Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
TheTriangularWater
Swing Joined: 1/9/23
#1Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/9/23 at 8:41pm
I'm not sure whether this topic has been brought up before, but I was thinking about how few musicals have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and I was wondering if there are any musicals that you guys think should've won the Pulitzer? (Even if they weren't shortlisted)
I personally think that Company does such a good job analyzing relationships that I think it is worthy of at least being a finalist.
#3Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/9/23 at 8:55pm
Caroline, or Change is the one that most obviously stands out to me as something that feels like a Pulitzer winner.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#4Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/9/23 at 9:19pm
I would've given it to Fun Home over The Flick, but maybe the fact that Fun Home was an a adaptation was a bit of a demerit (I realize that adaptations have won before, but I think they prefer to give it to original works)
I agree Company is a good choice. Looks like it lost to No Place to Be Somebody, which was notably the first award to go to a Black playwright, and also the first Off-Broadway play to win. So I guess it's hard to begrudge those significant milestones, though I haven't read or seen the play, personally.
Follies, maybe? I'm not familiar with the play that won that year. ("The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds"
I know it's not about "american life," and also an adaptation, but I think Fiddler on the Roof should've been in the mix. And that was eligible for 1964? No Pulitzer was even given that year.
The Scottsboro Boys seems like another contender, which interestingly was eligible in the same year as Next to Normal - unless they waited for the Bway run to submit for eligibility, in which case it would've been eligible the following year, when Clybourne Park won. I definitely would've given it to Scottsboro Boys over Clybourne Park, personally.
Also, preemptively: Oratorio For Living Things. I assume it's not going to win for 2022, but I think it should.
Runaways comes to mind - it would've been eligible the year that Gin Game won. I haven't read or seen Gin Game (I skipped the recent revival), so I guess I can't speak to whether it was deserved or not.
And I agree about Caroline or Change- depending on when they submitted, I guess it would've been eligible in either 2003 (Anna and the Tropics) or 2004 (I Am My Own Wife)
MaraczekDeliveryBoy
Swing Joined: 12/18/22
#5Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/9/23 at 9:31pm
I'm curious about The Pulitzer winner being about"American life." Is that really how they judge it? I am My Own Wife has nothing to do with American life. The entire play takes place in Berlin.
#6Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/9/23 at 9:35pm
also, West Side Story.
And I think thematically/conceptually Merrily We Roll Along feels like it could be a Pulitzer winner though the writing is no where near the level required IMO.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#7Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/9/23 at 9:38pm
I disagree with Company. There's something so stilted with the writing.
I think Fun Home, for me. What a gorgeous piece of theater. And Caroline and Fiddler are pretty masterful.
inception
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/13
#8Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/9/23 at 10:45pm
JoeW4 said: "
Follies, maybe? I'm not familiar with the play that won that year. ("The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds"
If you can track down the 1972 film version of this that Paul Newman made starring Joanne Woodward & their daughters... wow it's just heartbreaking. Such a realistic portrayal of a totally dysfunctional family. I can definitely see how it won the Pulitzer. Live in the theatre it must have just had people on the edge of their seats.
...
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#9Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/9/23 at 11:29pm
ASSASSINS feels like the most logical other Sondheim musical that could have won, but that was kind of under appreciated in its time.
#10Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/9/23 at 11:52pm
Caroline or Change
Just give the world Love.
#11Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/10/23 at 6:02am
Agreed about Fun Home and Caroline, or Change.
Does anyone think there are any musical comedies that are Pulitzer-worthy? The only one that comes to mind for me is The Drowsy Chaperone (weirdly there was no drama Prize awarded in 2006).
I could use a prince to save me from my prince.
Islander_fan
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/25/14
#12Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/10/23 at 8:33am
JanMaxwellsBag said: "Agreed about Fun Home and Caroline, or Change.
Does anyone think there are any musical comedies that are Pulitzer-worthy? The only one that comes to mind for me is The Drowsy Chaperone (weirdly there was no drama Prize awarded in 2006)."
Well, How to Succeed in Business did win the Pulitzer and that one is considered a musical comedy.
#13Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/10/23 at 8:48am
Islander_fan said: "JanMaxwellsBag said: "Agreed about Fun Home and Caroline, or Change.
Does anyone think there are any musical comedies that are Pulitzer-worthy? The only one that comes to mind for me is The Drowsy Chaperone (weirdly there was no drama Prize awarded in 2006)."
Well, How to Succeed in Business did win the Pulitzer and that one is considered a musical comedy. "
I did know that, which makes it all the more interesting that it’s the only traditional comedy in an already small group of musicals.
I could use a prince to save me from my prince.
#14Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/10/23 at 11:33am
Among Loesser's works, I would have preferred a Pulitzer for The Most Happy Fella over either How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (which won) or Guys and Dolls (which would have won but not for political nonsense). I acknowledge that the former show isn't quite as focused specifically on the American experience as the latter two, but it seems much more timeless to me, and might be the truest musical drama in the Broadway canon.
#15Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/10/23 at 11:55am
HADESTOWN is deserving of the award
BCfitasafiddle
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/25/20
#16Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/10/23 at 12:53pm
Fun Home and Caroline, Or Change. Agree 100%.
#17Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/10/23 at 12:56pm
hak5 said: "HADESTOWN is deserving of the award"
No matter how you slice it Hadestown does not reflect American life...its a modern adaptation of a Greek myth, that while musically is influenced by American folk music and has a New Orleans feel, its setting is ambiguous. Therefore Hadestown does not meet the basic requirement for the award.
#18Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/10/23 at 3:31pm
bdn223 said: "hak5 said: "HADESTOWN is deserving of the award"
No matter how you slice it Hadestown does not reflect American life...its a modern adaptation of a Greek myth, that while musically is influenced by American folk music and has a New Orleans feel, its setting is ambiguous. Therefore Hadestown does not meet the basic requirement for the award."
Respectfully, I’ve gotta disagree with you there, on a couple of fronts.
Firstly, the “American life” portion isn’t a requirement. The exact words on the Pulitzer website are: “For a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life.” And there’s historical precedent for them going against both of those preferential criteria.
Secondly, the literal setting of a show doesn’t necessarily indicate whether or not it “deals with” American life. Hadestown makes no attempt to hide its allegories for American politics, and American industrialization, as well as a sense of being broken, divided, and hopeless – which resonate deeply with where America is right now.
Possibly also worth comparing it to Gospel at Colonus – which was a finalist for the Pulitzer back in 1985 – a musical adaptation of the Greek story of Oedipus at Colonus, utilizing the setting of a Black pendacostal church, with Gospel music. Much in the same way that Hadestown uses a New Orleans Jazz setting to re-sell an Ancient Greek story.
#19Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/10/23 at 4:16pm
Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk absolutely should have won instead of Rent.
"What- and quit show business?" - the guy shoveling elephant shit at the circus.
Islander_fan
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/25/14
#20Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/10/23 at 5:35pm
kdogg36 said: "Among Loesser's works, I would have preferred a Pulitzer forThe Most Happy Fellaover eitherHow to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying(which won) orGuys and Dolls(which would have won but not for political nonsense). I acknowledge that the former show isn't quite as focused specifically on the American experience as the latter two, but it seems much more timeless to me, and might be the truest musical drama in the Broadway canon."
I mean I love Loesser’s work. But, I think that what makes How to Succeed special (and the reason it won the Pulitzer) was due to the fact that the show is an amazingly well written satire of corporate America.
robbie_731
Stand-by Joined: 12/15/06
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#22Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/10/23 at 10:04pm
hak5 said: "HADESTOWN is deserving of the award"
Hadestown has some great, beautiful moments, but then it has some terrible/forgetful songs. I always felt like the show stalls out after "Wait for Me" - which, to me, should have ended Act 1, but then we get this other song. And then the act 2 opener song is kind of a dud. Then it finally clicks back into place.
#25Musicals that should've won the Pulitzer
Posted: 1/11/23 at 7:03pm
With all due respect, I think Urinetown is a piss poor choice.
To seek revenge may lead to hell yet everyone does it but seldom as well......
