The Broadway show thread where we discuss all things Broadway

[Nancy F]

Just got back from seeing Hugh Jackman on Broadway. He is amazing!!!

I saw him in The Boy From Oz five times, and in A Steady Rain twice when they were on Broadway, but this was his first one-man show and it was incredible. He did stuff from Oklahoma!, that "I Won't Dance" medley he did at the Tonys a few years ago, he did the whole travelling salesmen opening from The Music Man (and did a whole rap-thing out of it, which was hysterical), and "Soliloquy" from Carousel, which was amazing!

He also did stuff like "Mack the Knife," and "The Way You Look Tonight" (he did that for his wife Deb, which was really sweet), he brought Peter Allen back to do a bunch of stuff from The Boy From Oz (I've missed that show!), and this whole medley from old movie musicals like Guys & Dolls and Singing in the Rain. Plus there was this incredible version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with Aboriginal singers and didgeridoo players.

He even made a bunch of Wolverine jokes.

He also did a ton of ad-libbing with the audience, which was hilarious. We had some celebrities in the audience too: Angela Lansbury was there, as was Richard Marx and Florence Henderson. He was playing with them all night too.

It was just great! He's just awesome. He didn't sing anything from Les Miz (but the show was so good I barely noticed), but he mentioned he was doing the movie. I don't think the lady in front of us knew about that - she said "OH MY GOD!" really loud and started flipping out.

It was just great. Definitely see it if you get a chance!

We're going Dec 18th. I loved him in The Boy from Oz and A Steady Rain. I can't wait to see this show.
Nancy

 

[Deb in IA]

I'm glad you enjoyed the show. I always worry when it is a different cast than the last time I saw it that it won't be as good as before but I'm really excited to see it again. I saw it twice the last time it was here and I'm going once this year on Thursday (my birthday actually).

Anne Brummel (Elphaba) has a super strong, but slightly nasally voice. She more than made up for it in her acting, though, which I thought was better than the last tour.

Tiffany Haas (Galinda) has great comedic timing. She has a wonderful, clear soprano, but at times was almost overpowered by Anne.

The one (minor) disappointment was David Nathan Perlow (Fiero). While he was awfully cute, his singing was flat, at least in his first number "Dancing Through Life". He improved as the night went on, though.

But "Defying Gravity" still gave me goosebumps, and "For Good" still made me cry. It is still a wonderful show.
And since it was "Broadway Cares" time again, we got another autographed poster, to go with ours from "Les Mis" and "Back to Normal".

They were also selling green-dyed, sequined pointe shoes that one of the Ozians wears in the "One Short Day" number. DD, who is a ballet student, got the last one! It came in a black velvet carrying bag with the "official" Wicked tag that is used in their wardrobe. The guy who sold it to us explained that if you look closely, the little green witch that forms the "dot" for the i is printed upside down. So, since that wasn't the official copywrited logo, they were able to use these misprinted tags for the souvenir bags!


Have a great time!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

 

[MissDisney121]

Anne Brummel (Elphaba) has a super strong, but slightly nasally voice. She more than made up for it in her acting, though, which I thought was better than the last tour.

Tiffany Haas (Galinda) has great comedic timing. She has a wonderful, clear soprano, but at times was almost overpowered by Anne.

The one (minor) disappointment was David Nathan Perlow (Fiero). While he was awfully cute, his singing was flat, at least in his first number "Dancing Through Life". He improved as the night went on, though.

But "Defying Gravity" still gave me goosebumps, and "For Good" still made me cry. It is still a wonderful show.
And since it was "Broadway Cares" time again, we got another autographed poster, to go with ours from "Les Mis" and "Back to Normal".

They were also selling green-dyed, sequined pointe shoes that one of the Ozians wears in the "One Short Day" number. DD, who is a ballet student, got the last one! It came in a black velvet carrying bag with the "official" Wicked tag that is used in their wardrobe. The guy who sold it to us explained that if you look closely, the little green witch that forms the "dot" for the i is printed upside down. So, since that wasn't the official copywrited logo, they were able to use these misprinted tags for the souvenir bags!


Have a great time!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Glad to hear they are so good. I love when it is Broadway cares time I have an autographed playbill from "Next to Normal" and an autographed poster from the broadway tour of "Rent". Thanks for the birthday wishes.

 

[tweedlemom]

Going to see Lion King in NYC in 2 weeks. Do they have a bag check? Can't find any info on their site. Didn't know if anyone knew firsthand. Thanks in advance!

 

[Art 1]

Going to see Lion King in NYC in 2 weeks. Do they have a bag check? Can't find any info on their site. Didn't know if anyone knew firsthand. Thanks in advance!

I think they did.

 

[superme80]

Ok I can vent here cause I am among fellow theater nuts. Tickets to Wicked are $125 for good seats. Are they out of the ever loving minds??? Yeah DH told me no. So I do not get to see Wicked next year. I have seen it once and I actually wanted a seat where I could actually SEE the actors. So not happy with them.

 

[cornflake]

Ok I can vent here cause I am among fellow theater nuts. Tickets to Wicked are $125 for good seats. Are they out of the ever loving minds??? Yeah DH told me no. So I do not get to see Wicked next year. I have seen it once and I actually wanted a seat where I could actually SEE the actors. So not happy with them.

That seems a bit under general orchestra price for a musical actually. I'm not saying it's not expensive, it is, just that they're not overpricing or anything - it's not them.

 

[superme80]

That seems a bit under general orchestra price for a musical actually. I'm not saying it's not expensive, it is, just that they're not overpricing or anything - it's not them.

Last time I got good seats to a show it was less than $100 per ticket. It just amazes me how the prices have gone up and what it is per show.

 

[cornflake]

Last time I got good seats to a show it was less than $100 per ticket. It just amazes me how the prices have gone up and what it is per show.

I understand and like I said, I totally agree it's expensive. Center orchestra seats are generally like $125-140 now for name shows though, yeah. Holiday season prices are higher, 'premium seats' are higher, etc.

If it's not a really hot ticket, you can try TKTS, or box office day-of releases - you can often get lucky. The more days you'll be here, the more chances you have. If it's bad weather, also ups your chances, heh. Locals will often wander over to the Theatre District (or any TV shows they like to see taped that are harder to get into) in really bad weather because there can be seats for the taking.

 

[JenM]

Last time I got good seats to a show it was less than $100 per ticket. It just amazes me how the prices have gone up and what it is per show.

Shows started charging over $100 for good seats over 10 years ago, when The Producers were able to get away with it. That show also started "premium seating"...selling tickets at scalper prices for anywhere from $200-$500, sometimes even more. And they get it, which is sad.

I'd love to see Hugh Jackman's show again, but the cheaper mezz seats are mostly gone and orchestra tickets at this point are over $150 (if I'm lucky) and I just can't do it.

I usually get seats in the mezzanine. Tickets are cheaper and most theaters are small enough that the view of the stage is usually fine. I saw Book of Mormon in the second-to-last row of the mezzanine and it was fine.

But I agree, ticket prices are ridiculous. I miss so many shows now.

 

[Art 1]

Ok I can vent here cause I am among fellow theater nuts. Tickets to Wicked are $125 for good seats. Are they out of the ever loving minds??? Yeah DH told me no. So I do not get to see Wicked next year. I have seen it once and I actually wanted a seat where I could actually SEE the actors. So not happy with them.

Sister Act was $121.50 a few weeks ago. A rum and coke and a very small bag of pretzels was $19 at the Broadway Theatre. But that's about what we pay when the shows come into town

 

[LIDisneyFan]

Saw "Seminar" 2 weeks ago-incredible acting by Alan Rickman, Hamish Linklater and LIly Rabe. The script was good (not spectacular-it felt like it was trying a little too hard), but if you ever want to see 90 minutes of just the highest quality acting, good comedy and interesting characterizations-it is worth the $.

 

[tammymacb]

I've got Mama Mia tickets for Tuesday and I can't wait!

 

[snapppyd]

Ok I can vent here cause I am among fellow theater nuts. Tickets to Wicked are $125 for good seats. Are they out of the ever loving minds??? Yeah DH told me no. So I do not get to see Wicked next year. I have seen it once and I actually wanted a seat where I could actually SEE the actors. So not happy with them.

Not out of the ordinary. I'm looking at bringing my friend to see Harry Connick Jr. in "On a Clear Day" for Christmas. Good seats are $147 each, and the really good ones are already all sold out.

Last year I paid $199 to sit close at a show I loved and had seen numerous times.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Not out of the ordinary. I'm looking at bringing my friend to see Harry Connick Jr. in "On a Clear Day" for Christmas. Good seats are $147 each, and the really good ones are already all sold out.

Last year I paid $199 to sit close at a show I loved and had seen numerous times.

Wonder what show that could have been? I paid, I believe $137 for tickets to that same show, in the mezzanine.

 

[Missy1961]

Going to see Lion King in NYC in 2 weeks. Do they have a bag check? Can't find any info on their site. Didn't know if anyone knew firsthand. Thanks in advance!

Yes they do, as did Wicked last week. Another fact of NYC life these days.

 

[cornflake]

Yes they do, as did Wicked last week. Another fact of NYC life these days.

I thought the poster was asking if they had a place to check their bags, and I wondered what the heck theatre did that. A-ha, now I gets it.

 

[Deb in IA]

Ok I can vent here cause I am among fellow theater nuts. Tickets to Wicked are $125 for good seats. Are they out of the ever loving minds??? Yeah DH told me no. So I do not get to see Wicked next year. I have seen it once and I actually wanted a seat where I could actually SEE the actors. So not happy with them.

Yeah, we paid $147 for third row seats last week to see Wicked, but it was well worth it!

At the Des Moines show, they had a daily lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats for $25. 2 tickets per person, cash only, sign-up starts 2 1/2 hours before the show with the drawing 30 minutes later.

 

[tweedlemom]

I thought the poster was asking if they had a place to check their bags, and I wondered what the heck theatre did that. A-ha, now I gets it.

THAT actually is what I was asking. People are shopping in NYC all the time. Didn't know if you were even allowed to take bags to your seat or if you had to "check" them and get a claim ticket to retrieve after the show. No big deal.

 

[JenM]

Yeah, we paid $147 for third row seats last week to see Wicked, but it was well worth it!

At the Des Moines show, they had a daily lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats for $25. 2 tickets per person, cash only, sign-up starts 2 1/2 hours before the show with the drawing 30 minutes later.

They do that for Wicked on Broadway too. That's how I got to see it. There were at least 200+ people there, they were down to the last name being drawn, and it was mine. That was pretty cool.