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ABCs of Broadway

 No one asked for this, but I compiled my "ABCs of Broadway"; below are shows I'd like my children to know, and know well, before they reach adulthood. 


(Generally, the musicals aren't perfect, but they all show evidence of life; these musicals, unlike many others, were products of writers who had working brains and beating hearts.)


As I drafted this list, I loved considering the career of Stephen Sondheim, who is in a class of his own (according to the world, and to Paul Simon, who wrote about Sondheim in the Times a few years ago). One of many things I admire about Sondheim is that he reinvented himself after his mid-life crisis, and his Second Act included "Sunday in the Park with George" and "Into the Woods."

Sondheim worried that people past their fifties did not generally write great musicals. I think "Assassins" and "Passion" are not first-rate Sondheim, but, still, they're notable! (Think of "The Gun Song," "Unworthy of Your Love," "Loving You," "I Read.") Finally, Sondheim did something that few artists do: He gave us two works of thoughtful, playful criticism, "Hat Box." So, in his eighties, he had written a book that became an item in the Times "Ten Best" list (in the year 2010).

I had fun making this "syllabus," and I hope it's fun for you, too.

Assassins
Big River
Cabaret

Dreamgirls
Everyday Rapture
Follies

Gypsy
Hello, Dolly
Into the Woods

Jesus Christ Superstar
Kiss of the Spider-Woman
Little Shop of Horrors

Music Man
Next to Normal
Oklahoma

Passing Strange
Q
Rent

Sweeney Todd
Title of Show
U

Violet
West Side Story
X

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
Z

*The letter C alone could include "Chorus Line," "Carousel," "Company," "Color Purple," "Chicago," "Crazy for You," "Caroline, or Change."
*I'm especially proud of having recalled "Everyday Rapture," which absolutely deserves inclusion on any list like this.
*"Guys and Dolls," "Falsettos," "South Pacific," "Fiddler," "A Little Night Music," "Annie, Get Your Gun," "Anything Goes," "She Loves Me" all deserve consideration.
*"In the Heights" is a bit overly schematic, with several flat characters, but a 96,000/"Won't Be Long Now"/"No Me Diga" score is worth purchasing.
*I can't include "Passion," because I think "Passion" has just one interesting character. The people who surround Fosca are puzzling and tedious (if you ask me).
*People love "Xanadu," but I've never seen it. And I haven't heard the score.
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