Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer

Caroline, or Change.

I would've given it to Fun Home over The Flick, but maybe the fact that Fun Home was an a adaptation was a bit of a demerit (I realize that adaptations have won before, but I think they prefer to give it to original works)

I agree Company is a good choice. Looks like it lost to No Place to Be Somebody, which was notably the first award to go to a Black playwright, and also the first Off-Broadway play to win. So I guess it's hard to begrudge those significant milestones, though I haven't read or seen the play, personally.

Follies, maybe? I'm not familiar with the play that won that year. ("The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds"

I know it's not about "american life," and also an adaptation, but I think Fiddler on the Roof should've been in the mix. And that was eligible for 1964? No Pulitzer was even given that year.

The Scottsboro Boys seems like another contender, which interestingly was eligible in the same year as Next to Normal - unless they waited for the Bway run to submit for eligibility, in which case it would've been eligible the following year, when Clybourne Park won. I definitely would've given it to Scottsboro Boys over Clybourne Park, personally.

Also, preemptively: Oratorio For Living Things. I assume it's not going to win for 2022, but I think it should.

Runaways comes to mind - it would've been eligible the year that Gin Game won. I haven't read or seen Gin Game (I skipped the recent revival), so I guess I can't speak to whether it was deserved or not.

And I agree about Caroline or Change- depending on when they submitted, I guess it would've been eligible in either 2003 (Anna and the Tropics) or 2004 (I Am My Own Wife)

also, West Side Story.

And I think thematically/conceptually Merrily We Roll Along feels like it could be a Pulitzer winner though the writing is no where near the level required IMO.

JoeW4 said: "

Follies, maybe? I'm not familiar with the play that won that year. ("The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds"

If you can track down the 1972 film version of this that Paul Newman made starring Joanne Woodward & their daughters... wow it's just heartbreaking. Such a realistic portrayal of a totally dysfunctional family. I can definitely see how it won the Pulitzer. Live in the theatre it must have just had people on the edge of their seats.

Caroline or Change

JanMaxwellsBag said: "Agreed about Fun Home and Caroline, or Change.

Does anyone think there are any musical comedies that are Pulitzer-worthy? The only one that comes to mind for me is The Drowsy Chaperone (weirdly there was no drama Prize awarded in 2006)."

Well, How to Succeed in Business did win the Pulitzer and that one is considered a musical comedy.

Among Loesser's works, I would have preferred a Pulitzer for The Most Happy Fella over either How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (which won) or Guys and Dolls (which would have won but not for political nonsense). I acknowledge that the former show isn't quite as focused specifically on the American experience as the latter two, but it seems much more timeless to me, and might be the truest musical drama in the Broadway canon.

Fun Home and Caroline, Or Change. Agree 100%.

bdn223 said: "hak5 said: "HADESTOWN is deserving of the award"

No matter how you slice it Hadestown does not reflect American life...its a modern adaptation of a Greek myth, that while musically is influenced by American folk music and has a New Orleans feel, its setting is ambiguous. Therefore Hadestown does not meet the basic requirement for the award."



Respectfully, I’ve gotta disagree with you there, on a couple of fronts.

Firstly, the “American life” portion isn’t a requirement. The exact words on the Pulitzer website are: “For a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life.” And there’s historical precedent for them going against both of those preferential criteria.

Secondly, the literal setting of a show doesn’t necessarily indicate whether or not it “deals with” American life. Hadestown makes no attempt to hide its allegories for American politics, and American industrialization, as well as a sense of being broken, divided, and hopeless – which resonate deeply with where America is right now.

Possibly also worth comparing it to Gospel at Colonus – which was a finalist for the Pulitzer back in 1985 – a musical adaptation of the Greek story of Oedipus at Colonus, utilizing the setting of a Black pendacostal church, with Gospel music. Much in the same way that Hadestown uses a New Orleans Jazz setting to re-sell an Ancient Greek story.

Updated On: 1/10/23 at 03:31 PM

kdogg36 said: "Among Loesser's works, I would have preferred a Pulitzer forThe Most Happy Fellaover eitherHow to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying(which won) orGuys and Dolls(which would have won but not for political nonsense). I acknowledge that the former show isn't quite as focused specifically on the American experience as the latter two, but it seems much more timeless to me, and might be the truest musical drama in the Broadway canon."

I mean I love Loesser’s work. But, I think that what makes How to Succeed special (and the reason it won the Pulitzer) was due to the fact that the show is an amazingly well written satire of corporate America.

hak5 said: "HADESTOWN is deserving of the award"

Hadestown has some great, beautiful moments, but then it has some terrible/forgetful songs. I always felt like the show stalls out after "Wait for Me" - which, to me, should have ended Act 1, but then we get this other song. And then the act 2 opener song is kind of a dud. Then it finally clicks back into place.