What Is The Perfect Broadway Show? — Page 2

"She Loves Me" is a near-perfect show. I know this doesnt answer youre question totally; the original production and roundabout revival prove that the show sadly doesnt have much staying power, but as far as a wonderfully well constructed show, this is it.

The score is absolutly lovely-much variety and dangerously catchy. The lyrics are very witty and clever. It also features some of the most beautiful female ballads; "Will He Like Me" and "Dear Friend" are heartbreaking.

Characters are endearing and loveable, and the book is near perfect, from the character development to careful construction of subplots. The show is rather light and predictalbe, but in an entirely charming way that doesnt make ones eyes roll.

The one small, small flaw is the shows lack of big, roof raising production numbers. But even that is a "flaw" only in one's opinion.

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Like theatre itself, this question is subjective.

LES MIZ and THE PRODUCERS are the "perfect" Broadway musicals... in my opinion.

A CHORUS LINE and EVITA could also be considered for this honor.

While I adore PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, I realize and emphatically discuss it's many and major flaws.

CIRCLE OF LIFE from THE LION KING is the best opening of any Broadway musical past, present or future, but there are points in the show that fall flat, i.e.- the song CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE...? is gorgeous and sets the mood for the lovers Simba and Nala, it stops the motion of the story at an inopportune time.

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I dunno, I would agree about 'Turning' if it wasn't for the line "Who will wake them?" "No-one ever will".

South Pacific and Gypsy. Not to say that these are my favourites (that honour belongs to West Side Story and Les Misérables) but in terms of 'perfect' musicals, i'd have to go with those two.

Would be interesting to count up the ideas in this thread and have a poll - see which comes top.

I love conversations like this.

I have expressed this opinion many many times on this board, but for me, the perfect musical is OKLAHOMA!. It is the first perfect musical, and it still works today. Song, dance, and book are perfectly integrated in OKLAHOMA! - action is never sacrificed for entertainment value - everything is active and moves the story forward. There are other perfect musicals (GUYS AND DOLLS, GYPSY, and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF come to mind), but OKLAHOMA! is the first and is timeless in that we will always look at the American spirit of OKLAHOMA! in a fresh way. It is about, to me, definitively American feelings, and thusly, is my "perfect" musical.

Your question, however, is very interesting. You ask what is the perfect "Broadway Show", which is a far more difficult question to answer. You point to THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, easily the most successful musical of all time, which despite its age, still seems to move thousands. It's an interesting discussion. What makes a perfect "Broadway show"? How current and cutting edge it is? How well it touches an audience? How commercially successful it is? How artistically ambitious it is?

I think that the answer will be very different for everyone, because the idea of a Broadway show is different for everyone. I guess for me, the perfect Broadway show is 42ND STREET, because that, to me, captures the essence of "Broadway" to me - the glitz, glamour, big belting, leggy chorines pounding the pavement in New York for the chance to dance and sing, a girl from Allentown that becomes a diva overnight, etc. Is it a perfect MUSICAL? No. Not at all - the book is a mess, and the songs rarely, if ever, actually advance the story or are ever active. But it's a very successful show - schools and regional theatres everywhere do it, its two Broadway productions have been extremely successful and long-running. But it does capture the essence, to me at least, of a perfect "Broadway show".

If anyone actually read through all my blathering, major props to you. : )

Updated On: 1/3/11 at 09:01 PM

broawaybabytn,

no flack. "Hello, Dolly!" is one of my favorite shows. Probably fits more into the category of "perfect Broadway shows" than "perfect musicals", but no reason to like it any less.

Someone earlier mentioned "Boeing Boeing" - a "perfect Broadway show" can easily be a play. Maybe the original production of "Streetcar"?

I disagree that wicked has a bad score, but thats my opinion. I don't think its perfect, but it is my favorite. Like said before, it just has that 'it' factor and its just SO fun. and obviously audiences agree for whatever reason!!

As I previously said, just because a show is successful and draws in a lot of people does not make it perfect. I personally think Wicked is one of the worst shows on Broadway, but that is my opinion. There is no denying that the score has some major problems, especially the lyrics. I can see why so many people love it because of the story and characters, but when you break this show down, there are just so many problems. The point I'm trying to make is that even though as show is very popular and grosses millions of dollars, that does not make it perfect.
A previous poster made a comment about the brilliant John Doyle revival of Sweeney Todd. I saw this production and thought is was absolutely stunning, striking, and just an amazing production This production brought forth the beauty and magic of Sondheim's score and focused only on that. When a show can be stripped of everything (big sets, big cast, etc.) except the music and cast, and still be spectacular, that to me means it is perfect or pretty close to it.

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The first show that came to my mind was A Chorus Line. I don't see how anybody could argue with that. Then, there's a number of Sondheim shows, including the previously mentioned Gypsy and Sweeney. Now, I'm wondering what people would think about Ragtime? I personally can find now flaws in it, and it's one of my favorite shows. I think the story is so powerful, the music is great, and when well-executed, it is just an amazing experience. Also, for more recent shows, I would add The Light in the Piazza. It has such a beautiful score, and it's just so moving.

I know that I'm going to get a lot of flack for saying this, but I really just don't like South Pacific. I (embarrassingly enough) hadn't actually seen the show until the PBS broadcast this August. I was very excited because all I had heard about the production was praise, but I was left not really feeling anything. I wanted to love the show so much, but I just didn't feel anything toward it. I don't hate it, but I don't see the appeal. I didn't feel anything for the characters, and I felt like parts of it dragged. It didn't have the thrill that I usually get from seeing a musical. I thought that production was very good (I really like what I've seen from the director, and there were some great actors on the stage) but I just couldn't connect with it.

See...this thread is the perfect example. There is no "Perfect" show. If there was, everyone would have to agree that its perfect in every way possible. GYPSY is cited a few times on here...and while on these boards it's quite popular, I know plenty of people who have seen that show who despised it (mainly saying how boring and trite it was.) I disagree with them, but they have valid reasons. Just like how I said WICKED is my favorite, and as someone below me posted, they think it sucks.
I personally find a lot of "old" shows (SOUTH PACIFIC, SOUND OF MUSIC, OKLAHOMA, ect.) to be extremely boring an unoriginal. I think its cuz I just am more contemporary (although I do love GYPSY and several old shows)

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This is a really interesting conversation. For me, I think it is the flaws in the shows that keep them interesting. What fun is watching a "perfect" (and I don't believe one exists) show? It's all about the risks and how far out on a limb the writers/creative team are willing to go.

A Chorus Line. Hands down.

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