The Sunday Giveaway: Two Tickets to Picnic on Broadway!
It’s time for a picnic, and this one is on Broadway!
One lucky winner of this week’s Sunday Giveaway is going to see the Roundabout Theatre’s production of William Inge’s Pulitzer wining play, Picnic. And for all you Lost fans out there (and I would be one of them), it stars Maggie “Shannon” Grace! (Oh, and I hear she was in that Twilight thingee too, but I missed that series). Other notables in the hottie-filled cast include Sebastian Stan and the always awesome Ellen Burstyn.
So how can you attend this Picnic?
I’ll admit, I forgot that Picnic won the Puli for Drama. And that made me want to take a look at all the other Puli winners for drama, so I went to this site.
And then I thought, wouldn’t it be fun if all the Pulitzer Prizes winners were pitted against each other in like a giant cage match of plays? Where only one could survive as the ultimate play!!!
In other words, look at all the winners here, and pick the play that you think is the BEST play among all the PP winners. Let’s see if there’s a consensus . . .
Make sense?
Name your favorite Pulitzer Prize winner and you could see Picnic!
(Got a comment? I love ‘em, so comment below! Click here then scroll down to say what’s on your mind!)
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I’m going to have to go with Our Town!
Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1957) – still the greatest American family drama, this one “written in tears and blood” with “deep pity and understanding and forgiveness.”
Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman!
Oh, geez. This is difficult.
My instinct, from looking at that list, tells me Sunday in the Park with George
A Chorus Line. It’s the most important musical in the history of American theatre.
Wit by Margaret Edson!
A Streetcar Named Desire.
This is hard, but I have to say “Our Town.” Not only is it terrific, every time I see it, it’s a surprise.
Ruined.
It’s so difficult to pit these against one another! RENT, Angels in America, Proof, South Pacific! Still, I think I’m going with August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. It’s remarkable.
This is tough, but I say Doubt–it’s such a conversation starter because there’s no “answer” at the end.
Mmm, I really think it has to be South Pacific. It’s iconic.
Thanks so much for the opportunity! 🙂
Dying trying to choose between Rent and Next to Normal. I think musical dramas can add an extra punch that the spoken word just doesn’t carry
In The Heights
It’s a difficult choice, but I have to go with Jonathan Larson for RENT. A tragic story, a tragic loss.
Really tough decision but I have to say OUR TOWN. It has never failed to strike a universal cord of our shared humanity around the world.
Without a doubt it has to be Next to Normal. It is the RENT for a new decade. Deals with topical, relatively ignored or overlooked issues on a large, emotional, commercial platform. For a show that is mostly sung through, it’s hard to find any other that elicits this kind of emotional response to issues that need to be dealt with and soon!
I think it has to be… August Osage County… just. the best.
Angels In America: Millenium Approaches (though it was VERY difficult to not vote for A Chorus Line!)
“Death of a Salesman” is the greatest American play, period.
Our town
Like others have said, it’s so hard to just choose one, but I have to go with “Our Town.”
Next to Normal…I’ve seen so many people who it has touched…especially young people, teens who were having parental struggles especially.
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Looking at the list I would have to say “Death of a Salesman”- it is the quintessential American play by a true master, Arthur Miller.
Now, if you said Best Musical….I would vote for “Next to Normal.” It was remarkable theater, too.
August Osage County. A masterpiece, in my opinion. It was heartbreaking and hilarious.
To pick one, or even five, from this list is IMPOSSIBLE… Its soooooooo a Sophie’s Choice….
I honestly can not pick!
🙁
What a list! I recently discovered “Men in White” and found it a really fascinating read, considering it’s subject matter. From a personal bias, I have to say “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” Having played Finch, it was a truly great experience seeing what Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows created. A true classic in the American musical theatre canon.
1938 Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Gotta go with Death of a Salesman.
Love me some “next to normal”!!!!!
Didn’t even have to look at the list. K just know what i like/loce 😀
From the groundbreaking ‘Next to Normal’ and ‘Rent’ to ‘Anna Christie’, ‘Street Scene’ and ‘Death of A Salesman’ it’s impossible to pick Ken! IMPOSSIBLE!
But in the end, my pick is ‘Our Town’. It’s my all time favourite.
oh gosh – and ‘angels in america!’
A Chorus Line
The best broadway show ever!
I remember clearly the first time I saw it; I also remember the gazillionth time.
Wish I could sing; I would have loved to be in it.
This was hard! Several that I love! Finalist for me would be a toss up between A Chorus Line and Rent but I had to go with my absolute favorite: Our Town. It’s timeless and beautiful. Anyone that saw Cromer’s version will agree with me!
Joining the Our Town team. It both encapsulates America and the universal heart.
Sunday in the Park With George, hands down.
“Next to Normal” is my pick
A Chorus Line
Death of a Salesman
I think it has to be a tie between Our Town and Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
How I Learned To Drive…
There are so many amazing plays on this list! Quite a few I dont know/have never heard of, but I was surprised by the amount that I have come in contact with/heard of.
Very difficult to choose.
Just because I love both of these so much, I am splitting it for
Musical: Next to Normal
Play: August: Osage County
I know there are people that would not agree, but these two have most affected my life.
Perhaps after seeing Picnic, my mind will be changed!
Gosh, Ken, could you have made this more difficult !
If you had said musical it would have, hands down, been RENT, as long as Les Miz wasn’t a choice. But I am going to go with Death of a Salesman.
RENT – brought a whole new audience to the theatre.
A Chorus Line, the ultimate allegory.
Not even a question. Death Of A Salesman
Hm… there are such great pics on that list! I have to say Angels in America.
Long Day’s Journey Into Night, you can practically feel the dysfunction condense in the room.
Wouldn’t a cage maatch between ‘Sunday in the Park With George’ and ‘Rent’ be really interesting, considering that Mr. Sondheim was a mentor to Mr. Larson.
However, I think that this battle will come down to two plays… ‘Angels In America’ and ‘August: Osage County’ are both epically long (and just plan epic!) But I think that ‘August’, with its zany characters and unexpected plot twists will come out on top in this cage match. After all, they are “running things now!!!”
DEATH OF A SALESMAN
I would have to go with Rent since that is the first play I can actually remeber the most of seeing when I was 10 or 11 years old…being that my first play was footloose, which isn’t on this list. My favorite non winner was Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, its just so a beautiful play so poetic and striking. Though many plays and musicals that were listed as winners I enjoyed I think these two had the biggest impact on me as a person and as a theatre goer.
A Chorus Line – with a group of dedicated and determined dancers putting it all on the line, nothing will get in the way of them and their dreams.
“Our Town” by Thornton Wilder. “There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being”
I would have to say Rabbit Hole. The play was so well written and heart felt.
Plus Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly were unbelievable in it.
I’m debating between Next to Normal and Doubt but have to side with the incredibly well-crafted Doubt. It packs such a punch.
“You Can’t Take It With You” by George S. Kaufmann and Moss Hart, two of the greatest playwrights ever!!
I pick I Am My Own Wife because if Charlotte von Mahlsdorf can survive all the things she lived through, she could easily kick the asses of all these other Pulitzer Prize winners.
Such a hard decision but I’d have to the newest, Water By the Spoonful. What a great production at Second Stage, too!
Gotta go with “A Chorus Line”….this is the ultimate definition of American Musical Theater, our unique contribution to the the world’s musical genres. Nobody does it better!
It’s message is democratic – no one dancer is more important then “the line” – yet individualized beautifully in its music and story lines, which perfectly frames this American art form.
South Pacific is timeless and an amazing marriage of plot and song
DEATH OF A SALESMAN by Arthur Miller hands down!
I first got it down to 4:
1. OUR TOWN – an astonishingly and universally resonant work about the human condition
2. SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE – possibly the best-ever depiction of the experience of being an artist, in which the techniques of the musical composition (and sometimes the lyrics) directly mirror the techniques of the protagonist’s visual art
3. DEATH OF A SALESMAN – brilliantly experimental in form but also an emotional knockout about the implications of the “American Dream”
4. A CHORUS LINE – because I know many people whose lives were actually changed by seeing the depiction of Paul San Marco – gay people who learned to embrace themselves and family/friends of gay people who learned to embrace their gay loved ones
But I have to pick one. So be it – since we’re asked simply for “best play” I choose DEATH OF A SALESMAN. I doubt any play since OEDIPUS REX has had such a powerful effect on its audience.
RENT!
I vote for Death of a Salesman. I think that Arthur Miller is the greatest American playwright and this is his greatest play.
Buried Child – Sam Shepard
Haunting.
In a death-match among Longs Day Journey… Our Town and Death of A Salesman… Our Town wins “hands down”!
I loved Rent but I have to vote for Next to Normal.
South Pacific does it for me. The songs are unforgettable.
A Chorus Line. I’m always going to choose a well done musical over a straight play….and Chorus Line is genius!
What to pick?
Rent, ‘Night Mother, A Streetcar Named Desire and Buried Child are favorites.
But I would have to hope that TRIBES gets to Broadway someday. I saw it this evening in its closing performance at the Barrow Street Theater. TRIBES should win a Pulitzer.
Fences
UGH! Really? Pick one? I’m going with Next to Normal. But really, I could easily pick a top 10!
Damn, that’s like going into a store of puppies and kittens and having to pick which is cutest….
But, I gotta say “Our Town.” Best of the best.
Streetcar, Our Town, Angels or Long Days Journey.
I have to go with AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. There is such a good mix of drama & humor, plus all the plot twists and turns and the characters themselves make this a great piece of theatre.
(as a side note, I was very proud to realize, while going down the list, that I’ve worked on 7 Pulitzer winning shows at various collegiate & regional theatres)
“Our Town.” A small town … and the human condition writ large.
Gotta go with my Mount Holyoke College alumnae winners: top dog/underdog by suzan-lori parks and the heidi chronicles by wendy wasserstein. I love lots of the works on the puli list, but these two rock because of the personal connection…;)
Tough call, but of them I think The Piano Lesson is brilliant and the most surprising!
A cliche’ answer I am sure but no contest – 1996 Rent by Jonathan Larson.
I did also very much enjoy the 2008 limited engagement revival of Sunday in the Park with George.
Angels in America!
Gotta go with Proof. I love love love that script. Movie doesn’t do it justice, unlike Glengarry, where the movie makes it better.
Wit!
A play that displays how strong a women can be through a difficult illness.
A CHORUS LINE is pretty up there. But I loved N2N.
OUR TOWN, a perfect play that exemplifies what the Pulitzer Prize stands for.
Out of the few standouts I adore, I’m going with A Chorus Line.
Next to Normal hands down. I believe that it is the most beautifully written, scored, and overall crafted piece of theater. It STILL manages to move me emotionally when I listen to the soundtrack and to me a show that does that has gotten the job done 🙂
Next to Normal. Because let’s face it…when does someone with manic depression NOT win out in a fight to the death? 😉 (Plus, my mom went through EVERYTHING Diana goes through in this musical, from the pills right down to the shock therapy, so this show speaks to me personally as well…)
Our Town. Never loses its relevance.
Death of a Salesman is THE most defining play of the first half of the 20th century. Angels In America is the defining play of the second half.
Driving Miss Daisy
I CAN’T CHOOSE JUST ONE…
THE SHADOWBOX
I walked out of the Lunt-Fontanne Theater in awe to this day….
DEATH OF A SALESMAN
We represented Teresa Wright in the George C. Scott production at Circle in the Square…. AMAZING gut wrenching performance by Scott…PERFECT PLAY.
A CHORUS LINE
A total joy.
Death of a salesman
August Osage county. Loved it
Wow – O’Neill won 4 ! And 3 of them in a span of 10 years. Still:
I couldn’t decide one so:
Classic: “A Streetcar Named Desire”
Musical: “A Chorus Line” because it changed musical theatre
Contemporary (tie): “August: Osage County” and “Angels In America” because if I can sit for 3-3.5 hours and not realize where the time went….well….there it is !
Really?!? Seriously!?! You want us to choose just one?!??! I say it’s a tie among SEVERAL. But in the spirit of this contest, I will just say Streetcar Named Desire. But if I respond again in another hour, it might be South Pacific, or Rent, or Our Town, or Death of a Salesman, or . . . .
Doubt, without a doubt! It portrays conflict within the Catholic church and goes to that “dark area” that has long been avoided and pushed aside within today’s Catholic churches. In this case, the priest was wrongly accused.
Driving Miss Daisy was,for me,
A show that was a joy to see!
August, Osage County.
“The Diary of Anna Frank”
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
Oh God, this is waaaay too hard…but I guess I’m gonna go with “Angels In America: Millennium Approaches”.
I’m going to go with the show that makes me happiest. “A Chorus Line.” Plus it changed musical theater in countless ways with its film-like continuity and its requirement that cast members be a triple threat. With so many touring companies, this became the new standard for all musical performers.
“Death of a Salesman”, because it keeps coming back in excellent productions, it’s required reading in most every high school, translates well to other mediums, and can be performed with wildly different interpretations,while still keeping the essence of Miller’s intentions.
Very tough choice among so many excellent choices. I’m going with 1949 Death of a Salesman.
What a humbling experience–perusing that list! I choose “A Chorus Line”, as it was such a brave and wonderful departure from the musical genre of its day–dare I say it revolutionized the genre? And its influence can be still be felt today.
Fences!
Sensational list! I think some of the plays created in the early part of the century are at a bit of a disadvantage here – I’ve never seen productions or read most of them. But, this week’s Giveaway is inspiring me to dig out some of these classic scripts and read them (again, or maybe for the first time).
For the sake of the survey, hard not to be influenced by other people’s votes, but put me down for:
Streetcar Named Desire
Death of a Salesman, Heidi Chronicles, Angels in America.
Wow, that’s tougher than a Big Ten Basketball Tourney Bracket. But I gotta go with Death of a Salesman. Final Four would include Long Day’s Journey Into Night, South Pacific and A Streetcar Named Desire.
I’d go with “A Chorus Line”
I’m pulling for the underdog…Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive.
It has to be Rent. Not only did it bring a new audience to the theatre, but it also modernized theatre – introducing students and rush and lotto tickets, making one of the first modern period pieces, and incorporating rock music into the theatre. Also, so many Pulitzer finalists are intimate stories about a family, which are often extraordinary, but Rent is different by being about a moment in time.
South Pacific…..I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair…..
A Chorus Line. A ground-breaking, wonderful show.
Love Crimes Of The Heart, YEs, send me my 2 Picnic Tickets Larry
A Chorus Line
So many great shows and powerful nights in the theater, but when all is said and done, I am picking Angels in America: Millennium Approaches.
Death of a Salesman
Best of the 1910s and 1920s: Strange Interlude by Eugene O’Neill
Best of the 1930s: Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Best of the 1940s: Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Best of the 1950s: Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill
Best of the 1960s: The Subject Was Roses by Frank D. Gilroy
Best of the 1970s: The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer
Best of the 1980s: The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein
Best of the 1990s: Rent by Jonathan Larson
Best of the 2000s: Doubt by John Patrick Shanley
Here’s how it plays out: Our Town quickly takes out Strange Interlude to achieve dominance over the early 20th century. Death of a Salesman and Long Day’s Journey appear to be at a draw, while Heidi Chronicles quickly knocks over both The Shadow Box and The Subject Was Roses. With a feat of extra-human strength, Rent overcomes Doubt. Shanley expects doping, but it doesn’t matter. The chemically enhanced Rent blows away Heidi, only to fall when Our Town uses the low blow of sentimentality. By now, Salesman has defeated Long Day’s Journey, but he’s worn out, and Our Town is going strong. First one seems to have the advantage, then the other. It’s Salesman–then Our Town. It’s Our Town–then Salesman. Yes! Ladies and gentlemen, Salesman wins! Attention has been paid!
Death of a Salesman. or Angels in America. I can’t decide!
DEATH OF A SALESMAN or STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Cannot whittle down any further.
August Osage County…although there are so many I’d like to pick
This was very hard While Death of Salesman, Angels in America and Driving Miss Daisy, captured the issues that engulfed the country in its time and sometimes in place. Our Town probably addresses the human condition across more variables than any other play
ANGELS IN AMERICA for the masses…and THE GOAT OR WHO IS SYLVIA? (a mere finalist) for me.
Clybourne Park! Great place about race and community. Loved it.
Damn, tough call. OUR TOWN? LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT? LDJIN takes this round.
I have to say, for me it’s “Death of a Salesman.” That play remains not only a fantastically constructed character drama, but one of the most probing examinations of the American Dream ever written. Every time I revisit the play I find something new, which also has allowed it to be reinterpretted again and again by some of the greatest actors ever to grace the stage. It is the seminal American drama.
I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t recognize most of them (maybe only 15-20 rang a bell). But of the ones I did recognize, I have to say RENT. I know it’s cliche, but I honestly don’t think contemporary musical theater would be the same had it not been for RENT.
Our Town.
Hands down.
Had its longest run
Decades after it won.
So many — Our Town and Long Day’s Journey Into Night tie with me.
It is so hard to choose. Isn’t that wonderful? Such varied voices each so moving in its own way. How do you compare and choose one over the other? Each is a success telling its own message. To choose only one is to slight another unfairly, and so though I have my personal “favorite”, it is a highly-biased and personal choice – the one that overall moved me and upset me the most – though it didn’t make me “happy” (or “biff”, ha ha,lol), only very sad – because it sang out bravely with deep truths which I and many others can relate to for many personal reasons and from things in my parents’ experience and in their generation which were so expertly depicted – “Death of a Salesman”. The others are all terrific plays beautiful written, but to me this is the darkest, most terrifying play about what can happen to a person who loses his job and whose children don’t “find” themselves. Even more terrifying to me than any of the other scenarios. At least the people in “Long Day’s Journey” had drugs and alcohol, however sadly, to numb themselves. Willy Loman and his family – and thus the audience – went thru this hell sans anesthesia.
“South Pacific” – a personal favorite.
“You Can’t Take it With You” by Kaufman and Hart for some of the best character writing I’ve ever read.
A Chorus Line
Gotta go with Angels in America.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Yes, I know, but it should have! And it’d take ’em all down!
While I love RENT, and totally agree that Next to Normal is my generation’s RENT, and that Our Town and Chorus Line and South Pacific and so many of those shows have shaped and changed the view of theater, I’m going to say Clybourne Park. First, it’s a brave undertaking- a sequel to a play such as Raisin in the Sun? There needs to be a lot of brave people who (to quote Clybourne’s Tony acceptance Speech for Best Play)”Said Yes”. Raisin in the Sun is an iconic play, and it didn’t even win the Pulitzer. This is a sequel that was critically awarded a major literary and Theatrical award that the original didn’t win. And I think that’s saying something.
Also, Clybourne Park is just a really good play.
My pick: A Streetcar Named Desire!
Unfortunately,I can only judge out of the 7 plays/musicals I have actually seen or read:
Clybourne Park
Rent
Angels in America…
That Championship Season
How to Succeed in Business…
South Pacific
Death of a Saleman
I REALLY LOVE Clybourne Park (saw it twice – Previews and just before it closed). I obviously saw Rent a TON of times, like everyone else has and H2S a LOT also. Angels was AMAZING, but oh, so long!
But best over all… hmmm…
As a play – Clybourne Park
As a musical – Rent vs. H2S? Rent wins because it was soooo ground-breaking and “shocking” and new and had such an impact! And still does. <3
a
Anna In The Tropics – for its language. So well written. Poetic but still action driven.
Next to Normal and Streetcar Named desire. Can’t pick just one.
This was tough– so many great choices but I’m going with South Pacific for its memorable score.
Just to be contrarian……Water By The Spoonful, which you can still see in a fantastic production at Second Stage. The characters and certain moments (the diner scene) stick in your head and pop up for weeks after at times you don’t expect- just like the classics commented on above.
It’s such a hard one…but I’m going to go with Our Town.
My choice is South Pacific. The story, characters, and the music are classic. It transports us
to “Happy Talkie Talk”, and we leave the theater singing, humming, reciting one or more of the beautiful
songs.
how do you compare DEATH OF A SALESMAN with A CHORUS LINE?….Both unique for their times yet both able to endure the test of time…ah well, since I saw A CHORUS LINE off-Bway and was at the Broadway opening night….I’ll vote for A CHORUS LINE.
“Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” … but “A Chorus Line” is a very close second … and there are too many very close thirds to list.
Old school: South Pacific
New school: Next to Normal
Can’t decide between the tried & true or the new kid on the block.
Has to be the endearign “Our Town”
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds was quite memorable. I saw the production in Toronto many years ago and it featured Megan Follows, her sister Samantha and her mother. (Oddly enough, around the same time, I saw another production in Hamilton that featured her father Ted).
Proof
I would say Angels in America.
You asked for “BEST play” and you either meant an actual play (no music) or you were referring to the general term of all stage productions. Okay, so to cover both bases I have two (long-winded) answers:
1. First off, I think that musicals have not only been more popular and long-lasting with audiences, but their music adds an element of story-telling and emotionality that plays cannot match. For this reason, out of the relative handful of musicals that have won the award, I would go with A CHORUS LINE. The plot may be simple, dancers auditioning for a show, yet the characters are complex, real, and identifiable. (My personal favorite is NEXT TO NORMAL, but I recognize it’s subject matter is not as universal nor music as iconic as A CHORUS LINE.)
2. Strictly looking at the plays, it is mind-boggling to actually pit them all against each other, so I had to do a little research. I was looking for a play which has stood the test of time (which takes out some of the more recent winners), is still highly produced today, and resonates with audiences of all ages. I came to one answer from among the Pulitzer prize winners: OUR TOWN. From high schools to regional theaters, this play still ranks among the top ten plays produced. It also lands in numerous lists of the most important plays written in America.