Shows you MUST know?

[bebe de broadway]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 2:38am

I'm wondering who has a few suggestions for shows that I ABSOLUTELY MUST KNOW!

(and please, no mention of wicked. lol. Like it, but the novelty wore off when it became super popular. I'm a little sick of everyone singing wicked ALL The TIME, especially for talent shows.)

I'm looking for some out-there shows, too. Though a few theatre staples would be good, too.

I'm going script and cd shopping this weekend.

So here's what i'm asking, what shows do you think people REALLY MUST know/hear/read and a brief synopsis, I guess. Or a reason why it's so amazing. Just your opinions, of course.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 3:14am

Are there any parameters in terms of dates?

There are many older (pre 1970) shows, fine, interesting, experimental or just enjoyable that are well worth exploring.

I'll skip the operettas and go right to musical comedy:

LADY BE GOOD (1924) Fun Gershwin score and preserved by a great cast on Elektra.

GOOD NEWS (1927) Typical 20s fun. Jay has the 1990s revival cast on CD and its well worth a listen.

OF THEE I SING (1931) Another Gershwin score but this one in comic operetta style and great fun. The 1952 revival cast makes a good case for the show (despite a few lyric updates.)

BABES IN ARMS (1937) Not a great book but a score crammed full of evergreens. New World has a great CD using original orchestrations.

LADY IN THE DARK (1941) Ahead of its time and highly experimental. Jay has the complete score on Cd with Maria Friedman. (There is an older Columbia disc with Rise Stevens also quite good)

ST LOUIS WOMAN (1946) Encores restored this and did a concert version with Vanessa Williams and recorded by Mercury.

KISMET (1953) Encores will be doing this next spring and if you have never heard the original cast with Alfred Drake you are in for a treat! It's in Sony's Columbia Broadway Masterwoks series.

THE MOST HAPPY FELLA (1956) Complete show on a 2 CD set from Sony Broadway. A real gem!

110 IN THE SHADE (1963) Another gem. Great score by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. The OCR is out-of-print but Jay offers a magnificent 2 CD set of the complete score including additional songs written for later productions.

THE APPLE TREE (1966) - a trilogy of 3 one-act musicals. Great songs by Bock and Harnick. Barbara Harris and Alan Alda are perfectly cast. CD is on Sony Broadway label.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 3:36am

Are you meaning within the musical theater, "straight" theater, or both? Well, in any case, I believe that all professional stage actors should be familiar with most of the major plays of the last ten or fifteen years, as well as these classics:

MUSICALS
Most of Sondheim's shows
Most of Rogers and Hammerstein's shows
Kiss Me Kate
Anything Goes
Damn Yankees
The Fantasticks
Fiddler on the Roof
Guys and Dolls
Little Shop of Horrors
Cabaret
The Music Man
Gypsy
Chicago
West Side Story
Pippin
42 Street
A Chorus Line
My Fair Lady
...and at least the "big three" of the G&S shows: The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, and H.M.S. Pinafore

NON-MUSICALS
Shakespeare's major works (Hamlet, R&J, Macbeth, etc.)
Chekhov's major works (Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya, etc.)
Tennesee Williams' major works (Streetcar, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, etc.)
Harold Pinter's major works (The Homecoming, Betrayal, etc.)
Eugene O'Neill's major works (The Iceman Cometh, the Tyrone plays)
Noel Coward's major works (Blithe Spirit, Private Lives, etc.)
Death of a Salesman
The Crucible
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Hurlyburly (well, maybe that's not a classic, but it's famous nonetheless)
Major Barbara
A Doll's House
Waiting For Godot
True West
Equus
Amadeus

OK...that's a start! I'm sure there's many I've forgotten to list.




Updated On: 10/14/05 at 03:36 AM

[jimmirae]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 5:21am

Start out with "Sweeney Todd" and "Les Miserables". That should keep one busy for 10 good years. (And Goddess knows, You will have something to sing for the rest of your life with just these two!)

Updated On: 10/14/05 at 05:21 AM

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 5:32am

Well, this can be huge. And of course it is quite subjective, since there can be arguing about the importance of each show. I'll just mention some musicals for you, because with straight plays the list could be endless. So, In my opinion, some of the shows that a musical fan MUST know, because they are representative of the different styles, are :

The Sound of Music
Showboat
Funny Lady
West Side Story
My Fair Lady
Into the Woods
Hair
A Chorus Line
Dreamgirls
Gypsy
42nd Street
Cats (longest running ever)
Les Miserables
Fiddler on the Roof
Cabaret
The Phantom of the Opera
Rocky Horror Show
The Lion King (Disneyfication of Bway)
Rent
The Producers (most Tony awards)
Mamma Mia (the beginning of jukebox musicals)

Now, I am not saying that I like all of them or that they are the best, but each one left a big mark in musical history, for one reason or the other, so I think that someone should be familiar with them. And for some that can be controversial, I add in brackets the reason I think they should be included. I am sure there are many others, that don't come to mind right now !



Updated On: 10/14/05 at 05:32 AM

[JBSinger]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 10:41am

Showboat
Oklahoma
Carousel
South Pacific
King & I
Sound of Music
Brigadoon
My Fair Lady
Camelot
Anything Goes
Kiss me kate
Music Man
West Side Story
Bye bye Birdie
Annie Get Your Gun
Gypsy
Guys and Dolls
Most Happy Fella
Cabaret
Chicago
Fiddler on the Roof
Godspell
Pippin
Company
Follies
A Little Night Music
Sweeney Todd
Into the Woods
Nine
Dreamgirls
Jesus Christ Superstar
Cats
Evita
Phantom of the Opera
Les Miserables
Rent
Wild Party (La Chuisa)
Ragtime
Lion King
Producers
Hairspray
Wicked (I guess)

AND - a general familiarity with the American Popular songbook.
Many others to mention, but I would make sure to know these pretty well first.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 10:44am

I'd start with Show Boat--if you can get your hands on a copy of the Papermill Production, please do so!!

If you're just listening to CDS:

Gypsy
Ragtime
Sunday in the Park With George

I think you can get a pretty good idea of these show just by haering the OCRs..

If you're watching:

Sweet Charity
West Side Story
A Chorus Line

These shows are staging at its best...the original choreography of course...

If you're thinking:

Assassins
Pippin
Follies

All conceptually brilliant and rich with meaning, both political and personal...

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 10:45am

There were shows before 1970? I don't believe it.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 10:56am

Three or four, anyway, BobbyBubby...

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 10:59am

Hmmm...I'm pretty sure Cats was the first musical.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 11:05am

It was Wicked, Bobby. The rest was all a dream.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 11:07am

Hehe, so I dreamt Cats? I've got a sick mind.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 11:09am

Maybe we should get you some help.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 11:13am

bebe de broadway --- I won't overwhelm you. I'll give you my TOP FIVE. Most are considered landmark shows that either helped change the course of musical theatre, or elevated the art form to another level:

SHOW BOAT
I think this is the birth of the modern dramatic American musical. It took a serious, literary subject and pulled it up out of a (then) standard Vaudevillian presentation. Most shows prior to that would have a little plot, then a song or two (sometimes having NOTHING to do with the plot), then another "sketch" or scene, and a big chorus number. They would tell a story eventually, but the material wasn't contained or focused on storytelling. "Show Boat" changed all of that. It was enormously controversial, too. Can you imagine tackling the themes of interracial marriage, alcoholism, compulsive gambling and miscegenation back in 1927? In a splashy show produced by Ziegfeld, for mainstream audience? Extremely daring. After that, you can throw in the classic score by Hammerstein & Kern, which would be reason enough to list this show. I believe they had EIGHT "hit songs" that swept the nation. The only reason it didn't run longer was a little thing called the stock market crash. Ziegfeld was forced to shut it down.

OKLAHOMA!
Considered the father of the modern American musical (although I would give that honor to Show Boat, personally). Hammerstein again, this time teamed with Richard Rodgers on their first effort together. They, along with director Rouben Mamoulian and choreographer Agnes de Mille set the bar for everything to follow. It's classic storytelling from head to toe, and was a monster hit in its day.

GYPSY
This is modern musical theatre at its very best. Probably the best written show ever (book, music & lyrics). It's pretty much a flawless effort. Start with the original Merman version, not one of the many revivals, and you'll see why.

A CHORUS LINE
This is the ultimate concept musical. Not the first, but for me, the very best. It's a brilliant show from start to finish, that evolved in such an organic way---from a group of dancers getting together to tell their stories. And if you're a performer, it will get under your skin and stay with you forever. A pure theatrical experience.

SWEENEY TODD
Sondheim's masterpiece. Not theatrically ground-breaking (as his "Company" was), but this show definitely took the art form to a new and higher level. It will leave you breathless. When I first listened to the OBCR, I played it three times in a row without moving from my spot (and it's not a short show!). I didn't know musical theatre could rise to such heights. A crowning achievement.

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 11:26am

wow! there's actually alot of agreeing on this thread...that's nice...

[bebe de broadway]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 12:24pm

WOW. thanks so much. I'm glad to see so many shows I LOVE listed.

hah I'm a big Sondheim fan, so yeah... lovin' the Sweeney Todd and Assassins and Gypsy (which I'm in right now!).

I'll check out the ones that I don't know.

How about recent shows? I'm familiar with a lot of the older shows and a lot of the REAAALLY old movie musicals (TCM is my friend) but not so much all the new stuff everyone is always talking about.

I'm probably the worst excuse for a Musical Theatre Major ever.

At least I can always get the cd's from my friends. lol

Because they have ALL of them. lol

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 12:28pm

I don't know...maybe Ragtime, Urinetown, Jelly's Last Jam (though it's getting kida old too!)...

[bebe de broadway]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 12:32pm

heh while I don't know jelly's last jam, I have a song from it because I have the Broadway: The American Musical five cd set. Got it for Christmas last year and almost died. ^_^

I love Ragtime, and have hear Urinetown at least. lol

how about straight plays? I have easy access to lots of musicals, but I REALLY need to know straight plays. Especially some good ones for females. I need to buy a lot of scripts so I have a good monologue resource.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/14/05 at 1:05pm

Try "Agnes of God." Three incredibly strong female roles.