What broadway play?

[Sandyrella]

On 8/11/2022 at 1:39 PM, lenquixote66 said:

I am reading the book about Come From Away:

The Day The World Came to Town by Jim Defede.

 

If anyone plans to read it ,have tissues handy

It's such a great book.  I read it years ago, before the show ever came out.  I'm planning to give my mother a copy for her birthday, with tickets to the show.  

[lenquixote66]

5 hours ago, Sandyrella said:

It's such a great book.  I read it years ago, before the show ever came out.  I'm planning to give my mother a copy for her birthday, with tickets to the show.  

Very good idea.

[lenquixote66]

On 7/19/2022 at 10:45 AM, BklynBoy8 said:

 

Pls be safe...... New York is New York......New Yorkers are New Yorkers...

 

Unfortunately 5 incidents happened yesterday and the beat goes on.....

Many years ago in Brooklyn my best friend was murdered.

[lenquixote66]

The Neil Diamond musical is on its way to Broadway.Neil attended two high schools in Brooklyn

[Turtles06]

Major revival of Sweeney Todd! 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/theater/josh-groban-sweeney-todd-broadway.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[George C]

20 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Major revival of Sweeney Todd! 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/theater/josh-groban-sweeney-todd-broadway.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

I couldn’t access , but thanks for info .

[Nitemare]

On 9/6/2022 at 7:26 PM, lenquixote66 said:

The Neil Diamond musical is on its way to Broadway.Neil attended two high schools in Brooklyn

we saw this in Boston on the last day it was presented.  Really good for Neil fans.  Not so good if you aren't.

[lenquixote66]

40 minutes ago, Nitemare said:

we saw this in Boston on the last day it was presented.  Really good for Neil fans.  Not so good if you aren't.

My wife’s sister graduated HS with Neil Diamond .She has always been a huge fan of his .I was not a fan of his until quite recently.Now I have an appreciation of his music.

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 9/7/2022 at 4:45 PM, George C said:

I couldn’t access , but thanks for info .

 

Sweeney Todd will have a full orchestra, the wonderful original orchestrations, so I'm thinking it won't be weird like in a pie shop or with Patti Lupone playing the tuba (no, I am not making that up). American Express tickets are available now. General sales open Sept 19 (or thereabouts).

 

Come from Away is wonderful, but closes soon (Around Oct 1)

 

Into the Woods has just been extended into January. It's an excellent production, worth the price just to see the puppet cow!

[Nitemare]

On 9/8/2022 at 7:41 PM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Sweeney Todd will have a full orchestra, the wonderful original orchestrations, so I'm thinking it won't be weird like in a pie shop or with Patti Lupone playing the tuba (no, I am not making that up). American Express tickets are available now. General sales open Sept 19 (or thereabouts).

 

Come from Away is wonderful, but closes soon (Around Oct 1)

 

Into the Woods has just been extended into January. It's an excellent production, worth the price just to see the puppet cow!

Both those versions, especially the Pie Shop one, were incredible.  We did the Pie Shop one twice and loved it both times.

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, Nitemare said:

Both those versions, especially the Pie Shop one, were incredible.  We did the Pie Shop one twice and loved it both times.

 

I didn't see the pie shop, but I did see the one with the small cast playing inmates of Fogg's Asylum. I missed the "theatricality" of the full-set production, although the performances were excellent. Patti's hair kept falling in her face, and I wanted to offer her a bobby pin to hold it back. I suppose it was the unkempt inmate look, but I found it very distracting.  

[lenquixote66]

Has anyone besides me ever gone to a production of The Barn Theater in NJ ?

A friend of mine was an Actor/Director years ago.

[Turtles06]

“Phantom” to close on Broadway in February. Truly the end of an era!   I saw the OBC (including Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman) early in 1988 when the show first opened. One of those memorable evenings in the theatre. 
 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/theater/phantom-of-the-opera-broadway-closing.html

[George C]

20 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

“Phantom” to close on Broadway in February. Truly the end of an era!   I saw the OBC (including Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman) early in 1988 when the show first opened. One of those memorable evenings in the theatre. 
 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/theater/phantom-of-the-opera-broadway-closing.html

Must have been great seeing the original cast , we definitely saw it also. 

[lenquixote66]

We saw Phantom with the original cast.

[markeb]

Never saw it on Broadway. We did see one of national tours in Austin years ago. 

 

I hope this doesn't mean that every musical on Broadway is going to be Disney or a jukebox musical. ALW has his detractors, and his biggest shows were a generation (or two) ago, but they were original at the time.

[3rdGenCunarder]

14 hours ago, markeb said:

Never saw it on Broadway. We did see one of national tours in Austin years ago. 

 

I hope this doesn't mean that every musical on Broadway is going to be Disney or a jukebox musical. ALW has his detractors, and his biggest shows were a generation (or two) ago, but they were original at the time.

 

 

Jukebox musicals are tricky. Some get a good run, like Movin' Out or Jersey Boys. Some just don't hold together, like Imagine (John Lennon) or whatever the Johnny Cash one was. 

 

And, yes, Disney seems to be in every other theater. Not my taste, but if it helps to hook a new generation of theater-goers, that's a good thing. Go to Playbill.com and you'll find a list of Broadway productions, including plays are that are opening in the future, if you're planning ahead.

 

[George C]

We liked Beautiful saw it several times Carol King  also liked Jersey boys , Jimmy Buffett show wasn’t that good. 

[Nitemare]

On 9/17/2022 at 8:46 PM, markeb said:

Never saw it on Broadway. We did see one of national tours in Austin years ago. 

 

I hope this doesn't mean that every musical on Broadway is going to be Disney or a jukebox musical. ALW has his detractors, and his biggest shows were a generation (or two) ago, but they were original at the time.

There are 2 (TWO) Disney shows on Broadway now.  None coming soon.  Aladdin and Lion King.

There are 2 (TWO) Jukebox shows on Broadway now or soon.  MJ and the Neil Diamond show.  If you want to count Moulin Rouge as Jukebox, then 3.

 

That's 5 out of 41 Broadway stages

 

SO much great and original things to see on Broadway right now.  Just in terms of what I have seen I can strongly recommend the following:

 

Hamilton

Book of Mormon

Six

Chicago

Hadestown

Come From Away

Take Me Out

Into the Woods

1776

Kimberly Akimbo

Topdog/Underdog

Between Riverside and Crazy

Sweeney Todd

 

 

Add in Off Broadway and I can recommend:
 

Kinky Boots

Little Shop of Horrors (seeing this again next week on the west coast)

Blue Man Group

Fiddler on the Roof

 

[Sandyrella]

2 hours ago, Nitemare said:

There are 2 (TWO) Disney shows on Broadway now.  None coming soon.  Aladdin and Lion King.

There are 2 (TWO) Jukebox shows on Broadway now or soon.  MJ and the Neil Diamond show.  If you want to count Moulin Rouge as Jukebox, then 3.

 

That's 5 out of 41 Broadway stages

 

SO much great and original things to see on Broadway right now.  Just in terms of what I have seen I can strongly recommend the following:

 

Hamilton

Book of Mormon

Six

Chicago

Hadestown

Come From Away

Take Me Out

Into the Woods

1776

Kimberly Akimbo

Topdog/Underdog

Between Riverside and Crazy

Sweeney Todd

 

 

Add in Off Broadway and I can recommend:
 

Kinky Boots

Little Shop of Horrors (seeing this again next week on the west coast)

Blue Man Group

Fiddler on the Roof

 

Is your list in order of preference or just a list of your favourites.  We've seen a number of these shows and want to see something new so we're looking for something great!  We only get to Broadway once every few years but we do get a lot of Broadway touring shows in Montreal.  Right now we are leaning towards MJ but we can always change our minds.  

 

Edited September 19, 2022 by Sandyrella

[markeb]

7 hours ago, Nitemare said:

There are 2 (TWO) Disney shows on Broadway now.  None coming soon.  Aladdin and Lion King.

There are 2 (TWO) Jukebox shows on Broadway now or soon.  MJ and the Neil Diamond show.  If you want to count Moulin Rouge as Jukebox, then 3.

 

That's 5 out of 41 Broadway stages

 

SO much great and original things to see on Broadway right now.  Just in terms of what I have seen I can strongly recommend the following:

 

Hamilton

Book of Mormon

Six

Chicago

Hadestown

Come From Away

Take Me Out

Into the Woods

1776

Kimberly Akimbo

Topdog/Underdog

Between Riverside and Crazy

Sweeney Todd

 

 

Add in Off Broadway and I can recommend:
 

Kinky Boots

Little Shop of Horrors (seeing this again next week on the west coast)

Blue Man Group

Fiddler on the Roof

 

 

So it was a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm not so concerned with what's playing now as with what will investors support in the future. Phantom is arguably one of the surest things out there, and people apparently haven't come back to it. Still need to see Six (couldn't convince DW to go to the tour at the National Theater). The top of your list are all amazing shows. None were inexpensive to product. Come From Away closes in just over a week. Dear Evan Hanson was a huge success; it closed on Broadway yesterday.

 

Hamilton, Book of Mormon, and Come From Away are all original (pretty sure the same applies to Six, but I haven't seen it). They were all risky at the time, and part of me worries that risk is heightened now. I'm hoping those worries are misplaced. Disney and jukebox musicals seem safer to investors these days. Although Disney can certainly be massively expensive to produce!

 

Fingers crossed.

[3rdGenCunarder]

People have worried about the future of live theater for decades. Broadway has been called "The Fabulous Invalid" (the name is taken from a play about this), but it perseveres. 

 

One of the problems theater faces is that audiences don't look beyond the blockbusters with big advertising budgets and sometimes "stunt casting" of big stars. I love that the Tonys are broadcast on TV so the whole country knows more about theater. But people often want to see the play or musical that won, and good plays that didn't win can have trouble getting an audience. I don't remember the exact statistics, but recently I learned that 20 or more years ago, theater tickets were mostly bought by locals. Maybe 20% of people in the audience were tourists. Now it's more like 75-80% tourists, especially during summer. With ticket prices so high, they're likely to see only one play and they don't want to gamble on an unknown. This sounds like theater snobbery, and I don't mean it that way. It's just how the business seems to work these days. 

 

And see SIX if you can. Not a play, more of a pop concert, but it's clever. It's better if you know the history, but that isn't important. Just know that like a concert, it's LOUD.

Edited September 20, 2022 by 3rdGenCunarder

[George C]

18 hours ago, Nitemare said:

There are 2 (TWO) Disney shows on Broadway now.  None coming soon.  Aladdin and Lion King.

There are 2 (TWO) Jukebox shows on Broadway now or soon.  MJ and the Neil Diamond show.  If you want to count Moulin Rouge as Jukebox, then 3.

 

That's 5 out of 41 Broadway stages

 

SO much great and original things to see on Broadway right now.  Just in terms of what I have seen I can strongly recommend the following:

 

Hamilton

Book of Mormon

Six

Chicago

Hadestown

Come From Away

Take Me Out

Into the Woods

1776

Kimberly Akimbo

Topdog/Underdog

Between Riverside and Crazy

Sweeney Todd

 

 

Add in Off Broadway and I can recommend:
 

Kinky Boots

Little Shop of Horrors (seeing this again next week on the west coast)

Blue Man Group

Fiddler on the Roof

 

Before Covid we went to New York every year and normally saw at least 3 plays , rarely bought tickets in advance because there were always great shows available. I am sure we will be back next year. Love live theater. Also New York restaurants and clubs.

[Turtles06]

3 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

And see SIX if you can. Not a play, more of a pop concert, but it's clever. It's better if you know the history, but that isn't important.

 

I've said it before: SIX is wonderful.  Original, creative, and total upbeat fun.  We've seen it three times. If you don't leave the theatre feeling happy (and maybe even dancing your way out), well, I'm sorry ...  (Or, as Anne Boleyn sings, "Sorry not sorry."  😁)

 

I'm pretty familiar with Tudor history, but did not know all the details of the "later" wives the first time we saw the show.  That did not have an impact on my enjoyment, but I enjoyed it "differently" the second time.  (Same with "Hamilton.")  

Edited September 20, 2022 by Turtles06

[Turtles06]

On 9/19/2022 at 4:02 PM, Nitemare said:

Add in Off Broadway and I can recommend: . . .
 

Fiddler on the Roof

 

I'll be seeing Fiddler in Yiddish later this year.  I've been kicking myself for not seeing it several years ago, and I'm glad to have this second chance.