What is the most well known musical of all time?- Page 2

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 8/24/10 at 10:50pm

I'd say Annie would be up there too. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't know the words to "Tomorrow".

[My Oh My]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 7:27am

WSS. Known across all generations.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 7:57am

I agree with all your answers so far.

It's a subjective question though of course.

Everyone knows The Sound Of Music from the constant tv airings at the holidays.

As mentioned:

WSS
Grease (thanks to the movie)
Phantom simply b/c of it's so ubiquitous
Annie
A Chorus Line
Cats

Updated On: 8/25/10 at 07:57 AM

[juliethejarhead]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 9:38am

Love it or hate it: THE SOUND OF MUSIC.

[ggersten]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 10:41am

While WSS and Sound of Music are definitly possibly the most well known - my first thought was Fiddler.
I don't think Phantom is really that well known as a musical - when I think of Phantom of the Opera, I think Lon Chaney not ALW

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 10:54am

I'd say it's gotta be a toss-up between Annie and Grease (unless The Wizard of OZ counts...). They have the upper hand of every middle school and high school in America doing productions AND popular movies. Maybe The Sound of Music and West Side Story are in there too, but honestly...but I feel like those suggestions are coming from inside the musical theater bubble, and I'd be surprised if someone from White Trash and Cows, Arkansas knew them...

No way is it Phantom or Les Miz like many are saying. I can't even tell you how many people I've encountered (people who DO THEATER) that don't know a single song from either or what they are about. Though lots of people know what the logos look like...

[jasonf]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 11:19am

I've been thinking about this, and I agree with BroadwayGirl actually - we're all writing this from, as she put it, "inside the musical theater bubble." Most of my students wouldn't know the Phantom's mask from a barricade if it hit them in the face. Unless they're involved in theater, many of them wouldn't know Annie or Grease either. I've had an amazing amount of students who didn't even know The Wizard of Oz.

Amazingly, what the majority seem to have heard of, is Hairspray and Sweeney Todd because of the movies. But if you go away from middle class New Jersey to other parts of the country, I'd bet there are as many, if not more, people who couldn't name a SINGLE musical let alone one they all would know.

Hell, I saw a statistic once that only like 87% of people could name the vice-president. What chance would we have that those people would know Phantom or Grease or Annie?

Then again, I think of it this way. I have less than no interest in NASCAR. I couldn't name a single driver -- but there are millions who could list off a hundred names without blinking, just like we could with shows. If we're REALLY talking EVERYONE in the world, I'm afraid there would be more people who know NOTHING than any one show.

[gotham girl]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 11:33am

jason, hahaha! you are so right on the NASCAR point. i tried but i too couldn't come up with one name! it does come down to where you live but i think music from the Wizard of Oz for instance, transcends many if not all regions and backgrounds.

Updated On: 8/25/10 at 11:33 AM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 11:40am

...And to the NASCAR comment this girl would say...REALLY? Dale Earnhardt? You REALLY couldn't name that? Maybe you're too young for that or lived under a rock when he died?
Updated On: 8/25/10 at 11:40 AM

[Barney Stinson]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 11:51am

This won't be a popular answer, but the truth rarely is. Wicked. Sorry, but that's true.

If we are talking about all ages and around the world, it's Wicked. And that is really just a result of 1) increased Globalization via internet, etc 2) Increased Commercialization and 3) the fact that most youth are only aware of what is happening right now, no sense of history.

Not saying it's the best or the most renowned even, but it's certainly the most commercial, and it's current.

Honestly, how many people do you think have heard of the SOM or WSS or Les Mis, but haven't heard of Wicked? Not many.

[jasonf]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 1:30pm

OK, yes, Dale Earnhardt. I've heard of Mario Andretti. But that's about the extent of it. So you want the Dale Earnhardt equivalent in musicals? If movies count, it's The Wizard of Oz, no question.

But what if we look at JUST stage shows that aren't movies at all (movies offer a far wider range of exposure than just the stage shows do) -- I really think it's Cats. The reason I say this - my best friend, before college, knew NOTHING of musicals. I mean NOTHING. But he HAD heard of Cats. Granted this was fifteen years ago (so no, Broadwaygirl, not even close to too young - just forgot), but he'd HEARD of the show.

[broadwayboy101]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 1:36pm

I'd exclude WSS and The Sound of Music because an alarming number of people think the movies came first or aren't even aware of the musicals' existence.

I'd say Cats or Phantom, with Wicked coming up close behind.

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 2:33pm

Honestly, how many people do you think have heard of the SOM or WSS or Les Mis, but haven't heard of Wicked? Not many.

My grandmother, and most grandmothers, I'd bet.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 10:56pm

O K L A H O M A

seen by more people worldwide than any show. The State Department toured the show for an entire decade to every single country in the world except for North Korea.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 11:20pm

I'm going to say Cats.

[CandiceElyse]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 11:25pm

Grease, Annie, and WSS are def the top three. my opinion is Annie edges out as the top because I don't think many young people know of West Side Story. thats not to say they wont eventually know it, but most people know Annie from childhood.

Phantom, Wicked, Sound of Music, Chicago, maybe even Gypsy? are also in the top 10.
haha its hard to think about when we are so familiar with so many, even the most obscure!

and as almost everyone has said on the board, if movies count, its absolutely without a doubt The Wizard of Oz

[minicko88]

Posted: 8/25/10 at 11:32pm

Ok... I find this topic to be very interesting, so I took liberty into my own hands. I walked around campus today in Southeast Texas (trust me, we are not know for our theater here), and asked 50 random people what the most well known musical was. The top answer was...... PHANTOM! Second place was shockingly... Sweeney Todd... Rounding out the last few answers was WSS, Wicked, Annie, Cats, and one vote for Spring Awakening? I didn't get 1 vote for Sound of Music. I know this isn't 100% accurate, but I thought it was intriguing!

[Baine]

Posted: 8/26/10 at 12:02am

I'm also going to say Annie or Grease. They're both successful movies that everyone has known since childhood. More often than not, their school put on the show. They're also spoofed on TV a lot. For song, I'd say "Tomorrow" because I've heard people groan when it comes up--it's so well-known that it's beyond overdone. Everyone knows the words to that song! I would say they do to a lot of the Grease songs, too.

Those are my top two, but I think WSS and Phantom are also high up on the list. I'm not sure if WSS is as well-known with this generation, though, and Phantom may not be as well-known with people who don't know musicals. Annie and Grease would be, though, just because of how embedded they are culturally.

[jasonf]

Posted: 8/26/10 at 1:08am

minicko - interesting experiment. But notice - both are relatively recent movies. Those who know Sweeney I guarantee (unless they're theater people) have never seen the show, or even know that there is a Ballad of Sweeney Todd.

[byebyebaby12]

Posted: 8/26/10 at 1:40am

I am going with Grease, Annie and Sound of Music too. But I would say Grease is the one almost everyone knows. It's one of the go-to slumber party movies for girls.

I would also have to say Hairspray is getting up there due to the popularity of the movie.

They are not showing West Side Story as much in high schools in my area since it becomes an issue with the boys just making fun of the movie the entire time instead of watching it. We just watched the Franco Zeferelli version of Romeo and Juliet instead.

[CueBass!]

Posted: 8/26/10 at 3:07am

I agree with most of the ones up above (save Sweeney), and the same thing happened with watching WSS in school this year. Really- nudity is ok (and hard for some not to laugh at) but manly dancing isn't?

I'd like to add (although not quite a direct answer) the instrumental/karaoke versions of "There's No Business Like Show Business" and the overture for Gypsy (specifically "Rose's Turn" and "Everything's Coming up Roses"). I swear I hear those at every party/dance/show based on the slogan "Let's put on a show!" I'm sure every kid, regardless of their theater-knowledge, has been dragged to an event with that theme. In fact, those songs were just covered by Lucy in the Character Show at Knott's Berry Farm. It was interesting!

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/26/10 at 6:39am

Polling a handful of college kids only gives you what they know. Try polling a nursing home, a grade school, a factory, an affluent neighborhood, a poor neighborhood, a country club. Then hop on a plane, tour the world, and and ask those folks, too.

I don't think Phantom will stay #1.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 8/26/10 at 10:37am

I'd like to add: if we are talking about musicals that do NOT have film versions, I would have to go with none other than Wicked. Les Miz MAYBE, but only because Wicked is still comparatively new.