# Your favorite musical. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766 "2012-10-05T02:08:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/41 "2012-10-17T00:29:31Z")
- Sunset Boulevard - for the “atmosphere” it invokes (and the music) - Les Miz - gets the “all-around great” vote - there’s something for everyone here - Miss Saigon - for the love story (and the music) - Jekyll & Hyde - for the dark-and-sexiness (aaaand the music) - Spamalot and Avenue Q (a tie) - for sheer hilarity - Barnum (with Michael Crawford) - never saw on stage but love this music!! I can certainly think of more but I’ll stop there. These are coming from a gal who was Broadway-musical-obsessed in her formative years (when Andrew Lloyd Webber was probably at his peak), and spent all of her allowances, and part of her inheritance on shows. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/42 "2012-10-17T00:42:54Z")
White Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/43 "2012-10-17T00:49:20Z")
> [@partlycloudy](#): > > - Barnum (with Michael Crawford) - never saw on stage but love this music!! Ooh…good one! Dang, I gotta find my old scratchy taped-offa-cable VHS… ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/44 "2012-10-17T01:18:14Z")
_Les Miserables_ and _1776_. Honourable mention to _Guys and Dolls_, _The Music Man_ and _Brigadoon_. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/45 "2012-10-17T02:59:38Z")
Movie Production of a Stage Musical: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Movie Musical: Easter Parade Classic Stage Musical: Guys & Dolls Concept Musical: Assassins Cast Recording to Sing Along With: The Music Man Favorite “You’ve never heard of it” Musical: Lucky Stiff Favorite Dance Show: Chicago I had some thoughts of other categories, like “Great Music/Horrible Plot” or “Best Song from an Awful Musical” and its complement “Worst Song from a Great Musical” but those are probably threads in and of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Iolanthe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7bcc69/32.png) [@Iolanthe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iolanthe)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/46 "2012-10-17T03:09:02Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Speaking of Chess, I would love to stage Tim Rice & Stephen Oliver’s Blondel. If you can find the CD, get it. The score is marvelous. Huh - never heard of it, but I’m taking your word for it and tracking it down. Thanks Annie! Best is different than favorite. But favorite is easier to answer. I have 7. I will never be able to narrow it down further. In chronological order: \*Finian’s Rainbow (possibly my favorite music) \*She Loves Me (best romantic show, best Harnick & Bock. I think it’s better than Fiddler.) \*1776 (best book, and a treat for an early American Historian. Although James Wilson should sue for libel if he ever resurrects.) \*Les Miz (Overwrought? Yes. I do not care. I will never care.) \*Assassins (favorite Sondheim) \*A New Brain (second best romantic show, favorite Bill Finn. March of the Falsettos is probably a better show, but I don’t care. I love A New Brain.) \*Next to Normal Honorable Mentions for Carousel (music only), A Little Night Music, the Falsettos trilogy (although I’m not particularly fond of “In Trousers”), Chess, Into the Woods, Aspects of Love, and Ragtime ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/47 "2012-10-17T03:09:25Z")
I am a little sad but not totally surprised that my two favorite musicals haven’t been mentioned yet. _Urinetown_ - which is jaw-droppingly brilliant. Smart, funny, well made, but doesn’t work well as a recording so if you haven’t seen a production it’s hard to get it. [Wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urinetown) \*The Last Five Years \*- which is heart-breakingly beautiful and works well as just a recording too. But is not well know for reasons that I fail to understand. [Check it out and track down some music.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Five_Years) I saw _Book of Mormon_ for my birthday this year, and that was maybe the most fun I have had at the theatre in years and years. The last thing I enjoyed that much was \*Avenue Q \* which is also lots of fun. ---
**Author:** ![emu2swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@emu2swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emu2swan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/48 "2012-10-17T03:47:01Z")
Little Shop of Horrors Camelot My Fair Lady and West Side Story ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/49 "2012-10-17T03:55:15Z")
The Music Man –says a former Harold Hill I also really like Guys and Dolls and My Fair Lady. Kiss Me Kate is quite good as well. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/50 "2012-10-17T04:51:43Z")
I find that I’m never really not in the mood to watch or listen to the Whedon musicals, Dr. Horrible and Once More With Feeling, from Buffy. I can thank a Doper for my favorite live musical theater experience. DooWahDiddy started this thread [NYC Dopers: Come see me music direct a production of "Reefer Madness"! - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=581717) about how he was music directing a production of Reefer Madness. I was going to be in NYC and decided why not. It was an excellent show and I actually preferred the small theater experience as opposed to my Broadway experience. Oh and I loved Reefer Madness, which I had never seen before. Now I watch the Kristen Bell version all the time. I still regret missing the chance to meet DooWahDiddy and getting the behind the scenes scoop but the trip was half working vacation half trying to entertain three young ladies so alas I had a limited amount of time to call my own. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/51 "2012-10-17T05:08:06Z")
I remember the first time I heard they were making a musical out of \*Les Misérables. \*The book was always one of my favorites, and I couldn’t imagine it as a musical. I predicted it would close within a week. Goes to show, my opinion should count for less than nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/52 "2012-10-17T05:27:32Z")
_Carousel_ is my favorite musical score, though I know the book has all sorts of problems. I can’t even say that the individual songs are necessarily my favorites, but the score as a whole just works so well together. The best time I’ve ever had seeing a musical in the theater was the revival of _Kiss Me Kate_ on Broadway a while back. Great songs, jokes, story, acting - a perfect evening. The movie version of _Jesus Christ Superstar_ has a soft spot in my heart. I couldn’t count how many times I watched that as a teenager. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/53 "2012-10-17T06:30:42Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > The best time I’ve ever had seeing a musical in the theater was the revival of _Kiss Me Kate_ on Broadway a while back. Great songs, jokes, story, acting - a perfect evening. I’ve seen a recent production of _Kiss Me Kate_ on Youtube. I’m not sure if it was the Broadway production (it may have been the London), but it was a fine production, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, even if I did see it on my computer. I had the opportunity to act in a community theatre production of _Kiss Me Kate_ some years ago. (I played Gangster No. 1.) Gosh, that was fun! It’s a great show, and is one of those where the audience leave the theatre singing, or at least humming, the songs. I still remember the words to “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/54 "2012-10-17T12:28:41Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > 1776 I second this. I think the main reasion I like it is that it isn’t over-cited. You never hear songs from it played at weddings or on Muzak. It contains a lot of accurate history (and a lot of inaccurate history, too, but i give peter stone a pass, for bringing much of this up into public view in the first place). For some reason, historian seems to have an undeclared war on this work. I first saw it on Broadway during its initial run. I saw the movie when it first fcame out, but I like the version out on DVD now – it restores the original opening and several pieces that were cut out of the original release, most notably the entire musical number “Cool Conservative Men”. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/55 "2012-10-17T16:32:24Z")
_Phantom of the Opera_ _Evita_ _Rocky Horror_ \*Book of Mormon \*(haven’t actually seen it yet, but I have tickets to see it in December and I’ve had the soundtrack on my iPod for months so I know I love the music) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/56 "2012-10-17T17:48:05Z")
Oh! I also wanted to say _How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying_. However, I saw it done years ago by a community theater group, and their performance was so stellar that their version became the definitive one for me. Now I don’t want to see it again for fear of having that memory overwritten, though I was tempted when Daniel Radcliffe was on Broadway… ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/57 "2012-10-17T17:57:35Z")
As a born and bred Okie, I am legally required to say “Oklahoma”. ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/58 "2012-10-17T18:11:47Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > As a born and bred Okie, I am legally required to say “Oklahoma”. Well, I’m not from Oklahoma, so I’m not legally required to say it. (But I will anyway.) _Oklahoma_ ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/59 "2012-10-17T18:48:37Z")
I dislike most musicals. Dr. Horrible and Reefer Madness are the major exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766/60 "2012-10-17T18:49:37Z")
No love for [Kismet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismet_%28musical%29)? Or [The King and I](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_and_I) ? ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-musical/636766.md?page=4)