Most Unique Show to Ever Be On Broadway

[asoftplacetoland]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 6:22pm

What do y'all think is the most unique show that's ever been on Broadway? Or even one that was unique for its time but has now become pretty basic? 

[TheThreadMaster]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 6:33pm

The Lion King

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 6:51pm

Mummenschanz would rank right up there.

[Tandrews]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 6:52pm

+1 Lion King

[Margo319]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 7:02pm

War Horse

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 7:07pm

Porgy and Bess (1935)

[wonkit]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 7:25pm

War Horse. And The Encounter.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 7:29pm

What is happening to BWW posters?

How can I be the first to point out that "unique" is a superlative. Something is or is not unique; it is not "more unique" or "less unique".

That said, I'll vote for VIA GALACTICA. I never saw it, but IIRC, it was a book musical performed on trampolines, by Galt (HAIR) MacDermott and Christopher Gore (the latter having gone to the same high school as I sometime before me).

Updated On: 8/14/17 at 07:29 PM

[kdogg36]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 7:40pm

GavestonPS said: "How can I be the first to point out that "unique" is a superlative. Something is or is not unique; it is not "more unique" or "less unique".

Well, based on usage notes found in various reference works (and, to be honest, on my own linguistic intuition), there are senses of the word unique that are not absolute, and that therefore are gradable. I know many people disagree, and that's fine of course, but many other educated people find this entirely acceptable, as I do.

Brief Encounter is one that comes to mind for me.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 7:46pm

@Gaveston: Maybe the question should be rephrased as "Broadway shows with the highest number of unique qualities" or "Broadway shows that are most notably unique." Technically speaking, every show is unique in some sense. Even a highly derivative revival may be unique in an insignificant regard like "the only show in which so-and-so starred." (unless I'm still misunderstanding how to use the word correctly?) I know the word "unique" grammatically can't be used with a qualifier, but with something as multi-dimensional as a Broadway show, maybe in a conceptual sense there can be varying degrees of being unique.

Updated On: 8/14/17 at 07:46 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 7:48pm

^^^^ (Sorry, JBroadway. This was directed at the poster ahead of you.)

Citation please? Your personal "instinct" makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Something might be "more nearly unique" or "far from unique", but more unique and less unique have no meaning whatsoever. The modifiers wage war on the meaning of the adjective. (As opposed to, say, "more pregnant" and "less pregnant" which, while wrong, describe something which is a process as well as a fixed state; so "more" and "less" may refer to one's position on the 9-month timeline. Unique is not equivalent.)

Updated On: 8/15/17 at 07:48 PM

[bwaylyric]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 8:14pm

Just a few avenues away from Broadway, but I'll pick PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS. 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 8:22pm

CARRIE

[sephyr]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 8:24pm

asoftplacetoland said: "What do y'all think is the most unique show that's ever been on Broadway? Or even one that was unique for its time but has now become pretty basic? 

 

"

HAIR, effortlessly in my opinion. 

[ethan231h]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 8:45pm

the revival of Pippin and Great Comet.

[A0326T]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 8:52pm

An Inspector Calls, Pippin Revival, Great Comet, Avenue Q

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 8:59pm

These merit consideration:

1.  Marat / Sade (the original production, not the subsequent revival which was a totally different and much more conventional production)

2.  RSC production of A Midsummer Night's Dream`(interestingly, this and the ago e were both directed by Peter Brook)

3.  Candide (1973 production)

4.  (Not saying it was good) Andrei Serban production of Agamemnon at the Vivien Beaumont theatre

5.  I'd probably agree with the supporters of War Horse.  Certainly one of the most original, creative ever.

 

There really was nothing unique about the original production of Carrie IMO

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 9:01pm

Show Boat

[comets]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 9:04pm

Metamorphoses. Wish I had a chance to catch it. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 9:33pm

GeorgeandDot said: "Show Boat

 

?????  I have loved some Show Boat productions, e.g., the Harold Prince version, been bored in others, e.g., the NY State theatre in Lincoln Center in 1966.  I am not sure what makes it unique, unless you are referring to the original production and the 'courage' of the original production?

If that criteria is used, Id probably add The Cradle Will Rock, which I never saw at its original opening (since I was not yet born) but whose opening night is part of Broadway legend (and the subject of an excellent movie directed by Tim Robbins).

 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 9:34pm

In Transit. It's unique because I'm utterly bamboozled why any producer would think people would pay for a Broadway-priced ticket to that show.

[Kitsune]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 11:03pm

For subject matter/premise, I'd go with Urinetown.  (Albeit the actual presentation was more about poking fun at more common Broadway tropes)

[non-stop26]

Posted: 8/14/17 at 11:54pm

Jarethan said: "GeorgeandDot said: "Show Boat

 

?????  I have loved some Show Boat productions, e.g., the Harold Prince version, been bored in others, e.g., the NY State theatre in Lincoln Center in 1966.  I am not sure what makes it unique, unless you are referring to the original production and the 'courage' of the original production?

If that criteria is used, Id probably add The Cradle Will Rock, which I never saw at its original opening (since I was not yet born) but whose opening night is part of Broadway legend (and the subject of an excellent movie directed by Tim Robbins).

 

 

"
It was very different than what was on broadway at its time.


http://www.playbill.com/article/game-changers-the-broadway-musicals-that-shaped-the-art-form-com-216661

 

"Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's classic musical broke new ground in at least two major ways. First of all, it was a serious musical, marking the first time a musical was something akin to a play, where there were actual characters and plot, rather than the vaudevillian revues that were the norm on Broadway at the time. Even more significantly, Show Boat, an adaptation of Edna Ferber's bestselling novel of the same name concerning racism and social evolution, was the first time an integrated cast of black and white performers appeared together in a Broadway musical."

Updated On: 8/14/17 at 11:54 PM

[Emmaloucbway]

Posted: 8/15/17 at 12:31am

The Great Comet!

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 8/15/17 at 12:39am

STARLIGHT EXPRESS 

Except for a couple numbers and the underdog theme, I disliked it from start to finish, but IMO I'd classify it as unique.