Okay, we’ve seen:
[ul]
[li]The King and I (with Yul Brenner)[/li][li]Phantom of the Opera[/li][li]42nd Street[/li][li]The Lion King[/li][li]Cats[/li][li]Sugar Babies[/li][li]and too many off Broadway to mention (Blue Man Group (TWICE), Tony 'n Tina’s Wedding, A Midnight Catechism, Forbidden Broadway and on and on)[/li][/ul]
I am a seasoned NYC veteran and I know whatever we see we’ll love. It’s the experience. But I am bringing along an employee who has never even been on an airplane! She is in for a surprise!
So, Spamalot is Monty Python and Mom (who is also going on this business trip) hates his stuff. Wicked is sold out. The Producers don’t have shows on Sunday night, which fits our convention schedule much better.
Rent
Chorus Line
Les Miserables
Jersey Boys
The Color Purple
Avenue Q
Those are the current productions I’m familiar with the shows for and would recommend. Seeing something iconic like Chorus Line or Les Miserables would probably be my choice to introduce a newbie to the Broadway experience.
Are you just looking to go Sunday night, as in later than 3pm? Because that will narrow down your options. The Color Purple, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Tarzan, Spring Awakening, Rent, Mamma Mia!, Hairspray, **Chicago **& Avenue Q are the only ones with Sunday evening shows. What sort of things does you mom like? Avenue Q, Spring Awakening & Rent all have very adult/sexual situations so I don’t know if that would affect your decision. Mamma Mia! & Hairspray are both kind of mindless poppy fun, fluffy and bright without any weight to them but you’d probably have an enjoyable time (especially if you like ABBA.)
If you’re not constrained to only Sunday evening, then I would say go with Les Miserables. Judging by the list of other shows you’ve seen, you’d probably enjoy that one as well, since it’s another of those big famous long-running shows (though this is the revival) like Phantom, Cats & 42nd St. The Drowsy Chaperone is also a lot of fun, it’s pretty short too, only about an hour and a half. Company is a great choice if you guys like Sondheim or if you want to see a more cerebral non-flashy show. If you can get tickets to A Chorus Line, (Sunday 3pm) that would be another good choice. Excellent music, but I think they’re normally sold out though I’m not certain.
Please, if you do nothing else in your life, pledge not to inflict Les Miz on another human being. Chorus Line is a big snooze, but Les Miz is just not something that caring people subject others to.
I just saw the traveling cast of Wicked and loved it! Bought the CD, listening to the book again right now in my car, and dearly wishing it was a DVD I could buy. This is the show I would take anybody to see in a heartbeat.
Agreed. I can’t stand Les Miz. Have never liked the music, and find the show to be a bore.
My choices would be *The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee * - GREAT little first-rate show (in fact, I just changed the CD from this in the car this morning - I’ve been listening to it the past couple of days), or Company - you can’t go wrong with Sondheim, and Company is one of his best. Plus, this is an interesting production - the actors all play musical instruments.
I would assume they’ve updated A Chorus Line but I still find the music pretty dated. It’s not a bad show, I just don’t think it’s particularly great.
[shameless plug for my wife’s show]
Beauty and the Beast also has a Sunday night show. They’ll be closing this summer to make room for Little Mermaid, so if it’s one you had any interest at all in seeing, this might be a good time.
[/shameless plug]
I’ve seen Rent and Lion King (touring productions, of course) in the last six months, and currently have tickets to another production of Rent and also Wicked between now and March. I can highly recommend Lion King – the costumes alone are awe-inspiring. And Rent is awesome, too.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is growing on me. I haven’t heard that much of it and I haven’t seen the show or read the script yet, but it has a bunch of neat music.
Have to agree to disagree with a couple in the thread about Les Mis and A Chorous Line though. They’re both worth seeing, but here’s what you’re getting into. Les Mis is about pagentry and tugging at your heartstrings. Chorus Line, at least a well executed production, is worth seeing for the dancing alone but has a mediocre story for those who have never been in the theatre business. Those with theatrical experience often find another layer of amusement in the show that most people miss out on.
This is one of the most flat out capital-double-U-Wrong things I’ve ever read on the SDMB. Which is saying a lot.
Les Miserables is a FANTASTIC musical. Perhaps my favorite of all time, at least as far as merging together all the parts of musical theater. And A Chorus Line is right up there.
I certainly enjoyed The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, but it was just a good fun way to spend an evening, not even in the same league as the above.
Rent is also one of my absolute favorites, but I actually think (heretically) that the movie is better than most stage productions. So go see Les Miz, and then rent Rent.
I agree with almost all of that. (I like Rent the show better than the movie.) Les Mis is a wonderful show, I *love *the music! I haven’t yet seen the revival but they have some wonderful people in the cast right now, especially Norm Lewis as Javert. I’m not sure if they still have Nikki Renee Daniels covering for Fantine but she is fabulous!
The OP says he has already seen The Lion King & Forbidden Broadway so those are out. My personal recommendation would be to go during the day on Sunday and see Les Mis or Company. Spelling Bee was cute & funny but I didn’t think it was anything special. I think we need some more information about what kind of things your guests would be OK with seeing. I’ve heard nothing but praise for Spring Awakening, and it has a Sunday evening show, but like I said it has very adult situations.
I saw the original way back when, and the revival a couple of months ago. The actors playing Javert and Valjean in the current production are both fantastic. I don’t know who it was playing Fantine, but she was just so-so, IMO…
I’m gonna go ahead and say that anyone who doesn’t like Les Miz has no soul
Probably Daphne Rubin-Vega. She has been getting mostly criticism which is why they are replacing her in March with the original Fantine Lea Salonga. From Feb 20-March 9 Nikki Renee will be temporarily taking over that role so I’d definitely recommend anyone else who is interested to see the show then. I saw her in concert and she is really amazing.
Drowsy is a really fun show! I think you guys would enjoy that one.
I think Lea Salonga was the replacement Eponine in the original production of Les Mis, not the original Fantine.
I like Miss Saigon, the other Schonberg and Boublil show, but Les Mis has never appealed to me.
I have theatrical experience, and I still find it pretty dated, musically. It’s not a bad show, I’m just worried about how well it’s going to do with a revival. Then again, it may do well just because it’s one of those shows that many people know.
