Show of the Decade- Page 3

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:33pm

I think the main thing that "Hurt" musical theatre was TIME. I mean, the world changed drastically in such a short amount of time that broadway was badly hurt by it. I don't think it was exactly a show that did it (in my opinion)

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:34pm

*1940's*
Kiss Me, Kate
Oklahoma

*1950's*
South Pacific
My Fair Lady

*1960's*
Gypsy
Oliver
Hello, Dolly
Fiddler on the Roof
Cabaret

*1970's*
Company
Sweeney Todd
Jesus Christ Superstar

*1980's*
Evita
42nd Street
Nine
Cats
The Phantom of the Opera
Into the Woods

*1990's*
Miss Saigon
Ragtime
Rent
Titanic

*2000's*
Contact
Urinetown
Avenue Q

I tried... just don't count mine, I guess...

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:34pm

Doesn't have to be one show....

like Oklahoma and Sweeney, we agree, helped the theatre...what shows may have turned people off from theatre?

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:35pm

Has anything really "hurt" musical theatre? I don't see how another musical can hurt musical theatre...it doesn't make sense to me. The only thing I can think of that's ever really HURT musical theatre was 9/11, only because so many good shows prematurely closed. That's all I can think of...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:39pm

If we're talking influential and not necassarily "favorite"

Totally off the top of my head

20s -- Showboat
30s -- Porgy and Bess
40s -- Oklahoma
50s -- West Side Story/Threepenny Opera (the FIRST off-Broadway hit show that spurred the creation of hundreds of downtown companies and changed the American Theatre forever)
60s -- Cabaret/Hair
70s -- Company/JCS/ACL (introduced the workshop concept that EVERYONE uses now)
80s -- Dreamgirls (the state of the art computerized light board they invented for the show changed how shows were produced and the kind of effects you can have on the stage)/Cats
90s -- Not sure. Chicago revival? (there have been a bunch of smaller, more minimalist revivals of classics as a result of it)
00s -- Mamma Mia

Updated On: 2/9/05 at 11:39 PM

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:39pm

Well, you have to look at it this way......the same shows that brought people to theatre can very well be the same ones that turn them away. Now-a-days a lot of people think Oklahoma is too corny and stupid, but a little kid seeing it could possibly have the complete opposite effect on them. People bash BRKLYN but to some people, it is the show that brought them to be a fan of musical theatre. Does that make sense?

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:39pm

Then what shows did you walk out of, or do you think people may have left, saying, "I hate theatre - I hate Bway."

If that makes sense - it's hard, for me, to explain...

[Aphexis]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:41pm

*1940's*

Kiss Me, Kate

*1950's*

West Side Story

*1960's*

Hair

*1970's*

A Chorus Line

*1980's*

Les Miserables

*1990's*

Rent

*2000's*

The Producers

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:43pm

Margo: Nothing from the 90's from my list? I wasn't talking about particular productions, but actual shows, so CHICAGO would be excluded. I can't imagine that you wouldn't have said either RENT or THE LION KING, both incredibly influential.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:44pm

Margo - Mama Mia?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:52pm

Not sure how either is all that influential. Rent didn't strike me as terribly original itself and has only given us Brooklyn and a few other failed rock-oriented shows. Not sure how Lion King INFLUENCED other shows, unless you're arguing that it begat the "Disneyfication" Broadway -- but then Beauty and the Beast was prior to that and its success led to Lion King.

The 90s was less notable for new shows and much more notable for literally dozens of revivals that were smaller than their original productions (Cabaret, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy et al). The Tonys didn't even have a separate category for musical revival until 1994 (revivals still weren't very frequent on Broadway until the 80s). Now that's half the shows we see. I nominated the Chicago revival, not because it was first, but the fact that a cheap, stripped down rethinking of once lavish musical became so successful (one of the top ten longest running shows in Broadway history) spawned dozens of other revivals.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:54pm

Well, TLK, Eisner, and Disney did help Bway a lot....

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:55pm

Margo - are you a voter?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/8/05 at 11:58pm

Again, the question wasn't BEST, or FAVORITE, but INFLUENTIAL. What in the last five years is more INFLUENTIAL, in terms of begetting other very similar shows than MAMMA MIA? We have Good Vibrations and All SHook Up this year, Lennon, Jersey Boys, and maybe We Will Rock You, next season. We've had Movin Out, The Look of Love, Britain had Our House and a Rod Stewart musical and there are at least a dozen others in the works, ALL because of the massive success of Mamma Mia. Pretty influential, huh?

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:00am

As much as I hate jukebox musicals, I won't deny the success and influence (albeit negative in nature in my opinion) of Mamma Mia.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:00am

Margo - Mama Mia queston answered!

[Justice]

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:06am

Wait a sec...I think I'm confused...

Are we picking one show that changed the course of Musical Theatre?
Because if that is so, then there isn't just one show.
Every decade, there is always one or two shows that make a change to the format.

Showboat being the first.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:10am

Correct, I'm just subdividing into decades, rather than years, or some other way, and was curious to see what people thought was THE ONE show of each decade. I didn't include shows like SHOWBOAT and PORGY AND BESS, because there wouldn't have been anything else to group them with - and they're kind of obvious.

[Justice]

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:15am

My bad...I thought we were doing fave shows...
Well, I'm a hafta go back n change my list now...

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:17am

Nope. I thought I said that a few times in my beginning rant.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:28am

You did...

This thread should be called "Most influential Show of the Century"

[musicman117]

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:31am

1940's: Oklahoma!
1950's: West Side Story
1960's: Cabaret and Hair (tie)
1970's: A Chorus Line
1980's: Dreamgirls and Les Miserables (tie)
1990's: Rent
2000's: Mama Mia!

[JamieMcG]

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:35am

40's-OKLAHOMA - the first of the genre

50's tie - GUYS AND DOLLS & WEST SIDE STORY - one of the first great true musical comedies and then the first musical to successfully challenge the form as it existed.

60's - GYPSY - in my humble opinion, it took a form that was always somewhat fluid, and perfected it.

70's - A CHORUS LINE - the first major Broadway musical to chronicle backstage life onstage. something genius about being able to pull that off.

80's - LES MISERABLES - Clearly the king of the British imports, defined an era in musical theatre.

90's - RAGTIME - Brought contemporary writing to an art form that was suffering greatly and made it accessible without compromising it's roots.

This Decade (though we're only halfway through it) - I have to say (though this is based on my belief that the musicals which contribute greatest to the form are those that take that form and find a way to continue it and give it new life most effectively without compromising too much)...that being said, I'll have to say WICKED.

there's my 2 cents.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:45pm

buuuuuuuuuuuuuump

[judy_in_disguise]

Posted: 2/9/05 at 12:57pm

*1940's*
Kiss Me, Kate

*1950's*
My Fair Lady


*1960's*
Cabaret


*1970's*
Jesus Christ Superstar

*1980's*
The Phantom of the Opera


*1990's*
Rent


*2000's*
The Producers