Being the offspring of two music majors, I grew up watching oodles of stage plays and musicals - none on Broadway (we didn’t live close nor have the budget) - but traveling productions. I enjoyed them. It was part of life. I suspect I’ve seen all the “classics” from years past.
Going to college (graduated three decades ago), I watched some that came through the campus.
Then I got married, had kids, started work in a high school and mainly just watched what the kids put on year in and year out.
Last night my mom took dh and I to watch Menopause. It was hilarious (and should be REQUIRED viewing for all once they hit upper 40s or lower 50s IMO)! It’s rekindled my love.
Share with my some shows (esp fun comedies) I’ve missed. Now that we’re empty nesting, we ought to be able to get to some of our local theaters more often! I need to know which titles to look for and prioritize. If you’ve seen Menopause, use that as a base for something we like. (If you haven’t seen it, GO!)
We already plan on seeing Hamilton when it goes to Rochester, NY. I am aware that one is out there…
Avenue Q; Wicked; Book of Mormon; The Producers; Jersey Boys - loved them all. I’m a season ticket holder and grew up on the stage. I adore theater in all forms.
Since you’re near Rochester, an easy trip for you to Toronto, and you could see Come From Away, without having to go to see it on Broadway. This is a sitdown production and will be here indefinitely. I’ve seen virtually every show on and off Broadway in the past 40 years and this is in my top 5 of all time. Lots of theatre in Toronto - An American in Paris, The King and I, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Annie, Fun Home, Phantom, Motown, Wicked this spring/summer. Those are the ‘large’ theatres but there are plenty of other productions going on at any given time in the city.
Niagara on the Lake would be even closer to you and this season at Shaw Festival includes a number of classics, some comedies and the wonderful musical, Grand Hotel.
Stratford is just a bit more driving but absolutely worth it. This season’s offerings are some of the best ever, including The Music Man and Rocky Horror, along with To Kill a Mockingbird, A Long Day’s Journey into Night, The Tempest, A Comedy of Errors and several others.
The Aud in Rochester and Shea’s in Buffalo get most of the touring companies. I know there’s a production of Rent in Rochester in May. That’s a show that every theatre lover should see at least once.
As an addition to the usual suspect of Broadway shows which will be named in this thread, our family really enjoyed Legally Blonde. Funny and cute. Agree with Jersey Boys. I have not seen Book of Mormon but it’s high on our list, maybe even ahead of Hamilton (blasphemy, I know! But hey, I’m also one of the maybe 4 people in the country who didn’t actually love-love-love Wicked, so my preferences don’t always match the hot tickets.) Kinky Boots is on my list as well. And don’t bypass the classics - Mary Poppins (on Broadway) was one of my favorites!
I loved Book of Mormon. I also felt the same way as @Embracethemess , as I didn’t love, love, love Wicked. I thought Jersey Boys was just OK. I really want to see Kinky Boots and beautiful. I’d like to see Hamilton, actually to gauge what all the fuss is about more than anything. My DS GF gave it an 8 out of 10, so not as high as every one else it seems.
I’d suggest subscribing to your local Broadway series…it would give you an opportunity to see several shows a year. Of course they will not all be comedies, but if you are open to some good work, recent Tony nominated shows, etc, I think you would enjoy.
For specific shows (are you going into the NYC to see them?) that lean toward your comedic preferences I’d suggest Avenue Q, Book of Mormon, and The Play That Goes Wrong.
Some fun plays that come to mind offhand:
Musicals: Book of Mormon, Something Rotten, Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Mystery of Edwin Drood, Avenue Q, La Cage aux Folles, The Producers, Spamalot, Harispray. Putnam Co Spelling Bee
Plays: Any farce (ex. The Play That Goes Wrong, Present Laughter, It’s Only A Play, Boeing-Boeing etc.), 39 Steps,
We subscribe to our local community theater and see quite a few productions every year (about 6). We even saw Mama Mia and Les Miz, plus Hairspray and many more. All had amazing talent.
We are subscribers to a Broadway Series, too. It’s always a fun evening out. So far this season we’ve seen Mama Mia, The Color Purple, Finding Neverland and Fun Home. Those were all great, IMO. Cant say the same about My Bodyguard. I was feeling poorly so we left after 30 minutes. It was awful so there was no way I was going to stay through the whole thing feeling lousy. We have two more shows - The King and I and On Your Feet.
Thanks all. Just to be more specific, we don’t live near Rochester. My son is going to med school at UR and since he also shares a love of theater, we have a “date” to see Hamilton together there when it comes.
The closest larger city to us is Harrisburg, PA or Baltimore, MD.
There are a handful of theaters around us, so with the list of titles I’m compiling, I will keep my eyes open.
Agree with a lot of the above posters, most of which are fairly recent. Fairly often, you may find regional theater productions of older favorites that are definitely worth seeing another time, or for the first time if you haven’t been blessed.
Hairspray is a favorite mentioned above, but I am also a big lover of The Music Man, and of course, Grease.
While Evita is not a happy story, it does feature songs that can be memorable when performed great. Les Miserables was truly an amazing show, as was Camelot.
Sweeney Todd is another one we loved, and we grew up singing tunes from Anything Goes without knowing where it was from. Jesus Christ Superstar has its share of showstoppers.
We saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat many years ago, and when we saw the newer production I was thrilled.
Perhaps the only musical that I saw that has not held up well was Gypsy Rose.
Loved Dreamgirls, Evita & JC Superstar back in the day - I’d be happy to see any of those again. For current shows other than Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen & Come From Away are family favorites. I really enjoyed Book of Mormon & Spamalot but my teenage kids thought that both were ridiculous (as in “not funny so why is everybody laughing?”).
The Music Man was one of my dad’s all time favorites. I still recall him playing an 8 Track of it quite often in my youth. Of the older classics, I think South Pacific was one of my favorites - or perhaps the very traditional Fiddler on the Roof.
I suspect I’m unusual that I didn’t particularly care for Grease.
Les Mis is one of my more relatively recent favorites. Into the Woods is fun too.
