Top Ten Musicals Since Showboat That Changed Broadway

[CapnHook]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 11:15pm

What would you say are the top ten shows that changed Broadway, after and excluding Showboat?

[Princeton78]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 11:27pm

In no particular order....

1. Carousel
2. Cabaret
3. Oklahoma
4. Chorus Line
5. Cats
6. Hair
7. Rent
8. Lion King
9. Fiddler
10. Chicago (Revival)

Not gonna go into detail about why I chose these. Remember, these are not what I think necessarily represent the *best* of Broadway. I'm thinking of shows that changed how people think of and look at Broadway. *Cheers*

[bially082]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 11:30pm

In no particulaer order, and not always a change for the better...

Oklahoma!
West Side Story.
Sweeney Todd.
Les Miserables.
The Producers.
Phantom of the Opera
A Chorus Line.
Peter Pan.
Gypsy.
Jesus Christ Superstar.

[dry2olives]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 11:38pm

Personally, I think the absolutely most influential show in the history of Broadway was Pippin. Pippin opened to so-so reviews and looked headed for a modest run. Then they shot a simple TV commercial, something never done before, and exposed the show to millions of people who normally wouldn't go to a Broadway show. The commercial made Pippin a smash and almost immediately every big Broadway musical started filming TV commercials. They proved that you could combat bad reviews with a great commercial and that marketing to people who only go to theatre once or twice a year can be far more lucrative than marketing to regular theatregoers. The thought that a musical could run for 10 years was unheard of until TV commercials. Updated On: 10/28/04 at 11:38 PM

[Jon]

Posted: 10/28/04 at 11:56pm

Chronologically:

OKLAHOMA
WEST SIDE STORY
CABARET
HAIR
COMPANY
A CHORUS LINE
CATS
RENT
THE LION KING
THE PRODUCERS

[dry2olives]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 12:15am

On Your Toes -- the first musical ever to credit a choreographer and Ballanchine's two ballets were the first instances of dance being used as an integral part of the plot.

My Fair Lady -- having a non-singing dramatic actor in a leading role with 5 songs was a huge risk. Women like Mary Martin and Gertrude Lawrence could get away with it, but never a man. But Rex Harrison's success proved that a fine actor with a small voice and who doesn't dance could excell in a musical. He led the way for Richard Burton, Zero Mostel, Jackie Gleason, and John Lithgow, among others. Updated On: 10/29/04 at 12:15 AM

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 12:55am

1. oklahoma -- book musical
2. my fair lady -- made a tight book a staple
3. west side story -- important for so many reasons...
4. jesus christ superstar -- beginning of commercial rock opera
5. dreamgirls -- brought musical to the pop world
6. sunday in the park with george -- high art meets musical
7. cats -- no story makes money with a good gimic
8. lion king -- imagination draws an audience in more than tech
9. hairspray -- bringing camp back to musicals
10. wicked -- musicals that spend money make money

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 1:00am

I think Tommy changed Broadway before JCS did, just that JCS was more mainstream.

Lion King...maybe, but more because of the introduction of the focus of children as a target demographic for a large scale production. (One could argue that B&tB did this too.)

[Speed]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 1:13am

for better or worse....

OKLAHOMA
MY FAIR LADY
WEST SIDE STORY
COMPANY
A CHORUS LINE
CATS
LES MISERABLES
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
RENT
MAMMA MIA

[Speed]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 1:18am

Not sure how WICKED has changed Broadway. WICKED hasn't even made any money yet, while AVENUE Q (which spent less) has long made back its investment and is now making profit.

Some shows that spend a lot, make their money back. Most don't. WICKED hasn't changed that. But it's a fun show.

Probably the most influential show on Broadway right now is MAMMIA MIA. Look no further than MOVIN OUT, ALL SHOOK UP, GOOD VIBRATIONS, LENNON, and THE BOB DYLAN PROJECT for proof.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 1:32am

I recently posted a thread on this... the title of the 1927 Kern/Hammerstein musical is SHOW BOAT (TWO words, NOT one.)

A minor point perhaps, but I think we should refer to plays and musicals by their proper name.

[bially082]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 2:39am

Stop complaing and answer the question.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 2:48am

watch out! bially is in a mood tonite!

[sean martin]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 2:49am

Nothin' worse than a little showboating...

Or... is that show boating?

:)

One that hasn't made the lists yet: OF THEE I SING, the first overtly political musical that proved that you could satirize your leaders and show folks a good time. Won the Pulitzer.

[Jon]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 9:39am

Type_A_Tiff: JC SUPERSTAR was on Broadway more than 20 years before TOMMY.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 9:48am

Oklahoma
West Side Story
Sweet Charity
Hair
Company
Jesus Christ Superstar
A Chorus Line
Les Miserables
Rent
Urinetown

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 9:52am

RENT...

[CapnHook]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 1:08pm

Forgot to give mine:

OKLAHOMA
MY FAIR LADY
A CHORUS LINE
CATS
LES MISERABLES
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
THE LION KING
RENT
WEST SIDE STORY
MAMMA MIA

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 1:19pm

Oklahoma
West Side Story
HAIR
Jesus Christ Superstar
Company
A Chorus Line
CATS
Lion King
RENT
Producers (While I don't like it, it started to give Broadway a name again)

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 1:36pm

The Producers is a hit show, but it didn't really change Broadway at all.

"Probably the most influential show on Broadway right now is MAMMIA MIA. Look no further than MOVIN OUT, ALL SHOOK UP, GOOD VIBRATIONS, LENNON, and THE BOB DYLAN PROJECT for proof."

Mamma Mia I can see as a possible trend-setter, but it's too early to tell. Only one of the shows you actually listed has opened, but is actually a completely different type of work. The others remain to be seen. They could open, but flop horrendously. I would wait a couple of years before even thinking about putting Mamma Mia on the list.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 1:38pm

I could be wrong, but didn't THE PRODUCERS start the re-birth of the musical comedy? And plus it was the first show to have tickets reach over $400.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 1:48pm

THE PRODUCERS (while I didn't care for it), I think did do a lot to bring people back to Broadway. And yes, it was the first show to sell tickets for that much claiming they did it to stop the scalpers. Yeah, right.

[Kris2]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 1:55pm

spiderdj82: I could be wrong, but didn't THE PRODUCERS start the re-birth of the musical comedy? And plus it was the first show to have tickets reach over $400.

I think it started before that. The seed of musical comedy was probably planted again with shows like The Full Monty and Thoroughly Modern Millie (though the latter being more traditional obviously).

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 1:57pm

Ok. Like I said, I could be wrong.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/29/04 at 2:02pm

Musical Comedy never went anywhere, so The Producers didn't have to bring it back (I could name two dozen hit musical comedies on Broadway in the decade prior to the Producers' opening, if you'd like). It was the first show to charge $100 -- hardly an accomplishment. Broadway was doing fine before the Producers with lots of soldout hits (Lion King, Phantom, Les Miz, Chicago, Rent, Contact, Cabaret) -- the Producers was just one more. I enjoyed the show, but c'mon, the only thing it "changed" or influenced was its investors' and stars' bank accounts.

How did RENT "Change" Broadway? It wasn't the first rock musical (or the 20th for that matter) and, so far, hasn't spawned any imitators. It's a successful show in and of itself, but how has it influenced any others?

If DREAMGIRLS changed Broadway in any way, it wasn't that it "brought musical to the pop world" (that had been going on for decades, even since the rock era began with shows like Godspell and Hair spawning top ten hits on the Billboard charts), but due to the efforts of Bennett, Robin Wagner, Tharon Musser and their engineers, the most sophisticated computerized light/sound board in history was created, that became a standard in professional theatre for many years and made some of the eye-popping stage effects of the hit shows of the 80s possible.

OKLAHOMA, HAIR (the first all-rock musical and it changed Broadway forever), WEST SIDE STORY, A CHORUS LINE, CATS (for marketing, if nothing else), COMPANY, and I suppose LES MIZ are all givens on a list of shows that changed Broadway. MAMMA MIA probably deserved inclusion as well.

I would like to mention:

-- The 1955 Off-Broadway revival of THREEPENNY OPERA (the first hit off-Broadway show; it paved the way for dozens/hundreds of other shows in the last 50 years that have used "downtown" as a launching pad to mainstream success; so potent and influential that the show received a special Tony Award and Lotte Lenya was awarded the Tony for best featured actress, despite the fact that the show was Off-Broadway -- the Tonys soon changed the rule so that it never happened again)

-- PAL JOEY (the first show to feature an anti-hero in the lead, freeing generations of composers and book writers to create shows about less than admirable characters and situations -- some of the most interesting shows ever written)

-- PROMISES PROMISES (the first show that had electronic instruments in the pit, as well as supplemental pit singers, both of which have become standard in the years since)

-- ALLEGRO (perhaps the first high profile "concept musical"; it has been said often that Sondheim, who acted as a go-fer on the show and closely observed Rodgers and Hammerstein's efforts to fix the show and ultimately fail, spent his entire career trying to fix ALLEGRO -- finally succeeding with a concept musical of his own, COMPANY, as well as several others)