so, in the absence of feild day fest a coupla weeks ago, i went to ye olde broadway and saw RENT. im totally obsessed with it. can anyone else vouch for me on this one? this play is amazing. i love musical theater in general. anyone else?

I like well done musical comedies. Dramas usually just piss me off.

I like well-done musicals. I do not hold Rent in that category, however.

(Edited by YaDaDaDa at 5:56 am on Jun. 19, 2003)

I saw Ragtime on Broadway a few years ago and it floored me. I've done alot of musical theater so I can't claim to dislike it at all. The musical I most need to see is Urinetown. I feel like most of the folks here would like it, its pretty damned hilarious.

Will

525,600 Miiiiinutes! I do love that song.

Jamie, nooooooooooo. Please, take that back. I know you don't mean it.

I can totally vouch for you on RENT! After seeing it, I bought the double CD and listened to it religiously. The second that I read your post I started singing in my head, "Won't you light my cannnddllleeee?". I also loved the way the voice mail messages from his parents are all sing-songy! It's the greatest. I saw it when it came to Nashville in 99, but nothing beats Broadway shows in NY!

So, on that note, if you all had to pick just one or two Broadway shows to see, what would you pick? Something newer, like Urinetown? Classics, like Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables?

Maybe a simpler question would be, "What is the best Broadway show ever?"

I saw Mama Mia at TPAC, and I've been a huge Abba fan ever since!

That's a show I would really like to see. I am already a huge ABBA fan. (I hope you weren't being sarcastic.)

Since I was a 'Drama Kid' in high school, I greatly appreciate musicals. A lot of my fondest memories were working on the musicals. Yeah, they weren't anything flashy and complicated, but they were fun. I really loved "Chicago" the movie and the musical episode of "Buffy" is my favorite one ever. I would like to see more and I would really love to see any Broadway show. "The Music Man" is at TPAC (which looks a lot like Tupac) this week but I can't go due to my White Stripes trip and wedding-a-thon.

CABARET. That's a period after Cabaret. Well, there's another.

I saw this play at the original Studio 54, and it was amazing. I was right up on the stage to where the cast came out and talked to you beforehand and interacted with the audience. I fell in love with one of those whores. It was an amazing experience.

I also saw Rent, Swing Swing Swing, a play called The Real Thing which was very good, Annie Get Your Gun, Stomp, and something else I don't really remember. Rent was my least favorite.

Token,

I'm into the newer stuff for sure, so I'd see Urinetown and either Hairspray or a classic. I'd stay away from the overdone epics like Les Mis or Phantom, the shows that tour regularly and can be seen often.

I can also recommend The Producers, which I had the good fortune of seeing with the original cast with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. It was fantastic.

Will

Good advice. Since I have already seen Cats, Phantom, Les Mis, Chicago, and The King and I, it would be really cool to see something newer. Hairspray looks great and just won like a million Tonys, so maybe.

What's Urinetown about?

Also, has anyone seen any of the Disney broadway productions like Beauty and the Beast of The Lion King? Any good?

I like Rent a lot, but I had the good fortune of seeing it with most of the original cast.

How did I not know this???

i have not seen too many musicals. plenty of plays but not so many musicals. my favorite was south pacific. hopefully ill be doing a couple next year at school, they look like lots of fun. i was thinking about checking out "the music man".. i forgot why im not going.

Agreed. My husband is big into musicals, so we've seen a lot. I'm a sucker for Jesus Christ Superstar, and I'm not even what you would call "religious". I think it has to do with that badass concept album from the 70s. Same thing for Tommy. I heard there was a stage version of Quadrophenia?

In my opinion, they are subpar imitations of the movies, with the exception of Lion King, which is a subpar imitation of the movie told in a visually breathtaking way.

Urinetown is about, well, a place where there are no public toilets, only private toilets that you have to pay for. essentially though, its something of a parody of the grandiloquence of things like Les Mis... the villain is over-the-top diabolically evil, etc etc. It is hilarious, though. The opening song, which lays down most of the framework, is called "Too Much Exposition." That ought to make it clear what the tone of it is.

Will

Thanks for the synopsis. Sounds very entertaining.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say that I thought Mamma Mia sucked. Thank you.