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threeara's review
5.0
This series is absolutely invaluable -- this one preserves a script (As Thousands Cheer) that has never been published before! Still, there's a conflict for me with the authors presenting only the merits of these texts when they do include period-typical sexism and racism. I don't know how I expect that to be acknowledged, exactly, but some acknowledgement would be appropriate.
melias6's review
4.0
Ranking by Book/Libretto
1. South Pacific
2. Oklahoma!
3. Kiss Me, Kate
4. On the Town
5. Show Boat
6. Finian’s Rainbow
7. Pal Joey
8. As Thousands Cheer
Ranking by Score
1. South Pacific
2. Oklahoma!
3. Show Boat
4. Kiss Me, Kate
5. On the Town
6. Pal Joey
7. Finian’s Rainbow
8. As Thousands Cheer
Hot Takes:
South Pacific: Is there another musical with as many recognizable and superb songs as this one? Coupled with one of the smoothest and most "readable" books in the collection, it's the best of this bunch on both fronts.
Oklahoma!: Ditto the above, but in the #2 slot. (I've never considered myself a big Rodgers and Hammerstein fan -- the only score of theirs I love top-to-bottom is Carousel -- yet here we are.) Introduced one of my least favorite musical tropes, the dream ballet, but it goes down more easily in book form.
Kiss Me, Kate: The concept and construction are so smart (marrying the backstage musical with one of the Bard's prickliest -- and problematic -- comedies) that it would succeed even without Porter's music and lyrics. Yet despite a handful of inspired songs ("I Hate Men"; "Too Darn Hot"; "Brush Up Your Shakespeare") there are others that are merely pleasant.
On the Town: Feel similarly about this as I do Kiss Me, Kate. Book-wise, it's amusing and pleasant (if slight). Musically, there are some terrific songs and character work that stand on their own, but others suffer from the lack of visual context.
Show Boat: The biggest surprise for me musically -- I don't think I'd ever heard this in full before? Grand and stirring across the board, with a book that, for all its ambition and complexity, struggles to iron out the decades-spanning timeline of Act II.
Finian's Rainbow: Brand new to this one, and found the book a slog (if well-constructed and narratively satisfying). Musically it didn't do much for me; at least Pal Joey has "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered."
Pal Joey: Stories about cons long and short rarely pique my interest, and I much prefer Rodgers w/ Hammerstein vs Hart (and I'm not even huge fans of the former). The bigger problem is that these characters suffer on the page without the benefit of charismatic performers.
As Thousands Cheer: Automatically gets the bottom spot musically, since half of these Irving Berlin tunes are impossible to track down. (Of those available, only "Suppertime" evokes genuine pathos.) The book holds special interest for being available, for the first time, in its entirety here, but it's incredibly dated and just not very amusingly satiric.
1. South Pacific
2. Oklahoma!
3. Kiss Me, Kate
4. On the Town
5. Show Boat
6. Finian’s Rainbow
7. Pal Joey
8. As Thousands Cheer
Ranking by Score
1. South Pacific
2. Oklahoma!
3. Show Boat
4. Kiss Me, Kate
5. On the Town
6. Pal Joey
7. Finian’s Rainbow
8. As Thousands Cheer
Hot Takes:
South Pacific: Is there another musical with as many recognizable and superb songs as this one? Coupled with one of the smoothest and most "readable" books in the collection, it's the best of this bunch on both fronts.
Oklahoma!: Ditto the above, but in the #2 slot. (I've never considered myself a big Rodgers and Hammerstein fan -- the only score of theirs I love top-to-bottom is Carousel -- yet here we are.) Introduced one of my least favorite musical tropes, the dream ballet, but it goes down more easily in book form.
Kiss Me, Kate: The concept and construction are so smart (marrying the backstage musical with one of the Bard's prickliest -- and problematic -- comedies) that it would succeed even without Porter's music and lyrics. Yet despite a handful of inspired songs ("I Hate Men"; "Too Darn Hot"; "Brush Up Your Shakespeare") there are others that are merely pleasant.
On the Town: Feel similarly about this as I do Kiss Me, Kate. Book-wise, it's amusing and pleasant (if slight). Musically, there are some terrific songs and character work that stand on their own, but others suffer from the lack of visual context.
Show Boat: The biggest surprise for me musically -- I don't think I'd ever heard this in full before? Grand and stirring across the board, with a book that, for all its ambition and complexity, struggles to iron out the decades-spanning timeline of Act II.
Finian's Rainbow: Brand new to this one, and found the book a slog (if well-constructed and narratively satisfying). Musically it didn't do much for me; at least Pal Joey has "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered."
Pal Joey: Stories about cons long and short rarely pique my interest, and I much prefer Rodgers w/ Hammerstein vs Hart (and I'm not even huge fans of the former). The bigger problem is that these characters suffer on the page without the benefit of charismatic performers.
As Thousands Cheer: Automatically gets the bottom spot musically, since half of these Irving Berlin tunes are impossible to track down. (Of those available, only "Suppertime" evokes genuine pathos.) The book holds special interest for being available, for the first time, in its entirety here, but it's incredibly dated and just not very amusingly satiric.
melias6's review against another edition
5.0
Ranking by Book/Libretto:
1. Cabaret
2. Gypsy
3. A Funny Thing Happened …
4. My Fair Lady
5. Fiddler on the Roof
6. Guys and Dolls
7. 1776
8. The Pajama Game
Ranking by Score:
1. Cabaret
2. Guys and Dolls
3. Gypsy
4. A Funny Thing Happened …
5. Fiddler on the Roof
6. My Fair Lady
7. 1776
8. The Pajama Game
Hot takes:
Cabaret: One of my top 5 favorite musicals, so there’s a significant bias here. Still, this is one of the best books of a musical in terms of song integration, equally effective within the Kit Kat Klub, when establishing character, and in propelling the plot. A knockout, and tragically relevant in 2020.
Gypsy: The mother of all shows, and certainly one of the most psychologically astute (for a musical, anyway). The book is strong enough to stand on its own; the score lives or dies on its casting. Thankfully, there hasn’t been a Broadway recording that isn’t worth a listen. (The TV version, on the other hand …)
A Funny Thing Happened …: The biggest surprise for me. I’d heard a few songs, but there’s an elegance to this early Sondheim score that, when paired with the book, results in a farce that’s relatively classy. And the book is a riot; if this were revived locally, I’d see it in a heartbeat.
My Fair Lady: Adapting George Bernard Shaw can’t be an easy feat, even if this particular story is strong enough to seem somewhat foolproof. The book itself is amusing and witty, with a perfect narrative arc in Act I. As a score, this (like Gypsy) lives and dies on its two leads, and in a subpar recording you really notice how little the rest of the cast is given to do on the music front. A classic, to be sure, but not a personal favorite.
Fiddler on the Roof: Another no-doubt-about-it classic, with a score I prefer over My Fair Lady. (I love an ensemble number, and Fiddler doles them out with regularity without sacrificing character work.) The book is pleasant enough on its own, but expert casting and staging are needed to make this really sing. (Excuse the pun.)
Guys and Dolls: Hands down one of my all-time favorite scores, which makes it all the more frustrating that the book bores me to tears. Which isn’t to say it’s bad. This is classic Broadway storytelling, itself set in the Great White Way. Gamblers/mobsters and the like just never interest me; Frank Loesser’s score, though, is aces.
1776: I’d see The Pajama Game over this, but I have to concede that the book is well-constructed (considering we know how it ends), and the songs can be stirring. Yet it’s also one of the least successful in terms of natural song integration, at least on paper; long stretches of dialogue-heavy scenes followed by two or three songs in quick succession make this seem rather logy. Seeing this live would certainly help, but neither book nor score left me inspired to do so.
The Pajama Game: Last but not least. Both the book and score are at least a B- (which speaks to the overall quality of this incredible volume). The story is slight, but it takes considerable talent to turn source material about labor disputes into lighthearted musical comedy. Musically, the score boasts some classic songs, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Adler and Ross’s Damn Yankees!, their follow-up and final collaboration following Ross’s untimely death. Taken together, though, that’s quite the legacy.
1. Cabaret
2. Gypsy
3. A Funny Thing Happened …
4. My Fair Lady
5. Fiddler on the Roof
6. Guys and Dolls
7. 1776
8. The Pajama Game
Ranking by Score:
1. Cabaret
2. Guys and Dolls
3. Gypsy
4. A Funny Thing Happened …
5. Fiddler on the Roof
6. My Fair Lady
7. 1776
8. The Pajama Game
Hot takes:
Cabaret: One of my top 5 favorite musicals, so there’s a significant bias here. Still, this is one of the best books of a musical in terms of song integration, equally effective within the Kit Kat Klub, when establishing character, and in propelling the plot. A knockout, and tragically relevant in 2020.
Gypsy: The mother of all shows, and certainly one of the most psychologically astute (for a musical, anyway). The book is strong enough to stand on its own; the score lives or dies on its casting. Thankfully, there hasn’t been a Broadway recording that isn’t worth a listen. (The TV version, on the other hand …)
A Funny Thing Happened …: The biggest surprise for me. I’d heard a few songs, but there’s an elegance to this early Sondheim score that, when paired with the book, results in a farce that’s relatively classy. And the book is a riot; if this were revived locally, I’d see it in a heartbeat.
My Fair Lady: Adapting George Bernard Shaw can’t be an easy feat, even if this particular story is strong enough to seem somewhat foolproof. The book itself is amusing and witty, with a perfect narrative arc in Act I. As a score, this (like Gypsy) lives and dies on its two leads, and in a subpar recording you really notice how little the rest of the cast is given to do on the music front. A classic, to be sure, but not a personal favorite.
Fiddler on the Roof: Another no-doubt-about-it classic, with a score I prefer over My Fair Lady. (I love an ensemble number, and Fiddler doles them out with regularity without sacrificing character work.) The book is pleasant enough on its own, but expert casting and staging are needed to make this really sing. (Excuse the pun.)
Guys and Dolls: Hands down one of my all-time favorite scores, which makes it all the more frustrating that the book bores me to tears. Which isn’t to say it’s bad. This is classic Broadway storytelling, itself set in the Great White Way. Gamblers/mobsters and the like just never interest me; Frank Loesser’s score, though, is aces.
1776: I’d see The Pajama Game over this, but I have to concede that the book is well-constructed (considering we know how it ends), and the songs can be stirring. Yet it’s also one of the least successful in terms of natural song integration, at least on paper; long stretches of dialogue-heavy scenes followed by two or three songs in quick succession make this seem rather logy. Seeing this live would certainly help, but neither book nor score left me inspired to do so.
The Pajama Game: Last but not least. Both the book and score are at least a B- (which speaks to the overall quality of this incredible volume). The story is slight, but it takes considerable talent to turn source material about labor disputes into lighthearted musical comedy. Musically, the score boasts some classic songs, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Adler and Ross’s Damn Yankees!, their follow-up and final collaboration following Ross’s untimely death. Taken together, though, that’s quite the legacy.
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