After deciding the best contemporary musical (check out this post), I set my Instagram followers the challenge of choosing their favourite classic musical – any musical first produced prior to the year 2000. With a wider time period to choose from, we start with even more musicals (48 in total), and quickly whittled these down to the top 16, where the contest took on a more traditional head-to-head.
This meant that a number of well-known and much-loved musicals fell at the first hurdle, including family favourites Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music (the latter of which will be getting a revival at Leicester Curve later this year). Some other surprise casualties included Grease (which is currently enjoying an immersive revival at Battersea Park), Guys and Dolls (which recently finished an incredibly successful run at the Bridge Theatre) and Hello Dolly (which played in the West End last year with Imelda Staunton in the lead role).
Recent tours did not help Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show or Calamity Jane to make the second round, and Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Evita didn’t fare any better, although his revival of Sunset Boulevard helped the musical see off Cats and Oklahoma to take a place in the second round. Oz-based musicals The Wiz and The Wizard of Oz didn’t perform any better, and we also said goodbye to Merrily We Roll Along (although one can’t help but wonder if it would have fared any better had this competition been run after the cinema release of the Broadway production in December).
The competition heated up in the second round, with Rent knocking out Disney favourite The Lion King, and Little Shop of Horrors seeing off old school fave Singin’ in the Rain. It was bad news for Lloyd-Webber fans as both Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar were knocked out, although better news for Sondheim as West Side Story and Into the Woods saw off Sweeney Todd and Sunset Boulevard respectively. Also missing out on a place in the quarter finals were A Chorus Line and Oliver, falling to Chicago and Les Miserables.
The quarter finals were all closely fought battles, with Les Miserables taking the most decisive victory against Chicago with 64% of the vote, whilst Phantom of the Opera only just scraped a win against West Side Story with 52% of the vote. Elsewhere, Rent lost out to Cabaret with only 45% of the vote, and Little Shop of Horrors stormed ahead with a win against Into the Woods at 60%.
The first semi-final saw our closest match, with Cabaret narrowly beating Phantom of the Opera with just 1 vote in it (51% vs. 49%). Sadly, Lloyd Webber’s masterpiece about a disfigured musical genius living beneath the Paris Opera House just missed out on a place in the final. On the other hand, Les Miserables scored a resounding victory over Little Shop of Horrors (67% vs. 33%), as the tale of man-eating plant Audrey II was knocked out.
The final saw Cabaret, a musical set in 1930s Berlin and exploring the rise of the Nazi’s amidst the setting of an underground cabaret club, face off against Les Miserables, set in 1800s revolutionary France and following the life of ex-convict Jean Valjean, who is pursued by police officer Javert whilst also bringing up street urchin Cosette. Eventually, Les Miserables took the title with 62% of the vote. A worthy winner to this contest.
The Results in full:
Heats:
Heat 1: Phantom of the Opera (55%) vs. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (13%) vs. Miss Saigon (32%)
Heat 2: 42nd Street (27%) vs. Annie Get Your Gun (4%) vs. Jesus Christ Superstar (69%)
Heat 3: Follies (10%) vs. The King and I (5%) vs. West Side Story (85%)
Heat 4: The Producers (24%) vs. The Wiz (6%) vs. Sweeney Todd (70%)
Heat 5: Merrily We Roll Along (14%) vs. Singin in the Rain (43%) vs. Guys and Dolls (43%)
Heat 6: Blood Brothers (29%) vs. Little Shop of Horrors (63%) vs. The Wizard of Oz (8%)
Heat 7: Into the Woods (52%) vs. Evita (26%) vs. Annie (22%)
Heat 8: Sunset Boulevard (48%) vs. Cats (26%) vs. Oklahoma! (26%)
Heat 9: Rent (58%) vs. The Rocky Horror Show (23%) vs. Company (19%)
Heat 10: Bugsy Malone (19%) vs. The Lion King (65%) vs. My Fair Lady (16%)
Heat 11: Crazy for you (19%) vs. Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (69%) vs. Carousel (12%)
Heat 12: Cabaret (59%) vs. The Sound of Music (30%) vs. Grease (11%)
Heat 13: Calamity Jane (32%) vs. Kiss Me Kate (12%) vs. A Chorus Line (56%)
Heat 14: Fiddler on the Roof (26%) vs. Hello Dolly (10%) vs. Chicago (64%)
Heat 15: Oliver! (81%) vs. The Baker’s Wife (6%) vs. Footloose (13%)
Heat 16: Mary Poppins (13%) vs. Les Miserables (69%) vs. Starlight Express (18%)
Final 16:
Match 1: Phantom of the Opera (62%) vs. Jesus Christ Superstar (38%)
Match 2: West Side Story (53%) vs. Sweeney Todd (47%)
Match 3: Singin in the Rain (31%) vs. Little Shop of Horrors (69%)
Match 4: Into the Woods (73%) vs. Sunset Boulevard (27%)
Match 5: Rent (65%) vs. The Lion King (35%)
Match 6: Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (31%) vs. Cabaret (69%)
Match 7: A Chorus Line (26%) vs. Chicago (74%)
Match 8: Oliver! (32%) vs. Les Miserables (68%)
Quarter Finals:
Quarter final 1: Phantom of the Opera (52%) vs. West Side Story (48%)
Quarter final 2: Little Shop of Horrors (60%) vs. Into the Woods (40%)
Quarter final 3: Rent (45%) vs. Cabaret (55%)
Quarter final 4: Chicago (36%) vs. Les Miserables (64%)
Semi Finals:
Semi final 1: Phantom of the Opera (49%) vs. Cabaret (51%)
Semi final 2: Little Shop of Horrors (33%) vs. Les Miserables (67%)
The Final:
Cabaret (38%) vs. Les Miserables (62%)
More competitions are coming up. Follow us @BrokenLegsBlog on Instagram to join in!
Tom Morley, August 2025
Broken Legs Blog 