I really watch only two television programs: the evening network news and 60 Minutes (did you see the profile of Craig Venter last night?). But last night 60 Minutes was immediately followed by the Tony Awards, so I watched a bit of that. I found the show much better than the Oscars, and was impressed by Neil Patrick Harris’s hosting job. His opening number, “Broadway: it’s not just for gays anymore” was hilarious, and I was chuffed to see that the “Best Musical Award” went to the heretical “The Book of Mormon” (This itself shows something about the secularization of American society. Such a play could never have won an award half a century ago).
At any rate, I starting thinking about my own favorite musicals. I tend to favor the old-style musicals, not overly sophisticated but with oodles of terrific songs. Yes, I know Stephen Sondheim is feted, but who remembers the music apart from his contributions to West Side Story and the one number “Send in the Clowns”? And so I provide my list of “best” (i.e., Jerry’s favorite) Broadway musicals, in order (#1 is best). This is, of course, an eclectic list, and I invite you to give yours—with justifications!
1. Brigadoon. (Lerner and Loewe, 1947). Who remembers this old chestnut from the 1940s? But my parents had the original cast recording, and I listened to it over and over again as a kid. And yes, a few of the songs are pretty dire (“Waiting for my dearie”), but the story is absorbing and some of the songs simply sublime. I’m thinking in particular of “I’ll Go Home with Bonnie Jean,” “The Heather on the Hill,” “There But for You Go I,” and “From This Day On.” This is really a sentimental favorite, because I think the songs in West Side Story are more consistently great.
2. West Side Story. (Laurents, Bernstein and Sondheim, 1957). A great story and a passel of wonderful songs, including the sublime “Maria,” “I Feel Pretty,” “Tonight,” “America,” and my absolute favorite, “Somewhere.” A monumental musical achievement. Oh, and “Officer Krupke” (“we’re depraved on accounta we’re deprived”).
3. Camelot. (also Lerner and Loewe, 1960). My parents had the original cast album as well, with Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, Robert Goulet, and Roddy McDowell—how can you beat a cast like that? It’s a relatively sophisticated musical, and the songs, well, they’re terrific and almost uniformly good, with clever and intricate lyrics: “I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight,” “I Loved You Once in Silence,” “The Lusty Month of May,” “If Ever I Would Leave You,” “Then You May Take Me to the Fair,” “How to Handle a Woman,” and so on. Goulet, as Lancelot, and Andrews, as Guinevere, were in top voice.
4. South Pacific. (Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1949). Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin! Who can forget “Bloody Mary”? Or “I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outa My Hair”? And there’s also “Some Enchanted Evening,” “This Nearly Was Mine,” “There is Nothing Like a Dame,” “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy,” and the classical plea for racial tolerance, “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught.”
5. Oklahoma. (Also Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1943). Another sentimental favorite, nearly tied with South Pacific above. Yes, it’s as corny as Kansas in August, but it has some great songs, including “Poor Jud is Daid,” (I love that song!), “The Surry with the Fringe on Top,” “Many a New Day,” the romantic high spot, “People Will Say We’re in Love,” and, of course, the title song.
Oh hell, let’s have one song a day from these winners, in order. It’s really hard to find good versions of Brigadoon tunes on YouTube; in fact, there are no recordings from the original cast album, which is by far the best (forget the movie with Gene Kelly). This version of “It’s Almost like Being in Love,” from the Judy Garland show in 1963, is the best I can do (it’s combined with “This Can’t be Love”).
What’s missing? Guys and Dolls. The ‘book’ is good, but the songs are fantastic. Of course, one cannot watch it with today’s sensibilities about male-female relationships; that would be unfair. The street talk the gambling lingo are great. A can’t-miss from the golden age of Broadway musicals.
And who doesn’t dream of corrupting a missionary? The double entendres from “If I Were a Bell” were the 1940’s version of the BoM’s “Gonna BAPTISE You!”.
That’s one of my favorites too. “If it gets around in Chicago that I went to a prayer meeting, no decent person will talk to me!” Heh.
My Fair Lady
Yes!
yes again. great songs
Don’t forget “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” with Howard Keel, and more recently “The Sound of Music” and “Mary Poppins”.
I guess my favorites are based on which shows mean the most to me, in terms of when I saw them/who I saw them with/my own level of participation. But let’s see if I can get a list of 5 I love.
The Lion King — I was obsessed with the movie when I was little, and I remember going to NYC to see the original cast when I was 11 years old. I was actually shaking, I was so nervous! The costumes were phenomenal, to the point where it was difficult to separate the actors from their props and masks, and you only saw the characters. I loved how the music expanded on the instrumental themes from the original film, and the depth added to the psyche of Simba. Most importantly, the show creators knew they had to expand the roles for women in the show. The result? Rafiki is just as fantastic when female (maybe even better), and Nala’s own story of sexual harassment rang true and gave more emotion to her end of the story. Love this show.
Les Miserables — I both love this show and can’t stand it. It’s overly dramatic, it’s too long, it’s not that funny, and everyone’s miserable. But the music is just so phenomenal. It takes some serious chops to sing Valjean, and when the actor can handle it, it’s just chilling.
Into the Woods — As a kid, I owned an illustrated book that was actually written by the folks who wrote the show. I loved it as a kid, which is weird because it basically ends with a lot of people dying, and the realities of “happily ever after.” The show is very funny, as well as thought provoking, and if you could sit through either rendition of “Agony” without laughing, then something might be wrong with you.
West Side Story — I actually hate a lot of things about this show. I hate that it’s supposed to be Romeo and Juliet, but Juliet doesn’t die, too (sorry, I like consistency). I’m not a fan of love-at-first-sight stories. And I really hate the movie. But I had the privilege of playing the first flute/picc part in this show several years ago in high school, and Leonard Bernstein is a frickin’ genius. The music is just phenomenal, and in my opinion, it could totally exist without the rest of the musical.
Damn Yankees — Not just because I’m a Sox fan. I saw this musical years ago when I was little, and I loved it. Mr. Applegate and Lola are two of my favorite musical characters, and I loved all of the quartets singing “Heart” and its reprises. I had the privilege of first seeing a show where the actress playing Lola kept up the fake accent during the entire song, “Whatever Lola Wants,” whereas most actresses (including the original Lola, Gwen Verdon) drop it during the majority of the song. It was awesome.
Honorable mentions:
Beauty and the Beast — The musical is really great, and like The Lion King, it adds a lot of songs that are based off of the instrumental portions of the original soundtrack. And “Be Out Guest” is quite the showstopper; when I went to see it about 10 years ago, people started to clap by accident before it was done, and Lumiere got the most ridiculous standing ovation I’ve seen ever. Unfortunately, the movie is still superior, and that’s the soundtrack I listen to when I need a fix.
Avenue Q — I love it, just not as much as I love the other shows on this list! But seriously, what a great show!
Kind of over-rated:
Wicked — I loved the book, and I liked parts of the musical, but I didn’t like the differences between the two. The book was meant to explore how a person becomes “wicked,” both as a person and as perceived by others. The musical went to great lengths to make sure that Elphaba was constantly seen as completely misunderstood and always good-hearted, and the happy ending cop-out was a bit offensive. The music was decent, but not enough to get me to buy the soundtrack, which is pretty unusual for me.
“Guys and Dolls.” “Kiss Me Kate.” “Gypsy” (for which Sondheim wrote the lyrics); “My Fair Lady.” It’s all about great books and great songs.
OMG, I totally forgot “My Fair Lady”! I’d knock “Oklahoma” off the list in favor of that one.
good on you Jerry…And Sound of Music? Great songs there too…The most disappointing of them all was Flower Drum Song. Possible one of the greatest premises/ environment for a musical. Some cute numbers, but there was some “ball missing” there
Oh, but Flower Drum Song had one all-time classic, “Love Look Away”. The best version is by Tony Bennett, but it’s not on YouTube. Here’s a creditable version from the movie:
I’ve never seen Flower Drum Song, but I heard the music from a young age. Loved “I Enjoy Being a Girl”.
My vote for #1 goes to the first modern American musical, Showboat. I mean the various stage version, not any of the film versions. IMO, none of the movies meet the standard of the theatrical productions.
On Broadway in 1927 it addressed racism, miscegenation, alcoholism and abandonment by a S.O. (twice). That was an era when musicals were mostly enjoyable music and dancing. Showboat was the first musical to have the songs advance the plot. The songs are excellent throughout.
How aboutLes Miserables? The show managed to condense the novel’s central story into three hours, and did so in a moving way. Could have used fewer God / church references, but it’s 19th c. France.
I love the music of Les Mis. Just saw a 25th anniversary version on PBS. They played it a bunch of times for fund raising. It was nice and though I hate all the religious references in it, the music and lyrics are simply awesome.
I also love the music of Phantom, but I didn’t like the show. No character development and too much ado about the stupid chandelier. I got the soundtrack first, then was disappointed in the show when I saw it. I was comparing it to Les Mis which I had seen the year before. Both touring companies to NC. Hope to make it to Broadway or London for some shows one day.
Oh, Showboat’s also a favorite of mine, but again, I’ve only ever seen the movie.
Wow, you listed some of my favorites. However, I’ve never seen any of them on Broadway. My first experience with most of my favs was on TV. “Brigadoon” (sorry to say, I’ve only ever seen the movie), “Gypsy” and “West Side Story”. I can’t recall if I saw the movie “Camelot” before hearing the soundtrack of the show. But I did wear out that record listening to it.
I have to add more of Sondheim’s work, “Sweeney Todd” is one of my favorites. Saw that first at my high school in the 80s. Saw “Gypsy” that way too.* Then “Into the Woods” which I saw on PBS. Bernadette Peters was so amazing. “A Little Night Music” and “Company” are two I like as well.
One day I hope to see some of those on Broadway.
*Some think I’m sacrilegious but I loved the TV version of “Gypsy” with Bette Midler, she was wonderful. I also loved Madonna’s portrayal of Eva Peron (don’t hate me, I’ve never actually seen Patty LuPone do it in person, I’m sure I’d feel differently if I had).
By the way, I do think that the first version of a show one sees often sets the standard for the rest. I did have a hard time learning to like the original soundtrack of “West Side Story” after growing up with the movie version.
I loved Neil Patrick Harris last night too. That first number was great. I really want to see “War Horse” too, love the story and I showed my daughter (a horse-lover too) the Ted talk by the puppeteers on the development of those horses.
Now that we’ve got the “Book of Mormon”, it’s time for “The Bible Myth” or something like that set to music.
You’re the only other person besides myself that I’ve heard who liked Madonna as Eva Peron. I didn’t see the original either though.
Unfortunately my last VCR finally gave up the ghost and all my musicals are on VHS. 🙁
I’ve never liked most of Madonna’s music very much, but she was great in the film version of Evita. She deserved the awards she got for it.
Sorry about that. I suppose you’ll need to get all of them in DVD, or maybe someone can transfer them for you.
My CD player konked out, so now I have to play the soundtracks on my computer–what a pain. No Ipod yet, I suppose I should get one one of these days.
I think it’s time for a little Sweeney Todd, or maybe Evita…
Off topic: What the heck happened to the comments here? My old ones show up in the dialog box when I click “reply” and the threaded comments get all weird too.
Should that be conked?
There’s a movie? I saw it on an off-broadway production in New York somewhere, and then I saw the Dumbo’s Circus take-off of it when I was a kid. It is definitely my favorite musical, although only one of two I saw live (the other being CATS, which I also liked, I haven’t liked any of the couple dozen musicals I saw as movies).
My personal favorites: My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hello Dolly and The Phantom of the Opera.
But I like most musicals and my kids wish I’d never seen one (I sing too much around the house).
Jesus Christ Superstar (especially the 2000 video version) and Phantom (still on-stage in London) are two of my favourites, but I wasn’t sure that I’d call them “Broadway” musicals since they debuted on the London side of the pond.
Yes to South Pacific, too.
I also like “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Started with the soundtrack on that one.
Jerry, it’s just not possible to pick 5 best. There are far too many.
“Guys and Dolls”, absolutely.
But, I think that the all-time bests are “The Music Man” and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” OK, the 1982 musical made of the latter flopped, but the movie was soooo wonderful.
I was once going through security at an airport, and the guy looking through my bags was whistling “Bless Your Beautiful Hide”. We had a long conversation about the awesomeness of Seven Brides, to the detriment of everyone else in line. Just goes to show.
Jerry. “The Music Man.” Dude. Dude.
My first 3: Follies (way above the rest), Guys and Dolls, and Gypsy. Then, in any given day the list will follow with 2 of these: Candide, West Side Story (in spite of “Somewhere”), Wonderful Town, A Funny Thing…, Carousel, She Loves Me, Show Boat, Porgy and Bess, Damn Yankees, Evita, Hello Dolly. Too long already so no explanations. Of the famous musicals can’t stand Les Miz. [Can’t do italics.]
All in all a pretty good list.Always love Brigadoon. We saw Hello Dolly and The King and I in Seattle and Vancouver years ago, but as enjoyable as they were they wouldn’t crack your list. Don’t you dare bump Oklahoma.
Paint Your Wagon – more for the script than the songs, but damn I’m a sucker for anything with Lee Marvin in it.
This ain’t Michigan. It’s gold country.
Why, hell, it’s the golden country!
Untouched and uncontaminated by human hands!
People can look civilisation in the eye and spit!
Brigadoon also is a sentimental favorite of mine, but perhaps for a different reason: it’s the first musical I actually performed in. No, not on stage but in the pit orchestra. All of the performing arts groups at my high school collaborated on a production in spring of 1958. In a similar vein, some of my favorite operas (notably Faust and Turandot) I first encountered from the pit.
Jerry Coyne
I agree, the Mormon response would have been far more reactionary half a century ago. But other Christians never particularly identified with Mormons, so I wouldn’t expect a societal outcry then or now. The Mormon non-response has been interesting though. Here’s James Fenton’s at the NYRB blog explaining.
PS. Between the two musicals I’ve seen, Mamma Mia! and RENT (off-broadway), I liked RENT the best. I would like to see Man of la Mancha.
Why not Chicago?! Nothing from before the war? That was surely THE era of the Broadway musical? For me the best writer was Irving Berlin.
What, no Rocky Horror Show?
Little Shop of Horrors?
Cannibal: the musical?
Southpark: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut?
mmmm – time for dinner!
“Love me Tonight” 1932.
Introduced many of the standard conventions of classic musicals and begins with a brilliant set piece where the sounds of the city begin to combine to create music.
What about “Paint Your Wagon”? I have only ever seen the film, but Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood singing about their polyandrist marriage is a winner.
Never seen it but I did like the Simpson’s version!
Some of us are musical philistines…. wife paid $$$ for us to see both Phantom and Showboat, I fell asleep during both, now she sees musicals with a girlfriend. We do other stuff together, fortunately.
Seems you either love ’em or hate ’em. Musicals, that is.
As a fellow philistine, I sympathize. I’m going to be obligated to endure Book of Mormon in a few weeks. (Unless I get lucky and die before then!) The reason we’re going is out-of-towners are visiting and they want to do something where I participate. (They normally come for opera and that law is strictly enforced.) Of course when I stated that I dislike musical theater in ALL its forms, it was promptly ignored.
So now I hope for a myocardio infarction or cerebral hemorrhage before that fateful night.
“The Sound of Music” and “West Side Story” are, hands down, my favorite musicals (“Wicked” was damned good, too). I’m gonna check out the ones you recommended, though. I spent my Sunday evenging going to see “The Cave of Forgotten Dreams” in 3-D (Excellent. See it if you can; though Herzog puts in a weird, non-sequitur postscript) and thence to the Gerst Haus in Nashville, for a platter with Bratwurst, Kielbase, Berliner Mett, Spaetzle, Sauerkraut, Rye Bread, and a fishbowl of Flat Tire Ale. Awesome evening.
I have a soft spot for “Godspell”, too, though I’m a staunch atheist. My sister and I used to stay up late and watch it on a portable black and white TV we had.
Sound of Music.
Plus a variety of Danish operettas.
there is no such thing as a good musical. though, i did enjoy Dancer In The Dark very much.
Jerry… You know what this means? You’ll have to start learning to contribute to YouTube.
Other half and I were given tickets for Christmas one year to see Jersey Boys in NY, and it was brilliant!!! Some of the songs were a little before my time, but I knew almost all of them because they’ve either been re-released/covered by other singers or because older siblings listened to them. The actor who played Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young, I think) had a fantastic voice, both in normal register and in falsetto.
Also, Memphis was wonderful too: good songs and great dancing. Definitely recommend it.
I always got the most out of playing in the pit for Lyric Opera Theatre while at ASU.
Some musicals are simply a lot of fun. Others…”fun” isn’t the right word.
When we did A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the brass was stuck under the stage where we couldn’t see anything. When we were striking the set after the last performance on campus in preparation for a few shows on the other side of town, the costume lady handed me a small armful of fabric to take out to the truck. I remarked that it looked like some of the chorus girls’s costumes. She replied that it was all the chorus girl’s costumes. At the other venue, the stage was about the same height as the tops of the backs of the chairs. By then, the brass had memorized the whole show, so we completely ignored the conductor (not that there’s anything unusual about that) and finally got to see the chorus girls do their thing.
Another season we did Cabaret. There’s lots of fun numbers in that one, sure, but it’s one of those shows that rips out your heart, stomps on it, slices it up, pours gasoline on it, and scatters the ashes just for good measure. Doing the show night after night for a couple weeks was hard.
LOT wasn’t just Broadway; it was about a 50 / 50 mix of Broadway and opera. As hard as it was to make it through Cabaret, Dialogues of the Carmelites was even worse.
Cheers,
b&
Nobody mentioned Cats. We need to devise some kind of shaming for anyone who praises Cats, even at this site.
Someone I heard discussing opera said that if all the singers at the end are dead then it’s a tragic opera, if only some of them are dead then it’s a comic opera, and if it has only 2 good songs (which were actually the same one, repeated) then it’s ‘Cats’.
Since a number of people have nominated Bernstein’s ‘West Side Story’, what about his ‘Candide’? Absolutely brilliant music and a marvelous working of Voltaire.
Go ahead, shame me, I do like “Cats”. I used to listen to that recording over and over. I liked TS Eliot and enjoyed hearing the poems put to music. Sexy costumes and fun songs, but not the best musical.
Go ahead, shame me
Be ashamed. Be very, very, ashamed.
How could you have no Cole Porter, the greatest song writer ever? ‘So in love’ from Kiss Me Kate has to be the most beautiful song ever written; Anything Goes the funniest show.
If you’re dissing Sondheim then you really haven’t heard his music. Look up Bernadette Peters singing ‘Losing My Mind’, but get your hanky out first.
Best all round has to be City of Angels (no, nothing to do with the film). A film within a show: imagine The Big Sleep with an amazing big band score and stunning jazz age sonds from Cy Coleman. And a Chandleresque libretto to die for. Sex, blackmail and murder- and that’s just the band tuning up.
I’ll allow you Brigadoon ‘cos I M.D.’d it wearing a kilt back in the 80’s, but it’s neither funny or gripping enough do deserve the hall of fame- come back in a hundred years.
And a mention for the recently departed Harve Presnell, whose bang-on-the-nail performance of his only song in Paint Your Wagon- “They Call the Wind Maria” -outshone everything else in the film.
“’They Call the Wind Maria’ -outshone everything else in the film”. (out here in the West they have a name for rain, etc …and they call the wind Maria”).
Well I live out West and we call the wind “Wind”. You must be from the East. 🙂
My whole body is smiling, reading the discussion – thank you!
I can’t decide which is my number one (it changes): “Oklahoma” or “The Music Man”. Listen to the original Boradway cast recording of “The Music Man”; the brilliance of Meredith Wilson’s words/music, especially in “Rock Island” (the train sequence) and the blended songs “Lisa Rose”/”Will I Ever Tell You” and “Goodnight My Someone”/”Seventy-Six Trombones” is unbelievable. (I recommend Wilson’s autobiographical “But He Doesn’t Know the Territory” about the writing of the show.)
My third is “Guys and Dolls”. The movie is a disaster; only Hollywood would put Frank Sinatra in a non-singing role (Sam Levine, the original Nathan Detroit was tone deaf), and Marlon Brando in a singing role.
I think “Damn Yankees” is my fourth, especially “Six Months Out of Every Year” and “Those Were the Good Old Days” (sung by Ray Walston!).
Fifth, that might be another tie: “Kiss Me Kate” and “1776.” KMK has several of Cole Porter’s best songs, and the book is great. Of the later all I can say is that it is horrible history, but a great story.
Honorable mention: “Bye Bye Birdie”.
Oh, and “Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off” starring Tory McClure (“Help me, Dr. Zaius”).
And “Everyone Has AIDS” from Team America.
And—now what could have called this to mind?—Rent.
I’d have to say my favorite is the first musical I saw on stage, Fiddler on the Roof. Tevye may be my all-time favorite character ever.
Cool story maybe. When I was in 8th grade in 1972 or thereabouts, we were studying a bit of Russian culture in Social Studies – or at least Russian culture as seen by USAians in the early 70s. As part of the lesson plan, we got 2 field trips; one to see Fiddler on stage and the other to see Doctor Zhivago where it was being revived at some grand movie house.
Like others, I concede that it depends on what records were in one’s house. For me, it was The Music Man (I always think of (Ya Got) Trouble when I read something from the Discovery Institute (“with a capital T and that rhymes with D…”)) and West Side Story.
I think both might have been from the movies. Later, I heard the Broadway cast recording of West Side Story. Magnificent. What it must have been like to be sitting in the theater when that Prologue opened out.
Oklahoma was the first really American musical, that is, set in the heartland and not featuring mid-Atlantic toffs and mistaken identities and luxury travel. And it;s still great, though my own preference is for those earlier shows,like Anything Goes, largely because of their unforgettable songs.
Porgy and Bess, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Peter Pan, Wizard of Oz, A Chorus Line, La Cage aux Folles, Hair, Kismet, Oliver, Yentl, An American in Paris, Singin’ in the Rain…
Love musicals!
Can’t help myself but Brigadoon is pure schlock to me (both the movie and a stage version I saw). The story disgusts me: God agrees to keep the town safe from invading witches and other evil doers by making it disappear then bringing it back to life for one day every hundred years. Dumb guy from NY stumbles on the town, falls in love with leading lady, and, eventually, agrees to stay. Ho hum.
I have lots of favorites but my choices are mostly real oldies. Love Candide, throw in Fantasticks (“Try to remember, when you reach September…”–I forget the rest). Does anybody here remember Nelson Eddy and Janette McDonald? Rose Mary, New Moon (I have excerpts from those recordings.) I have to mention: almost all of Gilbert and Sullivan: Pirates of Penzance, Iolanthe (too many to list).
Off topic but Jerry you should watch a little more TV, like PBS. Neal deGrasse Tyson (hope I didn’t mutilate his name too badly) on Nova Science Now is superb.
No time for TV. Too many books, guitars, photos, hikes, kids, wife, wine bottles, plates of food. TV just seems really lame in comparison.
I haven’t watched TV (aside from a sporting event maybe once per year and news (infotainment I ought to call it)) in well over 20 years. No time for it.
I’m glad Cabaret finally got mentioned. It’s a really great show. The movie stunning too, but VERY different (and VERY recommended).
One I’d add: Bye Bye Birdie, but only the show, not the movie. They made some huge changes in the movie and they didn’t work. There are certainly some good things in the movie (the musical arrangements and energy are amped up to 11), but, well, try to see the show first.
Spamalot
Jerry Springer, the Opera – I suppose these were on in London only?
West Side Story
Oklahoma
Sound of Music
The Wizard of Oz
And I sheepishly admit liking Mama Mia, quite a lot actually.
How can people forget the “Threepenny Opera” by Brecht & Weill? Some of the songs have lasted to the present. My all-time favorite musical (which most people may forget is a musical) is “Marat/Sade,” although I refuse to write out the full title. What great combinations of music and political commentary, both of these.
I was at the West Coast opening of “Hair,” which was quite good, though I’m glad I was in he 3rd or 4th row rather than the 1st… .
And yes, I have fond memories of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” on screen.
Yes! I loved the original German version ‘die Dreigroschenoper’. And how about the original that Brecht and Weill based it on 200 years earlier, Gay and Pepusch’s ‘the Beggar’s Opera’, lampooning Handel’s Italian operas, and causing him to go into oratorios, giving the world ‘Messiah’ (good, most people’s only source of biblical text) and ‘Jephtha’ (not so good). At least Handel did compose the secular oratorio ‘the Triumph of Time and Truth’ which strangely is never performed, for reasons I can’t comprehend.
I would have on my list Sweeney Todd, Little Shop Horrors, Gypsy, Into the Woods, West Side Story and Funny Girl. And the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, of course.
Les Miserables! – Possibly, my all time favourite. I was at the Paris premiere of the 25th anniversary tour. Astounding! The songs are incredible and it is one of the few musicals of the 20th century that people will be listening to in 200 years, in the same way people still go to Mozart Operas today!
Jekyll & Hyde! (and Oliver!) (They are really quite similar) – Why? I’ve been in them, they both have timeless storylines and the music is really, really good.
Beauty and the Beast! – Why? I’ve been in it. Okay, so I’ve done quite a few musicals. I did this particular one not long after I got married. Good memories. Also, we used the original West End sets in our production!
Oklahoma! – I’ve been in this one too. We did it with an open set with no wings or front curtain. Very exciting to do being so open to the audience. The last Oklahoma number is incredibly uplifting.
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas! – Also been in it. A great romping, saucy first half and a very sensitively written second half. Great contrasts!
Music can “get to us” in 3 ways: It can grab our intellect; It can tug at our emotions; It can evoke memories.
I think musicals can hit us in all 3 ways!
Wow, do I disagree.