I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty, and witty, and bright! (musical theatre)

[dizagain]

We (except for DH) LOVE musicals - what a fun thread. Yes, I too have heard both versions of "I Feel Pretty".

DD's 8 and 10 are totally into performing in musical theatre productions. DD,10 is way serious and DD,8 is along for the fun. They just auditioned for "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" - a musical version of the fairy tale. Older one gets to be one of the sisters and youngest one gets to be a prince....um, slight lack of males in attendance at auditions...only 4 of the 12 princes are boys!!!! They are excited and our lives just became nuts once again.

I love "Les Miserables", "Grease", "Cinderella", and "My Fair Lady" the most. Just saw "Beauty and the Beast" finally and we really liked it. However, we sat high up, and the girls being "seasoned vets" of the stage spent the whole show watching behind the scenes stuff and telling me when people were off their marks!!! They were also quite impressed that there was a small chorus down with the orchestra that sang along on production numbers.

 

[headoflife]

I never post on the CB, but I LOVE MUSICALS! My favorites are by Sondheim, especially Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along. I also love Les Miserables and Song and Dance. The old stuff is great too!

 

[aprincessmom]

Musicals are big in our house...DD (8) thinks life is a musical and can't understand why more people don't just burst into song and dance at the grocery store like her

One of our most recent favs is from Flower Drum Song...we sing it while we get dressed in the morning.

I Enjoy Being a Girl

I'm a girl, and by me that's only great!
I am proud that my silhouette is curvy,
That I walk with a sweet and girlish gait
With my hips kind of swivelly and swervy.

I adore being dressed in something frilly
When my date comes to get me at my place.
Out I go with my Joe or John or Billy,
Like a filly who is ready for the race!

When I have a brand new hairdo
With my eyelashes all in curl,
I float as the clouds on air do,
I enjoy being a girl!

When men say I'm cute and funny
And my teeth aren't teeth, but pearl,
I just lap it up like honey
I enjoy being a girl!

I flip when a fellow sends me flowers,
I drool over dresses made of lace,
I talk on the telephone for hours
With a pound and a half of cream upon my face!

I'm strictly a female female
And my future I hope will be
In the home of a brave and free male
Who'll enjoy being a guy having a girl... like... me.

When men say I'm sweet as candy
As around in a dance we whirl,
It goes to my head like brandy,
I enjoy being a girl!

When someone with eyes that smoulder
Says he loves ev'ry silken curl
That falls on my iv'ry shoulder,
I enjoy being a girl!

When I hear the compliment'ry whistle
That greets my bikini by the sea,
I turn and I glower and I bristle,
But I happy to know the whistle's meant for me!

I'm strictly a female female
And my future I hope will be
In the home of a brave and free male
Who'll enjoy being a guy having a girl... like... me.

 

[Laurabearz]

I am a huge Gilbert and Sullivan fan... I grew up helping my Dad with the set and my mom with the costumes (he was tech director and she was the costume designer) for University of Chicago's G&S light opera company of Chicago.

Rudigore is my fave, mostly bec casue we created a really cool set for the family gallery.... and at the end of the show, all of us techs got to stand up in the frames to sing God Save the Queen!

 

[rcyannacci]

Originally posted by Laurabearz
I am a huge Gilbert and Sullivan fan... I grew up helping my Dad with the set and my mom with the costumes (he was tech director and she was the costume designer) for University of Chicago's G&S light opera company of Chicago.

Rudigore is my fave, mostly bec casue we created a really cool set for the family gallery.... and at the end of the show, all of us techs got to stand up in the frames to sing God Save the Queen!

Another Gilbert and Sullivan fan here. I was a fairy in Iolanthe in our college production- so much fun! And ran tech for a great production of Pirates of Penzance.

 

[wvrevy]

Believe it or not, when I was in the Air Force, I caught a production of Les Mis...and just got hooked. Since, DW and I have seen quite a few different shows, from Grease (loved it) to Sleeping Beauty (really loved it) to Rent (abso-friggin'lutely fantastic) throughout Ohio, Virginia, and even North Carolina (not a heckuva lot of shows make it to West-by-God )....

Beginning of June we took a trip to New York and caught Hairspray, Wicked, and Avenue Q...all three of which were absolutely awesome.

 

[cvemom]

"Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" Loved that movie since I was a kid!


Ilove it too. I can't just pick one musical. I love them all. My DD is only 8 and she's been in Musical Theater for 4 years. She loves them too. She tried dance for one year then switched to Musical Theater Classes. She really looks forward to them. I was a Drama Major in college and have always loved Theater.

 

[DISshopkeeper]

Love musicals! Theatre AND film!

Netflix doesn't have Brigadoon! why not??? A perfectly good musical!

The last 3 Broadway shows I saw were "Hairspray", "Lion King" and a little while back one that I LOVED and was so sorry to see it go..."The Full Monty". There's nothing like live theatre!

 

[rcyannacci]

Originally posted by DISshopkeeper


Netflix doesn't have Brigadoon! why not??? A perfectly good musical!

That's a travesty! Great movie! Love Gene Kelly!

"What a day this has been! What a rare mood I'm in!
Why, it's almost like being in love!
There's a smile on my face for the whole human race!
Why, it's almost like being in love!
All the music of life seems to be like a bell that is ringing for me!
And from the way that I feel when that bell starts to peal,
I could swear I was falling, I would swear I was falling,
It's almost like being in love."

 

[jennyanydots]

525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes - how do you measure,
measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In
inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In 525,600 minutes - how do you
measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons of
love.


we're seeing Rent on september 9.


I still haven't seen Avenue Q or Movin' Out or The Producers...waaah.


this season I finally found a musical I didn't care for -- Caroline, or Change. first time in a long time I went to the theater and didn't enjoy the experience -- found myself playing college English student and analyzing the show instead of getting emotionally involved with it.

my ex was really into gilbert & sullivan. I've seen Iolanthe and Ruddigore, two of theirs that most people haven't even heard of. but my favorite is definitely Pirates of Penzance:

But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
He is the very model of a modern Major-General.

 

[rcyannacci]

Saw the producers last year- loved it. Very funny, very irreverent, really pokes fun at Broadway (and everything else too).

Also dying to see Ave. Q. Wvrevy's got us beat on this.

Amazingly enough, I've never seen Rent. There has just always been something else that I was dying to see.

 

[wvrevy]

Originally posted by rcyannacci
Saw the producers last year- loved it. Very funny, very irreverent, really pokes fun at Broadway (and everything else too).

Also dying to see Ave. Q. Wvrevy's got us beat on this.

Amazingly enough, I've never seen Rent. There has just always been something else that I was dying to see.

I'm still debating about whether I want to see the producers live...or just wait for the movie, since Broderick and Lane are reprising their roles for that.

Seriously, you've just GOT to see Rent....Absolutely incredible

As for 'Q'...it's kinda grown on me...When we first bought tickets, it had a lot of buzz, but was still kind of a "little, New York kinda show", which was why we wanted to see it. Most of the shows we see are traveling companies, so we wanted to get a real "New York theater" experience outside of the two mega-shows we were seeing.

Looking back on it, I enjoyed Q every bit as much as the other two (Wicked and Hairspray), and probably listen to the CD more now than the other two combined (but still less than rent ). Put it this way, our soon-to-be-four year old DD knows ALL the words to the song "Fine, Fine Line" from the Q soundtrack...She just WAILS on that line 'Course, several of the other songs we have to skip when she's in the car, but still....

 

[TLinden16]

Good to see that we have other Rent fans in these parts I've been listening to the original cast recording a lot this week (as part of my Adam Pascal kick).

Jennyanydots, are you seeing it in New York? If you are, you're going to get to see two of my favorite people--Jeremy Kushnier as Roger and Maggie Benjamin as Maureen.

Ave. Q is just about the funniest thing I've ever seen. Those of you who are thinking about trying to see it should definitely go see it. It is so much fun for those of us who grew up watching Sesame Street.

Karen

 

[jennyanydots]

Jennyanydots, are you seeing it in New York? If you are, you're going to get to see two of my favorite people--Jeremy Kushnier as Roger and Maggie Benjamin as Maureen.

of course I'm seeing it in NY -- I'll be sure to check my playbill for your friends.

 

[rcyannacci]

I think the Rent phenomonon is really interesting...probably haven't seen anything like it since Hair.

A touring production came to Austin, but it was almost impossible to get tickets. There were kids lined up for days, literally, to get a few rush tickets.

There are a few good tours coming this season to UTexas- Little Shop of Horrors, Throughly Modern Millie (I have a friend in the chorus), and The Producers. But I have trouble spending the same ticket price as I would in NY and sitting in a huge auditorium where the stage from my perspective is the size of a television. I saw Millie the first time at the fair grounds theatre in Dallas- I needed binoculars! Not the best way to experience live theatre...

If anyone is in or around NYC soon, try to get tickets to The Frogs at the Lincoln Center. I saw it a few weeks ago when I was in town researching, and it was really great- first time I'd seen Nathan Lane live. Very timely political themes, especially with the election approaching. When I get time, I'll try to post a longer review.

 

[jennyanydots]

my parents saw Frogs last week -- there's a reason it's not on ht "approved" list for the RNC delegates this week!

 

[TLinden16]

Originally posted by rcyannacci
I think the Rent phenomonon is really interesting...probably haven't seen anything like it since Hair.

A touring production came to Austin, but it was almost impossible to get tickets. There were kids lined up for days, literally, to get a few rush tickets.

Ah, the Rent rush line. I never waited overnight, but I have waited about 10 hours to get those front and second row tickets before. There's nothing like seeing Rent from the front row

Karen

 

[mssocks]

I love seeing shows on Broadway but it is very expensive to get transportation AND tickets from Philly. Saw Phantom twice ( amazing how a different actor in the role can change the whole tenor of the show ), Les Mis once.

Musical theater in schools is one of the best confidence builders there is. That's where I got hooked on the rush. Now I am involved in a local theater group for the past 15+ years. Our new website was hacked but the old one is still up. www.geocities.com/laymenplaymen or www.laymenplaymen.org
We keep getting the kids involved and exposing them to all that's part of theater.

Best memories -hhmm - some are onstage, lots are backstage

Sound of Music - onstage - putting a revealing nightie in Maria's suitcase for the nuns to see. backstage - seven Von Trappe children with a virus, barfing in the bushes before rushing to make an entrance -what troopers! 12 nuns crammed into a tiny space trying to quietly light candles ( with a Bic lighter ) during the Rolf-Liesl scene. Laying down the law - no more burritos for nuns!

I Remember Mama - onstage - the audience hissing at Uncle Chris for calling a niece an old maid. backstage - the light crew making up offstage gravestones marked Uncle Elizabeth #1-#15 to surprise the cast.

Oklahoma - onstage - Curly jumping onto a wooden box during Poor Jud is Dead and smashing it to smithereens, then both characters franically searching for the gun which had gone flying while continuing the song. backstage - balloons stuffed into Aunt Ellers butter churn.

Oliver - onstage - as Bill lay "dead" at the audiences feet a little voice piping up - "Mom. he ain't dead, he's BREATHING!!" backstage - ice cubes down the front of the serving wenches (actually while on stage)

Well, since we've done so many shows I can't use up this space and your time with the infinite tales of each one. But I will say that this year will be unbelievable! We are doing Titanic in February. It may seem months away but we already have donations ( we are non-profit and support a charity ) for the ships deck and a way to bring it to a 45 degree angle. I am auditioning for Ida Straus - I want to make people cry when I refuse to get in the lifeboat.

Has anyone seen Titanic on Broadway? I didn't see it listed.....