<p>OH DEAR. Funny Girl, anyone?</p>
<p>Hello Again is almost more a song cycle than a musical, and it was written by Michael John LaChiusa - book, music, AND lyrics. There were 65 off-Broadway performances at the Lincoln Center in 1994, and the cast included Donna Murphy, Malcolm Gets, Michelle Pawk, Carolee Carmello, and John Cameron Mitchell.</p>
<p>It's basically about sex, but the way the show is constructed, the quality of the songs, and the way they are performed is just incredible. It's one of those albums you could listen to on repeat for months.</p>
<p>In Trousers is William Finn's prequel to the Falsettos musicals, and it's GREAT. The plot is not presented in a linear way, which can be slightly confusing if you don't know what's going on, but again, the songs and performances are just incredible. The original 1979 cast at Playwright Horizons including Chip Zien as Marvin, and Mary Testa and Allison Fraser as his high school English teacher and his wife, respectively. The only other character is his high school sweetheart, who was played by some chick named Joanna Green, who rocks. The show tracks Marvin's childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, leading up to the point where he leaves his wife and children (in this show, he has two sons, whereas in the later Falsettos shows, he only has one) for Whizzer Brown. There is a gorgeous duet called "A Breakfast Over Sugar" between Marvin and his wife - it's their last breakfast together before he leaves, and she begs him to stay: "I cry as if on cue - hold me. Hold him, too - but stay."</p>
<p>It was redone in 1985, but they added a lot of songs, cut a few, and changed the order around - in my opinion, it was NOT an improvement. You can buy the original cast recording on Amazon.com.</p>
<p>I love this thread!
Let's continue to share these lesser known gems.</p>
<p>My personal favorite musicals would have to be Pippin and Sweeny Todd.</p>
<p>This summer we saw Moby Dick the Musical which I believe is British. It's about a girls school that is having financial troubles and puts on a show (Moby Dick, the Musical) to earn money. The headmistress is played by a man in drag who then plays Captain Ahab. So it is a show within a show that has a man playing a woman playing a man! Very funnny with some wonderful moments! Talk about a little known gem!</p>
<p>I like the large production value of Ragtime - with its diverse cast and semi-historical story line. I also like the music from Purlie, but have only seen parts of it in revues. I am looking forward to the new staging of it.</p>
<p>Lili Marlene (The Marlene Dietrich Story)!" "Underneath the lantern ... By the barracks gate ... Darling, I remember ... The way you used to wait ..." Naw that one hasnt been written, yet. ;) For me, favorites are mostly just what strikes my fancy lately. Id say some of mine are </p>
<p>Musicals "Jesus Christ Superstar," Hair, The Producers, "Cabaret"</p>
<p>Contemporary Plays Six Characters in Search of an Author, The House of Bernarda Alba, A Bright Room Called Day, Bash, Poona the **** Dog (and Other Plays for Children) Psycho Beach Party</p>
<p>Classical Plays - The Trojan Women, Medea, Henry VI (Part 1), As You Like It, Hamlet, The Physician In Spite of Himself, School for Wives</p>
<p>Yay for "The House of Bernarda Alba." My D's former school (a private girls' school) staged that last spring, with my D playing Martirio. (It was her first real mean girl/character role, and she relished every second of it! :)) When I first read it over, I couldn't imagine how a high school cast would be able to do it justice, but they did. </p>
<p>LD</p>
<p>oh my gosh i LOVE Ragtime</p>
<p>My D's school director loves the lesser known shows. She is currently in rehearsal for Something's Afoot (Agatha Christie spoof) and will be in Zombie Prom as the spring musical.</p>
<p>As for my fave? Les Miz. The story and the music get me every time.</p>
<p>"Sweeney Todd," genius through and through.
"West Side Story," the first musical I fell in love with.
Sondheim & Bernstein, Sondheim & Bernstein...I'd happily listen to anything by either (or both!) of them over and over. I love the music from "Candide."
But good heavens, people, where are Rodgers & Hammerstein? "Carousel"! "King & I"!
Of more recent vintage: Jason Robert Brown's "Songs for a New World" and "The Last Five Years." Adam Guettel's "Light in the Piazza." And nobody's mentioned "Avenue Q"!!!! Love it!!
"Les Miz," I guess.
"Miss Saigon" holds a special place in my heart, but it doesn't rank with the above.
NOT on my list: "Rent" and "Wicked." I'm not a curmudgeonly fogey, honest. I just don't think they merit the extreme adulation they've gotten.</p>
<p>Okay! I'll confess! I didn't want to say Oklahoma, King and I, Carousel, South Pacific etc. because then I would be showing my age! But all of those oldies but goodies will always have a special place in my heart! They were my first loves on the stage, and because of that love of the Broadway musical, I know that my D caught the bug from me. Her first favorite was Phantom when she was just 3 years old. Fourteen years later, she has moved on to the ones I mentioned above!</p>
<p>oklahoma is one of my favorites too!!</p>
<p>audtions for oklahoma are next week..now that im in college, its all i got to look forward to in high school...that and summer</p>
<p>chris</p>
<p>Chris....enjoy your last high school musical....it should be special. Actually, my daughter's last high school musical last spring was also Oklahoma and she was cast as Ado Annie and looked forward to it and was rehearsing it but then was very injured in a serious car crash so was out of that show and others and never got to do it, though she had been in Oklahoma when she was 11 as Gertie Cummings. While her taste in musicals tends to less traditional ones, she has commented many times that she is glad she has done some traditional ones as she feels that anyone in musical theater ought to experience the classics and so she actually liked being in West Side Story, Oklahoma, 42nd Street, and when younger, every girl ought to play Annie once and so she's had those experiences. You should know that as someone entering CAP21, they have told the students that they will not be doing the classic musicals there and can experience those in the summers but will do newer works. </p>
<p>Since folks aren't limiting it to their ONE favorite....which I can't possibly do....I'll mention a few too that I love....A Chorus Line, Ragtime, Gypsy, RENT, Guys and Dolls, 42nd Street, and so many others. One thing I love about Broadway shows is the great variation. I enjoy shows like Spelling Bee and more lavish productions like Ragtime. I recall once taking out kids to NYC one weekend and seeing A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and also Bring in Da Noise and Bring in Da Funk and thinking, such diverse shows, but both are Broadway ones and that is the cool thing about Broadway!</p>
<p>I know that one of my kids is very into Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Merrily We Roll Along, Hair, RENT, Nine, Songs for a New World, Last Five Years, and others. When she was little, she had what I will call her "phases" where I recall having to listen to a certain cast CD OVER and OVER and OVER in every car ride....I recall this with RENT, Ragtime, CATS, Merrily, Sweeney, Beauty and the Beast. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>There are musicals that i love to watch, musicals that i love to listen to but dont like to watch, and musicals that i love to watch and listen to. I love to watch Cats, Joseph, scarlet pimpernel. I love to listen to Ragtime, anything JRB, Rent, JCS, anything william finn, Side show, Sunset BLVD, Porgy and Bess, anything cole porter. I love to watch and listen to LES MIS!, Jekyll and Hyde, and phantom.</p>
<p>Plays??? THE BAD SEED (best play on earth), marisol, buried child, earnest, crucible, midsummers nights dream, streetcar, and nicholas nickleby.</p>
<p>artsymom, yay for you for saying out loud (well, sort of out loud!) what I have been thinking for some time, and that's that "Wicked" does not deserve the extreme adulation that it has received. (You said the same about "Rent," and I suspect that's true, too. But I can't say that for sure, as I haven't seen it myself. But I do know a number of people whose opinions I respect who would agree with you.)
I saw "Wicked" when it was in previews and though I found Kristin Chenoweth's performance riveting, I found myself looking at my watch and being very aware of the time, which tells me that the show could have done with some judicious editing. (I don't get to go to see Broadway shows very often, so if I am aware of the passing of time, that says something negative.) Despite what I saw as the show's shortcomings, I was not that surprised that it developed a sort of cult following among teenagers, and it was from that group that most of the adulation came. (I read Ben Brantley's opening night review and his perceptions pretty much lined up with mine. Kristin was the best thing about the show, in his opinion. I guess the Tony committee felt differently! :)) I don't think that many critics were in love with "Wicked" in the same way that the teens were.
That said, I did find it enjoyable.
LD</p>
<p>NotMamaRose....for me, each time I see a Broadway show, I enjoy it a lot but for different reasons. Some shows are simply entertaining....Wicked was such a show and Full Monty, Contact, Bring in Da Noise, Little Shop, Millie, and others. Then others move me or seem more amazing in terms of the creative writing, performances and other aspects like Ragtime, Chorus Line, Les Mis, and yes, RENT is another show that I think was innovative with genuis behind the writing/creation. Just my opinion. In either case, i still enjoy most every Broadway show.</p>
<p>Susan, here's betting you have seen many, many more shows than have I! I hope to change that as time goes on. Whenever I see a show, it's a great thrill for me, and I hope I did not imply otherwise. </p>
<p>The only Broadway show that I ever outright disliked (in fact, I found it hard to keep my eyes open throughout) was (and I am scared to say this out loud -- or sort of out loud! -- for fear of incurring the wrath of others here) was "CATS." After the first few moments of fascination with the costumes and the set, I found myself feeling just plain bored stiff. This was many years ago (in the early 1980s) and perhaps I would feel differently today. I'm not sure. </p>
<p>Please know I am not trying to insult anyone who loves that show, and I know there are plenty of people who do. (On the subject of Cats, I would recommend that anyone who does like that show read "A Year with the Producers" by Jeffrey Denman. Before creating a few roles with "The Producers," Denman was in "Cats" final cast, and in the book talks candidly about the mixed reactions he got when he told people he was in that musical -- Cats. He also talked about how much he loved doing it.)
LD</p>
<p>Lisa, no problem, I certainly understood what you meant and know you enjoy all Bdway shows. I was more commenting about myself in this regard. I find that I like some shows for their entertainment value and then others are just more amazing in terms of the script/acting, production, creativity, score, etc. I just like each one for different reasons. In fact, CATS is a great example for me. I've seen CATS a couple of times. Back when younger daughter was in elem school, it was a fave of hers (no longer though). What I liked about CATS was simply the great dancing (and some of the songs). For dance, the numbers were fun to watch. It just is not an amazing show in lots of other respects. I thought Contact was like that too....great dance....the rest was OK. I'll take Movin' Out over the first two because there was great dance, great choreography, great songs, more of a story to it. But more amazing shows for me are ones that have more elements that are great, not just the entertainment aspect. Keeping to the dance theme, A Chorus Line is not just good dance but I really like the story, creativity, characters, and music. Then of course, some productions are really cool in terms of sets and costume....I did not see Beauty and Beast on Bdway but my kids did when young and still think it was a great production. Lion King is like that.....it is just a wonder to SEE it. That's why I was saying that some shows, like Wicked, were great fun and entertaining (and I did love the performances of Kristen and Idina as well), and some others have deeper aspects I like...be it the story, the score.....and I gave Ragtime as an example in my mind of the latter. I felt Ragtime could have even been a play without the music and still been a great script and when you add the terrific score, it was just more, not sure how to put it, "amazing" than say a show like CATS or Wicked. Even so, I've loved seeing them all because every Broadway show has been great in some way to me. They are all SO different. I recently saw Light in the Piazza and Spelling Bee....I can't even begin to compare them but in each of their own way, I really loved what they were. But like, how do you compare something like Avenue Q with Movin' Out with Les Mis or West Side Story, ya know? SOOOOO different in types of shows. That's what I think makes Broadway so great.</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>Ive read a lot of problems with Wicked and such, and I really think it needs to be let off the hook a little bit. I understand it is not the best musical of all time, but I enjoy it a lot. The thing is, you had Kristin Chenoweth, who totally embodied the role and was incredible. You had Idina, who is an amazing belter, as well as actress (also incredibly beautiful). You had Norbert Leo Butz, who was also extremely talented, as well as the geinus Joel Grey. Anyways, it is not supposed to be the best musical of all time, I feel it is the equivalent of the Harry Potter Movies, a great spectacle of special effects, talent, and good story, but not completely up to par with the original source material. Anyways, I think it is a great musical for what it is, catchy tunes, great story, and awesome special effects. (still like West Side Story more though...referencing to my original post)</p>
<p>chris</p>