Greatest Book Of A Musical - What do you think?- Page 2

[DickonDefysGravity]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:41pm

Without a doubt

INTO THE WOODS

GUYS AND DOLLS

ANYTHING GOES

[hannahshule]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:48pm

IMO...

Showboat
Gypsy
My Fair Lady
Kiss Me Kate

among others...

[Liz_Bennet]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:49pm

I agree with most of the above except Show Boat (groundbreaking for sure, but the pace in the second act and the sudden aging of everybody and entrace of Kim! oy vey!) and Anything Goes (funny but incoherent in the original version, lovely music but Porter himself said "I have no book sense"). And, uh, Wicked. But...

What about Carousel and A Little Night Music? I love West Side Story as well; maybe that Shakespeare fellow has something to do with that.

[The8re phan]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:58pm

My votes to --

Into the Woods
My Fair Lady
Gypsy
A Little Night Music
Evita

[jasonf]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 6:04pm

I agree with a lot of these -- how has no one mentioned Sweeney Todd yet???

[cturtle]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 6:07pm

SHOWBOAT has one of the best scores, if not THE best score (it's probably my all-time fave) ... but no i would not say best book ... although the story IS fascinating.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 6:07pm

Sweeney Todd's score is outstanding - but honestly, the book isn't that great.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 6:08pm

Absolutely GYPSY for all the reasons already mentioned, as well as the fact that there is not one wasted word nor bit of bueinss. Not one slow point, never a moment when you are confused nor waiting for something to happen. Every moment is vital.

Updated On: 6/12/05 at 06:08 PM

[Jwei123]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 6:08pm

Gypsy and Oklahoma.

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 6:13pm

This is in no way one of the greatest books, but I really enjoy Hairspray's book.

[jasonf]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 6:32pm

cturtle -- are you serious? I'm not debating the greatness of the score, but the book works perfectly for Sweeney. I think in a way it's even harder to get a book to work so well in a sung-through show (or nearly) than one where songs and dialogue are mixed.
I think that for example with Les Mis and Rent the source materials were richer, so as good as the books are, I wouldn't consider them "greatest."

[cturtle]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 6:35pm

i didn't say nothin bad about SWEENEY. i've never even seen it.

[broadway86]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 6:36pm

"Gypsy". It's one of the only books that is actually on par with a straight play.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 7:01pm

I'd say Fiddler on the Roof...such a good book..

[BreakingTheCircle07]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 9:52pm

Cabaret's book is very powerful.

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 9:59pm

CapnHook said that Sweeney's book wasn't great. There isn't a huge amount of dialogue, as it's mostly sung-through, but the book fills in the gaps between songs and pulls the show together. So while I wouldn't say that Sweeney has one of the greatest books of a musical, it's certainly one of the best examples of the integration of music, lyrics, and book.

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:02pm

I'm going to go with the majority and say GYPSY, for all the reasons previosuly mentioned. It's simply outstanding.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:08pm

Recall is more just the the dialogue between the songs, the book writer is responsible for show's structure scene-to-scene and for the overall architecture of the plot. Wheeler's adaption of Christopher Bond's play of Sweeney Todd is a brilliant example of playwriting in miniature, somehow presenting all of the plot twists, the character motivations and keeping the story moving along with a minimum of exposition. He also made several suggestions to Sondheim throughout as to what moments would be best for musicalization, aiding immeasurable in the composer's creative process. Frankly, the book to Sweeney is one of the two or three best of any Sondheim show, along with being, I would say in the top dozen ever written.

As the saying goes, if a book writer does his job, nobody notices and gives all the credit to the composer and director (and if a show flops, the first to be blamed is the book writer). Wheeler's work is truly sublime and not obviously brilliant perhaps, but it's really a fantastic piece of writing.

Updated On: 6/21/05 at 10:08 PM

[AnothaPartofMe]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:09pm

Anyone agree with considering BLOOD BROTHERS as a more modern example of a great musical book?

[roquat]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 12:51am

I'd like to submit "Violet". This is a show that I think deserves to enter the standard musical repertory. It is a great American musical, tightly constructed, with dialogue and songs equally important and leading into each other seamlessly. Although it is set in the rural South during the sixties, no one in it is condescended to or treated as dumb (in the manner of, say, "Li'l Abner") and it has an enormous emotional effect. I don't understand why it wasn't greeted with more enthusiasm.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 1:07am

But for one song, the score is forgettable.
Updated On: 5/1/08 at 01:07 AM

[midtowngym]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 1:13am

I saw Sweeney (again) last weekend. The book is efficient, but for me serves merely as a vehicle to enjoy the brillant score. The relationship between Anthony and Johanna is underwritten. Although the 'loony bin' scene is appropriately creepy, i find it hard to believe Judge Turpin would discard Johanna so quickly, especially after patiently raising her for 20 years.
But then again, how seriously should the book (or show) be taking anyway?

Updated On: 6/21/05 at 01:13 AM

[BwayBoy25]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 1:18am

im loving all this support that GYPSY is getting...its one of my favorites and im so glad that so many people out there love it so much

fiddler is strong too, as is 42nd just because

ps...hot pic cturtle

[jam_man]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 1:37am

I'm going to try and give ranks, so stay with me:

1. 1776
2. Fiddler on the Roof
3. West Side Story
4. Gypsy
5. Cabaret
6. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
7. Carousel
8. How To Suceed in Business Without Really Trying
9. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
10. OK, I'll go out on a bit of a limb here, Ragtime


Regarding Sweeney's book: while I do agree it nearly pales in comparison to the score (some of the best music EVER to be written for a theatre), the book is great in it's own right. Turpin "discarded Johanna so easily" because he is a very selfesh, nearsighted (into the future, though he maybe couldn't see well, either) man who made the decision to put Johanna into Fogg's asylum to put her out of reach from Anthony, not for her 'protection.'

Also, as great as all of the aforementioned books are, we probably will agree that, with the exception of 1776 and ...Forum, they are all not as impressive as their respective scores.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 1:45am

I think that you should take the book of Sweeney very seriously. It is a dark gothic melodrama, with moments of comic relief provided by Lovett, Pirelli and a few others. If it in any way, even for a moment suggests farce or camp, then the director of that particular production is at fault because that is precisely what Prince and Sondheim did NOT intend from the show.

And if, it seemed to you that Turpin ever casually discarded Joanna, that's another wrong-headed directorial choice in the production you saw, and not an issue with the original book.

The book of "Sweeney" is rock-solid, but many directors see it as open for inappropriate interpretation. In the past 150 years, there have been literally dozens of versions of Sweeney Todd on stage in London and elsewhere. Sondheim purposely chose Christopher Bond's adaptation of the story (as opposed to a dozen others), because it gave meat and weight to Todd's motivations in the plot.

While the musical has it's humorous moments, it is NOT supposed to in any way be a farce or comedy. If it comes off that way, then that particular production has done a complete disservice to the original text. It's supposed to be played very serious and scary, albeit in somewhat heightened, stylized dramatic form, never winking to the audience and always with a sense of danger. If with the factory whistles etc.. you don't find yourself at least occasionally unsettled, then you're watching the wrong production of the show.

Updated On: 6/21/05 at 01:45 AM