Posted: 5/18/16 at 6:14am
I love musicals which are musically sophisticated, for example A Light in the Piazza, Parade, Floyd Collins, She Loves Me - do you have any suggestions for me what should I listen to? Both new ones and classics. Thanks!
Posted: 5/18/16 at 7:05am
Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 is pretty sophisticated. It's a completely sung through opera made up of mostly recitative, with an orchestra made up of a mixture of traditional orchestra, Russian folk band, rock n roll band, and a DJ... it's pretty cool.
THE CRUCIBLE, by Robert Ward... never played broadway but it debuted at the Met and won the Pulitzer for music. It's one of my favorites and it's worth watching. It's one of the scariest/coolest scores you'll ever hear.
This seems obvious but most of Sondheim's stuff is pretty complex. Sunday in the Park with George, Passion, A Little Night Music, Assassins, Follies, and Sweeney Todd are probably the most complex of his scores, with Night Music, Passion, and Sweeney performed pretty often at Opera companies across the world.
Also look into Kurt Weill. There are great recordings of THE RISE & FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONY (with audra and Patti Lupone) and STREET SCENE (which played Broadway).
Also check out Michael John LaChiusa's stuff. All of his stuff is super complex, lush, and gorgeous. GIANT especially, FIRST DAUGHTER SUITE and QUEEN OF THE MIST which just came out... and basically everything of his.
Definitely check out I AM HARVEY MILK by Andrew Lippa... you're going to freaking LOVE IT. It's the best thing he's ever written.
Also look into:
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD by Rupert Holmes
SUSANNAH by Carlisle Flloyd
RAGTIME by Ahrens and Flaherty
MISS SAIGON (make sure to get the original cast recording though) by Boubil & Schönberg
PORGY & BESS by Gershwin
CAROUSEL by Rodgers and Hammerstein
FUN HOME by Jeanine Tesori
THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY by Jason Robert Brown (esp if you love Parade & piazza)
TITANIC by Maury Yeston
I hope that helps. If I think of any more I'll edit this post. :)
Posted: 5/18/16 at 10:08am
Anything by Sondheim.
Anything by Lachuisa
Try some of these recording:
Adding Machine
Wings
The Golden Apple
Posted: 5/18/16 at 10:20am
If you haven't dug into "The Threepenny Opera" yet, do that. I recommend the four major recordings in English: the Original Off Broadway with Lotte Lenya, the New York Shakespeare Festival with Raul Julia, the grim and gritty Jeremy Sams recording of the Donmar cast, and the highly unusual "Mack the Knife" movie soundtrack, which mashes up Weill's music with British music hall.
Posted: 5/18/16 at 10:41am
Follies by Sondheim. If you like it enough, I highly recommend reading Ted Chapin's "Everything Was Possible" which goes through the mounting of the original production (rehearsals, out-of-town tryout, Broadway) in breath-taking detail. It has some really interesting information about Steven's thoughts on how his show was shaping up.
Posted: 5/18/16 at 10:56am
I second Adding Machine.
I'm a fan of Alan Menken, so I'd add Weird Romance. If you can forgive the synthesized orchestrations, there's Ellen Green, Danny Burstein and an unusual storyline that I like.
Posted: 5/18/16 at 11:09am
LaChiusa all the way. Start with these:
Marie Christine
The Wild Party
Bernarda Alba
Posted: 5/18/16 at 11:21am
Grey Gardens
Anything by Sondheim
Nine
Caroline, or Change
Posted: 5/18/16 at 11:29am
What do we mean when we say "musically sophisticated?"
Posted: 5/18/16 at 11:32am
I definitely recommend Bernarda Alba, and my favorite LaChuisa score, See What I Want to See. Also some of Aherns and Flaherty's scores like Dessa Rose and A Man of No Importance.
I also recommend:
Violet
Caroline, or Change
Sunday in the Park With George
Nine
Titanic
Posted: 5/18/16 at 12:00pm
hork said: "What do we mean when we say "musically sophisticated?"
"
Basically works involving classically trained voices; bigger orchestra/ensemble; songs based on more than just four chords; works by composers who actually know the difference between pop songs and theater music. I get that "musically sophisticated" might sound little bit arrogant but I mean it in a good way, sorry, my English isn't ideal :)
Posted: 5/18/16 at 12:15pm
No worries, your English is fine. I was just asking because most of the suggestions people posted are tuneless and boring to me, so I'd like to be educated on what makes them sophisticated and complex. My knowledge of music theory is limited.
Updated On: 5/18/16 at 12:15 PM
Posted: 5/18/16 at 1:24pm
I'd add The Most Happy Fella to your list.
Posted: 5/18/16 at 11:22pm
Definitely agree with The Most Happy Fella. One of the most lush and epic scores ever written.
I'd also add Falsettos, which doesn't technically match a lot of the descriptions you listed, but is SUPER complex, musically, structurally and emotionally. There are few shows that balance comedy and tragedy as well.
I might get flack for this, but The Frogs also features some really intircate choral arraignments and orchestrations, and the lyrics are sophisticated in an ivy league-collegiate type of way.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 3:23pm
I'm surprised no none mentioned Promenade by Al Carmines.
Check it out.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 3:32pm
Dear Evan Hansen of course. It's a great show if you like a modern score. I wouldn't miss Miss Saigon either. Eva Noblezada is fantastic as Kim and so is Jon Jon. I personally prefer Maybe to Now That I've Seen Her in terms of how the song fleshes out Ellen's character. Can't wait for it to return to Broadway!
Posted: 5/19/16 at 3:54pm
bct14972 said: "
I might get flack for this, but The Frogs also features some really intircate choral arraignments and orchestrations, and the lyrics are sophisticated in an ivy league-collegiate type of way.
"
You won't from me. I don't have a lot of love for the character songs in The Frogs (I mean they're not awful but by Sondheim standards not especially special IMHO) but the choral numbers are gorgeous and amazing I thinok--and unlike pretty much anything else he's done. Evoe especially.
Posted: 5/19/16 at 5:53pm
Seconding the recommendation of THE GOLDEN APPLE. The composer, Jerome Moross, had a classical background and worked extensively in Hollywood. He also collaborated on the orchestrations. I listen to a LOT of classical music and this is my favorite Broadway musical.
Posted: 5/20/16 at 11:12am
I second Harvey Milk.
I would also throw Secret Garden into that category.
