Despite the relatively young age (the first musical was staged in the second half of the 19th century), this genre had a huge impact on popular culture throughout the world.
The name itself stands for "musical comedy", but in reality the performance can be a drama or a tragedy.
The key feature that allowed to win the hearts of the audience is the ease of staging, contrasting with the pretentiousness of the classical opera.
Throughout its history, the genre has given us a lot of brilliant works, but the 10 most famous musicals in the world are the most popular, which we will talk about later.
10. Sounds of music
The first production of the musical took place on November 16, 1959 on Broadway, and the very next year "Sounds of music" received 5 Tony figurines.
The words were written by Oscar Hammerstein II, and the music was written by Richard Rogers. This was not the first joint work of this duet, but the last and most outstanding (Hammerstein died of cancer after 9 months).
In 1965, a one-dimensional film based on a musical was released in cinemas, starring Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews. The picture was the discovery of that year, receiving a total of 5 Oscars and gaining cult status.
9. Juno and Avos
Soviet rock opera was first presented to the public in 1981 at the Lenin Komsomol Theater in Moscow.
The music was written by Alexei Rybnikov, and the verses by Andrey Voznesensky. The latter was inspired by the real story of Nikolai Rezanov's trip to California in 1806. Rezanov, who had sailed for provisions, fell in love with Conchita Arguello, who was only 16 (the sailor himself exceeded 40 at that time).
At the moment "Juno and Avos" (the name is given in honor of the sailboats on which Rezanov sailed) is one of the most famous domestic rock operas, which is staged with pleasure in theaters around the world.
8. Notre Dame de Paris
The popular French-Canadian musical based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo was first staged on September 16, 1998 in Paris. The musical part was written by Riccardo Kochchante, and the lyrics were written by Luke Plamondon.
The success that accompanied the premiere is best indicated by the fact that the production was included in the Guinness Book of Records for the most deafening success in the debut year.
In 1999, the troupe went on a world tour, visiting in addition to France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada.
To Russia Notre Dame de Paris He got only in 2002 (in 2018 the musical was brought back again, the performance was in Moscow and St. Petersburg).
7. My fair lady
Alan Jay Lerner, when creating the musical, was based on Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, so the chances of success were initially great (with such a source).
Another thing is that in the 1950s (the premiere took place in 1956) the genre itself was not yet so popular, so the audience could simply not accept the production, but everything worked out, and the Tony award was absolutely deserved.
IN THE USSR "My beautiful lady" first arrived in 1960: the musical could be seen in Kiev, Leningrad and Moscow.
The film adaptation also did not take long to wait: already in 1965, the picture came out on the screens, which took the Oscar in the nomination “Best Film” at the end of the year.
6. Mom Mia
If Alan Jay Lerner, when creating “My Fair Lady,” had the play “Pygmalion” as the basis, then Catering Johnson had to write the libretto from scratch, but she had another advantage: the music of the legendary group ABBA. A musical was staged based on 22 songs Mama Mia, from the first seconds conquering the London public in 1999.
In Russia, it was first shown in 2006 and over 20,000 people came to it in 20 months.
The film based on the film was released in 2008 and the first thing that caught my eye was the chic cast. Pierce Brosnan, Meryl Streep, Stellan Skarsgård, Colin Firth, Amanda Seyfried - not least thanks to them, the picture managed to earn almost $ 610 million at the world box office with a budget of 52 million.
5. Cabaret
Music for "Cabaret" was written by John Kander, the words were written by Fred Ebb, and the author of the libretto was Joe Masteroff, who was inspired by the play by John Van Druten based on Christopher Isherwood’s novel Farewell to Berlin.
It turns out a rather long chain, the ending of which was the 1972 film (the musical was staged in 1966, and the next year he received 8 Tony awards).
The film adaptation turned out to be as iconic as the musical: 8 Oscar statuettes, although they failed to get the main one for the best film (it even became a kind of record). In the tape, which raised $ 42 million with a budget of $ 6 million, Lisa Minelli and Michael York starred.
Interesting fact: in the Soviet Union, film rental was prohibited for many years, although the company “Melody” released music from it on records. In Soviet cinemas, Cabaret was shown for the first time only in 1988, 16 years after the premiere.
4. Cats
Musical "Cats" staged by English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber on May 11, 1981 in London, and the premiere of Broadway took place in the fall. The basis was a collection of poems for the children of the writer Thomas Sterns Eliot.
The figures speak the most eloquently of the musical: by 1994, he had earned $ 2 billion, was translated into 15 languages and delivered in three dozen countries, and the total number of viewers exceeded 75 million.
2. Jesus Christ is a superstar
The most famous rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber (author of “Cats”) and Tim Rice in 1970, although the premiere had to wait another year.
The album of the same name at the time of release topped the British Billboard 200 chart, and individual singles took the top lines in the ratings of many countries.
Popularity also contributed to the fact that the title track was performed by Ian Gillan - vocalist of Deep Purple.
Tim Rice said that their main goal was to show Jesus not as the Son of God, but as a simple person who happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Regardless of the attacks by religious organizations, Rice argued that such an interpretation of a well-known biblical story only emphasizes the greatness of Jesus.
2. The Phantom of the Opera
The first production took place in 1986, and its author was again Andrew Webber, who wrote music (the words were written by Charles Hart and Richard Stigl). The musical was based on the eponymous novel by Gaston Leroux, published in 1911.
Famous international fees The Phantom of the Opera exceeded $ 6 billion (853 million were raised in New York alone), making the musical the highest grossing entertainment event in history.
The plot is built around the relationship between the popular singer Christina Dae and a mysterious man who turns out to be disfigured, but a genius musician.
Love bordering on obsession and overshadowing reason is the main motive of this story.
1. Chicago
Sponsored by "Chicago" became Fred Ebb and John Kander (with the participation of Bob Foss), who were already renowned theater-goers thanks to Cabaret.
The story of the musical is quite interesting: in 1924, journalist Maureen Dallas Watkins reviewed two unrelated lawsuits in a newspaper column, which became extremely popular among readers of the Chicago Tribune. Maureen was so inspired by this that she decided to write a play, which later became the basis for the musical.
In 2002, Rob Marshall made the film of the same name, which won 6 Oscars, and the main roles were played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere, and even Russian ballerina and singer Ekaterina Shchelkanova.