Formulate "the Perfect Musical"
Formulate "the Perfect Musical"
#1Formulate "the Perfect Musical"
Posted: 11/7/15 at 4:01pm
I thought of this idea today. If we were to designate all the major types of song we hear in a typical musical, which numbers would you put in for "the ideal revue?" Here are my choices, and I'm looking forward to hearing yours! Feel free to add any categories you think I missed...
Opening number: "Tradition" from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
The I Want song: "I Can Do Better Than That" from L5Y
Love solo: "Johanna" from SWEENEY TODD
Love duet: "Make Believe" from SHOW BOAT
Turning point song: "Soliloquy" from CAROUSEL
9 o'clock number: "Getting Married Today" from COMPANY
Villain number: "Hellfire" from THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
Act 1 Finale: "Defying Gravity" from WICKED
Act 2 Opener: "A Man Like You/Unusual Way" from NINE
Breakup Song: "Could I Leave You?" from FOLLIES
Comic Relief: "Gee Officer Krupke" from WEST SIDE STORY
Aha Moment: "Ring of Keys" from FUN HOME
Mandatory Reprise: "Agony II" from INTO THE WOODS
11 o'clock number: "Rose's Turn" from GYPSY
Ultimo: "Finale/Do You Hear the People Sing?" from LES MIS
beilis32
Understudy Joined: 7/12/14
#3Formulate
Posted: 11/7/15 at 5:06pm
What a FUN game! I decided to go all Sondheim!
Opening number: "Comedy Tonight" from A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM
The I Want song: "Something's Coming" from WEST SIDE STORY
Love solo: "Loving You" from PASSION
Love duet: "It Takes Two" from INTO THE WOODS
Turning point song: "Finishing the Hat" from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
9 o'clock number: "Epiphany" from SWEENEY TODD
Villain number: "Johanna (Judge's reprise)" from SWEENEY TODD
Act 1 Finale: "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from GYPSY
Act 2 Opener: "Seasons of Love" from RENT
Breakup Song: "We Do Not Belong Together" from SWEENEY TODD
Comic Relief: "Getting Married Today" from COMPANY
Aha Moment: "Moments in the Woods" from INTO THE WOODS
Mandatory Reprise: "Small World (reprise)" from GYPSY
11 o'clock number: "Being Alive" from COMPANY
Ultimo: "Move On" from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
broadwaysfguy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/14
#5Formulate
Posted: 11/7/15 at 5:28pm
So basically I just have to list my favorite of these types of songs? 'Cuz that's all I'm doing.
Opening number: "Company" from COMPANY
The I Want song: "Somewhere That's Green" from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
Love solo: "What's the Use of Wond'rin" from CAROUSEL
Love duet: "My Heart is So Full of You" from THE MOST HAPPY FELLA
Turning point song: "Soliloquy" from CAROUSEL
9 o'clock number: "Someone in a Tree" from PACIFIC OVERTURES
Villain number: "The Woman for the Man" from ...SUPERMAN, or any Jack Cassidy smarmy villain song ("My Fortune is My Face" is particularly funny.)
Act 1 Finale: "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from GYPSY
Act 2 Opener: "Side By Side By Side/What Would We Do Without You?" from COMPANY
Breakup Song: "Not a Day Goes By" from MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
Comic Relief: "Class" from CHICAGO
Aha Moment: "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" from MY FAIR LADY
Mandatory Reprise: "Ice Cream (reprise)" from SHE LOVES ME (Technically the finale, but f*ck it. It moves me.)
11 o'clock number: "Send in the Clowns" from A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Ultimo: "Sunday" (either one) from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
I think this is an awful idea for a show, but in terms of favorites, there they are. I'll probably change my opinion by 9 o'clock, but whatever.
beilis32
Understudy Joined: 7/12/14
#6Formulate
Posted: 11/7/15 at 11:05pm
broadwaysfguy said: "beilis32
creating a jukebox musical out of the greatest numbers from other musicals is absolutely brilliant and you should start looking for producers....
Wow! Thanks for the compliment.
Let's see:
The idea based on your songs starts in a very conservative place somewhere, maybe wherever it is in New York where all the Orthodox Jews live? (Sorry, I'm not from New York City, so I wouldn't know) and they sing "Tradition." The female lead, who is from this place,is secretly an actress, and she's currently playing Johanna in Sweeney Todd. She is disappointed with her life in the conservative place, and sings a slightly amended version of "I can do better than that'while getting ready to go on stage as Johanna. A guy in the audience is absolutely smitten with her, and decides to serenade her with "Johanna" after the show. He sings it flawlessly and she is very impressed. They get to talking about how they are both massively into theater, and when the rest of the cast is gone, they hang out for a long time and sing "Make Believe" in the empty theater and fall in love.
I will come up with the rest of it soon!
By the way thanks for introducing me to "I Can Do Better Than That". I like the way it sounds less like a musical theater song and more like something you might hear on the radio.
"
Updated On: 11/7/15 at 11:05 PM
#7Formulate
Posted: 11/7/15 at 11:06pm
This is a tough one. I had to look up "nine o'clock number" because I didn't think there was such an emphasis on a big number before the Act I finale, because the Act I finale is supposed to be such a big deal. I'm not sure anyone even remembers the 9'o'clock number when it's followed by such incredible Act I finales as "Defying Gravity" or the pogram at the wedding in Fiddler on the Roof. Interestingly, in "The Phantom of the Opera," the finale of Act I doesn't have a big production number -- the angel comes down, the Phantom sings ("You will curse..."
, Christine takes her curtain call in "Il Muto," and the chandelier comes down. So, what is the nine o'clock number -- AIAOY? If so, it's a sweet ballad, and not a big showstopper the way "Do You Hear the people Sing" is in Les Miz.
Here's my attempt at a list, which I'll probably revise 3 times during the course of the discussion:
Opening number: Tradition, from "Fiddler," "Look Down," from "Les Miz," or the dance of the rising chandelier (in the original version -- not the current tour) in "Phantom."
The "I want" song: "Wouldn't it be loverly," from "My Fair Lady" or "Castle in a Cloud," from "Les Miz."
Love solo: "The Music of the Night," from "The Phantom of the Opera." (Really, what else was I going to say? 
)
Love duet: "All I Ask of You," from "Phantom" or "Miracle of Miracles" from "Fiddler OTR."
Turning point song: "Soliloquy" from "Carousel," or Part 2 of "All I Ask of You," with the Phantom sitting in the angel, in "POTO," or "The Confrontation" in "Les Miz."
Villain song: "Be Prepared," from "The Lion King" or "Brimstone and Treacle" from "Mary Poppins" or anything by Miss Hannigan in "Annie."
Act 1 Finale: "Defying Gravity," from "Wicked," the chandelier crash from "POTO," the pogrom, from "Fiddler."
Comic Relief: "Master of the House," from "Les Miz," or "Notes," from "POTO," or "Little Bit of Luck," from "My Fair Lady."
Act 2 will follow after I've taken an intermission.
#8Formulate
Posted: 11/8/15 at 2:26am
Opening number: "Some People" from Gypsy
The I Want song: "Out There" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Love solo: "Anthem" from Chess (love of country, not of a person)
Love duet: "People Will Say We're In Love" from Oklahoma
Turning point song: "Soliloquy" from Carousel
9 o'clock number: "The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha
Villain number: "Hellfire" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Act 1 Finale: "Defying Gravity" from Wicked
Act 2 Opener: "King of New York" from Newsies
Breakup Song: "Could I Leave You?" from Follies
Comic Relief: "Getting Married Today" from Company
Aha Moment: "So Much Better" from Legally Blonde
Unrequited Love Song: "You Should Be Loved" from Side Show
Mandatory Reprise: "If I Loved You (Reprise)" from Carousel
11 o'clock number: "Maybe" from Next to Normal
Ultimo: "Light" from Next to Normal
#9Formulate
Posted: 11/8/15 at 3:52am
Herman The Great
In the choreographed overture ("Rehearse! (instrumental)” - 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue) the cast dances and performs a kind of theatrical ritual calling forth the spirits of the theatre. After a brief blackout, the lights rise on a gathering of politicians having a wild, end-of-year party ("Backstage Babble" - Applause). One, Herman, a down-and-out loner, is gossiped about as being slimy and a general crumbum (“Gossip" - Sunday in the Park). On the other hand, Eva, a potentially rising star with good looks and a sharp brain, is wooed and flirted with by all the hotshot guys (“Pretty Lady” - Pacific Overtures).
After the party turns rowdy, a tispy Herman is egged into giving a performance before the rest of the crowd, with the apparent intent of embarassing him. However, he turns out an emotional, heated song (“I Don’t Care Much” - Cabaret), impressing everyone. Eva, who’s always maintained a certain interest in Herman, corners him afterwards and they fall in, revealing her distaste for the other hotshots, which appeals to his misanthropic nature. She also reveals to him her basic roots and desire to be on the top, and to look down on everyone else, family included. They sing, seemingly sardonically but with an underlying tension of real passion, about their feelings towards each other (“How Can Love Survive?” - Sound Of Music).
On the way home from the party, Herman runs into a travelling mystical carnival, populated by an assortment of freakish characters, who work under The Black Rider ("The Black Rider" - The Black Rider). The Black Rider puts Herman under his own spell with a magic lantern, and promises him anything he’d like, if he can pay the price. Herman, hypnotized, waves away all possible damage or misfortune and wishes for one thing: power.
The carnival troupe celebrates their ritual and, in a wash of fog, Herman finds himself in the midst of the elitist power lunch set (“Let’s Have Lunch” - Sunset Boulevard), where he, through dark forces, finds himself a magnet for the exact people who can help him enact his plans. A key assistant reveals his talent for manipulation and salesmanship ("Dressing Them Up" - Kander & Ebb) and Herman puts him to work, enlisting an entourage of travelling salesmen to push his manifesto ("Hello" - The Book of Mormon). The process is wildly successful and Eva, on a television chat show, gushes about her rise to glory (“Look What Happened To Mabel” - Mack And Mabel). The money rolls in as if it might never stop ("And The Money Kept Rolling In" - Evita).
INTERMISSION
The rise of the second act reveals the uniform crowd that Herman’s manifesto has created ("One" - A Chorus Line) and, flying high, Herman tells Eva of his devotion to her ("You'll Never Get Away From Me" - Gypsy). The crowd falls in for praise of Herman ("Master of the House" - Les Miserables), which serves double to show Eva’s indiscretion with other men, which is tallied by Herman’s spies (“Put It In The Book” - The Roar of the Greasepaint), a number that, in itself, doubles to show Herman’s spies spying on the people of the country, marking down anything they do against Herman’s manifesto.
What the spies mark down are tallied up and, in a grand coup d’etat, Herman’s military sweep up all nonfollowers and untrustworthies for a grand burning and general display of sadistic intent ("Auto-Da Fe" - Candide). At the auto-da fe, as the bodies pile up and the innocent scream with torture and pain, Herman also reveals to Eva that he knows everything she’s done behind his back. She objects that she’s never strayed from him, intellectually (“Always True To You” - Kiss Me, Kate), though this objection is tinged with a strain of fear at the sight of Herman’s bloodlust.
Following the auto-da fe, a gathering of the greatest minds and followers takes place (“Ascot Gavotte” - My Fair Lady) to put together a grand final solution for the rest of mankind, who have been deemed unworthy (“Et moi, ce n'est pas là, pardieu" - The Tales of Hoffmann). The plan is assembled - the minds have gathered and produced a bomb that will, at sundown, destroy everything but their country, at last leaving them at peace to be the greatest race (“God That’s Good! - Sweeney Todd).
Meanwhile, Eva has had a secret meeting with one of the renegade brainchildren of Herman’s posse, and, in an exchange of sexual favors (and coercion - the renegade is upset with having to play charades and would really like to end it all) agrees to help her fix Herman’s bomb to wipe out only their country ("Do Me A Favor" - Carrie). Herman, suspicious, has tracked her down and, while they are inside, sings of how he can't shake her ("How Many Women" - The Wild Party). He catches her coming out of her secret meeting, and, though he doesn’t know yet who she was with, promises her that he will have him found out and snuffed out. She sings of her devotion to him (“Unusual Way” - Nine&rdquo while the renegade fixes the bomb, and as she lets him have her for the last time, the posse upstairs signs of its anticipation of the final event (“The Sun Won’t Set” - A Little Night Music).
The bomb goes off, catching all in the midst of activities, which The Black Rider, now our friendly narrator, wanders through while his troupe sings of the catastophe (“Boom Ditty Boom” - 70, Girls, 70). He explains that, through a slight error, the renegade set the bomb to blow up not only the country, but everything else, and that the world is now a smoking ruin. He explains that he will spend the rest of his time on the Earth capturing, with his magic lantern, the lifeforces of those trapped in the moment of death, which will be used to start a more hopeful planet somewhere else. You win some, you lose some.
Lyrics would be shifted, I'm sure, and songs pared down and rearranged as necessary.
Updated On: 11/8/15 at 03:52 AM
Broadway kid 2
Stand-by Joined: 6/7/14
#11Formulate
Posted: 11/9/15 at 2:29pm
Opening number: Ragtime Prologue from "Ragtime"
The I Want song: "Out There" from the Hunchback of Notre Dame
Love solo: "Run Away With Me" from The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown
Love duet: "One Second and a Million Miles" from the Bridges of Madison County
Turning point song: "It Don't Make Sense" from Parade
9 o'clock number: "Not Getting Married Today" from Company
Villain number: "Lonely Room" from Oklahoma
Act 1 Finale: "One Day More" from Les Miserables
Act 2 Opener: "Bui Doi" from Miss Saigon
Breakup Song: "Get Out and Stay Out" from 9 to 5
Comic Relief: "Betrayed" from the Producers
Aha Moment: "A Musical" from Something Rotten
Mandatory Reprise: "I Am the One (Reprise)" from Next to Normal
11 o'clock number: "The American Dream" from Miss Saigon
Finale/Ultimo: "You Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray
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KCW
Featured Actor Joined: 10/31/15
#12Formulate
Posted: 11/9/15 at 6:16pm
On the 9 o clock topic there is a not so old thread on it if I remember right. It's basically Epiphany from Sweeney Todd: about at that point in the story and a critical point. By no means is it a recognized thing, rather just a child of these boards. In addition, not every show has one.
BroadwayConcierge
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/24/15
#14Formulate
Posted: 11/9/15 at 6:26pm
beilis32 said: "This is a really cool idea for a thread. Now I'm wondering what would happen if you combined all these songs into one cohesive plot in a weird "jukebox musical with songs from other musicals" kind of thing. It would probably be hilariousl!
Isn't that prince of Broadway? Or is prince of Broadway randomly placed numbers with no plot?
"
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