Musicals

[cstephens]

I'm finding myself pre-occupied with musicals nowadays, started a few weeks ago when I went to see a production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" that a friend of mine was in.

I subsequently found myself constantly being told in my head that by Patti Lupone that she'd be surprising good for me, so that prompted me to put in my CD of "Evita". What I wouldn't have given to have been able to see that when it was in Los Angeles - Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin on stage together.

Then I find that I haven't listened to "Phantom of the Opera" in quite some time, so that's what I've got in the computer right now. Steve Barton is awesome, and I'm so glad I saw him in Los Angeles when he subbed for a while. Truly sad that I'll never be able to listen to him live again. Though I never saw Michael Crawford on stage, I'd listened to the CD innumerable times so he'd been my favorite phantom. That is, until I saw a production of Phantom in Washington, D.C. with Ron Bohmer. He was simply amazing and his character of the phantom was so textured. Since that same company was immediately moving to Los Angeles, Ron Bohmer included, I then saw it again at home. Amazing. There's a production of Phantom coming to Orange County, so we may be going to that as I'm going through Phantom withdrawal.

Last year, we also saw "Mamma Mia" and absolutely loved it. So clever, so fun, and ABBA too. What more could one ask for? And having heard that they're coming back in a few months, we're definitely going again.

Alas, I'm afraid that the one musical I'm absolutely dying to see will never happen. A friend of mine gave me the CD for "Once On This Island" and I absolutely loved it and figured the staging must be awesome, but it's not one of those shows I hear about. I've already lamented to him that he's hooked me to a show I'll never be able to see. He knew I liked the music to the film "Anastasia" and given that it was done by the same people who did this musical, he thought I'd like it. Unfortunately, I did.




/cs

All I Ask of You

[Ghoulish Delight]

The one and only time I saw Phantom was with Robert Guillaume! I thought he was great, but I was also pretty young so I can't say whether he was fantastic or not.

If you liked JC Superstar, have you seen Joseph? One of my favs. But my all time favorite hands down is Les Mis. I can't get enough of it.

[cstephens]

Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
If you liked JC Superstar, have you seen Joseph? One of my favs. But my all time favorite hands down is Les Mis. I can't get enough of it.

I don't think I've actually seen a totally professional production of Joseph. I saw a production that a friend of mine was in when she was in a performing arts conservatory.

I like Les Mis too, though the first time I saw it, I wasn't as impressed as the acoustics in that theatre weren't great. It's the favorite musical of a friend, and she arranged a trip for a huge group to go the last time the show was in town, and I enjoyed that production much more.




/cs

[mad4mky]

I am FINALLY getting to see Les Miz the first weekend in June!!! I have always wanted to see it, but never have gotten to go.

Mr. Mad4mky got me the most expensive seats in the house for my birthday. It's playing at the Curran Theatre in SF come May.

And...EandCdad made me some CD's of the music from Les Miz...so I can listen and listen and listen...so that by the time I see the show, I will know the music by heart and sing along!


But, as far a musicals go...We saw The Lion King while in London (with EandCdad and Lisap) and it was wonderful. I know, I know, same songs as the animated movie...but actually they did have a couple of new songs in the play. The overall experience of this musical was amazing...I am glad I had the chance to see it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally posted by mad4mky

But, as far a musicals go...We saw The Lion King while in London (with EandCdad and Lisap) and it was wonderful. I know, I know, same songs as the animated movie...but actually they did have a couple of new songs in the play. The overall experience of this musical was amazing...I am glad I had the chance to see it.

The Lion King is not even about the music. Sure it's great, and the new numbers are good. But what it's really about is the staging, costumes, and puppetry. They are unmatched. I was totally blown away by it. It is truly the most stunning display of imaginative costuming ever seen on stage.

[lisap]

Originally posted by mad4mky
I am FINALLY getting to see Les Miz the first weekend in June!!! I have always wanted to see it, but never have gotten to go.

Mr. Mad4mky got me the most expensive seats in the house for my birthday. It's playing at the Curran Theatre in SF come May.

And...EandCdad made me some CD's of the music from Les Miz...so I can listen and listen and listen...so that by the time I see the show, I will know the music by heart and sing along!


But, as far a musicals go...We saw The Lion King while in London (with EandCdad and Lisap) and it was wonderful. I know, I know, same songs as the animated movie...but actually they did have a couple of new songs in the play. The overall experience of this musical was amazing...I am glad I had the chance to see it.

Oh my goodness--we saw Les Mis at that very theatre on our honeymoon many many years ago--right when it closed at the Shubert and made it's first move up the coast. We sat in the front row left side and Jean Val Jean looked right at me while he was singing "who am I" (eandc will confirm this)

Besides Les Miz (seeing Gary Morris once as Jean Val Jean was the best production)--I can think of a few good ones

--I did see Michael Crawford in Phantom at the Ahmenson, and he was v. good of course.

-Saw Victor Garber and Bebe Neuwirth in Damn Yankees. Very funny.

--Jane Eyre the Musical with the guy who was the Beast on Broadway as Mr. Rochester. The man can sing, I tell you.

--Kiss Me Kate in London last month--awesome

--City of Angels at the Shubert. Book was written by Larry Gelbert. It's not around much any more, but was one of the best shows I've ever seen.

--Beauty and the Beast. My daughter's first Broadway musical. She loved it (she was two years old and sat motionless for two and a half hours)

--Lion King. We were in the nosebleed section, so the impact of the staging, etc. was not as good as it could have been, but we loved it anyway.

Would have LOOOVED to have seen the new production of Into the Woods--one of my faves.

[cstephens]

Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
The Lion King is not even about the music. Sure it's great, and the new numbers are good. But what it's really about is the staging, costumes, and puppetry. They are unmatched. I was totally blown away by it. It is truly the most stunning display of imaginative costuming ever seen on stage.

I completely agree. We saw it early during its run in Los Angeles and were completely hooked and amazed after the opening number. We saw it again last year, from the balcony section this time, and while we still liked it a lot, it's a very different show from there because you see different things.

We're going again in June, back to orchestra, because I wanted to see it again before it ended its run.





/cs

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally posted by mad4mky
But, as far a musicals go...We saw The Lion King while in London (with EandCdad and Lisap) and it was wonderful. I know, I know, same songs as the animated movie...but actually they did have a couple of new songs in the play. The overall experience of this musical was amazing...I am glad I had the chance to see it.

The Lion King was sensational in London. It was in a beautiful theatre. I saw it in London because it was easier to get tickets there than in LA. I agree with you, mad4mky, the overall experience was worth the price to get in.

[efoxx]

Got to see Phantom of the Opera with Michael Craford and Sarah Brightman.

saw Joseph several times (wfoxx is a BIG Donny fan, and she actually got to meet him)

Saw beauty and the beast

but it's the slightly smaller productions that I love.

saw great OFF OFF OFF broadway productions of
South pacific
hello dolly
no no nanette
L/B. Cinderella
kiss me kate

on a slightly off topic note. I am currently working on a rewrite of one of my first plays, taking a Christmas play I wrote a few years ago, and converting it to a musical. the story I always thought was good, but the characters were a bit to shallow for real serious drama. it should work out real well if the music works, we plan on presenting it Christmas 2003 or 04

[DisneyFreak2000]

Hands down, second best Broadway production I have seen was Aida. Aida has the greatest music, greatest staging, scenery, costumes, storyline, etc. IT's WONDERFUL!!!

And best Broadway production I have ever seen was Rent. Duh. Rent kicks any other shows @$$. I mean, it has great music, touching characters and plots, and it is the best thing since Disneyland (literally).

[Hyperboy]

Originally posted by DisneyFreak2000
And best Broadway production I have ever seen was Rent. Duh. Rent kicks any other shows @$$. I mean, it has great music, touching characters and plots, and it is the best thing since Disneyland (literally).

Ohhhh I love RENT also -- saw it in San Diego, LA, London and NYC. (Wilson Cruz was just so adorable as Angel! I've bumped into him a few times in L.A. *drool*)

Haven't seen Aida yet (maybe if it's still in New York next time I go).

I also loved Chicago (with Bebe Neuwirth, goddamn I love that woman), The Life (Lillias White rocks!), Les Miz, Phantom (with Michael Crawford), Sunset Blvd (with Glenn "bizarro vocal change" Close) Joseph, Into the Woods (yes, the DVD was better but this current production is great too), Lion King, Beauty and the Beast....

I so wish I could have seen The Producers with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick! Was anyone fortunate enough to do that on MP?

[KD Didd]

I saw the Producers last April right after it opened (just before the major hype hit and tickets skyrocketed)

Incredibly funny, there was rarely a moment to rest from laughing. Nathan Lane was absolutely incredible and carried the whole show. "Betrayed" was the best part of the show, hands down.

Matthew Broderick was good too, but I found the voice he used irritating.

Wonder what the show's like now that they've left.

[tjrj]

I'm so jealous of all of you who have seen recent musicals. No such luck here in the sticks. To cheer me up I think I'll mention two my favorite memories. Tim Curry in London as the Pirate King in "The Pirates of Penzance"(excuse the spelling error). 4th row center-gosh tickets in London were so much cheaper than theater tickets here. Is it still that way?

And the one and only Yul Brenner(again-spelling) at the Pantages in LA in "The King and I". That was a birthday present from my beloved parents when I was 12.

Ok, thanks I feel better now

[DisneyFreak2000]

The Producers is coming to LA after The Lion King engagement. Aida should be playing for a long time (I don't know why that doesn't get much advertisement, it's almost an original show AND it is much better than The Lion King. MUCH BETTER.) And yes, Rent is the best. Whenever I audition for a musical I always sign Rent (my girlfriend and I are going to try to get parts as Rodger and Mimi one day when we get of age.) If you haven't seen Rent yet, go see it. It's great. I'm gonna see it again this May at the California Theatre.

[adriennek]

I haven't seen anything recent. But I saw PotO with Michael Crawford because this guy I was dating took me for my birthday. I want to say it was my 18th, but the present he gave me makes me think it might've been my 19th.... I can't remember the name of the woman who was in it-- not Sarah Brightman but the other gal-- I thought she was better than Sarah Brightman sounded on the CD anyway, so I was happy. I vividly remember that entire day- ::le sigh::.

Adrienne K

[SzczerbiakManiac]

If you saw Phantom of the Opera in the LA run at the Ahmanson, you saw Dale Kristien as Christine.

The last musical I saw was Pinafore! at the Celebration Theatre. If you're not a Gilbert & Sullivan purist (and you're not homophobic), you will split your sides from laughter at this show (both straight & gay audiences react this way). As you may have guessed, it's a "gay version" of HMS Pinafore. You can read about it on the aforementioned link. You need to hurry though, it closes this weekend.

I think the last big show I saw was Mamma Mia! at the Shubert. I absolutely loved it. There's not much of a plot, but who cares. It was so much fun!

Man, I'm sure gonna miss the Shubert. That's where my obsession with musical theater began. Way back in the 70s, my Mom took me to see Annie there (Molly Ringwald was one of the orphans) and I've been hooked on musicals ever since. <heavy sigh>

Sorry, I seem to have wandered off track... when the subject of musicals comes up, I tend to get excited.

The Full Monty just opened at the Ahmanson last week. Has anyone seen it yet? I have the cast recording and like it quite a lot. I'm planning on going, but haven't bought tickets yet. I also want to see Aida (which I would argue is not exactly original, since it's based off of the opera by Verdi). It's playing at the Pantages, right?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally posted by tjrj
4th row center-gosh tickets in London were so much cheaper than theater tickets here. Is it still that way?

Oh yes. I don't know about full price tickets (though I'm sure those are still far cheaper), but when I was in London, thanks to that wonderful little ticket booth in Lester Square, I saw Les Mis and Miss Saigon for a TOTAL of 13 pounds (~ $21). Of course, I was in the balcony for both, but the front of the balcony, and London theaters' balconies are not nearly as bad as US theaters'. They are built very verticle, so while the blaconies are just as high, they are not as far back. Besides, you couldn't buy even balcony seats for ONE of those shows in the states for $21, let alone both. Also, I was there with a group of friends, so we needed like 6 or 7 seats togehter. If you are looking for a pair of seats, you could probably get them at Lester square at orchestra level no problem. And it'd probably only cost you at most twice what I paid.

Yes, the theater scene in London is very different. A lot cheaper and more accessible to everyone. I love it. Too bad the airfare to get there kind of offsets the savings, huh?

[stan4d_steph]

I just saw Rent in NYC last month when I was there for work. It was a total spur-of-the-moment thing since I didn't know I was going to NY until a couple of weeks before. I did the lottery, where you put your name in and they draw names 2 hours before show time. $20 tickets for the front row! It was fantastic. Lots of energy and I even made eye contact with the actors, I think.

I've seen the Lion King twice, once in LA once in Toronto. I've seen Phantom twice, once with Colm Wilkinson as the Phantom in Toronto. I've seen Les Mis 3 times I think. Once with Colm Wilkinson as Jean Val Jean, in Toronto. Seeing a trend? That's what you get for growing up in Rochester, NY. Toronto is so much closer than NYC, and has all the great shows too.

Anyone else a Cirque du Soleil fan? I think Szczerbiak is. I consider their shows to be something more like musicals than a circus. I've seen Alegria, Saltimbanco (in Zurich!), Quidam, Dralion, and La Nouba (2x). My favorite is probably La Nouba, but they have an advantage being a permanent show. I am saving up to go see O in Vegas. Dralion's playing now in San Diego. I saw the bigtop on my way home from the Buca Mousepad Meet on Saturday night!

[SzczerbiakManiac]

I am a HUGE Cirque du Soleil fan! (And I'm also a Cirque du Soleil fan who is huge... )

Along with stan4d_steph, I too think of them more as musicals than circuses. The best description I found for a CdS experience was "a performance art circus", but even that doesn't do justice to their spectacular presentations.

stand4d_steph wrote:
My favorite is probably La Nouba, but they have an advantage being a permanent show. I am saving up to go see O in Vegas.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen La Nouba (or been to WDW for that matter) , but I have a feeling that after you've seen O, it'll become your favorite CdS production. It certainly is mine! I've seen it twice.

For anyone considering going to see O at the Bellagio in Las Vegas (as if one could see it anywhere else...), don't worry if they say it's sold out. You can get last minute house seats for every showing. You need to "camp out" by the box office (inside the casino) at least two hours before curtain. About an hour before the show starts, they begin selling unused house seats. And since they're house seats, they'll be in a good location. I used this method both times I saw O. The first time I saw it, we were sitting in the fourth row and the second time (according to the usher), I sat where Steve Wynn sits when he sees the show (middle of the last row in the orchestra section, directly underneath the round thingy that comes down.) If you're planning your trip around seeing O (or any Vegas show for that matter), be sure and call ahead to make sure the show isn't dark during your visit.

Oh ka-ka, here I go derailing threads again...
<sound of tires screeching as I make an abrupt left turn in an attempt to get back on course>

So, did anyone see The Rocky Horror Show when it was playing at the Tiffany in West Hollywood three years ago? What an awesome production! I liked it so much, I saw it six times. Most of the cast knew me by the end of the run.

[cstephens]

Originally posted by SzczerbiakManiac
I think the last big show I saw was Mamma Mia! at the Shubert. I absolutely loved it. There's not much of a plot, but who cares. It was so much fun!

I have to completely disagree with the "no plot" comment. I thought they did a good job with the story, moreso because they had to make it using song titles and such. That's why we're going back to see them at the Ahmanson.




/cs
(who also really wants to see the Queen-based musical...)

[DisneyFreak2000]

Sz Back-
Aida was playing at the Ahmanson, but now it is not playing there anymore. The Lion King is playing at the Pantages. No, it's not original but it might as well be. I mean the characters and plot were gotten from the old opera but the songs and mood are completely different. It's wonderful, and is a great production. I love it! Best Disney Theatre Production ever.