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We are republishing it today in the wake ofHal Princes death.
Its easy for such a list to seem like a list of the ten best Broadway musicals, period.
So why dont we go for it?Avant!
She was 6 years old, and growing up in Omaha, Nebraska.
She named every single of one of her Barbies Christine Daae for an uncomfortably long period of time.
(It is still running.
Then itsFolliesand its world of decaying chorus girls and vaudeville theatersfor me.
(No, not even figs / Raisins!)
They share the essential kindness and humor that Prince used to soften Sondheims cerebral remove.
Both shows are about regret, both about love, both about aging without growing wiser.
That they feel and looked so different is testament to Princes ingenuity with material and form.
We will save that essay for another time.
The point is, that doesnt even slightly diminish the importance ofWest Side Story.
West Side Storyis canon.
Yes,the show isthatinfluential, whether the later works it influenced know it or not.
2.Fiddler on the Roof(1964; producer)
Of course,Companyitself was not without prior influences.
It is undoubtedly Harold Princes.
Just thinking of that barber chair still gives me the shivers.
And really, what more can you ask from the theater?
