So, I mostly missed the last decade of musical theater (Broadway, off-Broadway, West End, whatever). Here's my short list of S/D; what else should be added?
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Adding Machine. Dense, layered, moving, and relentless, with outstanding performances and heroic sound engineering.
Avenue Q. Bright, Broadway-poppy, and funny as hell. Works both as an affectionate homage to Sesame Street, and as a stinging rebuke to Rent.
Urinetown. A knowing and loving evisceration of musical-theater conventions, married to a bonkers plot and a wide-ranging pastiche of music styles.
A Year with Frog and Toad. Probably the best musical ever for young children. Certainly the only musical for children-- possibly the only music for children, period-- that doesn’t make me want to claw my own face off.
Destroy:
Wicked. Smug, self-important, humorless, and responsible for shaping the aspirations of so many bad American Idol contestants.
― Dodo Lurker (Slim and Slam), Friday, 30 July 2010 02:26 (fifteen years ago)
I have nothing to add to this thread, but I love that it exists.
― jaymc, Friday, 30 July 2010 03:29 (fifteen years ago)
And I still haven't seen, nor heard the cast recordings of, four of the most acclaimed shows of the decade: The Light in the Piazza, Grey Gardens, Spring Awakening, and Next to Normal. Any feedback on those?
― Dodo Lurker (Slim and Slam), Friday, 30 July 2010 12:41 (fifteen years ago)
We Will Rock You - a pox on humanity so horrendous that it made me dislike Queen for about 6 months
― reallysmoothmusic (Jamie_ATP), Friday, 30 July 2010 13:22 (fifteen years ago)
...except you can't use any of Paul Simon's songs in it. Thaaaaaaat's a problem.
Plus: that's a movie musical concept. We're talking about the stage here, people! (And the cast recordings.)
― Dodo Lurker (Slim and Slam), Thursday, 5 August 2010 17:29 (fifteen years ago)
Search: Caroline, or Change
Grey Gardens is well put together, but the songs are nothing special.
― 2 + 2 is vah-gi-nah (Eric H.), Thursday, 5 August 2010 17:32 (fifteen years ago)