Two Gentleman of Verona-Best Musical?

No chance in Hell.

Biggest rob ever.

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A lot has already been written about this...

But to summerize -at the time, TWO GENTS was by far the better critically reviewed and financially successful production. In Steven Suskin's great anthology of Broadway reviews, TWO GENTS is actually one of only 3-4 shows that opened between the mid 60s- mid 80s to receive across the board rave reviews.

Frankly, I love TWO GENTS, and would love to see it given a really first rate revival (the production a couple of years ago in Central Park was not very good).

Who cares if FOLLIES didn't win the Tony? Since when has quality ever dictated awards? What was the last Best Picture winner at the Oscars that was actually the best film of the year?

FOLLIES' legacy is its own reward.

Lots of people at the time found FOLLIES to be a morose and depressing indictment of marriage and what it had to say about getting older and regretting the mistakes of the past hit way too close to home for many who were turned off by it. While the score, staging and design were all very well received (and all won Tonys), the book was viewed as a banal, nihilistic soap opera. The show's reputation has obviously grown immensely over the year's and is now considered by most to be a masterpiece of the musical theatre (though it's still not a widely popular show with general audiences and has never been a long-running hit).

That best book and Best Musical went to TWO GENTLEMEN that year was something that I could never understand until I saw the production of it in the Park a couple of summers ago. It all made sense. TWO GENTLEMEN is in many ways the anti-FOLLIES -- fun, splashy, multicultural with a bouncy score and a strong satirical anti-war sentiment which obviously resonated with the Vietnam era audiences and Tony voters. FOLLIES was more a show to be admired and respected (hence the 7 Tonys) than perhaps one to be loved by some voters (and history has shown that more often than not, for Best Musical, Tony voters pick the well-executed fun, light, commercial entertaining show over the more serious "artistic" choices). I think TWO GENTLEMEN felt like a smart, life-affirming, youthful celebration which may be what people wanted and needed to see during that difficult moment in time, rather than a show, no matter how ingenious, that forces you to confront all your failures and disappointments and regrets and perhaps even question whether or not you married the right person.

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Updated On: 4/16/07 at 12:32 AM

My friends and I loved TWO GENTS. My parents and I love FOLLIES. That should say it all.


"We are brothers, we are friends up until the day that eternity...ends!!!!!"

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I have a live recording of TWO GENTS from the Park and the audience response is one of the most authentically enthusiastic I've ever heard at a musical. During the finale there are moments you can't even hear the music and lyrics because the audience hysteria is so loud.

TWO GENTS also managed to be incredibly clever - citing pop culture references that were so of the moment and so *in* with New York audiences that they were practically dated just a couple of years after the show opened. (ex. "My life resembled THE CHERRY ORCHARD" -- NYSF's previous show at the Public)

FOLLIES is surely the show to hold up better over time, but I don't believe that every musical has to live up to that criteria to have once been great.

Trust me, I well remember Barnes and Simon's dismissive reviews of the score, but they were the exception and not the rule, which is why the score won the Tony that year over JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, AIN'T SUPPOSED TO DIE A NATURAL DEATH and the Best Musical winner, VERONA.

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No, that only happened once -- the year before when Sondheim received separate awards for his music and lyrics for COMPANY.

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I remember sitting in line at the Public to get tickets and watching a verbal argument over which show is better. It's a never-ending debate, topped off by John Guare's famous Tony speech, "I don't know what to say. I invested in Follies."

Updated On: 4/16/07 at 06:22 AM

I saw the original Broadway production of TWO GENTS and have to say that MichaelBennett and Margo have it exactly right. It was a happy joyous, multi-cultural event that was created in the streets of New York and brought some of that joy to the Park and then later to Broadway. It was beautiful to look at and listen to, and the cast was young and amazing.

At the time the adjective most used to describe FOLLIES was "depressing." Obviously time has been kinder to FOLLIES than to TWO GENTS.

I love Follies and I love Two Gentlemen of Verona. I would be happy to see a revival with revamped orchestrations at least.

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I was always fiercely anti-TWO GENTS until I caught the Kathleen Marshall production two years ago. The OBCR doesn't really capture what a smart, fun show it is.

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I'm still shocked there hasn't been a mention of transferring Marshall's production for a Broadway revival, especially given the current political climate. With the right cast, it could easily be a hit.

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