The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

#1

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 4:20pm

Am I the only one who think this? I can only name a few Broadway songs sung by men that I really enjoy listening to from time to time. But the women gets to sing the most iconic, popular songs, the list is just endless.

#2

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 4:21pm

I can't think of any songs sung by men on Broadway.

#3

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 4:29pm

It is very true! For me, my favorite songs happen to be ones with a good belt! obviously all the women have those songs, but i alway think there a certain but very small number of good numbers sung by lads

#4

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 4:50pm

The Impossible Dream.

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#5

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 4:56pm

If I were a rich man
Luck Be a Lady
76 Trombones
Being Alive
Marry me a little
Epiphany ( Sweeney Todd)
One Song Glory
90 percent of the Jesus Christ Superstar score.
Corner of the sky
If Ever I would leave you.

Plenty of Iconic songs for men.

#6

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 4:57pm

But Alive

#7

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 5:26pm

This Is The Moment

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Poster Emeritus

#8

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 5:40pm

The Pajama Game - Hey there
The Scottsboro Boys - Commencing In Chattanooga
Newsies - Santa Fe
Violet - Let It Sing
Bridges of Madison County - It All Fades Away
Kinky Boots - Soul of a Man
Book of Mormon - I Believe
La Cage Aux Folles - I Am What I Am

#9

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:12pm

But none of those songs are iconic/famous in the mainstream, like Don't Cry For Me Argentina, I Dreamed a Dream, Defying Gravity, Memory, Don't Rain on My Parade, etc. People who aren't exactly Broadway fans are at least familiar with any of these songs.

#10

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:30pm

The mainstream of theater lovers, right. Many of those songs are hugely famous, and very mainstream in the world of theater.

#11

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:32pm

But none of those songs are iconic/famous in the mainstream, like Don't Cry For Me Argentina, I Dreamed a Dream, Defying Gravity, Memory, Don't Rain on My Parade, etc. People who aren't exactly Broadway fans are at least familiar with any of these songs.

I would say that The Impossible Dream, Soliloquy, Some Enchanted Evening, and Maria are all iconic/famous in the mainstream.

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#12

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:35pm

Ahem--Les Mis[z]-Bring Him Home ?

#13

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:36pm

My Boy Bill and If I Loved you from Carousel. .

#14

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:42pm

The Impossible dream isn't iconic or known in the main stream? Seriously?

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Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!

#15

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:44pm

Ol' Man River
Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'
White Christmas
Almost Like Being in Love

I would argue each (with the possible exception of the last) are all more iconic than the five mentioned as "mainstream" famous songs.

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Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.

#16

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:45pm

Music of the Night was the first one to came to my mind. One Night in Bangkok was a radio hit.

But I think I agree that the songs that eventually go mainstream are more women's than men's.

#17

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:47pm

"But I think I agree that the songs that eventually go mainstream are more women's than men's."

Exactly.

#18

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:47pm

There are of course exceptions, but let's be honest, on the whole Broadwaystar4 is right. Plus the world of the Broadway musical has long been built on it's leading ladies. Usually the female performers are the powerhouse stars and divas.

I know, I know, you can all name well established male stars, but have they really had the same impact as Merman? Martin? Lupone? Lansbury? Menzel? Chenoweth? Foster?

I'm not saying it's a bad thing. But it's true. Arguing the point is a little ridiculous. There are some beautiful male songs, but very few get the attention of the big songs for women.

#19

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:48pm

Some Enchanted Evening.

Try to Remember. Oh, no one knows that one who isn't into Broadway!

There are plenty of mainstream Broadway hits sung by men.

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Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!

Updated On: 5/24/14 at 06:48 PM

#20

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 6:52pm

Anthem
You Should Be Loved
Pity the Child

#21

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 11:22pm

There are many, many exceptions after 150 years of Broadway musicals, as others have noted above. (And BTW, in their day, Eddie Cantor, Bert Lahr, Jimmy Durante and others drew just as well as Merman.)

But in broad terms, the OP has a point and I think it's a cultural thing: in Anglo-Saxon cultures women (and therefore female characters) are allowed a greater range of emotional expression. So it's more fun to write songs for female characters.

#22

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 11:49pm

I'm Alive

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"Was uns befreit, das muss stärker sein als wir es sind." -Tanz der Vampire

#23

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 11:57pm

"But in broad terms, the OP has a point and I think it's a cultural thing: in Anglo-Saxon cultures women (and therefore female characters) are allowed a greater range of emotional expression. So it's more fun to write songs for female characters. "

I've never thought about it like this, but that makes perfect sense. I agree!

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#24

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/24/14 at 11:59pm

I know I'll get murdered for saying this but I think there are far better roles for women in the musical theatre than there are for men. Not complaining or saying it's unfair, just an observation. I have struggled a lot with some of the men I've played trying to flesh them out (a lot of one dimensional dudes, I played Captain Von Trapp once and he's about as aloof as hannibal lecter, and nearly not as fun), while the female roles seem very well developed or maybe I understand them more or something. Call me crazy...

Updated On: 5/25/14 at 11:59 PM

#25

The best Broadway songs are usually sung by women....

Posted: 5/25/14 at 12:02am

Musical theater is, I think, the only entertainment medium where better roles are consistently written for women. It's slowly starting to shift in other genres.

Updated On: 5/25/14 at 12:02 AM