What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty years from now?
What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty years from now?
jagfkb
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/29/07
#1What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty years from now?
Posted: 7/29/09 at 8:09pmWe all know Oklahoma, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, Gypsy, and plenty of other shows which are now considerred theater classics. My question is what shows of today will be considerred classic fifty years from now? My guesses would have to be Rent, The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, Spring Awakening, Hairspray, Wicked, and In the Heights, with Billy Elliot in the running to become the next major classic canidate. i'm sure I'm missing quite a few, but what musicals do you think will be considerred classic?
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#2re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 8:10pmPiazza! it will be in theatres and opera houses forever.
#2re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 8:20pmI hate to say this but both Mama Mia and Wicked may be considered classics for the simple reason that they both may still be playing.
#3re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 8:22pm
ASSASSINS.
Or at least I hope to God it will be.
P
#4re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 8:25pm
Seriously--Rent
#5re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 8:27pmIt's a tough call. I think The Light in the Piazza and Caroline or Change should be considered classics now and especially fifty years from now, but I don't think they'll be performed as often as Wicked or Mamma Mia! once the rights become available and I don't think they'll be performed as often as South Pacific, Gypsy and The Sound of Music are performed today.
#6re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 8:28pmHello... Phantom!!!!!!!
#7re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 8:28pm
Hairspray
Beauty and the Beast
The Lion King
Wicked
The Producers
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
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#8re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 8:47pmTechnically, "Phantom" is 1988 and so just misses the mark, although it will be considered a classic (and may still be running). Honestly, I think only "Rent" will be in that category. I'm afraid musicals like "Grey Gardens" or "Caroline or Change" will fade from memory unless someone does a brilliant revival of them at some point. I think "Lion King" and "The Producers" will be considered major successes, either for longevity or the amount of awards won, but classics? Not sure. I remember "The Enlish Patient" won nine Academy Awards, but do people now consider it a classic? For something which is intangible, ala the word 'classic', it's hard to say. But my vote goes to "Rent". It was new, different, bold, had something to say, was a product of its time, had a brilliant cast many of whom went on to greater fame...I go with that.
#9re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 8:55pm
Caroline, Or Change
Ragtime
Rent
Iluvlizlemon
Understudy Joined: 7/19/09
#10re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 9:02pmi agree with jordan.
#11re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 9:03pmI think In the Heights will definitely be considered a classic someday. Color Purple and Spring Awakening could possibly make the list.
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massofmen
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/10/04
#12re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 9:09pmlegally blonde
Hank
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#13re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 9:17pmI was going to say MAMMA MIA, but I think it will still be running then.
#14re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 9:17pmI can't wait to see bryan's list.
#15re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 9:26pmI hope Mamma Mia is still running then!
MelFromLI
Chorus Member Joined: 6/17/09
#16re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 9:45pm
Rent without question will be a classic
Also Phanton of the opera and MAMA MIA and Lion King have my vote
"To The Stage!!!" - La Vie Boheme
#17re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 9:46pmIn The Heights.
"It's about the Benjamins, not the Bernsteins."-CapnHook
#18re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 9:53pm
I don't think Rent will age well.
Who needs it when you have La Boheme with a more realistic ending?
Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!
#19re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 9:55pmMost musicals dont age well, but Rent will be considered a classic because of the impact it had
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
#20re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 10:18pmIt already hasn't aged well. I'm sure a lot of the reference in "La Vie Boheme" are lost on the tweens, but they still sing-a-long. I don't think it will matter much.
#21re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 10:50pm
RENT is a given. And it doesn't matter if it "ages well." It's technically a period piece.
I honestly am drawing a blank on anything else that will be a *classic*.
Phantom misses the cutoff, but it is basically already a classic. When a lot of people think Broadway, they think Phantom.
#22re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 10:57pm
Rent will be considered a classic because of the impact it had
I wonder exactly what "impact" RENT had on the Broadway landscape. There were rock musical before and after. There were shows about AIDS before and after. When it opened it was thought to perhaps mark teh start of new trend but in the years that followed mots of the award winners and successes followed more or less tradition formulas: THE LION KING, THE PRODUCERS, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, HAIRSPRAY... none of these would be considered in any way ground breaking. With 14 years hindsight RENT seems more of wildcard than a watershed.
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Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
#23re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/29/09 at 11:04pm
^I completely disagree.
It's groundbreaking in terms of changing an entire generation's perception of Broadway. At a time when Broadway was pretty much crammed full of the British imports (Phantom, Les Miz, etc.) and beginning its Disneyfication, this scruffy little rock opera came through and talked TO young people. To be fair, you could say thing about Hair, but that does not make RENT's impact lesser, so much as it is symmetrical.
Additionally, I feel that RENT can be thanked at least partially for smaller, non-spectacle shows getting a chance again on Broadway. Though very different shows, Avenue Q, Spring Awakening, and [title of show] arguably owe a debt to RENT.
/end rant
TheEnchantedHunter
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/27/05
#24re: What musicals of the last 20 years will be considerred classics fifty y
Posted: 7/30/09 at 12:34am
Not one.
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