Spektr

Anyone out there get into Broadway musicals at all? I love them. RENT is my favorite, I've seen it three times and it's amazing. I've also seen Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Mamma Mia, The Producers and Urinetown. I can't get enough.

lalalapi

The Producers is great, as is Hedwig. The only other piece I've seen is Cabaret with Alan Cumming, which was an experience unto itself.

gnort

Saw The Crucible with Liam Neeson wonderful play....i was speechless

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mystmarimatt

Phantom Of the Opera is rad, and Rent is just amazing. but one of my absolute favorites is one called "Ragtime", based off of the book of the same bname, it's just beautiful

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sadatx

I remember seeing GUYS AND DOLLS with Nathan Lane. Hands down my favorite although it was a while ago.

CHICAGO's another favorite, when Lilith from Cheers was in it (what's her name). She's damn sexy.

I haven't been to broadway in a long time. Wish I could have caught THE PRODUCERS with matthew broderick and nathan lane.

YourNeverThere

Ya i saw thoses two on Broadway last year, errr two years ago i dont remeber, anyway i loved them both

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cetacean

I live off broadway... No musicals up here though...

lpj8

I've seen the phantom of the opera twice and am planning on seeing it again soon, its awesome. The music is amazing. I'm getting myself psyched up by relistening to a lot of it.
I saw Mamma Mia! last year while I was in Toronto with low expectations because I'm not a ABBA fan. I have to admit, it was really good. The music was very well done, and the story was really funny.
I've heard that Movin' Out (Music by Billy Joel) is really good, but I haven't decided if I'm going to go see it yet as broadway shows are pretty expensive here in Tampa.
Has anyone seen Movin' Out? Is it good?

shakran

Phantom's good. My favorite is Les Miserables. I've seen that one 4 times.

Also saw Cats, Sound of Music, West Side Story, Music Man, Sunset Boulevard, Into the Woods (awesome musical - very clever and the use of language is great), and several others I can't recall right now. Liked 'em all except Sunset Boulevard - -that one didn't do anything for me.

K-Wise

I've only had the priveledge of seeing Phantom Of The Opera when I was in New York to sing at Carnegie Hall. It was really something else. I'd love to sing on broadway some day. Would be quite an experiance.

Asta!!

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sapphire

I love Chicago, The Producers, and Guys and Dolls. I missed CATS on Broadway but have seen various tour productions and really enjoyed it

quadro2000

I've seen a zillion musicals over the years - one of the benefits of living close to NYC. The first one I saw was Into The Woods, with Phylicia Rashad as the witch. I don't think I could even remember all the ones I've seen:

Les Mis - seen it three times, unbelievable
Phantom - sorry to those who love it, but IMHO this is probably one of the worst I've ever seen. I even saw it a second time just to make sure I wasn't imagining it.
Cats - Ehh, I probably should have seen this at 5 instead of 18...
Sunset Boulevard - Almost as bad as Phantom, even with Glenn Close
Guys and Dolls - with Nathan Lane - UNBELIEVABLE
Rent - good music, but overrated
Damn Yankees - lots of fun
Chicago - awesome
Cabaret - unfortunately I saw this with John Stamos, who was horrible
The Fully Monty - Fantastic - saw it twice!
Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - I saw Donny Osmond in this - he was actually very good
Jesus Christ Superstar - also very good
The Producers - fantastic, not only because of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick but because of the excellent writing
Mamma Mia - Fun as long as you're not expecting heavy plot.
Hedwig - technically, this isn't a Bway musical, it's off-Bway, but that's just the actor in me being anal-retentive. A very good show - quite rockin'.
Ragtime - Good performances, but overall, not very memorable.
Kiss Me Kate - borrrrring...
Thoroughly Modern Millie - An amazing performance by Sutton Foster. I'm just upset I didn't see this a second time. It had everything - strong singing, dancing, acting...
Peter Pan - Lots of fun to see Cathy Rigby flying into the audience, above our heads!
Belles Are Ringing - similar to "Millie," but missing the spark that Millie had.
Little Shop of Horrors - not fantastic, but good, and certainly lots of fun!
Avenue Q - Freaking awesome!
Movin' Out - a fantastic expression of dance, and great music - just be warned that there's no dialogue and not a very strong storyline - but terrific performances.
The Who's Tommy - my favorite Bway musical of all time.

Of course, I've seen many non-musical performances on Broadway as well. The only thing holding me back from seeing more is the price. I'm taking my mother to see La Cage Aux Folles in January, and I'm looking forward to that. The new musical "Brooklyn" looks good.

Now I'm trying to think of other musicals I've seen, but forgotten...it was fun to try and list them here!

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grendel

i wouldn't say i'm all that familiar with many broadway musicals, but i'm quite fond of Sweeney Todd... that played broadway, didn't it?

amonkie

Into the Woods, Kiss Me Kate, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables are all my favorites - Les Mis would have to be my favorite musical content.

Anybody know the name of the one that has the wicked witch from Oz? I forget the name, but it looks really interesting!

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warrrreagl

Yay, I get to tell a Broadway-related story!

10 years or so ago, I lived in Iowa and Phantom of the Opera toured through Des Moines. It was so good that the wife and I saw it twice. Also at that time, I was working with the Iowa State Basketball Pep Band (playing bass guitar), and the Phantom himself came to sing the National Anthem (a capella) at one of the home games as a surprise special guest. Prior to the start of all games, the sound is checked and double-checked, and my bass guitar was blasting wonderfully through the arena system.

So, when they introduced The Phantom and Hilton Coliseum went nuts, I grabbed my bass guitar in order to blast out the opening descending fanfare to Phantom of the Opera. When would I ever get another opportunity like that?

The little twerp working the sound board hit the kill switch when he saw me reaching for the bass because he thought I was trying to stop it from falling over and he didn't want it to make any noise.

ARRGGHH!!!

Lost opportunity...

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Redlemon

That would be Wicked. I haven't seen it, but I really enjoyed the first 3/4s of the book of the same name.

My favorite show of all time is Sweeney Todd, which is a great dark comedy, and in general I love Stephen Sondheim. Although you can't go wrong with a Gilbert & Sullivan either.

grendel

hey, redlemon, you know that Sweeney Todd came out on DVD this year, right?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...v=glance&s=dvd

CinnamonGirl

Sadly, I don't get to see as many musicals (or shows in general, for that matter) as I used to...that said, my favorites are RENT, Anything Goes, and Damn Yankees. I haven't seen Avenue Q, but the soundtrack is great.

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Redlemon

Oooh, the original 1982 cast. Very nice. I've watched that on VHS many a time.

grendel

yeah, i had a copy of a copy of a copy that was made from a PBS broadcast so i was pretty excited to see this finally show up on DVD. you don't know how many times i considered paying $60 or more on eBay for a used copy of the OOP VHS. fortunately i never did.

indigochild111

OO OO OO OOOOOOOOOOOOOO Cinnamongirl you are my HERO! My all time favorite broadway musical is ANYTHING GOES. Although...that could just be because I got to play Reno Sweeney. :::sigh:::
I saw Annie Get Your Gun with Bernadette Peters...she is amazing
Guys and Dolls is always an amazing musical
The Fantastiks is good...
Chicago is AMAZING live

Haven't really seen too many others...I wish Anything Goes would come back to Broadway because I would audition for it in a heartbeat :-D

Cynthetiq

too many broadway shows to list.. but I do love going to the shows it's great to work right in the theater district sometimes...

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mystmarimatt

"Wicked" is wonderful.
Not actually 'Broadway,' (It was only off-broadway) but "The Last Five Years" by Jason Robert Brown is quite good.
"Cabaret" is great.
So is "Chicago."
"My Fair Lady" has always been a favorite.
"Kiss Me, Kate," has always been a love of mine.
"Crazy For You" has awesome music, good writing.
"The Producers" is slightly overrated.
"Music Man" will always hold a fond spot in my heart.
"Guys and Dolls" is always a good call.
"Avenue Q" is funny, and has good acting, but the music isn't altogether brilliantly written or anything.
Not that there aren't some stinkers. The first is "No, No, Nanette." If it's playing...don't even bother. The second, and, I apologize to those that like it, but "Grease" is just horrendous.

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Words of Wisdom:

If you could really get to know someone and know that they weren't lying to you, then you would know the world was real. Because you could agree on things, you could compare notes. That must be why people get married or make Art. So they'll be able to really know something and not go insane.

longbough

"Rent" was much better than I expected it to be. Just on the basis of genuine angst it's unforgettable.
"Sweeney Todd" - (especially with Len Cariou as Todd in the original Broadway cast. The DVD has George Hearn in the lead who is very good but not as powerful or nuanced as Cariou) remains the single most amazing musical/operetta I've ever seen. It is complex, passionate and powerful throughout. It is strangely effective as a drama, a horror, a satire, a musical, an opera and more. There's been nothing like that production - ever.

onodrim

I love Jason Robert Brown's stuff.

I know far too many musicals than is healthy for any one person, so I'll just list my top favorites.

Songs for a New World
Last Five Years
Parade
Jekyll and Hyde
Ragtime
Les Miserable
Miss Saigon
Jesus Christ Superstar
Urinetown
Chess
Secret Garden
Rags
Fosse
I Love You You're Perfect Now Change

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, and I could keep listing forever, so I'll stop for there.

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SecretMethod70

Love
Sweeney Todd*
Songs for a New World* (more like an off-broadway caberet show, but whatever)
Les Miserables
Ragtime*
The Producers* (Saw it with the original cast in a pre-broadway run in Chicago. However, this is a musical I can only truly enjoy when seeing a live performance of - listening to the album is just not the same. Nathan Lane was absolutely hysterical in it!)

Like
Phantom of the Opera*
Rent (I really like this show a lot, but I'm forced to agree it's a bit overrated)
Chess(+The Russian)
Fiddler on the Roof (I'm fairly indifferent to this one...it's on the edge between like and tolerate)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat*(+Joseph) (I probably would have liked it less had I not seen Donnie Osmond in it and played Joseph when I was in it )
Miss Saigon*
Last Five Years (as mentioned, this is actually off-broadway)
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying(+J. Pierrepont Finch)
Evita(+General and lover of Evita)
She Loves Me(+Georg)
Secret Garden(+Archibald)
Jekyll and Hyde

Tolerate
Bye Bye Birdie(+Conrad Birdie)
West Side Story (WAY overrated...the orchestration is great though)
Chicago
Damn Yankees*
Beauty and the Beast*
Aida
Lion King
Side Show

Hate
Oklahoma!(+Chorus member)
Anything Goes(+Billy Crocker)
Grease
Godspell(+Jesus) (although, I like one or two songs from it, and not the popular ones)
Once Upon A Mattress(+The Minstrel)
Carousel
Camelot
Kiss Me Kate
South Pacific

*Seen a professional or near-professional production of
+Performed in

Generally speaking, the more light-hearted a musical is, the more I tend to dislike it. Hence, my favorite musicals are shows like Sweeney Todd, Les Mis, Ragtime, etc. My movie tastes follow the same suit as I rarely watch comedies but often watch heavy dramas.

Yes, I know this was a lot more information than was asked for, but I made the list just as much for myself as well as a response to the thread. Nice walk down memory lane, which ono helped with

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Catmandu

SM70, it looks like your list also tends toward the operatic, less physical shows. My list would almost reverse yours. I want to see dancing, singing, and more dancing. Hey, screw the story. Break out the tap shoes!