Musicals and Songs by others

[fjlumia]

In other places the group has discussed their favorite Sondheim musicals. What about other musicals?  What about songs from other shows?  What are your favorites?
If I had to partially list my favorite musicals; they would include in no particular order:
 
The Book of Mormon
Hamilton
My Fair Lady
1776
Guys and Dolls
Kiss Me, Kate
South Pacific
Carousel
 
I love the King and I but am not sure is really a great musical.  I hate the Sound of Music.  I complain that it raises my blood sugar.  I also can't believe that Mary Martin won the Tony over Ethel Merman's Madame Rose!
 
I saw Next to Normal which was a fascinating musical but I was depressed for 2 days afterward.
 
The only Lloyd-Weber show I liked was Sunset Blvd.  I saw both Close and Buckley play Norma.  I thought Ms. Buckley was better as her Norma was fragile and vulnerable.  John Barrowman played Joe opposite her and almost stole the show.
 
As to favorite songs, I would have to include (again a partial list in no order)
 
Joey—The Most Happy Fella
They Call the Wind Maria—Paint your Wagon
                                   (Both of these are reminiscent of Johanna, which may influence me)
The Soliloquy—Carousel.  (I sang this on my way home after my daughter was born)
You've Got to Be Carefully Taught—South Pacific
Luck be a Lady, Tonight and Sit Down You're, Rocking the Boat—Guys and Dolls
Just about anything that Prof. Higgins sings in My Fair Lady
 

I reserve the right to add to anything here.

[valmont]

1. Bernarda Alba (LaChiusa) -- elegant and profoundly beautiful
2. The Wild Party (LaChiusa) -- endlessly energetic, witty, harrowing, and sad
3. Giant (LaChiusa) -- sublime homage to the great composers of the American West
4. The Light in the Piazza (Guettel) -- devastating and lovely
5. My Life With Albertine (Gordon) -- haunting, tour-de-force pastiche of the belle epoque
6. Nine (Yeston) -- I mean just listen
7. Titanic (Yeston) -- everything from the early 20th century mashed up in a divine blender
8. She Loves Me (Bock/Harnick) -- easily the best musical of the 1960's
9. The Golden Apple (Moross/LaTouche) -- witty, audacious, lovely
10. War Paint (Frankel/Korie) -- elegant and witty

After Sondheim, the best lyricist working today is Michael Korie. For wit, expression, and structure, his work is exemplary.  After Sondheim, the best composer working today is LaChiusa.  Every one of his scores is a rock-solid architecture, exquisitely crafted and intricately unified in a way that few of this generation even attempt.

[Leighton]

Can I add, to Valmont's excellent list, 'Caroline, or Change', 'The Robber Bridegroom', and 'Parade'

[Chris L]

A few favorites:

For Andrew Lloyd Webber shows, I'd have to go with Jesus Christ Superstar, which has been a favorite of mine since the concept album came out and a friend of mine mounted a small college production with the actors dancing and miming to the recording. (This worked a lot better than you'd imagine.) I wish Hal Prince had never pushed Lloyd Webber away from rock musicals and toward more traditional Broadway scores, because I think rock/pop is where he and Rice excelled (though I might like Evita or Sunset Boulevard if I ever saw either of them).

I love Promises, Promises (as I've mentioned elsewhere) because it hit me at a point in my life when I was getting heavily involved with community theater and, God, I wanted to play the Jerry Orbach role. I saw the original production with Orbach and Michael Bennett's choreography and it was one of the best nights at the theater I've ever had. I also love the Bacharach score, though I have some issues with Hal David's lyrics. David excelled at torch songs and was shaky whenever he moved out of that niche.

Little Me -- I was so obsessed with this show at the age of 14 that I went to see it in summer stock four nights in a row. I would have kept going forever, but it only had a one week run.

Camelot -- The score for this show was my second favorite when I was a teenager, second only to West Side Story. I still love it, though the show itself is problematic. @AmyG and I saw a production at the Pasadena Playhouse eight years ago where director David Lee (co-creator of the TV show Frasier) managed to squeeze in the entire score, but unfortunately it required him to throw out much of the book, because the show as originally written was much too long to be shown in full, even in the original Broadway production.

See What I Wanna See -- My favorite of LaChiusa's shows. Amy and I saw a terrific production at the Blank, a local LA theater company that's done quite a few of LaChiusa's shows.

The Music Man -- The third musical I ever saw, when I was 10 years old, and the first that was truly great. I still think Willson's score is wonderful.

Honorable mentions for Fun Home and Hamilton, which Amy and I saw on our visit to New York last year. I'm sure there are plenty of others I'm forgetting that deserve mention as well -- Guys and Dolls, for instance.

[fjlumia]

interesting collection of musicals listed.

I saw Camelot just before the original cast moved to London. I like the music. Saw it again with Burton but he was getting too old to play Arthur.

Saw Little Me with Sid Caesar and again withe Martin Short. The original had a great dance number (I've got your number).  Baryshnikov had the original dancer (Swen Swenson?) teach him the number for a special he did. The second version did not do the dance number.

I liked Nine with Raul Julia.  The movie was awful.  The show has good music.  
Titanic was interesting and better than that movie
I wish I got to see Golden Apple
War Paint was fun to see the two stars and the production and costumes were exquisite.  Saw Ms. Ebersole sing Send in the Clowns on a Feinstein special.  She would be a great Desiree especially if they could get LuPone to play Madame Armfeldt.  Would be absolutely great!

I saw Light in the Piazza with Kelly O'Hara and Victoria Page but I was not impressed.  My wife was bored by it.

Another show I wish I had seen was Ragtime with the original cast.

Saw both productions of Falsettos.  The recent revival was so much better than the original that it almost was a different show.  The 4 principals received Tony nominations. Saw the original because Mandy was playing Marvin.  

[Leighton]

I love Promises, Promises (as I've mentioned elsewhere) because it hit me at a point in my life when I was getting heavily involved with community theater and, God, I wanted to play the Jerry Orbach role. I saw the original production with Orbach and Michael Bennett's choreography and it was one of the best night's at the theater I've ever had. I also love the Bacharach score, though I have some issues with Hal David's lyrics. David excelled at torch songs and was shaky whenever he moved out of that niche.

Yes, this!  Also, In Trousers I love!

[fjlumia]

Have to comment on Jesus Christ, Superstar.  We saw it in the early 1970's at a dinner theater with a non-professional cast.  There were no frills.  It was wonderful.  My wife considers it a must see during Easter weekend, as a religious experience.  We can usually find a complete version on youtube.