Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, of course. It was written by the greatest lyricist of the age. It starred the magnificent Donna Murphy. It’s Phantom of the Opera, only minus the stupid stuff.
Yep. The mere existence of Passion is evidence of a loving and beneficent God, and its too-brief run on Broadway was part of the waning of magic in the world. No other musical even comes close; only a fool of a Took would argue otherwise.
Or maybe not.
We shall see.
All right-thinking people know that 1776 is the greatest musical in the world. Either that, or The Mikado.
It’s possible I have an opinion on this subject.
I’d vote for Evita–everything works, and it’s such an orginal idea.
If anyone in the entire freaking universe ever does Chess right, it will be the winner.
:eek:
Put down the pipe-weed, man, and take a long walk outside. Once you have breathed the free air again, you will see the folly of your words, which I can only attribute to the deceits of Sauron.
The best thing that can be said for 1776 is that it is not currently assailing me with its cacophony.
Ah, Evita. From Andrew Lloyd Webber’s non-sucky period. I miss those days, but they are no more likely to come to us again than the King to Minas Tirth.
While I can’t agree that entirely, you are, nonetheless, very wise in this assessment.
Sondheim? You’re kidding, right? Clever lyricist, but the lousiest songwriter in the history of Broadway.
For musical comedy, that goes to The Drowsy Chaperone.
For serious musical, it’s hard to top Les Miserables. Honorable mention to The King and I.
In a perfect world your slander of the Great One wold not go unanswered, but sadly I have sworn off swearing revenge. But you bring up a good point: it might be wise to distinguish between comic and serious muiscals.
Sondheim still wins that of course, as Inoto the Woods is the greatest of that line, and anyone who says differently is an Entwife.
Only don’t mention Les Miz to me, lest I cry. Damn you and your stupid brain, Marius. I mean, seriously, who chooses Cossette over Eponine?
I am irrationally fond of both West Side Story and Hair, having listened to their soundtracks a lot in my formative years. Both still give me goosebumps. I agree that *Evita *is a contender. *Avenue Q *made me wet myself laughing and I think it is a uniquely perfect piece for my generation (who learned to read by watching Sesame Street).
As a diehard non-cynical postmodernist, *Moulin Rouge *delights me on six or seven levels. Can movies play?
I… I have never seen Passion or even heard any of its songs. 
Nope, West Side Story was/is the greatest musical in the world.
I’d go with either Chicago or Gypsy.
It is impossible to be irrationally fond of West Side Story. That is like being irrationally fond of those double-chocolate cookies Tollhouse used to sell in the 70s and only stopped s part of a conspiracy to make me sad and lonely. Bastards. A pox upon them and their children and their children’s children.
What was I talking about? Oh yeah, WSS. It is, like Passion & Woods, the greatest musical in the history of the universe. Also Les Miz. And now that I’m thinking about it, Miss Saigon. But not Martin Guerre, which was produced by the same people who got rid of the aforementioned Tollhouse cookies.
Yes, but not Moulin Rouge. Sorry, but we don’t cotton to that Nicole Kidman chick in these parts, not after what she did to poor Tommy.
Don’t worry. That is not your fault. It’s society’s fault.
For me, it’s My Fair Lady, with The Music Man finishing a close second.
Well, I mean, by the time he actually figures out that Eponine loves him, she’s kind of dying, so it’s a bit of a moot point, ya know? A lot of the plot of Les Miz would have been obviated if they had just given Eponine an Act I song entitled “Marius, I Love You, Now Let’s Go to Your Apartment.”
The greatest musical ever written is called Parade, by Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry. The second greatest musical ever written is Sweeney Todd.
Passion is the seven millionth greatest musical ever written, just behind Carrie and slightly ahead of The Sound of Music.
I’d have to go with West Side Story or South Pacific. What do I know though. I’m still waiting for one about the NFL.
I believe that is correct. The sheer brilliance of the Bernstein music, with Sondheim doing what he’s good at (lyrics), pushes it past everything else. There’s a reason so many songs from it have become cliches.
The greatest musical not yet mentioned in this thread is A Chorus Line.
The greatest musical written in the past 5 years and which I thus have not yet had time to fully rank is Spring Awakening.
Marius was a pompous wanker with delusions of adequacy.
And he was perfectly aware that Eponine loved him. He sent her off to Cossette with the message because he wanted to dissuade her in as gentle a fashion (for HIM) as possible, and because of the aforementioned pompous wankerhood.
Nonetheless you get points for using the word “obviated.”
Are we talking about the book or the musical here? Because I’ve listened to that entire score more times than I’m willing to admit in public, and I can’t see any evidence that he’s anything more than a clueless doof who thinks that Eponine is flirting with him because they’re friends and she’s goofing around.
There’s only one answer, and that is Sweeney Todd.
(OK OK, or perhaps West Side Story), and Les Miserables is one of my favorites as well.
No it isn’t. I can be both rationally and irrationally fond of it.
:eek: Did you actually just imply that *Miss Saigon *is in the same league as WSS? I may need to go lie down now.
I burning your Tommy. I burning him with the flame of ten thousand crispy Thetans.
The movie version of Cabaret with Liza deserved every Oscar; great cast, great cinematography; great adaption of the story and excellent music.
Otherwise, I think this question is almost impossible to answer. I have seen crappy musicals performed by great casts that made them memorable, and I have seen great musicals performed by crappy casts that made them horrible. That is the excitement of live theater - you never know.
It is sometimes hard to separate a musical from the performers. I have seem some regional musical theater productions with one or two really talented performers that have stolen the show and made an otherwise miserable experience worth the effort. I have seen professional Broadway productions destroyed because the leads were having an “off performance” that night (cold/flu/personal problems - or even an understudy).
It is a lot easier to critique a movie version of a musical, as that remains the same every viewing.
The Bitter Suite