Definitive Musical for each Decade of 20th Century

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 12:12am

EDIT: I've adjusted the list to fit what I've gathered to be the popular opinion.

I'm trying to list a definitive musical for each decade of the 20th century (musical that sums up that decade, doesn't have to be written in that decade). Any suggestions? Here's my initial thoughts:

1900s - Ragtime
1910s - Titanic or Mary Poppins
1920s - Chicago or Thoroughly Modern Millie
1930s - Cabaret
1940s - On the Town
1950s - West Side Story
1960s - Hair
1970s – A Chorus Line
1980s - The Wedding Singer (I'm gonna leave it at this, only because I'm unfamiliar with Falsettos, though many agree that it is a better choice)
1990s - Rent



Updated On: 7/23/06 at 12:12 AM

[jesseeinstein]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 12:19am

oh dear...

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 12:23am

"Titanic" is a possibility for the 1910s...it does deal quite a bit with the hubris of the beginning of that decade.

I might also suggest "The Sound of Music" for the 1930s (although I think "Cabaret" is better for that slot) and "West Side Story" for the 1950s (although "Grease" is probably more evocative of the stereotypical 1950s-land we all imagine).

And a question--are you looking for musicals that defined the decade in general, or that defined what theatre was like from that decade?

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 12:23am

lol shut up, you know you wanna

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 12:25am

define the decade in general...and good suggestions

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 12:51am

Can I nominate On the Town for the '40s?

[kenmarksnj]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 12:57am

since when did rent take place the 90s?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 1:02am

And much as I don't want to dislodge Dreamgirls, you can't have a more iconic '70s musical than A Chorus Line.

[safran]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 1:05am

"since when did rent take place the 90s?"

since before columbus/chbosky made a film of it. although there wasn't a real date, i think the majority of the opinion was it was 90s. (Just lyrically, there are references to Oklahoma City and Thelma and Louise...or am I completely off-base.)

[singtopher]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 1:09am

I would say Saturday Night Fever for the 70's. Maybe Swing! for the 40's. Gee, maybe we should compile a list of Jukebox musicals for each decade.

[nealb1]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 1:16am

I'd say "Mame" for the 20's, and "A Chorus Line" for the 70's.

[musicalsaregreat]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 1:17am

1930s - 42nd St.

[JackiesBroJoe]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 1:32am

Wedding Singer for 80's? Grow up.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 9:01am

1940's - either ON THE TOWN or SOUTH PACIFIC.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 9:22am

How about NO NO NANNETTE for the 20s?

Updated On: 7/22/06 at 09:22 AM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 9:31am

MARY POPPINS takes place in 1910. It deals with the suffragette movement and I'm pretty sure most households back then had flying nannies.

[bigbigbill]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 11:01am

AH!! Rent makes me so mad. It isn't a good show, I'm sorry.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 11:38am

I think RENT is a perfect choice for the 90's.

Yeah, THE WEDDING SINGER for the 80's is a joke...you can do better than that. What about SONG AND DANCE?

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 11:46am

This thread is for musicals that sum up a decade, not musicals that were popular in that decade (and in many cases, still are popular today.) I think The Wedding Singer does sum up the 80s and there are a lot of shows that sum up the 20s.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 11:51am

There's Act Two of Sunday in the Park with George. I don't know...a representative "80s" musical is not so easy.

[Marguerite Chauvelin]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 12:00pm

Guys and Dolls for the 1950's?

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 12:08pm

"This thread is for musicals that sum up a decade, not musicals that were popular in that decade..."

Exactly. Which is why I find it kinda strange.

RENT didn't sum up the '90s for me at all. It was more about the '80s with Jon Larson, and that brief time I spent hanging out with him and others in that group while we were all struggling in NYC in the mid-'80s. Still, I think of that as such a SPECIFIC experience for a relatively small group of "bohemians" living as artists in Manhattan. And I had just come from a college town in Kansas, where the world of "Rent" was as alien as that of "The Jetsons." Not exactly a global experience that would speak to all.

But I would be more inclined to pick musicals that were a product of their time, at the moment they made their big splash on Broadway. For that, I would say Rent was "the musical of the '90s" even if it didn't really summarize the '90s at all.

I would also say "A Chorus Line" was THE '70s musical (on those terms).

Hair was THE '60s musical.

Not sure if there was a '50s musical IN the '50s that summarized the '50s.

I'm gonna stop now because, for me, there are too many caveats in this thread.

[Theatreboy33]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 1:28pm

"Chess" was quite the 80s extravaganza.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 2:45pm

How about FALSETTOS for the 80's? After all, was there a more significant event than the AIDS epidemic?

[algy]

Posted: 7/22/06 at 2:57pm

The musical of Mary Poppins doesn't deal with the Suffragettes. Well as it stands in London it doesn't anyway. Mrs Banks is a "retired" actress I think. I may have misremembered - Mary Poppins wasn't a musical that stuck in my mind.

I've a feeling that they may have time shifted it slightly as well...