So embarrassed, I forgot my other favorite - Les Miz.
Fiddler
Jesus Christ Superstar
Camelot (I played in the orchestra for our high school musical, maybe that’s why I have a soft spot)
West Side Story
Chicago
Cats
Phantom
A Chorus Line
Billy Elliott
I’d rather have a root canal than sit through Les Miserables ever again.
How could I forget A Chorus Line? It is one of the first tours I saw.
@musicmom1215 , I love Showboat too! But if you saw a version of 1776 with no songs for 45 minutes then they must have made a lot of cuts–“Sit Down, John” is a fun opening number, and then there’s the “letter” song between John and Abigail–I love their heartfelt “yours, yours” refrain. I’ve seen both the film and the 1997 Broadway revival and I felt that it was more fun on stage.
Nice to see Secret Garden fans here; I saw it with Mandy Patinkin and he was stellar. I didn’t know until recently that the composer, Lucy Simon, is Carly Simon’s sister.
I would love to see a stage version of Camelot!
And the revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center a few years ago was wonderful.
As for creative endings, I saw both the 1985 original and 2013 revival of a fun concept musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. the music is light (by Rupert Holmes of Pina Colada song fame) but the most original part is the ending–it’s based on an unfinished novel by Dickens and the cast has the audience vote for 9 possible murderers and solutions to the mystery.
Les Miserables was full of energy the 1st couple of years they staged it on Broadway in the late 80s–I loved it the 1st time I saw it but after that the spark got lost and it was long and dreary. I saw it deteriorate, and it doesn’t look like the 2014 revival has been that well received.
Cats was another show that just dragged on and on for me–the posters said “Cats: now and forever” and after 15 minutes, I felt that I had been trapped watching it forever and just wanted it to end.
Obviously, I saw a very bad version of 1776. Not sure I want to try it again, though, it was that boring to me.
I could see Les Miz every few months and never grow tired of it.
I really, really want to see Fun Home and Hamilton. I hear they are both fantastic.
Wicked was good too
I can’t believe I forgot Cabaret. I loved the movie version, saw the stage version with Alan Cummings recently - he was great, and I agree with Lergmom, the movie isn’t menacing enough, (though the scene with the boy singing in the beer garden is amazing. The problem with the stage play at least with the case we saw, it wasn’t as much fun to watch a less charismatic Sally, though it made sense. Then read the book and it really made sense, but wow, the movie and stage play both took huge liberties with the original material!
I thought Rent had some great tunes, but what a bunch of whiners. I just wanted those guys to get jobs instead of stiffing the poor landlords.
My youngest D was in love with Broadway musicals for a long time. She always asked for tickets to a show as her Christmas present. As a result, we went to quite a few. Some of the ones I really enjoyed (in no particular order):
Wicked (original Broadway cast especially Kristin Chenowith, Joel Grey,and Idina Menzel ),
Hairspray!(with Harvey Fierstein),
Aida (This was the an Elton John and Tim Rice production on Broadway–when I saw it Idina Menzel played Amneris)
Cabaret, (1998 revival)
The Producers (with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane)
Agree with Mathmom on Rent–loved some of the music but found the characters/story annoying.
BTW, I am only counting actual shows seen on Broadway. Not travelling shows. One I loved when I was young was Robert Morse’s “How to Succeed in Business without really trying”.
Also remember seeing Robert Goulet in South Pacific, and remember enjoying Equus. And Man of La Mancha.
I saw Damn Yankees as a child at the St. Louis Muni, so I was excited to see it on Broadway many years later when I was in New York for a conference. BeBe Neuwirth and Victor Garber were wonderful. I took my kids to see it the next year when we were there on vacation and Jerry Lewis was playing the Devil. Not as good that time, but I still love it. We saw Annie Get Your Gun with Bernadette Peters a few years later and loved that.
I would love to see Beautiful and the King & I revival right now.
My list is only shows that I saw on Broadway. First time I went to NYC was in 1973 (with relatives from New Jersey) and I know we saw a show, but just don’t remember it.
Oops, Goulet was Camelot. It was great. Mary Martin was South pacific. And Annie Get your Gun. I also loved modern shows (Hairspray,Book of Mormon, etc) but the old classics were great!
The original version of NINE with Raul Julia in the lead. Fantastic show with great music.
I’m listing shows which I didn’t see on Broadway as well as those I did see on Broadway…
My Fair Lady
West Side Story
Showboat
Godspell
Jesus Christ Superstar
Cats
Damn Yankees
Urinetown
Guys and Dolls
Chorus Line
Phantom
Nine–saw same one as UMDad
Grease
Bye Bye Birdie
Les Miz
Carousel
On the Town
Fiddler on the Roof
Camelot
Something’s Afoot–silly, but fun. My kid was in it…
How to Eat Like a Child–ditto
I’m not crazy about Chicago, though I saw it twice…many years apart…on Broadway
Both of my kids have been performing in musicals (Broadway, off-Broadway, regional tours, etc) since they were eight years old, so I’ve seen lots and lots of musicals. There are many that I really liked - Les Miserables and Seussical were my favourites that my kids were in. I hope I never have to watch another production of Will Rogers Follies or Annie.
But my “all time favourite” is Kinky Boots. My S (who is gay) and I saw it during previews and it was the only show that I’ve ever seen that had to stop in the middle for a standing ovation. By the end, my S and I were both in tears and the whole audience was on its feet dancing. Part of it, I know, was just that Billy Porter was amazing, so I don’t know how it will be without him. But definitely worth seeing. I can’t wait until it comes to London this autumn!
Right now, I’m really into Hedwig, and I would highly recommend it. One of the most riveting shows I’ve been to.
I love RENT, it was kind of a musical my friends and I all grew up with. I’m a huge fan of Wicked. I think Hair is a wonderful timepiece.
I really want to see Beautiful and Hamilton (not on Broadway yet but will be soon enough), and I just heard about Fun Home, which sounds really intriguing.
Oops! I’ve never been to New York, so maybe I can’t vote?