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***FFA*** OfficialFavorite Musicals (1 Viewer)

Ilov80s

Ilov80s

Footballguy
Movie or stage

I searched and this has never been done here. 

What do you like and why? Favorite songs? 

 
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Eephus said:
Top Hat

The Band Wagon

The Music Man

Cabaret

Avenue Q

:jazzhands:
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The Music Man. :heart:

Not to be all lawyerly, but what are we considering a musical?  I would rate Once as possibly my top choice depending upon this.  As for others...hmmm...need to think.

Eephus said:
The upcoming Lady Gaga / Bradley Cooper remake looks like a humdinger.
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I actually thought it looked good. :bag:   Though I had to :lmao: at the "let's pretend she is ugly and therefore can't be a star" bit.  Didn't work all that well for Barbra Streisand, but certainly less for Lady Gaga.

 
Movie musicals must have spoiled me because most stage productions leave me kind of cold.  Given the choice, I'll always opt for a regular play over a musical.  We don't go the theater often but I probably have seen more musicals than the average red blooded American football guy.  Movies have a lot more latitude to help audiences suspend belief and buy into the central conceit of characters breaking into song.

 
krista4 said:
Not to be all lawyerly, but what are we considering a musical?  I would rate Once as possibly my top choice depending upon this.  As for others...hmmm...need to think.
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I'm willing to really stretch the genre boundaries for anything made recently.  If characters move their mouths in sync with the lyrics, it's :thumbup:

 
timschochet said:
Stage

1. Evita

2. Jesus Christ Superstar

3. Les Miserables

4. My Fair Lady

5. South Pacific

Film

1. Cabaret

2. West Side Story

3. Little Shop of Horrors

4. The Sound of Music

5. Hairspray
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Oh!  I didn't notice until seeing your list and rechecking the original post that we are including stage.  I guess since I interact with '80s in movie threads I assumed movies only.

If we're including stage, then Les Miserables hands down for me.  I've cried every time I've seen it, and crying isn't my game.

Your 2-5 in film are great.  Not that into Cabaret, for whatever reason.  For stage I also love A Chorus Line.  And for both, I'm an enormous fan of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, in terms of more recent stuff.  Getting into songs specifically, I sometimes listen to Wicked Little Town over and over and over.

 
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timschochet said:
Stage

1. Evita

2. Jesus Christ Superstar

3. Les Miserables
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Lloyd-Webber doesn't do anything for me.  I find his songs to be more bombastic than moving.  They lack the hooks that stick to my memory banks.  The stagecraft of modern Broadway musicals is impressive though. 

To some extent, the big productions have hurt the art form of stage musicals.  They cost so much to produce that certainty and bankability dominate the artistic decision making process.  Producers stick to revivals, big names and franchises from movies and TV.

 
Eephus said:
Lloyd-Webber doesn't do anything for me.  I find his songs to be more bombastic than moving.  They lack the hooks that stick to my memory banks.  The stagecraft of modern Broadway musicals is impressive though. 
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Why did you include Les Miserables in this?

 
Stage

Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Jekyl & Hyde

Film

Singin' in the Rain, Guys & Dolls, White Christmas, Music Man, My Fair Lady

 
I also have enjoyed film more then stage when it comes to musicals. Hamilton is the only staged musical I have seen that blew me away. It's incredible, no doubt about it.

My favorite movie musicals: Singin in the Rain, Top Hat, Music Man, Spinal Tap, A Star is Born (Judy Garland version) and Meet Me in St. Louis

 
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Once a season, growing up, the fam went down to NYC to visit relatives and see a Broadway show. Oddly, the habit came from my dad who had been stationed @ Ft Monmouth and got weekly leave, which he always used to go into the city, stay @ the Y and see as many shows as he could. I didn't connect with it til i saw Zero Mostel in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and then fell madly in love with the whole concept. My uncle's kids caught the fever from us and cousins Rob & Kathleen have Oscars, Emmys & Tonys as musical director/choreographers as a result. I've been writing a musical for most of this decade and it has been the greatest creative pleasure of my life. There is a lot of stagy crap in musical theater - and, as bad as this #### is these days, the % hasn't gone significantly higher - but moving a soul with a musical number is the greatest artistic achievement of which i am aware and actually can change the world.

My two greatest moments as a fan have been seeing Zero as Tevya - no one was ever more glamorous on a stage and his being a fat ugly man only underlined that - and watching cousin Rob's Chicago onscreen. We talked on the phone a lot while he was editing it - those who have seen the show on both stage & film know how many problems of conversion he solved, something 7 previous directors assigned to film it over the previous quarter-century couldnt achieve until he & Bill Condon figured it out - and he was sure his first motion picture was going to expose him as a fraud the entire way. To see the transitions he developed and pace he maintained made me weep like a proud father the first 100 times i watched it.

For my money, Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is the greatest musical work of my lifetime - yeah, more than Dylan, Beatles, Prince, Radiohead, whatever - but my favorite musical is Sondheim's Company. As someone who has written comedy and therefore knows the shelflife of social commentary, it astounds me that a musical about relationships is as relevant today as it was almost 50 yrs ago. I have been trying to talk Rob into making a film version with four quarter-screens going on with supporting/contrasting images during each number for the last 15 years and we argued for a long time over which couple we'd make gay to update it til he told me a few months ago the next revival is going to be all-male. And they won't have to change a line. Remarkable.

I don't trust my memory or youthful biases that well and i put touring companies on par with women's basketball, so i don't have a lot of theater to comment on for the last 40 yrs. I'm an Astaire over Kelly guy - Fred worked hard to integrate his dances into the human experience and Gene, though more skilled, did the opposite - and therefore prefer Bandwagon to Singing in the Rain like Eephus does. Cabaret beats Sound of Music or West Side Story as my template, simply because - just as Mel Brooks did with Springtime For Hitler - it brought evil to ground in song, an amazing achievement. There's an awful lot of fuss & hysterics in it, but Phantom of the Opera has the best run of songs in that first act (and Masquerade opening the 2nd) i've ever heard in a musical. Wizard of Oz is more than a musical, it's my religion. All That Jazz was great, as is anything Fosse. Richard Rogers is the best composer and it ain't close - i've learned/stolen so much from him in my work and all the Rogers & Hammerstein musicals are behind only flashbacks as the comfort food of my soul. And Meredith Wilson's lyric patterns are one of the under-appreciated treasures of the 20th century.  Look forward to seeing Book of Mormon and Hamilton onscreen one day (wont ever pay those prices) and it will be interesting to see how you all react to the film adaptation of a stage production that has entered your hearts. And look for my Alice-grown-up-in-Manhattan musical GLASS sometime in the 2020s

ETA: Here's a nice production of Company from PBS Great Performances a few yrs ago with people you'll recognize like Stephen Colbert & Jon Cryer & Christina Hendricks in it. 

 
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They aren't doing it for altruistic reasons but I've got to give credit to NBC for reviving live musicals for television programming.  Fox has followed suit but NBC's annual (or thereabouts) productions have become event TV.

The earlier ones were a bit stiff (the Carrie Underwood Sound of Music had its share of unintentionally comedic moments) but have become more innovative in their staging and casting.  Brandon Victor Dixon was sensational as Judas in Superstar.  I think it's great exposure for the art form to a mass audience, especially kids.

 
Professor Harold Hill or Professor Henry Higgins?

The battle of professors with H based alliterative names from famous 1960s musicals 

 
Eephus said:
They aren't doing it for altruistic reasons but I've got to give credit to NBC for reviving live musicals for television programming.  Fox has followed suit but NBC's annual (or thereabouts) productions have become event TV.

The earlier ones were a bit stiff (the Carrie Underwood Sound of Music had its share of unintentionally comedic moments) but have become more innovative in their staging and casting.  Brandon Victor Dixon was sensational as Judas in Superstar.  I think it's great exposure for the art form to a mass audience, especially kids.
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My nieces and nephew (early elementary age) freaking love musicals. This summer when we hung out, my niece asked me if I "knew Marian the Librarian from the Music Man" and I was totally caught off guard. I guess their grandmother on the other side of the family has shown them a bunch of musicals and their dad is a closet musical fan as well. The kids watched all of the NBC musicals and loved them. 

 
Not a big fan of musicals (so why am I here), but before the nephew in HS did “Oklahoma”, we rented the firm version with Hugh Jackman.  Enjoyed that (and the subsequent HS production), so I’ll go with “Oklahoma”.  

Broadway wise, I actually did enjoy “Rent”, “Chicago”, “Miss Saigon” and “Mama Mia”.  Despised “Les Miserables” and thought “Phantom” was just OK.

 
Ilov80s said:
My nieces and nephew (early elementary age) freaking love musicals. This summer when we hung out, my niece asked me if I "knew Marian the Librarian from the Music Man" and I was totally caught off guard. I guess their grandmother on the other side of the family has shown them a bunch of musicals and their dad is a closet musical fan as well. The kids watched all of the NBC musicals and loved them. 
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My cousin Kathleen choreographed the 2003 TV version of Music Man (w Matthew Broderick & Kristin Chenowith) for the same team, Zadan (who died last wk) & Meron, who produce the NBC live musicals. She has also staged a historically-accuratized Unsinkable Molly Brown in Denver (where Ms. Brown was from) & St Louis in the attempt to get the revival onto Broadway (those pap music-bio musicals with ready-made songbooks are presently crowding out a lot of good theater on the Great White Way), so Meredith Wilson has always been big in our house.

There would be no musicals on TV nor my family in electronic media without Zadan & Meron. They produced a series of TV musicals in the 90s (and hired my cousin Rob for his first directing job, on stage or screen, in Annie), the TV series Smash and now the live musicals.

 
dal_boys_phan said:
Not a big fan of musicals (so why am I here), but before the nephew in HS did “Oklahoma”, we rented the firm version with Hugh Jackman.  Enjoyed that (and the subsequent HS production), so I’ll go with “Oklahoma”.  

Broadway wise, I actually did enjoy “Rent”, “Chicago”, “Miss Saigon” and “Mama Mia”.  Despised “Les Miserables” and thought “Phantom” was just OK.
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Got to see Rent when it came out way back when in the 90s. Such a great show.

whoknew said:
Film - Grease

Stage - Book of Morman. Man that's funny.
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:goodposting: Took us a while to see BOM, saw it last year at Kennedy Center here in DC.

 
I've only seen a handful, but the two that I remember are Hamilton and Wicked.  I loved Hamilton.  The wife and I surprised our 12 y.o. daughter (13 now) with tix to the show for her birthday.  Long before she even knew about the tix, she played the eff outta that "soundtrack."  I like most of the songs (references to B.I.G. help too).  I cried towards the end of the show.  It was great.

 
Eephus said:
They aren't doing it for altruistic reasons but I've got to give credit to NBC for reviving live musicals for television programming.  Fox has followed suit but NBC's annual (or thereabouts) productions have become event TV.

The earlier ones were a bit stiff (the Carrie Underwood Sound of Music had its share of unintentionally comedic moments) but have become more innovative in their staging and casting.  Brandon Victor Dixon was sensational as Judas in Superstar.  I think it's great exposure for the art form to a mass audience, especially kids.
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Holy crap, was he amazing.  Of course, I've always thought Judas was the star of that show anyway, but he really nailed that.

Too soon?

I was thinking about Rent today while I was hiking and wondering if it's aged well.  I loved it when I first saw it and think I still wood.

 
I loved the stage version of Tommy I saw, but I was pretty young at the time. Same goes for Phantom of the Opera.

Avenue Q, Book of Mormon were very good. Wicked was fine IMO. 

Bat Out of Hell and Rock of Ages were what you'd expect but Rock of Ages was way more fun. 

I wasn't a huge fan of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. 

 
Saw Dear Evan Hansen a few nights ago. More of a story than a musical, but had a handful of very good numbers. Man, what a powerful story and acting performances - highly recommended.

 
No mention of Hamilton? Just saw it and it's superlative- definitely lives up to the hype.

I'm with Eephus- not an AL Webber fan at all. Also a big Avenue Q fan. Still waiting to see Book o Mormon

I'm partial to Guys and Dolls, Westside Story and especially Candide.

 
Been a season ticket holder to TPAC (Tennessee Performing Arts Center) for the better part of 15 years, so I've seen a good number of stage productions that I really enjoy.

The obvious one lately is Wicked.  Knowing The Wizard of Oz certainly helps, but just the backstory of how the characters Dorothy meets come to be and the "wickedness" of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) is really cool.

Over the years, I've enjoyed Rent immensely. The Lion King has amazing costume design.  The Book of Mormon, Spamalot, The Producers, Young Frankenstein, and Rock of Ages are really funny and have great tunes.

I'm getting to see School of Rock next weekend for the first time and looking forward to it.  Hamilton is coming for the 2019-2020 season, so that's exciting and we're considering traveling to Atlanta to see Dear Evan Hansen next May.

For any guy who reads this and thinks, "Musicals are not 'manly'", I was that guy before my first show.  Now, I look forward to any I haven't seen.  There are a few that I don't care to see again, but I thoroughly enjoy the whole experience and recommend at least one trip to the theater before you dismiss the idea entirely.

The Greatest Showman is one of my new favorites as well!

 
Bob Loblaw said:
I've only seen a handful, but the two that I remember are Hamilton and Wicked.  I loved Hamilton.  The wife and I surprised our 12 y.o. daughter (13 now) with tix to the show for her birthday.  Long before she even knew about the tix, she played the eff outta that "soundtrack."  I like most of the songs (references to B.I.G. help too).  I cried towards the end of the show.  It was great.
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El Floppo said:
No mention of Hamilton? Just saw it and it's superlative- definitely lives up to the hype.

I'm with Eephus- not an AL Webber fan at all. Also a big Avenue Q fan. Still waiting to see Book o Mormon

I'm partial to Guys and Dolls, Westside Story and especially Candide.
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El Floppo said:
No mention of Hamilton? Just saw it and it's superlative- definitely lives up to the hype.

I'm with Eephus- not an AL Webber fan at all. Also a big Avenue Q fan. Still waiting to see Book o Mormon

I'm partial to Guys and Dolls, Westside Story and especially Candide.
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Webber got me some freakydeaky once. Buddy of mine in Albq had a beautifulbeautiful girlfriend. The touring company of Phantom was coming to town and this Steve asks me if i would take his gf's older sister cuz her bf HATES that kind of thing. We all get dressed up and are to meet at the sister's house for drinks before going. NOW i know why the bf dont want to go - the entire place is decorated with Phantom of the Opera paraphernalia (my own sis had a phase like this with Gone With The Wind in her early 20s, but this gal is closing 40). If he goes, you just know she's buggin' him with "remember this oh and remember that?" forfrikkin'ever.

We go, have a lovely time (not a Webber fan either but, for all the hysterics after, that arch of songs - Angel of Music, Phantom, Music of the Night and All I Ask of You - in the first act may be the strongest batch ever) this gal is almost as much a knockout as her li'l sister although she's so crazy you can see it in her stare. Of course, that aspect can be pretty hot for a short time too.

Whatever it was, it agitated a romantic act out of me. Cant remember how or why, but i conceived an outgoing phone message - yeah, George Costanza & everyone did them then - to the tune of "Music of the Night":

Thanks for calling

You're timing is appalling

I'm not home now

Or can't come to the phone now

So leave your name & number

And all i need remember

I'll call you back, this promise i shall keep

Just leave your name & message at the beep

I call the sister, tell her i have a treat for her, can i come over sometime? Go over the next afternoon, tell her to queue up her outgoing message, break out my most operatic baritone and sing it cold, first take (ah, the exigencies of lust!). My hand to God, Penthouse readers, she attacks me right there in the hallway. Totes worth it, though for a couple wks i looked for her bf's pickup truck in my driveway cuz she was just nutso enough to lose discretion at any time.

 
My wife and youngest D are theater :nerd: ’s so I end up seeing a lot of shows, I act like it’s reluctantly but I’ve become a fan

Film

Music Man

Moulin Rouge

Grease

Meet Me in St Louis

Singin’ in the Rain

Stage

Hedwig- saw this twice , once with NPH in NY and once in Boston with Euan Morton, both were great but NPH was special 

Cabaret 

Little Shop of Horrors 

Sweeney Todd

Tommy

 
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