What is the best show of all time?- Page 4

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 3:19pm

is Elegies the last thing she did?

[musicman117]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 4:06pm

I agree with Margo on a lot of her points.... Showboat is a very influential musical... as is Oklahoma and the others. But I feel that there have been better structured shows since then. If the topic was most influential show, I would have said Oklahoma or Showboat.... but thats not what is says....

It says Best Show. So when I think Best Show, i think amazing book, amazing score, and something that when you walk out the door of the theatre, you something inside of you has changed; a show that has the ability to totally suck you into its world and forget the outside.... with these as my guidelines, i would say either Les Miserables, Into the Woods, or Dreamgirls

There are a few newer shows that may make tmy list in a few years, but i would like to see how they stand up to time. Shows like Caroline, or Change and The Last Five Years especially have that chance.

Also.... I do think that shows like Hair, Rent, and A Chorus Line have been very influential in the recent development of what a modern musical is, but they are not as well rounded shows as the above mentioned.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 4:29pm

I agree with some of your points, but I personally would put "A Chorus Line" in the top ten of any list of Best Shows. It may be the single greatest example of a fully integrated musical musical ever created -- great book, great score, great staging, great design, great choreography seemlessly blended into a unified whole. Twenty fully-dimensional characters in a script rich with humor, drama and pathos, requiring a stage full of true triple threats (especially the original Broadway incarnation of the show), it's one of the finest examples of everything that the musical theatre can be.

I also think Showboat still retains much of its power and brilliance 77 years later. It's truly a credit to the work that the last revival roughly a decade ago, still so resonated and spoke to contemporary audiences that it ran nearly a 1000 performances -- the most successful production ever mounted of the show on Broadway (it ran a year longer than the landmark original production).

"amazing book, amazing score, and something that when you walk out the door of the theatre, you something inside of you has changed; a show that has the ability to totally suck you into its world and forget the outside...."

I would say that Showboat, Oklahoma and A Chorus Line have all of those qualities and more in spades....

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 4:38pm

top ten shows of all time (my list)

1. Sunday in the Park with George
2. West Side Story
3. Gypsy
4. Sweeney Todd
5. Dreamgirls
6. Carousel
7. Urinetown
8. Cabaret
9. Caroline or Change
10. Off-bway Wild Party

[AnothaPartofMe]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 4:38pm

Gypsy

[musicman117]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 4:46pm

Margo.... you make a good point

The Reason I didnt put A Chorus Line on that top tier is because of another piece of criterium that i think i left out. I don't think it is going to stand the test of time. Sure it will always be a piece of theatre that people will look at and say "Yeah, thats an amazing show," but i dont think revivals of it would ever be successful. Times are changing and the definition of what makes a great musical is forever changing.... sure there is come permanent criteria (like great book, great score, great characters, etc.) but we now are in an age where some shows, that are considered classics seem very dated and not seen as as great as they are. For example, My Fair Lady is considered by many to be one of the greatest shows ever written, but I dont remeber anyone mentioning it (unless it was in Derek's list of like 100). I was just in a production of it and it was sad because the cast found it to be a boring show with not much to it, mainly because of the lenghty parts in act 2 with no songs....

In most older musicals, there is this section in Act 2 where the book takes over and songs are put on hold or its crammed with small reprises. this style is not used as much nowadays. We as a society, like flashy, big, shows with hit song after hit song. It just shows how the structure of a musical is evolving.

Dont get me wrong.... i love A Chours Lone and would probably put it in my top ten shows, buti just fear that it may suffer the same "death" that My Fair Lady did with the cast I was in.

Thats why it is so hard to pick a best musical.... i do agree with your picks and why you pick them, but I also feel they are becoming like reading paradise lost for a group of seniors in high school. boring

Les Mis and Into the Woods fit the criteria ive mentioned AND people of all ages love them...... who knows though? in 30 years, I could say these shows and some young person could say that those shows are dated..... but anyways... its just so hard to find the "best musical"

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 11:35am

Marguder,

Just found out what Graciella Daniele is up to. From Broadway.com:

"The other Newhouse musical sounds like a more traditional show, Dessa Rose, the latest collaboration between librettist-lyricist Lynn Ahrens and composer Stephen Flaherty, whose last local musical, A Man of No Importance, was also staged at the Newhouse. Based on a novel, Dessa Rose has a mid-nineteenth-century setting and tells of a runaway slave and a woman who helps her. La Chanze will play the slave. In a workshop, Donna Murphy was the other woman. Graciela Daniele is both director and choreographer, and Dessa Rose opens at the Newhouse on March 21."

[steveshack]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 11:54am

My two favorites are GYPSY and FOLLIES, although I never saw the original casts. Showboat gets my vote as most influential but it's not something I can sit through since I don't especially relate to music of that era. (I "appreciate" it but I wouldn't listen to it in the car).

Now, you could argue that GYPSY is kind of old fashioned in its score, but for some reason it gets to me.

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 2:41pm

Cabaret!

QM

[phantom3]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 4:15pm

Quite obviously... The Phantom of the Opera.

"Masquerade paper faces on parade... masquerade...
hide your face so the world will never find you."

Updated On: 9/9/04 at 04:15 PM

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 4:25pm

Amadeus

[Guido Contini]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 4:34pm

my vote would either go to Starlight Express or Aspects of Love. (with a close 3rd going to Tell Me On A Sunday) *not a big ALW fan am I?)

[midtowngym]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 6:11pm

Legz Diamond!

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 6:32pm

BOMBAY DREAMS. Anyone else think so?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 6:37pm

My vote would have to go to Rent, followed closely by Les Miz, and 42nd Street

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 9/9/04 at 10:28pm

thanks for Starlight Express Guido, I almost choked on my food.