Ranking Kander & Ebb Scores

I think Cabaret and Chicago are their best.

All have merit, but my least favorites are Steel Pier and Curtains (I know, not a total Kander & Ebb score).

My two favorites are 70, Girls, 70 and Flora, the Red Menace.

Steel Pier is definitely their worst score.

My personal favorite will always be Cabaret, with Chicago at second and I do love Scottsboro Boys.

I haven't heard THE VISIT or OVER AND OVER (or whatever it's called now), but I'm very familiar with all the other K&E scores. As I love the majority of them, I have to agree with chickfila and mallardo and rank STEEL PIER, WOMAN OF THE YEAR, and CURTAINS in the bottom three.

All the others I love for various reasons.

Updated On: 6/10/11 at 12:42 PM

I am a HUGE fan of the very underrated WOMAN OF THE YEAR score! 'It Isn't Working' is such a fantastic production number, and the ballads are gorgeous. The title song is electric, and 'Grass is Always Greener' is a marvelous novelty number that has the unmistakable K&E stamp on it.
Hard as I try, I cannot rank their scores because all of them have so many things to recommend. There is a reason why these men have gained the respect and status that they have...it is because they wrote genuinely fantastic music for the theater. And with most art, the scattered flaws are what I think make them all the more fascinating, moving, and human.

And just to throw this out there....SCOTTSBORO BOYS remains my absolute favorite thing I saw all season...and I saw and loved a LOT of stuff. This was a remarkable year for theater in NY.

High ranking: The Rink, Chicago, and Cabaret

Low ranking: The Happy Time, The Act, and Curtains

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Cabaret and Kiss may be my faves--Chicago would be up there too, but I feel like I've heard it too much at the moment. I do love Zorba though--anyone who ranks it as worst must have heard the Anthony Quinn version and not the original :P