1. Show Boat - an undisputed classic.
2. Porgy and Bess - all right, it's an opera and technically may not be eligible, but it's still a towering achievement.
3. The Cradle Will Rock - classic agitprop, and errily relevant in our current environment of multinational corporate elephantitis
4. Oklahoma - so important it can't be ignored
5. My Fair Lady - probably one of the most perfect adaptations of a non-musical play to a musical format
6. Most Happy Fella - Loesser's best work, in my view.
7. The Music Man - a canny mix of popular entertainment and social satire;
8. West Side Story - still packs a wallop when it's done right
9. Sweeny Todd - there's not a misstep or irrelevant note, in my view. Chlling and compelling.
10. Les Miserables - probably the best example of the late-20th-century movement back towards the operatic origins of musical theatre

1. Oh, Boy! The first true American musical comedy that integrated book, Show Boat Of course. And Kern again moved musical comedy into the realm of musical drama.
2. Of Thee I Sing. Maybe this should be "Strike Up the Band," which predated OFTIS..Both moved the American musical into social satire and were the precursors of the 1930s socially aware musicals.
3. Porgy and Bess The Theatre Guild lost its courage and didn't present this opera as grand opera in its original production. Even so, it's Gershwin's masterpiece and shows the heights to which the musical can ascend.
4. As Thousands Cheer Though some say "The Bandwagon" was the ultimate revue, "As Thousands Cheer" was more revolutionary in its concept and even in its success.
5. Oklahoma! Rodgers and Hammerstein and Agnes DeMille fit the last piece into the puzzle, though Rodgers and Hart and Balanchine had already used dance to further the plot back in "On Your Toes."
6. West Side Story. From the first notes of the overture, this was a new sound on Broadway, and the rest of the show kept pace.
7. My Fair Lady Lerner and Loewe showed how to truly translate another medium into a musical, as opposed to the stumbles of the last decade on Broadway.
8. A Chorus Line Dance took over and made this a seminal show.
9. Sweeney Todd. This to me is Sondheim's most integral and meaningful theatrical statement, though every show of his, is, admittedly a ringing statement of what the musical can be.

David Lewis
Showstoppers
BBC Radio Lancashire, 95.5, 103.9 104.5, 885 Medium Wave
Lancashire and Greater Manchester

1. Sweeney Todd - I have seen many *differently* staged versions of this show. Each has been valid and each has worked. It is a hallmark of classic writing that allows a show to be excellent however presented.
2. Cabaret - As with Sweeney Tood, I have seen many different interpretations and staging of this musical and each one has worked. Again the strength of this musical is that it can stand any amount of differing interpretation and still come up fresh and enjoyable.
3. Kismet - To take the classical music of Borodin and weave an evocative score which sounds as though it were written specifically for the story told in "Kismet" means a great love of the original, too.
4. Into The Woods - Another Sondheim score and a superb show that works on many different levels. It is another show that can stand up to indifferent performance and come out sounding fresh, interesting and musical.
5. Oklahoma! Seen by many as a seminal work there is no doubt that the musical influenced a whole generation of theatregoers and practitioners alike.
6. The Merry Widow - The Queen of all operettas with truly gorgeous music and a logical, if somewhat fanciful, storyline. I would categorise it as quintessentially Vienesse.
7. Showboat - The transference of the sprawling epic novel into a coherent musical and still retain the underlying ethos must be show writing at its very best.
8. The Music Man - because I like it. It's a happy show that leaves one with a "good" feeling.
9. Kiss of the Spiderwoman. A superb interpretation of chapter in history which many people would like to forget. It is also another example of how well the show can stand umpteen different styles of presentation and yet still retain the core elements of the underlying theme.
10. Follies - a musical that works on so many different levels. Cerebral and eclectic, "Follies" is a show that will remain a classic long after we have all shuffled off this mortal coil.