The Broadway show thread where we discuss all things Broadway

[CapeCodTenor]

Michael Jacksons THRILLER coming
to Broadway! Interesting!

I read this this morning, and I'm not too sure what to think of it.

I just had to share...I got to meet Angela Lansbury this weekend at a theatre conference. She is the sweetest, cutest woman in the world! She is about to play Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit on Broadway! Also in the production are Rupert Everett, Christine Ebersole and Jayne Atkinson. I would looove to get to go see that one!

That's totally cool.

 

[MissyDVC]

To each his own, but honestly, you're the first person I've ever heard of who has disliked Wicked. Personally, I'm glad it was nothing like the book, which I hated.

I have seen it 5 times and could see it 50 more! It is, by far, my favorite and I have seen many B'way/Off B'way shows including:
A Chorus Line(original)
Cats
Phantom
Tommy
Secret Garden
Les Miz(MANY times)
Lion King
Kiss of the Spiderwoman
Beauty & the Beast
Little Shop
Into the Woods
Blood Brothers
Showboat
Crazy for You
And the World Goes Round
Miss Saigon

 

[Karamia]

I just had to share...I got to meet Angela Lansbury this weekend at a theatre conference. She is the sweetest, cutest woman in the world! She is about to play Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit on Broadway! Also in the production are Rupert Everett, Christine Ebersole and Jayne Atkinson. I would looove to get to go see that one!

Very cool. What a star she is!! She is 80 by now, isn't she?

We are seeing Lion King tomorrow and it is supposed to snow. Grrrrrrr or should I say brrrrrrrrr?

 

[java]

Hmm Favorite shows!

Into the Woods
Phantom
Lion King
Rent
Black and Blue


We've been lucky to see many many stars on Broadway- Vanessa Williams,Michael Crawford, Sting(that show lasted only ONE day and we just happened to be there on opening and closing night all in one! the list goes on and on. We saw Young Frankenstein with Andrea Martin and Megan Mullally- hillarious!
But my favorite celeb interaction was when we got to meet Constantine from American Idol outside of The Wedding Singer. He was so funny and was joking with my friend and I - actually ragging on us- but we were laughing so hard. It was a great night and he topped it off by being so down to earth and approachable!
Another funny story from High School a friend had a major crush on Christopher Reeves. So she went to see him in something on Broadway- wearing her brand new white ski jacket to stand out. waited for him outside- waits for the autograph- he tells her to turn around so he can use her back to steady the paper.........

well she faints and he draws a line down the entire back of her down jacket!!! She never washed it. because it was his line. And she was fine just very embarrased.

Oh and for those with sons! A broadway producer we met said SPIDERMAN!! is coming to broadway in the theater where Young Frankenstein was.! Can't wait for that. Wonder who will be Spidey? (U2 signed on to do the music about a year ago double bonus for me!)

 

[sharonW]

Hmm Favorite shows!

Into the Woods
Phantom
Lion King
Rent
Black and Blue


We've been lucky to see many many stars on Broadway- Vanessa Williams,Michael Crawford, Sting(that show lasted only ONE day and we just happened to be there on opening and closing night all in one! the list goes on and on. We saw Young Frankenstein with Andrea Martin and Megan Mullally- hillarious!
But my favorite celeb interaction was when we got to meet Constantine from American Idol outside of The Wedding Singer. He was so funny and was joking with my friend and I - actually ragging on us- but we were laughing so hard. It was a great night and he topped it off by being so down to earth and approachable!
Another funny story from High School a friend had a major crush on Christopher Reeves. So she went to see him in something on Broadway- wearing her brand new white ski jacket to stand out. waited for him outside- waits for the autograph- he tells her to turn around so he can use her back to steady the paper.........

well she faints and he draws a line down the entire back of her down jacket!!! She never washed it. because it was his line. And she was fine just very embarrased.

Oh and for those with sons! A broadway producer we met said SPIDERMAN!! is coming to broadway in the theater where Young Frankenstein was.! Can't wait for that. Wonder who will be Spidey? (U2 signed on to do the music about a year ago double bonus for me!)

Good Info!! Thanks!! Sounds like you've had
some fun broadway experiences!!!

 

[Linzybrooke]

Very cool. What a star she is!! She is 80 by now, isn't she?

We are seeing Lion King tomorrow and it is supposed to snow. Grrrrrrr or should I say brrrrrrrrr?

She is 83, and looks incredible for her age. When I get the photo uploaded I will post it.

Have fun at Lion King! That show and B&B inspired me to do theatre for a living. I adore Julie Taymor!

 

[sharonW]

She is 83, and looks incredible for her age. When I get the photo uploaded I will post it.

Have fun at Lion King! That show and B&B inspired me to do theatre for a living. I adore Julie Taymor!

Do Theatre? Are you an actress?

 

[Linzybrooke]

Do Theatre? Are you an actress?

Not really, I'm a high school theatre teacher. Mostly the technical side, but I can sing a mad musical number. I used to do a lot more performing, but a knee injury kept me from seriously pursuing the performance side of the art. I got my degree in scenic design, and loooove teaching my students about the different aspects of theatre. Its great to see new students develop a love for the theatre! Maybe someday I will pursue it professionally, but for now I'm happy!

 

[MelanieC]

I keep hoping they bring Cat's back - I would love to see that.

I've seen

Grease
Annie
Lion King
Phantom of the Opera in Vegas

We are going to see
Jesus Christ Superstar this saturday -I'm so excited

And we are going to see Phantom of the Opera in March.

The next two I'd like to see are Mama Mia and Rent

 

[Karamia]

She is 83, and looks incredible for her age. When I get the photo uploaded I will post it.

Have fun at Lion King! That show and B&B inspired me to do theatre for a living. I adore Julie Taymor!

Thanks so much, and please do post a picture!

 

[Zip-A-Dee-Lady]

Has anyone seen Shrek The Musical and/or stage doored it?

 

[Missy1961]

I keep meaning to post on this thread...and haven't had a chance yet! I love Broadway & I really love musicals. I've seen a few in my life, let's see what I can remember:

Grease (in 1978! I'm sure some of you weren't even born, it was my junior year in high school)
A Chorus Line (fall of 1978)

Then I didn't go to shows for a long time.....next show I went to was
Phantom of the Opera (in 1992!) but that opened the flood gates...started going more often.
since then I've seen, in no particular order:
Le Miz
Crazy For You
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (with Nathan Lane--he was wonderful--I love him)
How to Succeed in Business....(with John Stamos--he was very good, I was impressed)
Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Victor/Victoria (with Julie Andrews, she was wonderful, the show was not)
Beauty & the Beast -- saw this 3 times actually. Great show. Never did figure out how they did the transformation at the end.
The Producers---saw this at the end of it's run. Tony Danza was in it--and he was really good.
Aida--saw this in previews with Adam Pascal & Heather Headley--I think that's her name--it was really good. the only time in my life I've won anything--a NYC radio station had just launched their website, I went to check it out, registered my email, won 2 orchestra tickets!
Mary Poppins--liked it, but didn't love it. I saw the original cast, the guy who played Burt was great.
The Little Mermaid--which I really liked a lot. The new song were really good. And the merpeople glide around on heelys!

I know I've seen a few plays, but for the life of me, I can't remember any names right now. I mostly do musicals, I've always loved them.

I want to see Wicked, I think that's next on my list. I'm sorry I missed Spamalot, I loved Monty Python, I really wanted to see it.

 

[Karamia]

In addition to the previous we have seen;


Doubt
The Crucible
Inherit the Wind
Moon for the Misbegotten
Phantom of the Opera

 

[Karamia]

I keep meaning to post on this thread...and haven't had a chance yet! I love Broadway & I really love musicals. I've seen a few in my life, let's see what I can remember:

Grease (in 1978! I'm sure some of you weren't even born, it was my junior year in high school)
A Chorus Line (fall of 1978)

Then I didn't go to shows for a long time.....next show I went to was
Phantom of the Opera (in 1992!) but that opened the flood gates...started going more often.
since then I've seen, in no particular order:
Le Miz
Crazy For You
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (with Nathan Lane--he was wonderful--I love him)
How to Succeed in Business....(with John Stamos--he was very good, I was impressed)
Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Victor/Victoria (with Julie Andrews, she was wonderful, the show was not)
Beauty & the Beast -- saw this 3 times actually. Great show. Never did figure out how they did the transformation at the end.
The Producers---saw this at the end of it's run. Tony Danza was in it--and he was really good.
Aida--saw this in previews with Adam Pascal & Heather Headley--I think that's her name--it was really good. the only time in my life I've won anything--a NYC radio station had just launched their website, I went to check it out, registered my email, won 2 orchestra tickets!
Mary Poppins--liked it, but didn't love it. I saw the original cast, the guy who played Burt was great.
The Little Mermaid--which I really liked a lot. The new song were really good. And the merpeople glide around on heelys!

I know I've seen a few plays, but for the life of me, I can't remember any names right now. I mostly do musicals, I've always loved them.

I want to see Wicked, I think that's next on my list. I'm sorry I missed Spamalot, I loved Monty Python, I really wanted to see it.

You reminded me I took my DGD to see Beauty and the Beast. Her first Broadway play!

 

[The LK 4]

I'm organizing a trip for 50+ people from our Girl Scout neighborhood to NYC this June. We are going to see The Little Mermaid, so I'm glad Missy1961 enjoyed it!

Next week is a dream Broadway week for me. I'm seeing Jersey Boys in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening (while the entire rest of the city will be watching the Steelers in the Super Bowl ). Then, I head to NYC on Wednesday for a business trip. My coworker and I are going to see Stomp on Wednesday, Avenue Q or Altar Boyz on Thursday, and Mary Poppins on Friday. Can't wait!

 

[JenM]

Beauty & the Beast -- saw this 3 times actually. Great show. Never did figure out how they did the transformation at the end.

Do you want to know? I'll put it in white letters so just scroll over it if you want to see: they used a double.

I knew someone who worked at Lion King a few years back who told us how they did it.

 

[Missy1961]

Thanks Jen! I figured it was something like that!

 

[goofy4tink]

I dont' see how anyone could hate Showboat! It's a classic! When flash in the pan shows like Wicked and Spring Awakening are long forgotten...Showboat will still be a standard bearer for American musical theatre!

I just don't understand how people enjoy Wicked! I found the show mind numbing and dull. The score was fairly vanilla except for one or two songs which is typical for a Stephen Shwartz show. Plus they butchered the novel!

I've never quite undertood the allue of Webber's shows either. Save for Evita his shows are uneven and less than engaging. Don't even get me started on his Phantom sequel...it may be a sign of the end times coming!

I look to shows by Cole Porter or the Gershwins for great shows!

As much as I adore Cole Porter and the Gershwins, as well as Richard Rogers and the rest of that group....I love the newer shows as well. I do get tired of the current 'fad' of hating Webber. It's tiresome. Sondheim is not 'all that'. Sure, his stuff is great but why is it that you can' enjoy both?? My poor 15 y/o dd, a huge theater nut, has been completely brainwashed by the Stephen Sondheim fanatics. She does nothing but put down anything by Webber, and that's sad. It almost amounts to theater snobbery and that's really tiresome. 'Wicked'? Ah, not a flash in the pan. It has been a great vehicle to involve many people in theater that may not otherwise have been interested. That's the one show that my dh actually agreed to see.

Yeah the staged version of Wicked really took the meat out of the show and made it nothing but fluff. Wicked the novel is very deep, dark and political as are the other books the author (who's name escapes me at the moment) has written in that universe.

Oh please. There are way too many people, the vast majority in fact, that have never and will never read that book. The book just isn't all that great. And yes, I have read Baum's original. Just because something is 'deep and dark' does not automatically mean it is the best thing since sliced bread. Gregory Maguire, by the way.

I'm organizing a trip for 50+ people from our Girl Scout neighborhood to NYC this June. We are going to see The Little Mermaid, so I'm glad Missy1961 enjoyed it!

Next week is a dream Broadway week for me. I'm seeing Jersey Boys in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening (while the entire rest of the city will be watching the Steelers in the Super Bowl ). Then, I head to NYC on Wednesday for a business trip. My coworker and I are going to see Stomp on Wednesday, Avenue Q or Altar Boyz on Thursday, and Mary Poppins on Friday. Can't wait!

Have you looked into a group called StudentsLive? Their website is www.StudentsLive.net
My dd, 15, is a GS and is heading to NYC this weekend to participate in a 'weekend for good' that these people have put together. They (studentslive) put theater based programs out there for young people. This one is for GSs only. For $185 pp, you go to the Gershwin in the morning, have workshops led by theater personel..not sure how they're going to do that since we're all in the audience, but we'll see. Then, we break for lunch and return for the matinee of 'Wicked' where all the seats were sold to only GSs and those traveling with them.
The big thing is that they asked any of the girls who wished to, to do a project where they went out and did good things....tying the 'I've been changed for the better...' theme of 'Wicked' to the whole GS mentality of public service or doing good things for others. So, my dd did a report on her trip into the inner city of Boston where they worked with the homeless, fed them, and clothed them, after walking the night streets with them, as well as some recovered drug addicts, to listen to their life stories and see how they got there. She submitted her project and was chosen as one of the girls to present her project, onstage, at the Gershwin on Sat. Then, those girls will take part in a Wicked trivia contest, basically dealing with personality traits of Elphaba and Galinda. The girl with the most points gets a backstage tour as well as gets to meet some of the actors and such.
This group puts on many different programs, with different shows. It's worth checking into if your girls want to go as a group.



But, back to the OP posters questions...great idea for a thread by the way CCT.
I don't think I have any true favorites. My taste is way to eclectic. I know we did want to catch Spring Awakening before it closed since we did 'Annie' years ago with Alex Socha, who is now in SA. But, that isn't going to happen. We will have to see it on tour in Boston on Mother's Day..nice way to spend that day!!! With my 15 y/o dd.
Love so many shows. I start rehearsals for Sweeney over the weekend...ensemble for that. I love Carousel, Music Man. Cats? Well, it's not my favorite but it does have some decent music in it.
I have to be one of the few people on the face of the planet who does not love Les Mis. But, I am taking dd to see it while we're in London next month...such a good mom.
Saw Curtains last winter and really enjoyed it.
Spamalot is a huge favorite. I would have said Rent up until last May. Had seen it several times and loved it, but when we saw it over Mem Day weekend, in NYC, the cast was not all that great, the theater in dreadful need of rehab. But, it looks like we'll try to catch it on tour in Boston in July...gotta see Adam and Anthony together again.

We did get to see Gypsy...dd is hugely impressed with LuPone. Me? Not so much. And she did get to actually speak to the diva herself at the stage door. I guess she was okay, but I've enjoyed other's in the part better.
Not sure what else we're going to try to get discount tickets for this weekend. Not much is left. We'll see what happens.

 

[JARNJ3]

Really interesting article about Patti Lupone in New York Magazine.

Takes a strong woman to allow herself photographed in some shots (need to click on the slide show for them......

http://nymag.com/arts/theater/features/53603/

 

[sharonW]

Do you want to know? I'll put it in white letters so just scroll over it if you want to see: they used a double.

I knew someone who worked at Lion King a few years back who told us how they did it.

Can ya do this for me too?? It drove me nuts
wonderding how it was done!!
Seeing LK this Sunday, can't wait!!!

ps: Saw donny osmond perform in the very last
performance of BB, had my name drawn in a
contest to see the final show..sooo awesome!!