Intrigue

I read some quotes today of a discussion involvin Jesse Green (moderator), Nora Ephron (author), Frank Rich (columnist), Jonathan Tunick (orchestrator and EGOT winner) and George C. Wolfe (director) of which are the greatest musicals. Very interesting discussion. The results are a three-way tie for first place--Guys and Dolls, Gypsy and Sweeney Todd. Followed by The King and I and then West Side Story. The rest of the top ten are Carousel, Porgy and Bess, Show Boat, A Chorus Line, and Sunday in the Park. Anyway, here are the quotes:

"A musical is what happens when text collides with motion collides with song collides with spectacle. And spectacle can be the human heart; it doesn’t necessarily have to be a helicopter crashing. You can go see ballet in its purity; you can go to a recital to hear music by itself. But what the American musical does so thrillingly is bastardize these forms into something that is exhilarating and compelling and deeply moving."

"I also respond when two worlds that don’t belong together end up together. That’s why the musical could only have been born here: New York is all these little countries sharing a city. All the different rhythms of those different communities is what made the American musical possible."

Granted, I am not as sophisticated as these people and am not as well versed (aka seen the shows), but I have a top ten that is completely biased, though I do have some that align.

Sweeney Todd, Carousel, A Little Night Music, Grey Gardens, See What I Wanna See, Wild Party, Sunset Boulevard, Dear World, Gypsy and Sunday in the Park with George