Favorite book of a musical?

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 4:03pm

I'm sure it's been discussed 100+ times on here yet I can't seem to find a thread so: what are your favorite books for musicals?

Mines either:
Guys and Dolls
Fiddler on the Roof
Sideshow

[binau]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 4:03pm

GYPSY, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

[ChenoKahn]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 4:06pm

Into The Woods and Forum

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 5:10pm

GYPSY, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

Word.

Though I have to agree with ChenoKahn that FORUM is a miracle of comic construction.

I'm surprised to see GUYS AND DOLLS on a list. For all the fun of the Runyon-inspired dialogue, that fact is that ending doesn't even make sense to me. Adelaide's problem has been that she can't get Nathan to the altar. Then out of nowhere she sings "Marry the Man Today" and decides she will marry him despite his faults.

EXCEPT her decision isn't the issue; his inability to commit is. So how is the plot resolved exactly?

(And let's don't even get into the contradiction that Nathan seems to have been tamed somehow BEFORE the wedding, even though she just sang a song about waiting until AFTER the wedding. I'll agree that's a minor matter.)

If anything, GUYS AND DOLLS (like KISS ME, KATE) is a reminder to me of how musical comedy can get away with the most remarkable improbabilities.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 5:11pm

Gypsy
Gypsy
Gypsy

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 5:11pm

Oh, and Gypsy.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 5:13pm

Wonderland... Just joking. I agree with Gypsy.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 6:31pm

Gypsy is probably the best book of a musical ever. It's funny, tragic, horrific, and moving. There's not many other books that could take out all the songs and still work.

I enjoy the characters and dialogue of Follies, even though it's not really a great book in the traditional sense.

A Little Night Music, Company, and Into the Woods are all stellar. The characters, dialogue, etc are delightful. Even the worst production of these shows can make me smile ever now and then.

Mame is fun. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it moves at a nice pace and is never boring.

No one hit me, but I really enjoy the book for Anything Goes. I think it's goofy fun. Very sitcom-esque. At least the version I know. I was in a production of the '64 version and it was a blast. I've yet to see the new production (which is the same book as the LuPone revival, right?)

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 8:25pm

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 8:35pm

American Idiot, duh.

But really:
Assassins
Next to Normal
Ragtime
Company

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 8:39pm

In addition to the others mentioned, 1776.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 8:42pm

ComingUpRoses, it may have been the production I saw, but I find the 1964 book of ANYTHING GOES just as silly, but somehow far superior to the one they are using now.

[ggersten]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 10:33pm

1776 tops my list
Gypsy
How to Succeed
My Fair Lady
and....
Damn Yankees
(and the question is "favorite" not best)

Updated On: 2/12/12 at 10:33 PM

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 2/12/12 at 11:51pm

The Light in The Piazza. Great characters, exceptionally moving, and actually has way more humor than I would have expected.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 2/13/12 at 1:54am

She Loves Me
A Little Night Music
Oklahoma!
The Drowsy Chaperone

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 2/13/12 at 2:31am

In addition to those already mentioned:

South Pacific and Merrily We Roll Along.

[peerrjb]

Posted: 2/13/12 at 3:56am

favorite....
sure, GYPSY, GUYS AND DOLLS, probably FORUM, and if you take out the songs and look at just the playwright's work, SWEENEY TODD is a marvelous adaptation of the play.
And for its day and its goal, SOUTH PACIFIC is pretty remarkable; and holds up (as the recent revival reminded us). Not a wasted word in the bunch. (Though some actors and directors have managed to make us think otherwise!!!)

"best" favorite.... 1776. (Read it again. My LORD what a lotta brilliance is in that thing. You know the outcome going in, and you're still breathless. Well, that is if it's got somebody like William Daniels as your guide through the journey, anyhow.)

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 2/13/12 at 9:43am

Gaveston, that's really sad that they toyed with the book. The '64 version isn't gold by any means, but it's good goofy fun. I remembered listening to both the LuPone cast and the new cast recordings and trying to figure out how they were working in all these new songs.

It seems like every production of the show is a little bit different.

[madbrian]

Posted: 2/13/12 at 10:10am

Came to this thread expecting to add 1776 to the discussion, so I'm very happy to see all the love for it.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 2/13/12 at 10:14am

^Absolutely, with Fiddler and She Loves Me, the very best. Thank you Stone, Masteroff, and Stein (with respect to all the other greats, Laurents included).

[michellek45]

Posted: 2/13/12 at 11:00am

Definitely My Fair Lady and 1776 (although I feel like if you didn't care about history, some of those independence discussion scenes would have gone on for too long). I also think that Hair was an exceptional book, especially considering how easily it could have been a mess.

[dreaming]

Posted: 2/13/12 at 11:02am

The books to several Kander and Ebb shows are very good. My favorites are:

Cabaret
Chicago
Scottsboro Boys

I think those three, as well as Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma, South Pacific, Gypsy, and The Drowsy Chaperone would rank among my favorites.

I think Showboat is very strong as well-and it's truly an important book from an historical standpoint.

[PattiLover]

Posted: 2/13/12 at 11:21am

1776. I could just listen to the dialogue alone, but the music makes it extra great.

A Little Night Music is another perfect book.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/13/12 at 11:31am

1776
The Music Man
Forum
The Most Happy Fella
Into the Woods

[Owen22]

Posted: 2/13/12 at 12:14pm

I don't know if its my favorite but I love the book to "1776". It manages to create tension in a story whose outcome we are already, obviously very much aware.