:18 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 4:08pm

Kiss of the Spider Woman, by the way, did not flop. It won several Tony awards and ran a healthy run of 900 or so performances. It didn't pay back its entire investment, but it wasn't an utter failure.
I'd have to say Chicago. I know it wasn't the biggest hit in 1975, but with the revival still doing well and the film being such a hit, plus its excellent content, it is the Best Successful Musical in my opinion.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 4:12pm

A "Flop" is, by definition any show that does not pay back its initial investment. If you're one dollar shy of recoupment, then you are a "flop." Period. That's true, no matter how long you ran or how close you got paying off.

Kiss of the Spiderwoman, never broke even, hence it's a flop.

[justagirl2]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 4:24pm

Guys and Dolls, I'm convinced, is perfection. I've never met a person who doesn't like it (although I'm sure there are many), and it really helped revolutionize musical theatre.

Same goes for West Side Story...everyone knows the words to "I Feel Pretty," do they not? The success of this one is unbelievable.

[James885]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 4:26pm

For me, it's a toss up between West Side Story, South Pacific, POTO, Les Mis, and A Chorus Line

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 4:36pm

42nd Street Revival ran for 3 and a half years and more than 1500 perfs, won the Tony, and still didn't recoup. Total flop-olla

[jam_man]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 7:08pm

Yes, A Chorus Line would be my second pick. Great success, greater show.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 7:15pm

I'm sorry, but I've gotta say it: Wicked. It is playing to sold out houses every night on only mixed reviews.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 7:20pm

But wasn't the question to find the show that was successful -- financially AND artistically? WICKED makes a lot of money, but as you point out, its reviews were mixed at best, so, as a result, it isn't an answer to this question.

[jam_man]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 7:22pm

Well, if it got mixed reviews, then it doesn't really qualify, does it? I mean, if you thought Wicked was amazing, then you could suggest it since it has been successful, though a lot of us (myself included) would disagree.

I'm asking for the best show (quality-wise) that has also been very successful. You know how many people complain how the best shows are never as successful as the "less-than-good" shows? Well, I'm looking for the ones who had the best of both worlds.

[ALWrules]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 7:33pm

Les Miz and POTO

[2]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 8:53pm

RENT and Les Miz

[Dramatic_Irony]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 9:22pm

I will agree My Fair Lady.

Also Avenue Q and perhaps Rent?

Updated On: 3/16/06 at 09:22 PM

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 9:37pm

Given the subject matter and the integrity with which it was handled, I don't know if anyone foresaw A Chorus Line going on to become the blockbuster it ultimately was. I think it is the hands-down winner in this category.