Bestest Musical Ever - Fall 2011

So it's back to school for me and for my students. This semester promises to be even more zany-kooky-crazy than ever, and I couldn't be happier.

Of course, one of the things I look forward to each semester is the opportunity to utilize my new musical-theater history students to help me create more lists. As you may have noted from my recent posts, I'm kind of a nut about lists.

One of the first things I do each semester in my musical-theater history course is ask my charges to write down the three best musicals ever. The criteria: theirs. Then we use the compiled list as an opportunity to start a conversation about what makes great musicals great.

Here's a list of the shows that received multiple votes:

West Side Story 14
Sweeney Todd 12
Les Miserables 8
Gypsy 8
Into the Woods 6
Wicked 6
Company 5
A Chorus Line 4
Ragtime 4
Funny Girl 3
Next to Normal 3
The Sound of Music 3
Carousel 2
Hair 2
The Music Man 2
Oklahoma 3
Parade 2
The Phantom of the Opera 2
South Pacific 2
Sunday in the Park With George 2

And here are the shows that received one vote each:

Anything Goes, Big River, The Book of Mormon, Cabaret, Candide, Caroline or Change, Cats, Damn Yankees, Fiddler on the Roof, Glory Days, Grey Gardens, Guys and Dolls, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hello Dolly, La Cage aux Folles, The Last Five Years, The Light in the Piazza, A Little Night Music, Memphis, The Pirates of Penzance, Rent, Show Boat, Singin' in the Rain, The Spitfire Grille, Songs for a New World, Spring Awakening, Starting Here Starting Now, [title of show]

The shows that I've placed in bold text are the outliers, the ones that I find interesting either because they're ranked higher or lower than usual, or because they're making their first appearance on the list. (Click here to see a sampling of lists from previous semesters.)

Funny Girl has never ranked as high as this. In fact, it usually only shows up once, if at all. The show is rarely done regionally or in high schools, so the students would likely only have been exposed to the show thus far through its marvelous movie version with what's her name. I think we can reasonably attribute the show's position on this semester's list to the upcoming revival of the show, and the attendant publicity on the casting of Lauren Ambrose and Bobby Cannavale in the leads.

I can't recall Next to Normal ranking this high before. I get the feeling that this is the last gasp for the show on this list, given that the show has closed on Broadway and the tour has wound down. Then again, the show is starting to catch on regionally, so it's possible that the show will continue to stay in the public's mind, and therefore on this list in the future.

The Book of Mormon makes its first appearance on the list, which is understandable, because it only opened last spring. I think we can attribute the fact that it didn't get multiple votes to two things: the show is sold out through the new year, and the tickets are pretty darned pricey. We're talking poor students here, after all.

It's a bit of a surprise that Rent only got one vote, as it's usually quite the sentimental favorite among my students. Plus, the show just re-opened Off Broadway, giving a new generation a chance to catch a professional version of the show. (Read my review.) Also, the show is pretty popular now among regional theaters, but that make in fact have worked against the show. Although powerful, Rent is chockablock with flaws and inconsistencies. It's possible that repeated exposure to the show has lessened its luster in the eyes of my students.

Then there are the one-offs, shows that rarely appear on the list, and probably only make an appearance when some regional theater decides to do it, and the students get a chance to appear in or see a relatively obscure show. I think this explains the presence of The Spitfire Grill, Starting Here Starting Now, and Songs for a New World. The last of these is very popular with students looking for songs to add to their rep books, so it's possible that the person who voted for Songs has never actually seen it, but only listened to the recording.

And then there's Glory Days, the one genuine WTF on this year's list. The show is a bit legendary among Broadway types, as it's the only one-performance Broadway flop in recent memory. I was scheduled to see the show the weekend after it opened (and closed), so it was the one show that season that I didn't get a chance to see. But my fellow bloggers tell me it was embarrassingly bad, and the cast recording, while revealing a certain naive charm, nonethless exhibits very little genuine craft. The subject matter - four high school buddies get together one year after graduation and discover they've grown apart - is certainly appealing to those of the incoming-freshmen mindset, but rather ridiculous to those of us of a certain age, who understand that one year out of school is hardly a prime vantage point for gaining wisdom or perspective.

Oh, well. At least no one voted for Jekyll & Hyde.

Comments

[Esther]

A few interesting things:

While newer shows have their day in the sun, it seems like the classics - West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, Gypsy, win out in the end. Maybe that's just because there are more chances to see them.

I'm surprised Spring Awakening only got one vote. It certainly seemed to attract a lot of fans in that age group. But maybe these kids were a little too young to have seen it on Broadway and missed the tour.

I also think Next to Normal will always get a few votes. It's that whole not getting along with your mother dynamic that may resonate with teenage girls especially. And since it's practically sung-through you can get a good idea of the whole musical from the cast recording.

And I'm glad to see Les Miserables on the list. I've got to admit it's one of my favorites. I can imagine if you were taken to see it as a young child or teenager you'd just be swept away by the romance and epic nature of it. So I can see why it would make a lasting impression!

[me.yahoo.com/a/gldhEeISxsh4NDfw30fcgcDR_L7f2asGK3Y-]

Do you ever suspect that new students have read your blog and, knowing your tastes and having read your reviews, vote for things like GLORY DAYS just to see how you'll react?

[ccaggiano]

I suppose it's possible, but I haven't written anything about Glory Days for years, so they would have had to dig pretty deep.

[ccaggiano]

Esther,

Spring Awakening seems to have fallen from favor a bit. Students love the music and the angst, but they seem to be discovering that the show as a whole is no great shakes. In fact, I fully expect it to show up frequently when my students write their "overrated" papers next week.

[-Rich]

I am one to recently rediscover Spring Awakening and its problems. I seemed to like it initially but I just saw a production of it with a repertory theater and it has lost much of its luster. I would no be surprised if it disappears entirely from your lists to come with your students because I have grown to be not fond of the show.

[Monica Reida]

Glory Days is certainly an interesting choice for best musical. If it was selected for underrated, I would maybe understand that. This selection strikes me as, at the very least, the basis for a very interesting paper.

At least when I was younger, "Songs for a New World" was huge with people that did high school theater and were studying theater in college. (I knew of it before I knew of what is now one of my favorite musicals.) Because of that, it strikes me as odd that it doesn't have more votes, but I wonder if it's maybe a generational change.

[Stanley Schweiger]

Not ONE single vote for "Fiorello!" To quote the Claude Rains character in "Casablanca," "I'm shocked! Shocked!" I really am amazed! Maybe it's a "generational" thing. That I don't know. I do know that I've seen approximately four hundred musicals since my first one ("The King & I") back in '52, and only a handful have "knocked me for a loop," the way that "Fiorello" did in '59. In fact, I've always maintained that two of the greatest musicals EVER debuted in 1959; the other, of course, being "Gypsy!" I would love to hear some readers' reasons why "Fiorello" didn't merit a single vote!

[ccaggiano]

Stanley, I think it is a generational thing. You'd likely be hard pressed to find an 18 year old who had even heard of Fiorello, let alone hold it in high enough esteem to consider it one of his or her top three. The show, while glorious, has virtually disappeared from view since its Broadway run.

[Monica Reida]

I had the original Broadway cast recording of Fiorello on my iPod when I was 17. While I think Fiorello is a terrific musical, I wouldn't consider it to be the greatest musical ever written. That partly comes from having never seen it performed and never having read the script. I can see why incoming college students might not know of the show.

[timothy]

I am going to stick up for Spring Awakening, but only a little bit. I won't argue against all of its problems as a musical, but I saw it on Broadway with Lea Michele (sp?) and Jonathan Groff before I had heard of either, and I was just stunned. I felt the way I felt when I saw Dreamgirls with Jennifer Holiday in the '80s. Sometimes a production is just a once in a lifetime experience -- not for everyone, but for some -- and when that happens, no amount of logic can dissuade someone from his or her passion. So yeah, I will always rate SA as a great show, even though, in a part of my brain, I can understand the counter-argument.

[Richard]

I can't believe phantom only got 2 votes! Interesting list tho...

[AJGamble]

I just discovered this blog, and I love it already.

It's not surprising to me that the faves change every year. Even blog-master Chris admits to tweaking his 100 Best Musicals list to suit his mood. I do the same almost daily, though I always come back to Sweeney. It is not my favorite, but I believe it is the best.

That said, I recently rediscovered Into the Woods--forever a musical close to my heart--when I watched the Regents Park production from 2010. ITW was my first real musical love (as it is for many, I think), and though I always turned to it for a happy thought, it was more for me like a high school romance: innocent, ineptly passionate, and in the end, not a musical for the ages. The Regents Park production was like finding your high school sweetheart had become a heart surgeon with a yacht, a mansion in the Hamptons, and a libido to shame Caligula.

I love theater because it is so evolutionary. Great ideas can morph into great plays and musicals because generation after generation can engage with a script and tell markedly different stories until we maximize its potential ... that is, until the next guy/gal comes along to move the line just one inch further towards infinite brilliance.

In the end, though, a musical is like any art: something personal to the viewer. Phantom and Les Mis seem trite to me, though I admire their scores. But I begrudge no one who draws from those musicals inspiration or happiness. Wicked is endearing, but not superlative, yet my partner (an accomplished musical theater actor) sees no flaw there. We should make lists only to discovery ourselves and our friends, and not to pronounce objective truths.

[Stanley Schweiger]

Monica & Chris: I also think that the lack of a successful revival has kept "Fiorello" "in the dark" to so many musical aficionados. Please remember that the show was good enough to win The Pultizer Prize, which was very rare for a musical in those days! It's not the greatest ever written, but I think it deserves a spot somewhere on the "Bestest" list!