"Forgotten" musicals that mean the most to you?

[StardustsChild]

Posted: 1/16/21 at 5:46pm

What shows from the footnotes of theatre history have a special place in your heart?
I've been taking a lot of pleasure in introducing my friends to Dance of the Vampires over quarantine - it is a campy chaotic mess, but it makes me laugh harder than almost any well written comedy these days.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 1/16/21 at 5:52pm

I've been listening to God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater after hearing about it in the Howard Ashman documentary. I'm absolutely loving it, and while I still like Little Shop of Horrors more (my favorite musical, actually), there's a lot to appreciate in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater​​​​​​​.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/16/21 at 6:04pm

I'll go with Barnum. I know there are several cast albums and even a DVD with Michael Crawford but it has never received a revival on Broadway. The score is delightful and now it will likely forever be overshadowed by The Greatest Showman. And we'll likely see The Greatest Showman on Broadway before we ever get a revival of Barnum.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 1/16/21 at 6:38pm

70, Girls, 70 is one of my favorite scores of all time (easily one of K&E's best, only topped by Chicago), and it's a shame it's so brutally murdered by its own abysmal book. I think if it were ever rewritten with a proper book, it would blow the roof off the theatre. I've spent so much time living in that musical's world via the cast album and it's so charming even a thousand listens later.

[jv92]

Posted: 1/16/21 at 7:16pm

Charley Kringas Inc said: "70, Girls, 70 is one of my favorite scores of all time (easily one of K&E's best, only topped by Chicago), and it's a shame it's so brutally murdered by its own abysmal book. I think if it were ever rewritten with a proper book, it would blow the roof off the theatre. I've spent so much time living in that musical's world via the cast album and it's so charming even a thousand listens later."

Co-signed. I love that score. 
 

I think GREENWILLOW might be Frank Loesser’s most startling, evocative score. I’m sorry it’s forgotten— even for a flop it’s not as talked-about. (Of course, HAPPY FELLA is pretty damn evocative and brilliant.) It’s totally unlike anything he’d done before, as was his wont. 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 1/16/21 at 8:21pm

StardustsChild said: "What shows from the footnotes of theatre history have a special place in your heart?
I've been taking a lot of pleasure in introducing my friends to Dance of the Vampires over quarantine - it is a campy chaotic mess, but it makes me laugh harder than almost any well written comedy these days."

Have you seen the European version?

Updated On: 1/16/21 at 08:21 PM

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 1/16/21 at 8:31pm

My Favorite Year. I saw a HS production less than a month before the virus got really heavy in the US, and it was the last live show I saw before the pandemic. It was so wonderful, and seeing my friends take on these roles, especially with the hindsight of knowing it would be my last live theatre experience for a while, was an experience I’ll never forget.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 1/17/21 at 1:03am

Goblin Market, a small Off-Broadway musical by Polly Pen, based on a Victorian poem. It has some evocative imagery and Pen did a masterful job at setting the poem to music.

The Capeman. There is a lot that I love on the cast recording, but from everything I've heard, even from people who worked on it, it was a mess on stage. I'd be curious if someone would be able to do some major revisions and salvage it.

Fade Out, Fade In. A very fun score with some great moments for the leading lady. The book was very tailored to Carol Burnett, so it's unlikely to ever be viable for a full revival, but there are any number of great actors who could headline it for Encores (Leslie Kritzer, Ana Gasteyer, Lesli Margherita to name a few)

[devonian.t]

Posted: 1/17/21 at 3:50am

The full cast recording of The Capeman is one of my prized possessions and I still listen to it regularly.

It's problem is that is is more of a musical documentary with relatively little inter-character drama (but given that the same is true of Hamilton, perhaps it can be salvaged).- there is so much telling rather than showing maybe it lives best as an amazing concept album.

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 1/17/21 at 8:07am

I Can Get it for you Wholesale. An interesting story and score with great roles for character actors. The writers replaced the novel's bleak ending with an ambiguous one in previews. And the leading man lacks a proper closing number, ceding that slot to Barbra Streisand's secretary. But it's still a show that deserves attention.

Something's Afoot. Camp Agatha Christie parody was the first musical I performed in. The score's mediocre but it was fun to hear the recent studio cast recording.

[Thelosertakesitall1997]

Posted: 1/17/21 at 10:22am

I know that the Disney ZOMBIES movie was eventually what evolved from the getting the rights to Zombie Prom but I want Justice for the actual show. A solid off broadway production or a full movie featuring all of the music. The 30 min short film with RuPaul is fun but I’d love to see RuPaul in a full film version.

[Esther2]

Posted: 1/17/21 at 12:07pm

CATSNYrevival said: "I'll go with Barnum. I know there are several cast albums and even a DVD with Michael Crawford but it has never received a revival on Broadway. The score is delightful and now it will likely forever be overshadowed by The Greatest Showman. And we'll likely see The Greatest Showman on Broadway before we ever get a revival of Barnum."

I loooove Barnum!!! I saw it on one of my week-long trips in the summer of 1980 and I loved it so much, I went back later in the week.  Fell in love with Jim Dale. 

Another show I still love listening to is I Love My Wife.  A slight show, but I had fun seeing it, and I just love the cast recording. The band being part of the show was wonderful. 

[StardustsChild]

Posted: 1/17/21 at 12:39pm

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "StardustsChild said: "What shows from the footnotes of theatre history have a special place in your heart?
I've been taking a lot of pleasure in introducing my friends to Dance of the Vampires over quarantine - it is a campy chaotic mess, but it makes me laugh harder than almost any well written comedy these days."
Have you seen the European version?"

I adore Tanz der Vampire! My master's thesis was on Vampires in Musical Theatre, so I am very steeped in all things fanged.

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 1/17/21 at 10:57pm

Gospel at Colonus

[SayNoToJugs]

Posted: 1/18/21 at 2:16pm

3 seconds in and I LOVE 70, GIRLS, 70! 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/18/21 at 4:26pm

Drat! The Cat!  was a delight that even got a great review from Walter Kerr, but it had no advance.  Ran 8 performances.  A terrific recording was made years later with Susan Egan(II think) as the female lead and Elaine Stritch as her mother.  

Darling of the Day opened in January 68 (69?) and got a lot of great reviews, but Clive Barnes hated it, since it was an old-fashioned score and he had been transformed by Hair.  The leading lady won the Tony, despite a 32 performance run.

Half a Sixpence was actually a hit, running 15 months and making its investment back in 1966.  Multiple show-stopping numbers, a delightful score, and IMO it has been pretty much forgotten this side of the pond.  An updated version opened in London 5 - 6 years ago and got good reviews (especially for newcomer Charlie Stemp), but I do not believe it was a financial success, and it never travelled here.  I was 16 when I saw this and remember being in total bliss.

Over Here.  I don't know if this has been as forgotten as some of the other shows on my list -- it ran almost a year and starred the Andrews Sisters, so it got a lot of publicity at the time.  I loved this show so much that I saw it 5 times in 10 months, and I did not have the disposaable income I would later have.

 I also thought that 70 Girls! 70 was wonderful.

 

 

Updated On: 1/18/21 at 04:26 PM

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 1/18/21 at 4:35pm

StardustsChild said: "g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "StardustsChild said: "What shows from the footnotes of theatre history have a special place in your heart?
I've been taking a lot of pleasure in introducing my friends to Dance of the Vampires over quarantine - it is a campy chaotic mess, but it makes me laugh harder than almost any well written comedy these days."
Have you seen the European version?"

I adore Tanz der Vampire! My master's thesis was on Vampires in Musical Theatre, so I am very steeped in all things fanged."

A master's thesis? Really? Hot damn. Drop me a DM, we gotta talk more about this.

[Lot666]

Posted: 1/20/21 at 1:32pm

The Woman in White

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/21/21 at 6:04pm

Superman,High Spirits and any Wildhorn show

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 1/23/21 at 10:02am

I don't think Little Women counts as forgotten, given its life in regional and school productions, but the Broadway production will always be special to me. I was 12, it was 2005, and I saw it three times. It was the show that really started my interest in musical theatre.

[ARTc3]

Posted: 1/25/21 at 5:00pm

I loved, A History of the American Film. We're In a Salad, has to be the funniest musical number ever written. Unfortunately, the show was extremely short lived and I am doubtful that it will ever be revived. None-the-less, I miss it immensely.

[Owen22]

Posted: 1/26/21 at 2:54pm

RADIANT BABY, the musical about Keith Haring, actually never made it to Broadway but with the direction of the Public's George C Wolfe I'm sure it was meant to. I'd be happy for a cast album.

[VivianDarkbloom2]

Posted: 1/27/21 at 4:31pm

Hey again. 

Love Darling of the Day, Zombie Prom and Goblin Market. But I think my faves that haven't been mentioned yet are "Lolita my Love" (it's a great score), Weird Romance (off-Broadway and not perfect but it has some great moments like "Stop and See Me" , and Side Show. Side Show did get a major revival, but it was not successful either time it ran on Broadway. 

[carousel94fan]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 9:19pm

"Freedom" from the musical SHENANDOAH (1975?) is wonderful, but I don't know much about the show itself. I've never heard anyone talk about it.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 9:47pm

“My Life with Albertine.”

That final song is beyond gorgeous