A Great Musical, Where are you?
A Great Musical, Where are you?
#1A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/28/12 at 1:37am
Maybe I've been around too long or maybe my taste is just not the norm. But it seems like it's been forever since a great new musical has come along. I enjoyed The Book of Morman but come on.
Because something has to win an award, I feel I'm being lulled into a state where something that's okay is considered good and something which is just good gets raves.
Where is a truly great musical?
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#2A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/28/12 at 4:04am
Well, that's really just a matter of opinion, isn't it?
For what it's worth, I thought that both BOM and Once were great musicals. The both me thoroughly, got me to purchase their recordings, and were thought provoking. I can't say that about most shows.
I'm not saying they are among the best EVER written, but how often can we truly add the that sort of list? If we could add to that list easily, it would only be the greatest list of the last 10 years.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#3A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/28/12 at 8:17amThis discussion has made me want to go play HALLELUJAH, BABY!
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#4A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/28/12 at 8:28am
"Where is a truly great musical?"
Start from about 50 years ago and go back from there. You'll find many.
#5A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/28/12 at 9:27am
Something's coming.
I don't know what it is, but it is gonna be great.
#5A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/28/12 at 9:27am
Something's coming.
I don't know what it is, but it is gonna be great.
#7A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/28/12 at 9:27am
Triple post.
#9A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/28/12 at 9:58pm
We will never have as many great musicals as we once did, because Musical Theatre is no longer the nation's dominant cultural force. Additionally, during the golden age, Broadway was jazz, classical and Tin Pan Alley pop based, and the great singers sang Broadway songs, not to mention the fact that all the great pop songwriters were writing for Broadway.
Nowadays, when a singer sings a Broadway song, it's usually either ironically or to promote some project, and when a great pop songwriter switches to Broadway, it's usually in the twilight of their career.
JeanGudio
Stand-by Joined: 6/9/12
#11A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 9:27am
You will get Matilda next year :)
I agree that BWay is stale at the moment - relying purely on Book of Mormon... I think Newsies is a breath of fresh air for many musical fans...
Does one consider ONCE to be great?
Nick Hutson
Co-Presenter/Producer
MusicalTalk - The UK's Musical Theatre Podcast
http://www.musicaltalk.co.uk
#12A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 11:06am
I think a better question is where are the next great musical theater writers?
So many of the greats have died lately (Adler, Ebb, Coleman), or they're older (Sondheim), or they write so slowly as to have not appeared on Broadway for years (Aherns and Flaherty, Brown, Yazbeck, Guettel) or they're too esoteric for Broadway (Lippa, LaChiusa).
I'm not making judgements on any of them, but it's been a couple of years at least since we've heard from any of them on Broadway.
So where are the Broadway composers who will WRITE the next great musical?
Hi, Shirley Temple Pudding.
#13A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 11:35am
jasonf- I agree with you in general, but we did hear from Yazbeck last year with Women on the Verge and Lippa was represented on Broadway with Addams Family (not sure if I would describe that score as "too esoteric").
LaChiusa may never pack them in on Broadway, but he does churn them out off-Broadway. We had Queen of the Mist this past season and are getting Giant in the fall. Kander also has a new musical debuting at the Vineyard next season.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
broadway guy
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/5/11
#14A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 12:28pmEVERYONE STOP WORRYING!! A BRAND NEW MUSICAL is in the works right now!! The SPICE GIRLS ARE COMING TO BROADWAY!!!......yep broadway is heading in the right direction....
#15A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 1:26pm
Nick, Matilda is not a great musical. It has too many weaknesses- which I fear Broadway will seize upon. It is fun (mostly) but it is not a masterpiece- which is what I think the OP is seeking.
Classics only emerge over time, so it may be hard to judge just yet what will be considered a masterpiece from recent times.
For me, LaChiusa's The Wild Party is the only truly great musical of this century. But I guess time will tell whether it establishes itself or disappears off into obscurity.
#16A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 1:40pm
You're right about Yazbeck and Lippa, but the point holds. Go back thirty or forty years ago and you had Kander and Ebb, Sondheim, Lerner and Lowe, Loesser, Schwartz, Finn (whatever happened to him?)...
The NAME composers just aren't there any more. This year at the Tonys they named two PLAYS for best score!
Hi, Shirley Temple Pudding.
#17A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 2:12pm
How would you define "name" composers?
There are plenty of "regulars" of the last decade or so -- Shaiman and Wittman, Wildhorn, Menken, etc.
Bobby Lopez has to be considered a star, having penned two massive critical and commercial successes in two tries. And there's no shortage of other young composers who've had different degrees of success and are likely to have more: Tom Kitt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jason Robert Brown, etc.
followspot
Broadway Star Joined: 12/27/11
#18A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 2:12pm
There have been a couple of suggestions already (and not meaning to hijack a "next great musical" thread), but I'm curious what everyone would consider to be the LAST great musical? ("last" as in "most recent") A musical that will still be revived and relevant decades in the future. A "classic."
Serious question. Thoughts?
"Tracy... Hold Mama's waffles."
#19A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 2:13pmI can't believe no one has yet mentioned Next to Normal. I would be surprised if that's not considered a classic in the years to come.
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#19A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 2:13pmI can't believe no one has yet mentioned Next to Normal. I would be surprised if that's not considered a classic in the years to come.
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#21A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 2:14pmOh, and regarding the OP's comment: it's just too subjective. I think the last 12 years or so have produced a nice-sized handful of musicals I consider to be great.
#22A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 2:19pmMagic Mike will solve that problem for you.
"Through The Sacrifice You Made, We Can't Believe The Price You Paid..For Love!"
#23A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 2:42pm
There are still "name" composers, and if you judge by volume of work some of those composers had a limited quantity.
Lerner and Loewe basically had four Broadway shows (Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady and Camelot; Gigi was of course adapted from the film). Elton John has Lestat, Aida and Billy Elliot, and of course his own film music brought to stage in The Lion King.
Loesser had 5 Broadway shows and Finn had Falsettos and Spelling Bee. Including his additions to Victor/Victoria Wildhorn already has written 7 Broadway musicals (and God only knows how many countless others).
Tom Kitt has two musicals under his belt, and a third one arriving in a few weeks.
You're right that the Tony committee nominated two plays for Best Score, but they could have nominated original scores had they wanted to. Lysistrata Jones, Spider-Man, Leap of Faith and Ghost were all snubbed. People wrote new scores this year- the committee simply chose to ignore them.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#24A Great Musical, Where are you?
Posted: 6/29/12 at 5:21pmI don't know what all the fuss is about. I've seen several great musicals over the past decade. The Golden Age is referred to as such because it ended (several decades ago). I don't think Book of Mormon is the barometer for great musicals, but I did find it very entertaining, which is the foundation of musical theatre: entertainment. Highly artistic musicals have always been in the minority, not the norm. And yes, it's all subjective. Is Spring Awakening considered a "great" musical? Because I certainly didn't think so.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
