The New Classics: Stage. I've commented on the ones I'm not like "huh, what is this?"
50. Chess
Oh no. There are so many better musicals to choose.
49. Topdog/Underdog
48. Fool for Love
47. Burn This
46. Rabbit Hole
It's a great play, but I wonder if I'd like it if Cynthia Nixon hadn't been so amazing.
45. Sunday in the Park with George
Well, it's Sondheim. Of course I love it.
44. Wit
I only saw it on HBO, but it was fantastic there.
43. Spring Awakening
It's neither THE GREATEST THING TO EVER HIT BROADWAY!!!! nor a piece of overrated crap. It's just a good musical. It deserved Best Musical last year, but that's because the nominees were totally below average. I don't mind it being here. At least it tries to be daring and different.
42. subUrbia
41. Cirque de Soleil: O
40. Fires in the Mirror
39. Grey Gardens
Way overrated. Not that great.
38. Noises Off
37. This Is Our Youth
36. The Substance of Fire
35. Stomp
A ton of fun.
34. Brighton Beach Memoirs
Eh... we did this at least three times in high school in some way (as a lab show, as a mainstage, and in my drama class). I'm not that crazy about it, probably because every time we did it the guy who played the lead, though a different person every time, was a smug fuck who I wanted to punch in the face. Wow, that was angry!
33. Hairspray
I love it. It's just one giant bundle of fun.
32. Prelude to a Kiss
31. Three Tall Women
30. City of Angels
It's very underrated ("You're Nothing Without Me" is one of the most spectacular showtunes ever written), but I don't think it belongs so high.
29. The Piano Lesson
28. Speed-the-Plow
27. La Cage aux Folles
Meh. I'm still bitter about Jerry Hermann insulting Sondheim when he won with this.
26. Dinner with Friends
It's quite good. I feel like I need a drama teacher to walk me through all the subtext and story arcs and whatever, though.
25. Falsettos
Oh God, Falsettos is so incredibly beautiful. One of my favorites.
24. Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk
23. M. Butterfly
22. Into the Woods
Again: Sondheim. Of course I love it. That second act is easily one of the most twisted things ever written in theater, and it's so great.
21. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
I hated the movie - it was a mess - but the show itself is glorious and campy fun.
20. Three Days of Rain
The play's really not that great, Julia or not...
19. Six Degrees of Separation
18. Elaine Stritch at Liberty
17. Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de la Lune
16. Wicked
I despise Wicked so, so much. The music and lyrics, "Defying Gravity" aside, are terrible. Words can't decide how happy I am that it lost Best Musical.
15. Les Miserables
I know Les Miz is schlocky crap, but I don't even care. It's my unabashed favorite musical, and one that's influenced my very life in many, many ways. I love it and can't listen to it without crying hysterically. It's just... it's special to me, you know?
14. Frost/Nixon
13. The Lion King
Back before Disney was debatably ruining Broadway, The Lion King existed. And oh my God, it was simply breathtaking. The amount of imagination and sheer wonder that went into it is simply amazing. The other Disney stuff on Broadway can die, but this is just...amazing.
12. The Phantom of the Opera
Cheesefest, but at least the music is kind of pretty and it's nice to look at. In terms of the BIG musicals, it should be obvious which one I prefer. That said, at least it beat Cats for longest-running musical.
11. The Coast of Utopia
10. The Producers
The original cast was quite literally one of the funniest things I've ever seen. That shitty movie (the 2005 one, not the original 1968 one which is amazing) has tainted my thoughts on it, but it's still so, so funny. That said, I'm not sure if it's the cast or the actual material.
9. The Heidi Chronicles
I hate most things feminist, but The Heidi Chronicles is a terrific play.
8. Avenue Q
My favorite musical of the 2000s, bar none. And it's not even close with anything else (well, okay, Urinetown).
7. Glengarry Glen Ross
Such a great play.
6. Fences
This one, too. I cried like a little bitch.
5. Jersey Boys
I don't think it should be this high, but it really is terrific and definitely deserved its Best Musical Tony. It was incredibly well-crafted, and notice I didn't need to put "for a jukebox musical" before that. It's just great.
4. Doubt
I remember kind of thinking it was a smudge overrated, and if I'm honest I like The Pillowman more (and think it belongs on here!). That said, it's really fantastic.
3. August: Osage County
Still haven't gotten around to seeing or reading it.
2. Rent
Before the hype, before the stunt casting, before the terrible movie, before all that bullshit, there was a musical that could, and though it wasn't perfect and pretended to be all bad-ass, it really had a huge heart. That musical was Rent, and all things considered, it was pretty amazing and revolutionary and, yes, Justine Credible loved it. Wow, that was awful, but yeah, Rent is spectacular and totally deserves its place here.
1. Angels in America
Absolutely. Angels in America belongs up there with, I'm not even kidding, stuff like Macbeth; it should be a classic of theater forever, not just recognized as a great contemporary play. It works and exceeds on so many levels.
Light in the Piazza and ESPECIALLY Urinetown should be on here. Maybe Ragtime, The Secret Garden or The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
