Musical Theatre Funon

[Julian2]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 8:14pm

Ok, I recently I have been working on a *fun, non-official* canon for Musical Theatre, here it is.

1900’s
Babes in Toyland
-
Little Johnny Jones

1910’s
The Passing Show
-
George White’s Scandals

1920’s
Ziegfeld Follies of 1919
-
Sally
Shuffle Along
-
Garrick Gaieties
-
No No Nanette
-
Showboat
Good News!

1930’s
Girl Crazy
-
Of Thee I Sing
-
Gay Divorce
The Threepenny Opera
-
Porgy and Bess
On Your Toes

1940’s
Du Barry Was a Lady
-
Pal Joey
-
Oklahoma!
-
On the Town
Carousel
-
Annie Get Your Gun
-
Brigadoon
Finian’s Rainbow
-
Kiss Me Kate

1950’s
South Pacific
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
-
Guys and Dolls
-
The King and I
-
Wonderful Town
-
Kismet
The Boy Friend
-
The Pajama Game
Damn Yankees
-
My Fair Lady
The Most Happy Fella
-
Lil’ Abner
Candide
-
The Music Man
West Side Story
-
Gypsy

1960’s
The Sound of Music
Fiorello
Once Upon a Mattress
Bye Bye Birdie
-
Camelot
-
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
-
Oliver!
Stop the World - I Want to Get Off
-
Hello Dolly!
Funny Girl
-
Fiddler on the Roof
-
Man of La Mancha
Sweet Charity
Mame
-
Cabaret
-
Hair
1776

1970’s
Company
-
Follies
Grease
You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown
Jesus Christ Superstar
-
Pippin
A Little Night Music
-
Mack and Mabel
The Wiz
-
A Chorus Line
Chicago
-
Godspell
Annie
-
Sweeney Todd
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
-
Ain't Misbehavin'

1980’s
Evita
-
42nd Street
Merrily We Roll Along
-
Dreamgirls
Nine
-
Cats
-
La Cage Aux Folles
Sunday in the Park with George
-
Big River
-
Les Miserables
-
Into the Woods
The Phantom of the Opera

1990’s
Grand Hotel
City of Angels
-
The Secret Garden
Once On This Island
Miss Siagon
-
Falsettos
-
Kiss of the Spider Woman
-
Passion
Beauty and the Beast
-
Sunset Boulevard
-
Rent
-
Titanic
Jekyll and Hyde
-
Ragtime
The Lion King
Side Show
-
Parade

2000’s
The Wild Party (LaC)
The Wild Party (L)
Aida
-
The Full Monty
The Producers
Seussical
-
Urinetown
Thoroughly Modern Millie
-
Hairspray
-
Avenue Q
Wicked
Caroline, or Change
-
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
The Light in the Piazza
The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee
Spamalot
-
The Drowsy Chaperone
Jersey Boys
-
Grey Gardens
Mary Poppins
Spring Awakeing

Off-Broadway
Evil Dead
The Fantasticks
I Love You, Your Perfect, Now Change
The Last 5 Years
Children of Eden
Assassins
Bat Boy
Little Shop of Horrors

London
Honk!
Blood Brothers
Starlight Express
Blitz!
Salad Days

Movie
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
The Wizard of Oz
Doctor Doolittle
Gigi
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Singin’ in the Rain
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Anastasia
Most Disney Fare

International
Der Gloken Von Notre Dame
Dance of the Vampires
Elizabeth
Romeo and Juliet

Gilbert & Sullivan
H. M. S. Pinafore
The Pirates of Penzance

Updated On: 12/4/06 at 08:14 PM

[kjklo]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 8:43pm

A very quick glance tells me that you forgot Candide and West Side Story.

[kjklo]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 8:52pm

And, sorry, the movie category needs to be either scrapped or completely revamped.

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 9:06pm

I am against canon building on principle, because it only really serves two purposes

1) To keep things IN the canon
2) To keep other things OUT of the canon

It serves, in my opinion, no other purpose.

[kjklo]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 9:14pm

It's a consensus of what is sacred. It's very communal, so it's basically antithetical to individual taste. In a way, a canon provides a means to better assert your own eccentricities by providing a standard to rebel against.

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 9:18pm

That word 'sacred' really bothers me. I see your point, but I think it does more to harm the genre than help.

Just my opinion.

Christopher Smalls writes about the evils of canon building in his book "Musicking"

[kjklo]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 9:23pm

Sounds interesting. I'll have to read it.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 9:34pm

Whether or not the term "canon" should be used, I do think it is useful to compile such lists for some of the younger members of this board, as well as others who have just gotten interested in musical theatre, so that they have a sort of guide to some of the worthwhile and important musicals of the past, as they begin to explore the genre. Anyone with a working knowledge of the history of music theatre has some familiarity with the shows listed here (plus a few others) due to their iconic nature to one degree or another, so I don't see any harm in putting together such lists, in addition to recommending various books and cast albums and shows to attend to help out those who have an interest in the subject.

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 9:44pm

I agree Margo. What I love so much about this board is the willingness of people to reccomend shows to study, or books to read. As someone who is young and wants to know everything, it's nice to be given some direction.

[Julian2]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 10:02pm

Does anyone else notice something I'm missing? Or perhaps a show you find to be debatable.

[kjklo]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 10:28pm

First two missing shows that come to mind now are Street Scene and Pacific Overtures.

[Julian2]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 10:30pm

I didn't really feel either of those were preformed or well known enough to make the list.

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 10:45pm

This is exactly my point,

Street Scene and Pacific Overtures were not popular enough or performed enough to be included on this list.

Do you see how this perpetuates itself? What for some people is alist of good pieces is obviously a popularity contest, where pieces are rated on how well known they are rather than how good they are.

That's the last thing I'll say on the subject, but it goes to show how these lists can be more hurtful to the genre than helpful

[kjklo]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 10:47pm

Any Broadway show that's now performed and recorded by opera companies seems pretty canonical to me. Which reminds me, you also forgot The Most Happy Fella.

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 10:47pm

I'm just curious as to the reasons you included The Full Monty, The Producers, Spamalot, and Mary Poppins. Not that I don't like them, but I'm just wondering why you would put them in the canon.

Updated On: 12/3/06 at 10:47 PM

Posted: 12/3/06 at 10:53pm

Yep. If it's to educate the young, I'd drop the last decade completely. Who knows what will stand the test of time? As much as I enjoy it, it pains me to see Spelling Bee enshrined with Sweeney Todd. And if you're going to include a flawed flop like Mack & Mabel, toss in Merrily, too.

[kjklo]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 11:10pm

Yeah, agreed, the heavy emphasis on recent shows is a fatal flaw.

[Julian2]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 11:47pm

You guys are taking this all far to seriously. This is not a published work, this isn't going into text books. This was a list I made because I love organizing things, and as a Broadway fix. I posted it for fun, and to debate what's on there, for fun.

Do you see how this perpetuates itself? What for some people is alist of good pieces is obviously a popularity contest, where pieces are rated on how well known they are rather than how good they are.

Like I said, its for fun, NOTHING SERIOUS. Its a list of important pieces, not all of the good pieces of musical theatre ever written are on here. Its a list of the pieces that in our community our regularly discussed, preformed, and idolized. Of course there are other good pieces, but that dosen't mean all of them fall into the categories above.

It's for fun.

Yeah, I admit the last decade or two is a little off, the problem of a lack of hindsight is something hard to overcome. The peices there are kindof more things that could be important. I left it on there for completeness and because it was for fun and no deep thinking was required.

Spamalot; I fought putting it on their for a while, but today none of my reasons were abunduntly clear in my mind. I was weak.

Merrily; As opposed to Mack and Mabel, Merrily really isn't tried again, whereas Mack and Mabel is a show everyone is constantly trying to revamp.

The Full Monty; I felt it met my criteria for the most part, but like most from this decade, we shall have to see.

The Producers; 12 Tony's, and very popular.

Mary Poppins; I think its going to go the way of Beauty and the Beast, run for awhile, and become a popular community show.

The Most Happy Fella; Going to have to think about that one, but your right, it is still preformed.

I think my 1900-1989 list works pretty well, and 1990's are ok, and the 2000's are more of a canidate list. I am more that happy to pontificate these things with you, as long as you realize its for fun. Its nothing official, its a conversation piece. If you want to discuss the +/-'s of official canons, start a new thread.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 12:06am

"Merrily; As opposed to Mack and Mabel, Merrily really isn't tried again, whereas Mack and Mabel is a show everyone is constantly trying to revamp. "

Are you kidding??? Merrily has been reworked at La Jolla, at the York Theatre off- broadway, in London... a revamped version was seen at the Kennedy Center... Sondheim and Furth are always revisiting the material at the insistence of many theaters. Merrily is well known for being "a show everyone is constantly trying to revamp"... more so than Mack and Mabel, I believe. Where did you get your info from?

[kjklo]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 12:11am

Oh, I agree, it's a great idea and a lot of fun, but you have to realize that if you're going to use the term "canon" then it automatically becomes much more serious than just a list of favorites. After all, "canon" originated with the Bible and the Catholic Mass (I believe), so it's meant to represent a specially ordained set of works. Since then, it's usually defined to mean a body of the absolute classics, as agreed upon by the historical consensus of experts and scholars in the field. That concept in itself is now controversial and certainly not universally accepted (see Fenchurch). At any rate, it's a neat idea to bring up, and does provoke a lot of great suggestions.

[Julian2]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 12:15am

Where did you get your info from?

From reading this board and other sites, always learning more, thank you for the info.

Oh, I agree, it's a great idea and a lot of fun, but you have to realize that if you're going to use the term "canon" then it automatically becomes much more serious than just a list of favorites.

Yeah, didn't realize it was such a touchy subject.
*Goes off to change the title*

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 12:17am

Didn't mean to snap about Merrily, wow I was really a drama queen

[kjklo]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 12:22am

HaHa! Don't worry about it Julian. It's actually a great thread idea. Much better than most.

[musicallover2008]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 1:29am

Thanks for compiling this list. I think it could be very useful and would be a good Idea for a permanent addition to the site if all the musicals of each year were added.

[Julian2]

Posted: 12/4/06 at 1:39am

One thing I have been wondering is the practical popularity of Side Show, a recent thread seemed to have a lot of Side Show productions stories, and that was why I put it on the list, but how often is it actually done/what do people think of it?