The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsSo, what are your favorite musicals...
This seminal American Art Form binging all that we have dragged to this nation from every bit of the world that wanted something more out of life and splashed it all across the stage.
I can't pick out my favorite, but I would have to narrow it down to Across the Universe, West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof. All three of these are built on traditions smacking into the quickening fast change that was propelling everything and anything right here in the US of A.
But I have more, A Chorus Line, for one, that captures the love of art and what we do for love whether it be personal or with your craft.
And there are so many others that I love almost as much as I love these three that I watch whenever they come on the cable. Cabaret, the first M rated movie I saw. My babysitter took me to see it on a saturday afternoon when I was 12.
Then there is Showboat with it's defining the American Musical welding story to song completely,
Jesus Christ Superstar, the first rock and roll event that I saw way back in 1970 blew me away.
Two years ago I saw In the Heights and just loved it.
Camelot which capture the spirit of the Kennedy Administration and then Man of La Mancha came along.
Cleveland has refurbished a whole block of old theaters that were this close to be demoed. There are four large halls and a couple of small venues that bring six Broadway traveling shows each year and a whole lot of other stuff. It really is a gem.
I am lucky. I was able to see 20-25 Broadway plays as well as 20 of Shakespeare's plays, the last being MacBeth which, I believe, was the first I saw way back in 1968. Tom Hanks got his start in Show Business here in Cleveland when did a summer internship at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Fest and since 1965, the company has performed one tragedy and one of the more whimsical shows.
I grew up loving the theater which is probably why I was drawn to the greatest show of all, politics.
Say what you want about Cleveland but we have so much here that is top notched live entertainment that most other cities of the same side would love to have.
If you are looking for a vacation surrounding the arts, coming to Cleveland would be a great place to start looking. Live theater, World Class Restaurants, Professional Sports including Roller Derby, great museums, one of the best Orchestras in the world, the theater district, a great amusement park just a couple hours up the coast of Lake Erie, the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame and the Polka Hall of Fame.
Well, that's my rant for the day...
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... which is totally out of character for me. I've now seen it 4-5 times and still love all of it.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)Best filmed musical since Paint Your Wagon...
Graybeard
(6,996 posts)All that you mentioned are on my list too. I put Sweeney Todd at the top along with Kiss Me Kate (not the movie so much but I saw a magical Broadway revival a few years ago.)
It's easy to disparage The Music Man or Annie Get Your Gun but if they are on TV I will watch them.
"Broadway songs" were such a marvelous art-form. Sorry to see them pretty much gone. 90% of what Frank Sinatra sang were 'Broadway tunes'.
talkingmime
(2,173 posts)In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)Joani
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WCGreen
(45,558 posts)Two Gene Kelley movies come to mind as well....
An American in Paris and Singing in the Rain...
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)oh and :http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1018&pid=320598
imo: you really really should ^^^ see ^^^ this. [img][/img]
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)winter is coming
(11,785 posts)memorable songs. I loved the film of "Company" from a year or two back where Stephen Colbert was one of the performers. Neil Patrick Harris did a great job there.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)But seeing Sir Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady was amazing. If I had to pick a favorite that would be it.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Some of us got to see it on the big screen again during the 50th anniversary theatrical release in November 2011, and I'd also gotten to see it at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood 10 years earlier when it was first re-mastered for that occasion to celebrate the 40th anniversary.
My one and only visit to Cleveland was to go to the '04 Vote for Change concert featuring Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, R.E.M., and Bright Eyes.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)Saw the play last year as the Broadway Touring shows stop in Cleveland every year...
WolverineDG
(22,298 posts)WolverineDG
(22,298 posts)HappyMe
(20,277 posts)My Fair Lady, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Sound of Music.
Sekhmets Daughter
(7,515 posts)Definitely one of my all time favorites! But to be honest the only musical that ever really left me cold was Miss Saigon...the helicopter was the only decent thing about it. Puccini did it much better!
lame54
(35,287 posts)NV Whino
(20,886 posts)Really dislike most of the newer stuff with people screaming into mics.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)reformist2
(9,841 posts)sheshe2
(83,747 posts)pokerfan
(27,677 posts)Fiddler On The Roof, Grease, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Chicago, A Hard Day's Night
raccoon
(31,110 posts)riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)Grease, and Mamma Mia.
In the theater - Lion King, Wicked, Book of Mormon, Cats, Ragtime and a Chorus Line.
I'll see your Cincinnati and raise you a Chicago for a fantastic place for a great vacation!
Taverner
(55,476 posts)WCGreen
(45,558 posts)Saw it again later with Ted Neeley.
Saw Godspell in High School..
ceile
(8,692 posts)CaliforniaPeggy
(149,595 posts)Also, Brigadoon... With its great love story and wonderful songs, it ranks up there for me. I've seen the movie which is amazing, and I also saw the play in college.
applegrove
(118,630 posts)femmocrat
(28,394 posts)I have seen most of them in movie version, though. Only a few on stage.
murielm99
(30,736 posts)I love Evita!
Helen Reddy
(998 posts)"he ran into my knife 10 times!"
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)LancetChick
(272 posts)Pick-a-little, talk-a-little, pick-a-little, talk-a-little
cheep cheep cheep
talk-a-lot, pick-a-little-more
nytemare
(10,888 posts)In no particular order.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)JC Superstar
Cats
Hair
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)The movie is different than the stage play the most noted was America was sung by the Shark Girls. The movie played that scene with more energy. Still, it was great to see.
As I said up in the thread that I saw the frst touring JCS concert with Ted Neeley in 1970. First rock/broadway show...
Over the years I think I have seen about 70-80 live shows including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, by Tom Stoppard. That was my first non Shakespeare play even though it revolved around Hamlet that I ever saw. I lived two blocks away from the every summer Great Lakes Shakespeare festival where Tom Hanks got his start in show biz....
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)Gary Oldman was great in the movie
JC Superstar--think I saw it with Ted Neeley also. We had front row seats. Incredible show. So was Hair--got to go backstage for that. All this was in Boston in the 70's.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)graywarrior
(59,440 posts)I think. I was stoned a lot back then.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)Iwillnevergiveup
(9,298 posts)would be my top 2, but then there's Phantom and The King and I. Oh yeah, Miss Saigon and My Fair Lady. WOW - there are a lot!
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)old King Arthur and the revival of Show Boat in the late 1990's...
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)That was back in the mid-'60s, and he was a hoot!
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)cyberswede
(26,117 posts)I made my 10 y.o. watch it with me when it was on TCM recently - she loved it.
I also like West Side Story, Hair, Mary Poppins, Tommy, The Wizard of Oz, & Willy Wonka.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,419 posts)A ton more I know and enjoy, but those three are special in my world
The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,419 posts)WCGreen
(45,558 posts)Did you ever catch Let it Ride...
If you haven't, you should catch it if you can...
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Absolutely love it.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)That was cool...
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)I saw it on Broadway in 1982 with Raul Julia starring. I was on a trip to NYC with the head of my federal agency, and he sprung for the tickets.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)opiate69
(10,129 posts)Knightraven
(268 posts)Great in English, better in German.
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)Sepcial mention to Harry Chapin's very short lived Night that made America Famous and Jersey Boys.
Today's musicals seem to have one thing in common-all have 2 big songs, and nothing else.
All the Andrew Lloyd Webber for instance. Les Mis for instance.
The musical Sunset Blvd.
And all of those seem to have another thing-the biggest song is in the first act, making the entire second act irrelevant.
Whereas the great musicals of the older days had great songs througout and different members of the cast singing them, not just one.
Paladin
(28,254 posts)...and about fifty others; hard to designate my favorites.
trackfan
(3,650 posts)Man of La Mancha; The Pajama Game; Evita; Fiddler; Annie; The Sound of Music.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)A professional troop was traveling to the college campuses. They were really good.
TrogL
(32,822 posts)I'm the "orchestra". Five manuals of synthesizers.
TrogL
(32,822 posts)WCGreen
(45,558 posts)Bali Hi is such a haunting song...
Bertha Venation
(21,484 posts)WCGreen
(45,558 posts)But it just didn't do it for me. I liked it, but I wasn't overwhelmed.
Phantom of the Opera was disappointing to me as well.
Shibainu
(23 posts)I found the soundtrack in the fairfax county library as a kid.it is hokey and one of my guilty pleasures.
DearHeart
(692 posts)Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Xanadu, The King and I, Grease, The Dolly Sisters (Betty Grable & Alice Fay), Bells Are Ringing (Dean Martin & Judy Holliday), Fame (1980 version), Flashdance, Footloose (1984 version), The Harvey Girls, Moulin Rouge, and De-Lovely. I could go on, but I won't.