Seen a Good Broadway Show Lately?

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buff81

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This is sooooo waaaay off topic , but y'all are so diverse and cultured that I thought y'all would be a great group to ask. :smile:
Any suggestions to see or def not to see?
Already been to Wicked and The Addams Family.
 
Phantom is a MUST if you can see it. I'd also recommend Chicago.

Those two come immediately to mind. Also, if you EVER have the opportunity to see Hal Holbrook's "Mark Twain" then do whatever you have to do to go!!!

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
buff81 said:
This is sooooo waaaay off topic , but y'all are so diverse and cultured that I thought y'all would be a great group to ask. :smile:
Any suggestions to see or def not to see?
Already been to Wicked and The Addams Family.
Click to expand...
Buff- I'm going to spin this one on you- how was "Wicked"? Was thinking of taking my 11 year old daughter- any good?
 
Well, it's not Broadway - it's Walnut Street, and it's not New York - It's Philadelphia, but anyway...

Wife and I are going to see "Jersey Boys" at the Forrest Theater this Sunday. Story is about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. When the Mrs. and I were just dating (eons ago), we caught the "Four Seasons" (with Valli) in concert at the Shady Grove Music Fair. Had a great time and I remember cutting cassette tapes of a lot of their music for auto use (replaced my 8 track!).

Coincides with the ole anniversery so pops gots the bases covered!
 
SubSquid said:
Well, it's not Broadway - it's Walnut Street, and it's not New York - It's Philadelphia, but anyway...

Wife and I are going to see "Jersey Boys" at the Forrest Theater this Sunday. Story is about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. When the Mrs. and I were just dating (eons ago), we caught the "Four Seasons" (with Valli) in concert at the Shady Grove Music Fair. Had a great time and I remember cutting cassette tapes of a lot of their music for auto use (replaced my 8 track!).

Coincides with the ole anniversery so pops gots the bases covered!
Click to expand...

Cool- I saw Frankie Valli at Tanglewood in 1973 I think (Roberta Flack was the other act so that should be about right)- his falsetto had kind of given out by then but a fun time. Enjoy!!
 
Yeah, 'bout right. I remember I had just made E-5 and felt like I had bucks to burn! Galdys Knight and the Pips were the opener at Shady Grove.
 
bruno said:
Buff- I'm going to spin this one on you- how was "Wicked"? Was thinking of taking my 11 year old daughter- any good?
Click to expand...

Wicked seems to really appeal to pre-teen and teenage girls, and my guess is she will love it (great story of being true to one's convictions, with strong women in the leading roles). Music is excellent. I have the OBC recording, and the Menzel/Chenowith dynamic is great. It's been around for a few years, so if you see it at the Gershwin in NYC, the cast will be people you've probably never heard of; but, it's still a spectacular show. I'm sure even a National Tour will be entertaining.

Regarding some of the other posts-

First, and I say this as a community theatre actor, I'd suggest checking out Off-Broadway venues (and even Off-Off) as well as the big Broadway musicals. These smaller venues are where some of the best non-musical theatre is. I have a weak spot for dramas.

Phantom and Chicago have been around for a while, and you can usually get tickets for them at one of the TKTS booths in NYC. My suggestion is to use the one in Lower Manhattan (as opposed to Times Square), as it is less well-known, and you can get tickets for next-day shows (as opposed to TS, where the discounted tickets are only for that night). I'm not a huge fan of Webber, so Phantom is not a fave (too much melodrama, even for a musical). Love Kander and Ebb, though, and Chicago is the longest-running revival on the Great White Way.

As far as my suggestions for Broadway musicals, I might go with Promises, Promises, as Sean Hayes and Kristen Chenowith are still in it, and Next to Normal is a powerful show that is still around. I've also heard good things about Memphis, but can't speak from experience on that one.

Enjoy, live theatre is great!!

Here is the Theatre Development Fund's website. They run the TKTS booths (discount tickets), and have good information on what shows are currently running:

http://www.tdf.org/

Click on the ticket services link, and then on info for the TKTS booths.
 
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My sister saw "Wicked" in New York at Times Square about a month ago. She loved it. Confession - I have not seen it.

A note to parents - I am guessing it is loosely and cleanly based on the book of the same name by Gregory Maguire. If so, IMHO, I would not let my eleven year old daughter read the book. You know what they often say, "the book is so much better than the movie".

Well, this book, IMHO, is NOT suitable for young pre-teens or early teens. Yes, I understand today's society and how much more our kids are exposed to and how much more they know. But, I thought the book was pretty graphic and suggestive in some situations and some "wow" moments even for me that I did not expect. LOL
 
Not broadway but Washington DC and the Kennedy Center - will be taking the girls to see "South Pacific" the day after Christmas.
This is a revival by the Lincoln Center Theater and will be in DC for a month.
 
AFA10MOM said:
My sister saw "Wicked" in New York at Times Square about a month ago. She loved it. Confession - I have not seen it.

A note to parents - I am guessing it is loosely and cleanly based on the book of the same name by Gregory Maguire. If so, IMHO, I would not let my eleven year old daughter read the book. You know what they often say, "the book is so much better than the movie".

Well, this book, IMHO, is NOT suitable for young pre-teens or early teens. Yes, I understand today's society and how much more our kids are exposed to and how much more they know. But, I thought the book was pretty graphic and suggestive in some situations and some "wow" moments even for me that I did not expect. LOL
Click to expand...

The show is much more family-friendly than the book. None of the weird scenes with the tiger or anything...:biggrin:
 
Sprog,
Good to know and as I suspected, or it would not have had the appeal it does nor would my sister have gone to see it. I know my sister has not read the book. Won't she be surprised when I pass it on.

I was taken aback by some of the content of the book even before Elphaba, the wicked witch, was born. :eek:
 
"Wicked" as a book is a no no for young teens or pre-teens! The show, however, is fantastic for any age. We have seen it twice and it is great.:thumb: Phantom is also excellent. Too bad Le Mis is not there anymore.
 
When DS was in 9th grade, he went on a class trip to Chicago and they were going to see Wicked while there. So I thought it would be a good idea to get him the book to read before he went. When a friend of mine heard this she told me NOT to let him read the book! I ended up reading it and I :eek: was :eek: like :eek: this :eek: through :eek: the :eek: whole :eek: book!! DS loved the play and assured me that it was appropriate.

A couple of years later, we all saw it on Broadway. Loved it!! Would see it again in a heartbeat. Fortunately it is very loosely based on the book. Would not let an 11 yo read it but would highly recommend taking her to the play.

Thanks for all the suggestions!
 
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