I thought it might be fun to do decade-by-decade musical theatre “Top 10” lists and then put everyone’s lists through a points system and see what comes out tops. It’s a bit geeky, I guess, but it seems like it might be fun. We could do each decade over a certain period of time and then move on to the next.
Let’s begin with the decade which draws to a close this year.
Here is what you have to do:
- List your top ten musicals since 2000. You can use whatever criteria you wish to pick your top ten – your favourites, what you consider to be the best and so on. I don’t think we want to get tied up by semantics at this point. This is meant to be fun!
- Order your list from 1 to 10: 1 = your top musical of the decade and 10 = your 10th favourite/best musical of the decade. Your top musical will receive 10 points and your 10th favourite/best musical will receive 1 point. If you post an unranked list, your choices will all receive the same number of points in the final tally.
- You can be as diverse or exclusive in your choices as you wish to be – as long as you remain within the scope of stage musicals. See the list below for further guidelines in this regard.
- Feel free to discuss your choices if you like!
- I’ll close off the votes when replies slow down and then complete the tally, after which I’ll post the results in a new blog entry.
What counts and what doesn’t:
- Original stage musicals are valid. This does not include the entire spectrum of theatre with music and the following are excluded: revivals, even ones that are revisals; revues, even if the Tony Awards considered them for musical awards; opera that the Tony Awards considered for musical awards; ballet that the Tony Awards considered for musical awards; modern dance shows that claim to be musicals; concerts; song cycles; special theatrical events; cabaret; and performance art.
- Film musicals don’t count for this poll, but stage adaptations of film musicals that appeared on stage for the first time in this decade do.
- Jukebox musicals that have a narrative thrust – thus separating them from revues – count for the poll.
- If anything else comes up, I’ll handle it on a case by case basis.
Some suggestions for those who might find it useful:
Avenue Q, The Light in the Piazza, Urinetown, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Grey Gardens, In the Heights, The Last Five Years, Wicked, Hairspray, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Wild Party (both versions – and if you do list this show, please specify LaChiusa or Lippa), [title of show], Spamalot, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Spring Awakening, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Producers, Caroline, or Change, Aida, Xanadu, Billy Elliot, Seussical, Legally Blonde, Young Frankenstein, Curtains, Jersey Boys, Sweet Smell of Success, The Wedding Singer, The Full Monty, The Color Purple, Thou Shalt Not, See What I Wanna See, Little Fish, A Man of No Importance, Bernarda Alba, Closer to Heaven, The Pirate Queen, Little Women, Wise Guys/Bounce/Road Show, High School Musical.
Shows that do not count for this poll:
Movin’ Out (arguably, it’s a dance show), The Frogs (it’s a “revisal”) and Elegies (song cycle). I’m sure this list will grow…
Have fun!
Musical Cyberspace 
I cheated. I did 13.
My personal favorites, not what I consider the “best” by any means.
In no particular order…
Those are really the only ones I can judge. I’ve heard nothing of Grey Gardens, In The Heights, Light in the Piazza, The Wild Party, Thoroughly Modern Millie – and I hate Spring Awakening and Legally Blonde.
In no particular order:
Yeah, so that’s 11.
Definitive top 10 voted by some of my most respected fellow actors, critic friends and dramaturgy friends:
And Jon, none of that Scott Alan stuff will ever reach fruition. He’s working on like 3829047 musicals? He should just stick to making his CDs.
This is officially not easy.
Easily could have made it: Light in the Piazza, Urinetown, The Drowsy Chaperone, [title of show], Billy Elliot, The Full Monty.
I was going to say it wasn’t that difficult – then I rearranged the bottom half of the list!
No order. I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few.
Ugh… Caroline, or Change should be there. And I can’t in good conscience put Bounce/Road Show on here – quite yet anyway – but it gets an honourable mention along with Billy Eliot, Hairspray, Xanadu, Urinetown and depending on my mood The Woman in White.
Here’s my list:
and, with regrets: