LUCY BURDETTE: The touring show of Camelot came to Key West last week and I jumped on tickets. This has to be my favorite Broadway show of all time. My high school put this production on during my sophomore year and without much talent in the acting/singing department, I happily joined the the costume committee. And then—oh glorious, happy day—I was assigned to dress Sir Lancelot himself. Can you imagine my teenage self aquiver in the men’s dressing room, helping the adorable Lancelot into his armor? The low point came later, after he realized I’d ever-so-helpfully taken his tights home to wash in the family laundry, and brought them back the next day—shrunken two sizes smaller.
That incident aside, I love this show. I know all the words. And the sweeping emotions from high (“Camelot”) to low (“Guinevere”.) My favorite song of all time has to be Lancelot singing the heart-breaking “If Ever I Should Leave You” to his trembling Guinevere.
Though the moment when Sir Lancelot bursts onto the scene singing “C’est Moi, chest moi, I blush to admit, tis I, I humbly reply. That mortal who, these marvels can do, chest moi, c’est moi, tis I” is utterly priceless too.
My second all-time favorite is the Sound of Music, another of our high school productions. This time, while my dear friends Joel Silidker and Suzanne Snell played the leads, I landed a bit part as one of the seven Von Trapp children, Brigitta.
What’s your favorite Broadway song/show?
HALLIE EPHRON: Hands down favorite: "Guys and Dolls." Starting with "Fugue for Tinhorns" (I go the horse right here...) to Miss Adelaide's lament to Luck be a Lady ... one great number after another! Sky Masterson. Nicely Nicely. Miss Adelaide. I don't even mind the drippy sweet Sarah Brown.
Can't believe I've never seen Camelot.
LUCY: Oh those songs from Guys and Dolls are fabulous too Hallie! You must see Camelot--the thing is, I got so excited about going last week that I forgot about the ending. Then I turned to John at intermission: "It's so tragic!" It is tragic, more like the brutal finish of an opera than a musical. But with a tiny flicker of hope at the end...
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, I saw Camelot (for the first time) in Chicago, a MILLION years ago, with Robert Goulet and Julie Andrews? And Richard Burton? And Roddy McDowell as Mordred.( "If charity means giving, I give it--it you!") And I cried for THREE WEEKS. Truly. Could I have been in college? I forget--but I clearly remember trying to figure out whose "fault" it was. Oh, gosh, I could sing the whole thing.
For one song only, my favorite is Candide. I can hardly type "And Make Our Garden Grow" type without crying.
For lyrics and music, that's too hard. South Pacific. Oklahoma! My father was the music critic for the old Chicago Daily News, and he saw the ground-breaking and tragic West Side Story ("We're depraved on account of we're deprived...") (Everyone there will give big cheer! Everyone there will have moved here...) and the gorgeous operatic Kismet ("Play on the cymbal, the timbrel, the lyre; play with appropriate passion, fashion songs of delight and delicious desire.." in previews. Can you Imagine?? I asked him--did you know?
And he said yup.
There are so many...ah. Let me think.
Oh! A LIttle NIght Music, absolutely. Cleverest lyrics in the world. Winner. ("A Weekend in the country, it's insulting!" "It's engraved.")
Don't get me started. Oh. Too late.
RHYS BOWEN: I've always adored big musicals. As a young girl my friend and I stood for hours to get standing tickets to the opening night of My Fair Lady (and yes, my parents let me go up to London alone at eleven or twelve). I think I've seen them all. Favorites: for the quality of the music is Les Mis and West Side Story. For spectacle: Phantom. For cleverness: Chicago and into the Woods. But frankly nothing can beat those old musicals that were part of my childhood: Oklahoma, South Pacific, and Carousel (Yes, Hallie, I know your parents wrote it. it's brilliant and I still cry every time I see it.)
If I had to choose just one musical probably The Sound of Music.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am with Hank on Candide, which I absolutely adore. I have the music, and like Hank, listening to Make Our Garden Grow gives me the sniffles. Bernstein was so brilliant. I love West Side Story, too. I love Oklahoma! There's something so joyous about it. And of course My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music. But I'm embarrassed to admit I've never seen Carousel. Hallie, is there a film version I should watch?
HALLIE: Ha ha! Indeed there is. The movie my parents wrote with Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones in '56. It's very '50s in its interpretation. I saw the play revived at Lincoln Center awhile ago and it was interpreted as a much darker story, really about domestic abuse. It held up very well. Great songs. On the other hand.. I was always a big fan of Peter Pan (Mary Martin, Cyril Ritchard) but the version that just ran on television shows how dated the book is and the songs are just meh. Painful to watch.
SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: The first Broadway show (in previews in Washington, D.C.) I saw was Les Miserables — at the time, it was mind-blowing. Then I became obsessed with Stephen Sondheim, everything, really but maybe especially Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods.Hank, I played Anne in A Little Night Music in college — so much fun, although singing Sondheim is harder that you may think.... My first show when I got to New York City was The Secret Garden. Loved, loved, loved it and I would save my publishing salary penned to go to TKTS and get discount tickets to see it any number of times.... (Funny story — years later, a friend of mine brought a young lady over to our apartment for dinner. Over the course of the evening I realized — same actress who played Mary Lennox!)
For us, Avenue Q was just amazing — the puppetry community in NYC is pretty small, so of course we know the original cast and were there to cheer them on on opening night and also for the big Tony win.
Oh, and this is true, cross my heart — Bobby Lopez (Avenue Q, Book of Mormon, Frozen) is our neighbor and the Kiddo and his daughter used to have playdates. But she had a crush on him and he didn't reciprocate, so.... When we heard her as the first voice of "Do you Want to Make a Snowman" I was like, you could have been BFFs with her! (He was still unimpressed.)
Oh, I love musical theater and it is all but impossible to pick just one favorite musical. Phantom of the Opera, Oklahoma!, Brigadoon, South Pacific, I love them all and the list goes on and on . . .
ReplyDeleteAlso on my list of musicals I really enjoyed are The Fantasticks and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown . . . .
What about the Music Man? "Seventy-six trombones..." My parents would play records of musicals in the upstairs hall outside our bedrooms as we were going to sleep, so I know the songs from Carousel and South Pacific without having seen them! Also love Oklahoma, and Garrison Keillor used to do a funny skit about if you were feeling down, just stand behind a drapery and then burst out singing the theme song it will cheer you up every time. But my favorite as a child was Annie Get Your Gun. The strong shoot-em-up female lead totally appealed to me - I wanted to BE Annie. I can still sing all those songs.
ReplyDelete"I can do it better." "Can you bake a pie?" "No." "Neither can I." ;^)
ReplyDeleteJoan and Edith--there are so many good ones! and fun Edith, that your parents played the songs at bedtime. Though some of them are pretty jazzy for sleeping!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, musical theater! All of the above and Jesus Christ Superstar, Fiddler on the Roof, Hair....
ReplyDeleteMy nephews love to sing--last year the house was filled with showtunes for the dinner theater night at their high school. This year it's Christmas-themed, but next year will be Disney & the house is filled with Disney songs!
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ReplyDeleteAnnie Get YOur Gun! absolutely. LOVE. "No, you, caaaan't no you can't get a man with a gun."
ReplyDeleteAnd Susan, I am swooning. I am SO impressed! We want to hear ALL about it.
My closest claim was singing "Another Op'nin', ANother SHow" as the junior high talent show opening act. PAINFUL. :-)
I ran the lights for our high school production of Godspell. Had a massive crush on Jesus.
ReplyDeleteFChurch--that sounds wonderful! how lucky to have warbling nephews in your house!
ReplyDeleteLynn, know exactly what you mean--but Jesus, LOL
Hank, maybe revive that for next Bouchercon???
Almost afraid to ask, but did anyone see NBC's Peter Pan? What did we think?
ReplyDeleteSo. I'm sitting here now singing "One, singular sensation . . . "
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm off to find those old Broadway Magic albums - remember those? Those albums are one of the reasons we have a turntable.
I went to see Chorus Line three time the first time they played The Fox Theater in Atlanta. And it was there I also saw Evita.
I would walk out of the shows singing and doing high kicks.
"When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way, from your first cigarette, till your last dying day."
oh, oh, oh - "If my friends could see me now"
"Here's to the ladies who lunch"
ear worms - serious ear worms!
Well, there is no question that I am a musical theater fanatic. I try to see just about every major show and many of the smaller ones as well.
ReplyDeleteAnyone following my Facebook page already knows that I love Into The Woods. The original cast was the first show I saw on Broadway and I will never forget that moment. The recent anniversary concert was incredible. See pics on FB.
But I also have great affinity for Les Miz, RENT, Evita, and The Last Five Years.
For off-broadway, I was a huge fan of Bat Boy, Avenue Q, Tick, Tick, Boom and Bare.
I love musicals, especially the old ones. South Pacific is my all time favorite. As a kid, I used to belt out "Honeybun" while I did the dishes. Camelot is another favorite. My hubby and I saw it a few years ago with Michael York playing Arthur.
ReplyDeleteI never had the nerve to try out for anything when I was in high school, but my oldest son was in a few at his school--Fiddler, Joseph, and Guys & Dolls.
And this time of year, don't forget White Christmas!
Gypsy
ReplyDeleteKiss Me Kate
And just for fun:
Grease
Mama Mia
I, too, have lots of old LPs of original casts, including the Jean Arthur/Boris Karloff Peter Pan (earlier than the Mary Martin with different songs) and the incomparable Ethel Merman in Annie Get Your Gun. What a voice!
On the dark side... Sweeney Todd (Yay, Sondheim)
ReplyDeleteAnd did anyone else see the stunning show that probably gets the award for longest title of a Broadway show, directed by the amazing Peter Brook and starring Glenda Jackson as Charlotte Corday: The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade
Yes, Edith and Hank! Annie Get Your Gun! Hearing that soundtrack was a formative experience for this wanna be cowgirl.
ReplyDeleteI also loved Hair (especially Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine); Fiddler on the Roof (ah, Do you Love Me?) and La Cage Aux Folles with the end of Act I showstopper, I Am What I Am.
So many good shows! I've seen Bubbling Brown Sugar (with a guy I met on the plane to La Guardia), 42nd Street, Les Miserables, Chorus Line, and Chicago on Broadway. Annie, Chorus Line, Phantom, The King & I, Book of Mormon, and must be some others here in Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteI was really, really into the music for Phantom until a male acquaintance made fun of me, and then said, "Why would you be attracted to a stalker story, with not one, but two stalkers?" You know, he had a point. Thanks for nothing.
Movie musicals--LOVE them, too, and wish more of them were being made now, instead of some of the utter dreck being thrown up on the screen. The first one I ever saw in a theater was My Fair Lady, with my grandmother, when I was in about second grade. I was so captivated--by the music, by the fashions, and by the luminous and winsome Audrey Hepburn. It's still my favorite, and I can still sing every word. Although I also hate the very ending.
And if you think about it: that Freddy was yet another stalker. Sigh.
I think all the families who were raised in the 50's had those Broadway albums Kaye. But we were talking on the way home about what terrible shape they'd be in, even if someone had thought to keep them...
ReplyDeleteKathy Lynn, thanks for mentioning GYPSY, another one I LOVE. We saw Bernadette Peters perform as Mama, about ten years ago. She was magnificent! And that song with the 3 strippers and their gimmicks--we laughed and laughed!
I love musicals. I don't think my family shares my love. All those Sondheim, Oscar & Hammerstein classes. I love Andrew Lloyd Webber (saw an amazing high school production of Jesus Christ Superstar - Judas was outstanding - and saw Phantom in Toronto on my honeymoon; even though I knew the chandelier was coming down it STILL freaked me out).
ReplyDeleteJoan, I did music for The Fantasicks and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown in college, so I have fond memories of those.
We saw a decent production of Annie a few weeks ago, but I adore the movie with Albert Finney.
And yes! All those Bing Crosby/Irving Berlin Christmas musicals, like White Christmas, Holiday Inn - and what's the black and white one where Crosby plays a priest and the boys' choir (would you like to swing on a star...)
When I was seven or eight years old, my parents took us on the overnight train to NYC, where we saw Charlotte Rae (a family friend) as Mammy Yokum in . Edie Adams played Daisy Mae and her husband, TV comic Ernie Kovacs, was still alive, and we met all three of them in Charlotte's dressing rooms-- how's that for an introduction to Broadway?
ReplyDeleteThat show contains some wonderfully scathing political satire in "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands."
Then in high school, I saw a touring company of Fiorello-- stuffed with political satire embodied in "The Bum Won," "A Little Tin Box," "Politics and Poker." Their lyrics are as valid today as they were when the musical was produced in 1955 or in LaGuardia's lifetime. And I still think "The Very Next Man" is almost as good as Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" as an angry break-up song.
When I was in college I used to stand in line for standing room tickets, and we were blessed to see Fiddler in its first run from the big concession aisle behind the orchestra seats, where we could dance around to "To Life!" while the actors did so on stage!
Lucy/Roberta - ours are all in good shape. I'm listening to Broadway Maagic: 1960s as we speak - so fun!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen nearly enough live shows, but I remember my first, Peter and the Wolf ballet, age 6, got to wear my "fur" coat and muff.
ReplyDeleteAlways enjoy Calamity Jane and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers when they are on TCM.
I love musicals. So many good ones. Add me to the Sound of Music fan club. I also love The Music Man. And You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. And Annie. I watch all the commercials for Into the Woods and have the DVD of the original production and got to see the revival cast when it previewed in LA.
ReplyDeleteOf course, you've also named several I haven't seen. Really need to fix that.
"The Music Man." No others, as lovely as they are, need apply. Robert Preston was an American theatre and film treasure. "Can I play my cross-hand piece now?"
ReplyDeleteSusan, I saw part of Peter Pan. Bleah. At first I thought Christopher Walken was doing a parody of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow. But, no...
ReplyDeleteJust leaden and joyless, the whole thing, and would have spoiled my childhood memories if Marjorie Tucker hadn't posted a video of the Cathy Rigsby version of "I Can Fly." That had me dancing around the kitchen (a scary sight, indeed.)
All I could think watching last week's performance was what a time the Freudians must have had with the plot!
OH yes, I'm so glad someone mentioned White Christmas: I think it's my favorite thing to watch every holiday season. Those brilliant musical numbers with Danny Kaye. And speaking of him--the Court Jester? My favorite movie when I was a little girl.
ReplyDeleteJust reread my previous post-- apparently the internet goblins ate the name of my first B'way play, L'il Abner.
ReplyDeleteSaw The Sound of Music twice on Broadway in its first run-- didn't and still don't like it much. But first run Camelot-- Robert Goulet in long red cape singing "Camelot-- in far off France I heard your call...and here am I to give my all!" Love at the first note!
Oh, Hallie, I am so excited to know that your parents wrote the Carousel movie, because before I read that, I was already going to say that it remains my favorite. Unfortunately, I've never been to a show in NYC, but watching Carousel on television was wonderful when I was a young girl. Now, I will have to tell you a funny story about the first time I was going to watch it. My father was also watching it, and when Shirley Jones became pregnant, my father sent me from the room. I was twelve, and by today's standards, that would have been unthinkable. And, she was married. However, being the obedient child of the 60s, I did leave the room, even then kind of laughing to myself. I knew I would get another chance to watch it, and I did. "You'll Never Walk Alone" is one of my favorite songs from Carousel or any musical. Then, again, Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae were favorites of mine in Carousel and Oklahoma. Oh, and, Lucy, Robert Goulet's singing "If Ever I Would Leave You" completely captured my heart as a young girl and has held it ever since. It seems like my time watching television was spent watching musicals, and movie going was largely that, too.
ReplyDeleteI did see The Producers at the Kennedy Center and couldn't stop laughing. Of course, I love Mel Brooks' work. I've also seen some other live productions of shows, but seeing a show on Broadway is definitely on my bucket list. I attend the musical theatre that comes to our town at our arts center and enjoy that immensely.
Susan, I was very disappointed in the live Peter Pan show last week. I had looked forward to seeing Christopher Walken as Hook, and he just seemed bored with the whole thing. I know part of it was being Christopher Walken, but it mostly seemed that he was shrugging his shoulders at it. The whole production lacked energy and crispness (I know, it was live, but it could still have been crisp). I enjoyed Marjorie's video she posted, too, Debs.
Is anyone else besides me attached to "Ice Cream" from "She Loves Me," or "Inchworm" from "Hans Christian Anderson," or "I'm Shy" from "Once Upon A Mattress"? Not to mention "Don't Rain on My Parade" from "Funny Girl"?
ReplyDeleteOh, man, I am SO addicted to musicals... and my sister and I both know "The King And I" by heart-- every line! (But I didn't get "I Have Dreamed" until I was a grown up!)
Carousel was probably the first movie musical I ever saw. Hallie, do you think Frank Sinatra would have been good as Billy Bigelow if he hadn’t left the production after his power play?
ReplyDeleteI'm so in tune (hah!) with all of you, with every show you've mentioned. But my all-time favorite is the little-known (I think) "Lost in the Stars," adapted from Alan Paton's book, "Cry, the Beloved Country." We saw the fabulous Todd Duncan star here in L. A. My mom and I had front-row seats, and were awash in tears at the closing number. The orchestra conductor turned to us and said, "Enjoyed the show, did you?" I still sing "There's a Little Gray House" loudly in the shower.
ReplyDeleteMy first Broadway musical was The Music Man, which I saw during the summer when I was 11 years old. I was supposed to go to Girl Scout Camp but towards the end of the school year I had whooping cough, and the family doctor advised my parents not to send me to camp. So my parents used the camp money to allow me to accompany my mom, and some of my aunts to NYC for the theater and dinner. I still get a special thrill whenever I hear any of the music from that play! We had the album at home and I memorized the words to all the songs!
ReplyDeleteI can probably say that I've enjoyed every musical I've ever seen, whether it was on Broadway or elsewhere. Some favorites are The Sound of Music, South Pacific, Fiddler on the Roof, Mama Mia, Phantom of the Opera. No matter how many times I have seen The King and I, I have ended up weeping by the end! The last time I saw it was at my niece's high school around twelve years ago. Although she wasn't in it, she wanted to support friends who were. A couple of minutes into it, I completely forgot that the actors were high school students; it was a fantastic production. I've been told that some of the kids went on to acting careers. Too bad I don't remember any names!
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
ReplyDeleteEvita
Spamalot
I love musicals! Mostly. I used to see all the movie versions and saw some live in theater in the round as a kid. On a Clear Day You can see Forever with Van Johnson. Irma La Douce with Juliet Prowse. Went to see South Pacific at a theater while my boyfriend-later-husband was in Vietnam. The young couples' story ending just destroyed me. Would like to see Les Miz but that is such a powerful story I'm afraid I'd cry my eyes out!
Good question, Ang... I think he could have sung the role but not acted it. It requires a physical presence, a "large" imposing sexy guy or maybe I'm just not the type to go for Sinatra...in that way.
ReplyDeleteHow can anyone resist commenting on this topic? I, too, love, love, love them all. So many great musicals have already been mentioned I'm just going to throw out two that I didn't see yet. Wicked and Nunsense.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this uplifting walk down musical memory lane!
Oh, gosh, Funny Girl! When I was a senior in high school some of our class took a school trip to Chicago, and we saw Funny Girl the night after its world premiere in that city. Loved all the music, but I was really a big Barbra Streisand fan, even then.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine Carousel with Frank Sinatra, either. He wasn't that good of an actor, and Gordon MacRae was incredible in the movie.
Loved all the Oscars and Hammerstein musicals, they always had such good music, with lyrics that made sense in the context of each show.
Another good one was Moulin Rouge, which still surprises me.
"He Had It Coming" from "Chicago," a musical MADE for Jungle Reds! I saw it first run on Broadway with Jerry Orbach as the attorney.
ReplyDeleteThis is SO MUCH FUN to read! I am loving all of these. Hallie, I can sing the entire Marat/Sade from Judy Collins--it lasts about ten minutes and I know it by heart. Do NOT get me stated. "Pooor old Marat--they'll hunt you down. The bloodhouunds are sniffing all over the town..Just yesterday your printing press was SMASHED, now they're after your HOME address..."
ReplyDeleteI played the sound track for CHORUS LINE over and over for weeks, and Evita, too.
xoxo
My producer just said to me--what are you SINGING??
ReplyDeleteAnd I realized it was "Marat we're POOR, and the POOR stay POOR!"
And now I am laughing.
Mary Martin is Peter Pan. And Cyril Ritchard is Hook and Mr. Darling.
ReplyDeleteAnd may I just say--Peter is cocky, feisty, funny, smart-alecky and and and...which in this presentation ,he was not. At all.
Rhys: The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true.
ReplyDeleteSusan,
ReplyDeletethe Kiddo may change his mind 20 years from now..
Rhys,
I loved the Sound of Music too.
Until recently,
the Nutcracker ballet was music for me. Ballet was like music to me. In the last 10 years, I started to appreciate musicals. For me, musicals are new.
Diana in CA
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1572272279580315&set=vb.1318800798260799&type=2&theater
ReplyDeleteMy four daughters and I have had an ongoing conversation all their lives about our love and devotion to musical theater!
I saw "Camelot" in NY with my parents for my 16th birthday -- saw "Funny Girl" when a high school classmate was in the chorus -- saw "Man of La Mancha" right after college graduation, the day I walked by RFK's casket in St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Personal memories and public events -- a life time. I saw "Peter Pan" as a child on the lawn at Vassar College one summer night and the movie of "The King and I" was my 10 year old birthday present.
My children grew up to the records -- they knew all the words to every play, including hair. All four did musicals as they were growing up -- Elizabeth flew as a 7th grader (Michael in "Peter Pan")! They were in "Oliver" and "Bye Bye Birdie" and so many many others.
Love love love this discussion!
Oh all of them! I have been a musical- holic for way too many yesrs to count. Favorites--maybe A Chorus Line which gives me goosebumps and tears every time I watch the movie and An American in Paris because was there ever anyone quite like Gene Kelly? I saw my very first musical on Broadway just last year..Anything Goes, and loved it. The others I have seen in various theaters and variations over many years. Most recently we went to see My Fair Lady, the small cast version, in our local little theater, with my granddaughters. It was a great production. Afterwards the girls said "Grammy, do you know every word of those songs?" Sure do!
ReplyDeleteIt would be like picking a favorite child . . . can't choose, so many that I love (except Evita . . . couldn't like it, gave it three tries to be sure). South Pacific, Pajama Game, Wicked, Oklahoma . . . right now, Peter Pan tunes are popping into my head, alternating with The Hallelujah Chorus -- I accepted the offer to allow audience members to join the chorus onstage, and so glad I did. Singing with a group is glorious! (and they promised to drown out any mistakes we might make) . . . and a wonderful woman let me share her music and pointed to every word at the right time ;-) More singing, more love!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, I forgot about Oliver! Love love love that one...
ReplyDeleteAnd Funny Girl--oh my. I sing "Secondhand Rose" all the time, as I'm on my 2nd hub and have a "used" dog and cat:)
My undergraduate degree is in theatre (stage manager) and I've done my share of musicals. My favorite of all time no questions asked is Jesus Christ Superstar.
ReplyDeleteOh don't make me choose. As I read down all the comments, I kept saying, Oh yes, that one. And that one! No, that one!
ReplyDeleteI love them ALL!
And yes, thanks for asking, Susan. That Peter Pan production was DIRE! How in the world could any director it might be a good idea to have everyone, especially Captain Hook, sleepwalk through their parts.
However, it sent me off to Youtube and I found it! The 1960 Mary Martin telecast is there! I watched "I'm flying" with a big grin on my face, and am settling down to watch the thing some evening very soon. Think lovely thoughts....
"42nd Street" is one of my favorites. I saw the original cast and Jerry Orbach singing "Lullaby of Broadway" was a definite show-stopper! And of course anything by Rodgers and Hammerstein gets me humming.
ReplyDeleteThe only Broadway show I've seen is Wicked, although I saw Cliff Richard in Heathcliff (the musical) several times in London. Also saw Starlight Express over there. Judy
ReplyDeleteI read through these responses and all I can say is "yes, yes, yes" to all that are mentioned. Karen, Moulin Rouge is the modern one that my son and I both love. We realized that his girlfriend hadn't seen it, and we practically fell over ourselves getting it on for her to watch. Now, of course, she loves it, too.
ReplyDeleteWICKED! I cannot believe I forgot. Defying Gravity is my anthem. xoo
ReplyDeleteAmong those I can't believe I forgot was Beauty and the Beast. I love Disney and that movie, and the Broadway production is fantastic. Seen the touring company three times (first with the original cast) and local productions twice.
ReplyDeleteI should also mention that I was in Fiddler on the Roof. Just one of the townspeople. Okay, okay, First Man if you must know. (You know, the first male to speak who doesn't have a name.) I love it, too.
I also enjoy Godspell. Different, but the songs are fun.
I just watched Peter Pan Live! over the weekend, and the review will be up on my blog on Wednesday. I was not impressed. There are only two good songs in the entire thing, and Hook was dreadful. (Yet one friend said he was the only part worth watching.) I just can't get past the songs. I'm not a fan of Mary Martin period, so I never liked her version of it either. At this point, I just think that's a musical I don't like, period.
West Side Story, Brigadoon, Phantom.. When a college senior, the person on our floor who owned West Side Story (record!) played it loudly most days. To hear it today brings back those happy memories.
ReplyDeleteJust reconnected with a friend from college and her first post on my Facebook page was "do you still burst into songs from musicals at the least provocation?" And all my other Facebook friends proceeded to recite songs and occasions...
ReplyDeleteSo many of the ones you've mentioned here are precious to me. I was thinking yesterday that it's a shame no one is reviving City of Angels -- there's a show for writers!
"We used to sit in bed and read each draft out loud
We'd play each part and talk the story through
Remember all we said and how we laughed out loud
Now take a closer look at you
I oughta throw the book at you"
and the writer and his protagonist singing "You're nothing without me" to one another...!