The greatest musical in the world is...

Cafe Society
21

:smack:

Okay, clearly I have gone mad, as I forget Sweeney. Clearly it, like Passion, WSS, Les Miz, ITW, and MS, is the single greatest exemplar of the art of musical theatre.

And, um, Follies.

I took “irrationally fond” to mean “fond to an unreasonable degree,” not “fond for silly reasons.” The former is clearly as impossible as not being in love with Natalie Portman.

22

42nd street its got great songs but doesn’t take itself too seriously. The musical that has the truest title has to be Damn Yankees it also has some great songs.

23

I think Man of La Mancha should get some sort of mention here. I’m not sure about ‘greatest musical in the world’, as there are so many things about Man of La Mancha that are well outside the normal expectations (the flamenco-influenced score, the play-within-a-play, the really very dark subject matter) but I think it’s an outstanding piece.

Any love for Assassins out there? Again, it think it’s more noteworthy for innovation and pushing the boundaries than for in any way consolidating and epitomizing the form, but I also think it’s a fantastic show and one of Sondheim’s strongest scores.

For a typical musical, I’d nominate ‘Oklahoma’ for an ideal summation of the musical form that had gone before, but with a stronger script than had ever been set by Rogers and Hart, Cole Porter or the Gershwin brothers.

The musical numbers in those last three were my absolute favourites in the form, but the shows were never all that good. Crazy for You, maybe, but there was something kinda weird about the whole ‘let’s write a new book and pastiche the best Gershwin tunes into something new’ aspect.

24

If we include movie musicals, then the hands-down winner has to be Paint Your Wagon. I mean come on, you have the angelic voices of the world’s two greatest singers, Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood.
:smiley:

25

You are all wrong. The greatest musical in the world is easily Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off.

26

Into the Woods is one of Sondheim’s best, no doubt. The music never rises above mediocrity, or course – just tuneless chanting like all of his work – but you expect lousy music from Sondheim. But it’s not his funniest – Forum is much funnier and at least has a couple of actual songs in it.

Sondheim’s best work was when he had an actual composer writing the music. West Side Story and Gypsy have great music.

Other stage musicals that I think rank as the greatest:
Kiss Me Kate
Damn Yankees
The Pajama Game
Guys and Dolls
A Chorus Line
Annie Get Your Gun
My Fair Lady
Chicago

For movie musicals, there is only one: Singin’ in the Rain.

27

The Wicker Man.

28

I would reverse that, only on odd days, and throw Singing In The Rain, into the mix.

29

Sorry. But we’ll give it an Honorable Mention as “Greatest Musical Episode of a TV show.”

30

a-HEM. Once More With Feeling.

I love most of those already mentioned, for their own unique strengths and flaws. I will throw one more out there: Company.

31

West Side Story. Case Closed.

But not the movie version. PLEASE redo it someday with peeps who can sing!

32

Agreed. I really wanted to like Sweeney Todd, but the songs were so blah to me. I liked the atmosphere of the movie, but all the songs put me to sleep. Except for maybe Pirelli’s Magical Elixir and Mrs. Lovett’s Meat Pies which are the same song with different lyrics.

33

My favorite is Les Miz. Oh, you street urchins, you idealistic rich young men, you reformed criminal cum mayor cum criminal – how I love you! You all die at the end – so romantically! – and still I love you. You have one of the worst songs to ever see the light of day, that obnoxiously saccarine little girl’s song (There is a castle on a cloud . . .) that gets stuck in my head for days, but still je t’aime!

But I think the better, more objective argument for best evah is West Side Story.

34

You neglect two crucial facts:

  1. OMWF features both Alyson Hannigan and Nicholas Brendan singing. Admittedly, Mrs. Denisof only sings two lines, but those two lines last a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very long time, or perhaps it only seemed so to me because my ears were bleeding the entire time. And as for Xander’s song–well, during the original broadcast, seventeen dogs in my neighborhood went spontaneously rabid at the sound of him singing “You’re the cutest of the scoobies.”
  2. The Xena producers were not only wise enough to keep Renee O’Connor from singing, but also shows her naked. Mid-90s RoC naked is, like Sondheim, proof of a benevolent God.

Brilliant in its way, I will concede. But it is still in the lesser tier of Sondheim–which is of course 83595 times better than “Cats.”

35

My cousin did the costumes for the latest revival of Company on Broadway (2006-2007) so I have a soft spot for it, but I never found either the plot or the songs particularly remarkable or memorable.

36

I can only narrow it down to eight, in alphabetical order:

*Funny Girl
Guys and Dolls
Gypsy
My Fair Lady
Show Boat
South Pacific
Sweeney Todd
West Side Story
*
Are we including film-only musicals? Then I’d have to add Meet Me in St. Louis.

37

:smack: Yes, Company is definitely up there, as is Sunday in the Park With George. I still think Sweeney Todd is a better overall musical than those two, but they rightly deserve much praise. In fact next week I am seeing a production of SITPWG in Seattle that uses the recent London/Broadway revival staging & effects but also will showcase a full orchestra (which was not done in either London or Broadway.)

38

Yes and yes.

39

Uh, yeah, I was beginning to worry about the SDMB when no one mentioned Sweeney Todd until half the thread went by. I won’t even dignify the idea that the music is tuneless. Johanna, tuneless? My Friends, Ballad of Sweeney Todd, Green Finch and Linnet Bird, freakin’ NOT WHILE I’M AROUND, tuneless? It is to laugh. True, it’s more of an opera in style, and if you’re looking for a peppy four bar melody with standard verse and chorus, you ain’t gonna get it in Sweeney (or much of Sondheim, though he does offer a few now and then). But the music is fucking glorious, the lyrics genius, the story gripping and heartbreaking.

If you only know ST from the movie, for God’s sake do yourself a favor and see a live version, or at least the Angela Lansbury/George Hearn video. Although the film’s use of full orchestra rocked hard, the score was castrated due to time, the lack of vocalists (don’t get me started on Helena Bonham Carter), and the horrific decision to cut the chorus – IMO an act of barbarism on par with anything Sweeney Todd did. :smiley:

But I’ll accept West Side Story in a tie with Sweeney. WSS is … oh my. So much awesome. WSS will always have my heart.

Kudos to the choice of 1776. I think it makes a better movie, actually, but it’s definitely the thinking person’s choice for top five. The book is stronger than the music, which is a rarity, I think.

The King and I is fabulous and very dear to me. And in a completely personal, nostalgic choice that I can’t really defend on any level except that I grew up rockin’ out to it, I will also pipe up for Jesus Christ Superstar.

Finally, Les Mis leaves me utterly cold. It’s the same four songs repeated endlessly. But I have to acknowledge the impact it has on other people, so I respect the choice from others. Wouldn’t see it again unless I was paid for the privilege … or unless my boy Drew Sarich went back to play ValJean on Broadway.

40

I wanted to see if anyone got the reference. Can’t surprise the people of the SDMB.:wink: