We were at the Poe Museum on Sunday and it reminded me of seeing Nevermore a few years ago, about Edgar Allan Poe. Also really enjoyed Bridges of Madison County and The Secret Garden.
The more popular ones seem to keep making the rounds in most cities. And for good reason. I get it. Are there any you really enjoyed or would like to see again?
Children of Eden. Music by Stephen Schwartz. A musical that had very little commercial success, but pops up from time to time in regional theaters.
Closer to Heaven. Music by The Pet Shop Boys. The original West End Production was before my theatre-going time and was hampered by the general box office decline following 9/11. But I saw an off-West End production a few years ago.
I could sit through West Side Story again and again. (And yes I know this one is popular!)
Secret Garden is pretty popular too…not really a sleeper where I am.
The one I seldom see done again and really loved the music was Miss Saigon. Once On This Island is another that is seldom seen but great songs and dancing!
Good to know about The Secret Garden! I saw it decades ago when it debuted and loved it.
My kids’ HS did The Drowsy Chaperone one year - we knew nothing about it, but it ended up being one of their favorites!
One of our favorite musicals was a West End production called Radio Times. It takes place during the blitz and has classic songs by Noel Gay. We saw it when it had just opened in 1992 and starred Tony Slattery. It never made it to Broadway and is rarely performed anywhere. We loved it so much we bought the soundtrack the night we saw it (so glad we did as it is a favorite of ours and impossible to find).
This was outstanding we saw it about a month or so ago.
My son was in a production of Lucky Stiff, and it was hysterical. The show is based on the 1983 novel The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth. It was created and performed at Playwrights Horizons (off-Broadway) in 1988, and won the Richard Rodgers Award for that year.
What’s less popular - no clue - enjoyed bye bye birdie and willie wonka. Didn’t love little women as much but my kid was in all three or I likely wouldn’t have liked any. Not a theatre guy.
I dont know how we’re defining less popular or less well known, but I like Something Rotten and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.
I loved Something Rotten!! I was so glad to have gotten to see it with Christian Borle playing Shakespeare.
Violet by Brian Crawley
Two Gentlemen of Verona! It won a Tony for Best Musical in 1971, but seems to be performed rarely. The music is catchy and funny, and I’ve seen it performed on stage with minimal scene changes so it certainly is feasible to produce it on stage.
Also liked Something Rotten. Loved The Play That Goes Wrong .
The Raven from Nevermore:The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe
I liked “The Play that Goes Wrong”, too, but it’s not a musical.
I enjoyed the musicals about Carole King’s life (Beautiful) and Gloria Estafan (forget the name). I was not a particular fan of King before seeing the musical, but enjoyed it and the music.
A more obscure choice is “The Band’s Visit”, about a group of Egyptian musicians who get stranded in a small Israeli town - good character interactions, interesting premise (based on a real life event.)
True, not a musical. I forgot the title of my own thread! But, plays or musicals are both okay to reference. The Play That Goes Wrong may still be popular though, not sure.
I loved Jonathan Larson’s “Tick,Tick Boom…” years before the movie. D introduced me to the music about 15 years ago and we saw it performed live at a tiny theater in the DC area.
My kids performed in several musicals in MS and HS. Two lesser known ones I liked were " Will Rogers Follies" and “Barnum”.
On Your Feet. I really liked that one too.
Here’s a relatively obscure one: Ben Franklin in Paris. I saw it in 1964 so have little specific memory, but do remember it was fun.
My daughter and I saw The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway and really enjoyed it. We went to see Sutton Foster, one of our favorites.
