The Bestest Musical Ever -- Fall 2009

Ah, fall. When a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of showtunes. Or at least, one not-so-young man's fancy. And his captive audience of 32 bewildered students.

Every semester, I start my musical-theater history course at the Boston Conservatory by asking my students to write down the three best musicals of all time. We then tally the votes on the board and embark on a discussion of what characteristics, if any, these shows might share. We then take a giant step backward in time to begin our chronological survey of musical theater. ("How did you get to be here, Mr. Shepherd?")

The list we create is always an interesting glimpse at the waxing and waning of shows and their popularity. Because that's what we're really discussing here: what's currently popular. My goal in the course is to help my students establish a set of aesthetic criteria for discerning what makes for a quality show. So we start with what they like, then slowly transition into discussing why those shows are good. Or perhaps why they're not quite as good as they may have initially thought. 

So here's the list for this semester, along with the number of votes that particular show received:

9 West Side Story
8 Sweeney Todd
7 Ragtime
7 Les Miserables
4 The Phantom of the Opera
4 Wicked
3 Anything Goes
3 Gypsy
3 Into the Woods
3 Parade
3 Rent
2 Carousel
2 Hair
2 Show Boat
2 Spring Awakening

Not a lot of surprises, really. West Side Story and Hair have clearly benefited from their current Broadway revivals. West Side Story almost always shows up on the list (see the lists from the fall and spring of last yea.), while Hair tends to come and go. Anything Goes makes a strong resurgence: there hasn't been a Broadway revival in 20 years, although it's one of the most popular shows on the community and school circuits.

Ragtime has been pretty consistently present on the list, after years of anonymity. I must admit that I was surprised when Ragtime became so popular regionally: I would have sworn that the need for African Americans in the show would have limited the number of productions, as African Americans have not historically been very involved in community theater. Thankfully, that has begun to change, as witnessed by the swelling ranks of black student sin the theater department at the BoCo. I'm likewise amazed and pleased that Parade has caught on. It's a strong show, but it's a real downer, and not your typical summer stock fare. Perhaps it's a testament to the broadening tastes of theatergoers that both Ragtime and Parade have become, if not quite staples, at least a welcome foray into substance. And it bodes well for the upcoming Ragtime revival.

Here are the shows that received one vote each:

Cabaret, Carrie, Cats, A Chorus Line, Chicago, The Color Purple, Company, Curtains, Dreamgirls, Fiddler on the Roof, The Frogs, Funny Girl, Guys and Dolls, Hello Dolly, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Last Five Years, A Little Night Music, Little Shop of Horrors, Miss Saigon, My Fair Lady, Next to Normal, Naughty Marietta, Once on This Island, Oklahoma, The Roar of the Greasepaint/The Smell of the Crowd, The Sound of Music, Sunday in the Park With George, Thoroughly Modern Millie, [title of show], The Wild Party (Lippa), Urinetown, The Wiz

A number of surprises here. (We'll get to Carrie in a second.) First, it's interesting that My Fair Lady and Oklahoma, two of the best and most important musicals of all time, should receive such a poor showing. Admittedly, My Fair Lady appeals to a more mature crowd, and doesn't receive quite as much regional play as it should, perhaps because the central roles are so demanding. But Oklahoma has always been pretty ubiquitous, although it has recently fallen off the radar in terms of the most produced high school musicals. 

Every year semester we see a few quirky choices, and this semester we get Naughty Marietta and Roar/Crowd. It's very likely that the students that chose these shows recently appeared in them, so we have the top-of-mind factor. It's likely that Next to Normal has a similar recency effect, in that it's currently running in New York. And The Frogs likely came from a Sondheim aficionado, or perhaps someone trying to impress.

And then there's Carrie. I think this might be someone's little joke. I often start the first class of my course by showing a video of the opening number to Carrie, which I follow with a comment like "By the end of this course, you'll understand why that sucks." In fact, I end the course with a discussion of three bad shows: Carrie, Victor/Victoria, and Jekyll and Hyde. We watch a scene from each, and I encourage the students to use what they've learned to discuss what's wrong with these shows. So I get the feeling someone's putting me on here.

At least I hope so.

Comments

[Vance]

More people said POTO than Spring Awakening? Hair? Rent? Into the Woods? I think I just died a little on the inside. Glad Parade got such a good showing though! And yay Ragtime!

[Robbie]

If we were judging by score alone, then I would not be surprised by Ragtime's strong showing. However, in my humble opinion, the book is, to quote you, "creaky as hell". It just doesn't hold up as well.

As for Parade, while far from one of the best musicals, it is a very good show and generally underappreciated, so glad it showed up there.

My top three would have to be Gypsy, My Fair Lady, and Chicago. Mind, that's my list of the "best", not "my favorites".

[ccaggiano]

Robbie: Bravo to you for differentiating. I think too many people are unable to distinguish between what they like and what is genuinely good. I don't like South Pacific, but I appreciate its place in MT history, and I can understand why so many people respond to it.

[ccaggiano]

Vance, darling, they're young. When I was their age, I was listening to Cats on LP. But I was also listening to Nine.

[Robbie]

As far as favorites go, my top three would be The Sound of Music, despite the book showing its age (scenes in one? Who does that anymore?), Company, and the third one fluctuates, but is currently probably Ragtime, but only since I've been listening to it quite a bit in preparation for the revival. Which...is an odd choice.

Seriously, what are backers thinking? Why are they doing risky, expensive revivals this year? Ragtime, apart from only being ten years old, lost money on its first outing (although that could just be Livent's fault), and now we're reviving it in shaky economic times without the major stars the original production had?

And then we have Finian's Rainbow. I love that show, glad to see it revived, but...really?

[Encore Entertainment]

Sweeney Todd, West Side Story and Sunday in the Park...and Carousel...that's what I'd say are the objective best.

Sunday in the Park is my favourite stand alone score, but I really believe it's one of the greatest achievements...but I'm 18 and don't live in the US...so what do I know?

[Dorian]

For best I would have to go My Fair Lady, Gypsy, and actually Follies. I think the score is utterly fantastic, the book doesn't get enough love, and the original production in particular has become a legend, for what I think are the right reasons.

Follies makes it onto favourites as well, but the other two for my top three there are pretty much in constant flux. Right now I'm into Next to Normal and experiencing a resurgence of my love for [title of show], but it will probably change, like, next week.

[That guy]

What will it take for you to share that Carrie video?!

[ccaggiano]

The video is available on YouTube, along with a bunch of other clips, songs, and scenes from the show.

[Stanley Schweiger]

My three "Bestest" includes two that didn't even get an honorable mention (one vote). "Show Boat" is my Numero Uno, and I just don't expect that to change in my lifetime. The last revival was magnificent -- glorious to hear AND see! Its size & scope is awesome and, when executed properly, is, in my opinion, the "Citizen Kane" of Musical Theatre! #'s two & three have been interchangeable over the years (some years #2, some #3), but always my next two choices -- "Fiorello" and "Follies." I've always felt that "Fiorello's" book is the greatest I've seen, and I won many bets when I predicted the show would win the Pulitzer Prize! As for "Follies," the score and its "infinite variety" "destroyed" me the first time I heard it, and the music & lyrics ( with all of the additions & tweaks over the years) still continue to amaze me!

I solidly stand by this trio. As the oft-used cliche goes, "that's what makes horse racing!"

[simon]

My Fair Lady is beloved in the pantheon, but it really is a show that is easier to enjoy if you're a Higgins rather than a Liza. It's very much written from his perspective. Which means... yep, it might just be a show that professors like more than students do.

And you didn't mention "Funny Girl" as one of your "that's an odd one to have in the list". It's musically an impressive show, but dear god does it have book problems.

[bookshop.livejournal.com]

Well, choosing the objective "best" is never going to be an infallible process, but I'm completely ashamed of my generation for thinking that modern musicals like Wicked or PotO are in the same league as a Fiddler on the Roof, a Most Happy Fella, a Carousel. Or even that a musical like Wicked or Phantom of the Opera is even in the same league as Godspell or Evita or Superstar.

The evolution of musicals away from strongly book-focused, issue-oriented themes to, well, Films on broadway and "Defying Gravity" and Frank Wildhorn has been much-lamented by half the world already; but with regard to your class, I'd like to lament that before the "girls and glam vs. Showboat"-->"Rodgers & Hart vs. Rodgers & Hammerstein" -> "Lloyd Webber vs. Sondheim" -> "Walt Disney vs. Adam Guettel & John LaChiusa" debate can update itself yet again, there has to be a recognition that the divide exists in the first place.

All I can hope is that the same people weren't all choosing shows like Les Miz, Phantom, Wicked, Anything Goes, Cats, Joseph, etc., because the thought makes me want to weep for the future, etc, etc.

(For what it's worth, a bevvy of completely predictable top 10 lists of musicals by me are right here.