1. Cabaret

Cabaret is probably the pinnacle of 1960s musical theatre and it certainly is the show that most clearly characterises the sense of transformation that was taking place in the form at the time. It’s true that the show isn’t perfect – John Kander and Fred Ebb’s title song doesn’t quite capture the irony it is trying to communicate on its own terms and Cliff’s first act song spot has never really quite hit the nail on the head – but its a great example of how a fantastic overall concept and good direction can overcome flaws such as these. And of course, it is that concept and Harold Prince’s direction that epitomized the shift that was being made in musical theatre, which would bloom fully in Prince’s collaborations with Stephen Sondheim in the 1970s. The show of course has been re-conceived twice on a major scale, once for the film version (which switched up the nationalities of the two leads, ditched the subplot involving Herr Schultz and Fräulein Schneider along with half of the score and restored the narrative about Fritz and Natalia that had been a part of the play and film, I Am a Camera, which was based on the same source material) and once again for a revival version that started its life at the Donmar Warehouse in 1993 (in which nips and tucks were made to the original show and songs from the film were included to varying degrees of success). Other variations in the song stack appear from production to production. It’s another of those shows, like Show Boat and Camelot, that seems to shift in form every time it is produced. But at the heart of it all is a show that tells a cracking good story with a fantastic score, one that – when a production gets it right, is simultaneously vastly entertaining and deeply disturbing.

I hope you enjoyed reading through this list of six great musicals from the 1960s. What are some of your favourites? Share your thoughts using the comments box below. – DF