Pulitizer Prize Winning Musicals

[DavidMegg]

Posted: 9/1/03 at 12:17pm

I got this list off of a shady site... I thought there were more. (I thought there were at least 9...) Any corrections?

Rent (1996)
Sunday in the Park with George (1985)
A Chorus Line (1976)
How to Succeed... (1962)
Fiorello (1960)
South Pacific (1950)
Of Thee I Sing (1932)

[magruder]

Posted: 9/1/03 at 12:32pm

Nope! That's the correct list. I vaguely recall Oklahoma! winning some sort of special citation, but I could be wrong.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 9/1/03 at 6:09pm

Rent. Sheesh...
Makes the award meaningless.
How the mighty have fallen.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/1/03 at 6:14pm

What happened to DOTV. Surely that had to be on the list.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/1/03 at 7:18pm

I have to agree with MusicMan. The fact that RENT was awarded a Pulizter certainly diminishes the award in my eyes. The Pulizter Committee must have felt compelled to be viewed as au courant to award that prize to this contrivance.

Sad, sad, sad.

BB

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 9/1/03 at 7:24pm

I think Rent was a big theatrical advancement in 1996. That is not the case now, though.

[Toon]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 12:53am

I disagree about Rent. I believe it deserved it as do other people in the industry. Before the multiple tours, before the numerous productions around the world, before the Rent fanatics exploded onto the scene, respected people felt the work was worthy of the award. I think they made a good decision that year. There is so much more to the show than meets the eye, and even with the flaws it's still a great piece of work. Some people don't get it, and don't get what the fuss is about. That's fine because those of us that do "get it" really understand what makes it stand out, and I feel lucky to have looked enough into the show to see the depth, the emotion, and the innovation that others miss. Some disagree about it's worthiness and there is nothing wrong with that. But to say the award is meaningless because Rent recieved it isn't fair. Many people believe Rent deserved it and fully understand why it was awarded the Pulitzer. Just because you don't agree doesn't make the award meaningless.

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 1:19am

I completely agree with Toon. Rent is a great piece of work. It has an amazing message, and has inspiring music and lyrics that try to spread positivity. The story of this group of friends trying to survive with nothing but the joy brought to them by their friends is a really powerful thing. The world today is very negative, and just hearing "There's Only Us, There's only this- forget regret ot life is yours to miss. I can't control my destiny.." makes me want to live life to the fullest.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 1:24am

You have to rewind to a time when Rent wasn't over-hyped. There are lots of people who don't like the show, but when it debuted, it wasn't undergoing the backlash that it and other musicals find after long runs on Broadway (Cats, Phantom, Miss Saigon, etc.)

The Pulitzer is awarded to plays or musicals that deal with American life--something Rent did in a very powerful way, expecially in the mid-nineties.

And many consider it a landmark musical: I studied with Stuart Ostrow (producer of Pippin, 1776, M Butterfly to name 3) at the University of Houston. He felt very strongly that the landmark musicals in musical theatre history were Oklahoma!, Hair, A Chorus Line, and Rent.

One may not like a particular play or musical, but one should still be able to see the reasons why it succeeded in the way that it did. I think the Pulitzer committee deserves a little more respect and credit than what has been given in this thread.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 1:26am

Exactly--you'll see how huge it is when the community theatre and school rights become available.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 1:26am

duplicate message

Updated On: 9/2/03 at 01:26 AM

[Becky]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 1:44am

THANK YOU jrb actor. You actually beat me to my point. It's been 7 years, and it's hard to go back to that time without remembering what has transpired since. Like jrb and toon said, it was a pretty powerful show in '96 and the award was given at a time before the hype, backlash, and obsessed fans. The committee does deserve more respect for their decision, and hopefully people who truly have respect for the theater would try and see past their dislike for a show and try and understand the reasons for its selection.

Saying that the Pulitzer is meaningless because a show they didn't like won it isn't even worth commenting on.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 1:58am

"Saying that the Pulitzer is meaningless because a show they didn't like won it isn't even worth commenting on."

Maybe the Pulitzer is meaningless except to those who win and make money off of it.

[Becky]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 8:41am

"Maybe the Pulitzer is meaningless except to those who win and make money off of it."

Um...and maybe not.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 10:53am

Rent is remarkable because it,like Hair,is evocative of a certain time and place. But also like Hair, the show will become as dated as your grandmother's corset and essentially be unrevivable. The utter banality of the writing, the incoherence of the plot, the unattractive whining and narcissism of the "characters" will have future generations scratching their heads and wondering what the fuss was all about.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 12:17pm

"Future"generations? A lot of THIS generation is already asking that question. And RENT was dated when it opened!

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 12:31pm

Yes, I suppose that you are right, SueleenGay--and audiences have kept it running all these years and all these tours and bought all those CDs in large efforts to figure it out.

The Tony Awards also were so blinded by its confusion that they gave it Best Musical. The same is true for the loads of other awards it won--all blindness.

Updated On: 9/2/03 at 12:31 PM

[Becky]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 1:08pm

Never quite understood the "outdated" argument. I don't think there is anything in RENT that is so "dated" that people won't be able to relate to or understand it. I think there is so much more to the show than the period references, and I'm certain audiences will still appreciate and enjoy the music and the show....even if they don't connect with the lifesyle or happenings of the mid-90s.

There are so many shows out there that one could make the "dated" argument about, yet it doesn't affect the enjoyment or attendance of those long playing shows. I don't think it will matter with Rent either.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 1:58pm

It's not blindness, jrb--it's just that nature abhors a vacuum.

[Toon]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 3:13pm

dated? please. give theatergoers a little more credit than to assume no one will show interest because of the time period. that's not even a valid argument in my opinion.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 3:49pm

I did not mean to imply that just because something is dated it can not be enjoyed. But with all the advnaces in AIDS/HIV treatment, and the lyrics "Living in America at the end of the Millinium" the show is pretty much a period piece.

[Toon]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 4:52pm

"the lyrics "Living in America at the end of the Millinium" the show is pretty much a period piece."

yes it is. your point?? so many shows are about a particular time and place. doesn't make it any less relevant. especially a show that deals about relationships/friendships and life more than any particular aspect of the time period. the "period piece" circumstances are just a side bar for the real themes of the show.

not to mention i hope that even after a cure is found for HIV/AIDS people will still remember the affect it had on people then and now. it's not like we'll sit here and think "that's not a disease that affects us anymore, why are they singing about that?" Updated On: 9/2/03 at 04:52 PM

[Becky]

Posted: 9/2/03 at 6:17pm

Did we really have to have lived in 1832 Paris to identify and connect with Les Miz? In "What You Own", the lyrics will refer to a time right before the end of the millenium. What's wrong with that? I don't find that in years to come anyone will be worried abou those lyrics, or any ther 90s reference -- any more than people worry about period references in any other show.