I Only Know What I Know

On my facebook page I've been posting a bit about the Oliver! soundtrack. Auditions for a production of the show are in May. Before, oh, a few months ago, I didn't know a whole lot about this show. I knew Consider Yourself and a bit of Food, Glorious Food, but that was it.  I learned "As Long As He Needs Me" as a potential audition piece, but I didn't know how it was set within the context of the musical.

Anyway, now having watched the movie several times, listening to the soundtrack, and working on the vocal selections book, I have a pretty good grasp of the music.

Today's weather was really nice, so I posted "Who Will Buy This Beautiful Morning" as one of my status messages (just that line). This lead to a discussion about the song, and a friend being surprised that I wasn't familiar with Oliver! until fairly recently.

So here's a list of shows I could sing in my sleep: (bold type indicates I've seen it live, italic means I've been in it)

• Phantom of the Opera
• Les Miz
• Jekyll and Hyde
• Parade
• Miss Saigon
• The Scarlet Pimpernel
• The Secret Garden
• Ragtime
• Side Show
• Beauty and the Beast
• The Lion King
• Avenue Q
• Titanic
• Gypsy
• Jesus Christ Superstar
• My Fair Lady
• The Sound of Music
• Sunset Boulevard
• Evita
• Into the Woods
• Wicked
• Children of Eden
• Annie
• Annie Get Your Gun
• Cinderella
• The Producers
• Spamalot
• The Music Man
• Fiddler on the Roof 
• Aida

Ones I know fairly well:

• Oklahoma
• The Light in the Piazza
• The Pirate Queen
• Carousel
• Allegro
• Guys and Dolls
• Chicago
• Company
• Working
• Love Never Dies (still working on this one)
• State Fair
• South Pacific (I know almost all of the songs except for ones like Dites-Moi. Know the title, not the tune.)
• The King and I 
•  West Side Story

Ones I'm familiar with (as in, I can sing a few of the big songs, but that's it)

• Kiss Me, Kate ("Another Op'ning", "I Hate Men", "Brush Up..."
• Flower Drum Song (The ABHORRENT "I enjoy being a girl")
• Martin Guerre ("How Many Tears?", etc.)
• Cats ("Memory", that's it, sorry.)
• The Little Mermaid (this, and Mary Poppins--I know the movie songs)
• Mary Poppins
• A Little Night Music ("Send In the Clowns")
• Camelot ("The Simple Joys of Maidenhood", "Before I Gaze...", "If Ever...", "Camelot")
• Little Shop of Horrors
• The Fantastiks (Who DOESN'T know "Try to Remember"?)
• Finnegan's Rainbow
• Brigadoon! ("Waiting for My Dearie")
• 42nd Street ("Lullaby of Broadway", "42nd Street")
• Chess ("Someone Else's Story")
• A Little Princess ("Live Out Loud")
• A Christmas Carol 
• Street Scene (which could be considered more opera...)  
•  A Chorus Line ("One", "What I Did For Love", "Nothing")
• 1776 ("Sit Down, John"...I would like to know this one better. On the list...) 
• Hello, Dolly! ("Hello, Dolly!", "Ribbons Down My Back", "Until the Parade Passes By" )

A short list of ones I know nothing or almost nothing about:

• Swing!
• Contact
• Steel Pier
• Spring Awakening
• The Woman In White
• The Beautiful Game
• Little Women
• Merrily We Roll Along
• 50 percent
• The Apple Tree
• The Putnam County Spelling Bee (yeah I know, I shortened the Title)
• Mamma Mia
• Jersey Boys
• Stop the World, I Want To Get Off
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (I know "comedy tonight")
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• Two By Two
• Zorba
• 
  

I know I'm missing some. But really, there's a fair amount of musical theater--especially from the 50s, 60s and 70s--that I know NOTHING about. Any big dance shows are not my thing, because my dancing skills are limited. And any shows without decent alto parts--also limited. So that eliminates a lot of early musical theater.