<p>when my daughter went to NYC with her 8th grade class last summer they saw wicked
the fee wasn’t too bad though cause it was a big group
I didn’t go on the trip- but she had a great time- she had only been to Ashland to see Shakespeare- never seen a big professional musical</p>
<p>Strick, I’m not sure about The Producers tour, but I wouldn’t be concerned about the Wicked tour, and possibly seeing the show twice, if you choose to do that. The tour which launches this month in Toronto will have a stellar cast, arguably better than the current Broadway cast. Stephanie Block who was wonderful in Boy From Oz last year will be Elphaba. She actually was the first Elphaba in the initial readings and workshop but had already committed to BFO so Idina stepped in, which was a very fortunate situation for her. 
Personally, since you’ll see Wicked in the summer, I wouldn’t bother with it on Broadway. There are so many other good choices available to you, you won’t have a problem finding something equally as good. One other show I didn’t mention, which if you like Billy Joel music and also dance, is Movin’ Out. It’s fun and has a talented cast, and has been around long enough that you should have no problem getting good seats.</p>
<p>I should mention, since the subject of Rent has come up, that I found it a rather tedious and outdated tale of sex and drugs in the mid-90s. OTOH, my daughter liked it.</p>
<p>My sister recommends Avenue Q highly.</p>
<p>Mt son has seen Rent several times. He watched it in the context of La Boheme which was available in several venues one year, so that he got quite a panoramic view of it. I enjoyed Rent one evening because we impossibly got those $20 seats in the right before the show lottery. Pure serendipity as we were just walking by the theatre when they ready to pull the names from the hat, and impulsively put our names in. So instead of dinner, we got the show! I had heard pieces from it for years, so it was nice to see the musical that put it all together and we had seen LaBoheme at the opera not long before. Also, though I have seen Mamma Mia panned many times, everyone I know who has seen it, has really enjoyed it, surprised that they enjoyed it. I have not personally seen it.</p>
<p>jamimom, same with my D and Rent. I think it’s a show that every theatre lover should see. It really changed the direction of theatre on Broadway and opened it up to a whole new generation. A modern retelling of La Boheme, what more could you want? </p>
<p>I don’t think it’s really fair to call it outdated. It was written in the early '90’s and having won the Pulitzer and many Tonys, it’s one of the longterm successful runs on Broadway, having been there for almost nine years now. It’s been produced in over 50 other countries and continues to tour North America. It’s certainly a period piece which is true for probably most Broadway musicals, yet we don’t call them outdated. In any case, I’m a fan. I loved the show the first time I saw it and have seen it several times since. The D of a friend of ours was in the show and my D has several friends who’ve been in the cast for the past few years. I guess it depends on your perspective but I see the show as the story of the joys of friendship, tolerance and love among a group of friends; the sex and drugs are not pivotal.</p>
<p>And actually, there’s more sex in Avenue Q than in Rent. Avenue Q has an attendance advisory while Rent doesn’t! Kind of amusing.</p>
<p>That is partly because there have been some families and old ladies who got shocked at those “dirty puppets” in Avenue Q. LOL I know one, and could hardly keep a straight face as she went into a dither about the show. I think she was expecting Sesame Street!</p>
<p>You can also become a member, for free, of <a href=“http://www.playbill.com%5B/url%5D”>www.playbill.com</a> and <a href=“http://www.theatremania.com%5B/url%5D”>www.theatremania.com</a> that offer discounted tickets to selected shows. I’ve used them to get tickets to shows when I go to NYC on business.</p>
<p>Have fun!</p>
<p>Oh, jamimom, I know! It’s so funny to hear people go on and on about the show. I enjoyed Avenue Q. It’s clever and irreverent and charming and funny. The talent in that cast is top notch. What amazes me when I hear people complaining during and after some shows is that they haven’t any idea what the show is about before attending. I just don’t understand that, especially at what you have to pay for a ticket these days! I’ve seen people leave at intermission at Rent and it’s sad because Act II is the heart of the show. It’s their loss, I guess.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, alwaysamom, but the thing is we expect to take our S to what he wants to see in New York and “Wicked” came up. He won’t be going with us to teh touring company, since we only bought tickets for ourselves. Guess we’ll see it twice – if we can get tickets.</p>
<p>Interesting conversation on “Rent”. My wife doesn’t really like the show and, besides, I’m pondering what it would be like to see either “Rent” or “Avenue Q” with your parents at age 18…</p>
<p>S saw the show in that little Vineyard (?) theatre before it made it big. I have not seen it though we have the Cd. I think for some people , they need to stick to Fiddler on the Roof, if they want to fulfill their expectations of a Broadway musical. I must admit I got a bit antsy at 42nd Street which I believe is a classic, but I have been spoiled with the new stuff like Wicked, Rent, Chicago. I do so love a good show!</p>
<p>My S saw both Rent and Avenue Q with an out-of-town friend and her parents - absolutely loved both. He went back to see Rent again on a group trip and would see it over and over if it were an option.</p>
<p>Ah, ok, Strick, I misunderstood and didn’t realize that your son wasn’t seeing Wicked with you in the summer. As for seeing Rent or Avenue Q with your parents at age 18, I can tell you that every time I’ve seen Rent, and also when I saw Avenue Q, it was with one or all of my Ds. The first time with Rent was when my D who’s now the drama major was 14. She has seen it with her grandparents twice!</p>
<p>I wasn’t shocked by Rent’s sex and drugs; I was bored. I thought it was a period piece that hadn’t aged well. Obviously I failed to explain that when I posted before. I also felt the actors were walking through their parts.</p>
<p>My daughter is a theater/lit major and we have seen a LOT of plays together over the years (in one 6 day-trip to London, we saw 9). This was one of the few times where we have seriously disagreed on the quality of a play.</p>
<p>On our most recent trip, we also saw Newsical. Mediocre. (One amusing song called “Too Much Botox.”)</p>
<p>An 18-year-old seeing Avenue Q with his/her parents might fleetingly think, “I’m watching puppet sex with my MOM AND DAD?!?!?!” but mostly will just be laughing hysterically. My D and I have seen it twice. The second time was with a friend of hers who’s a guy. The first time was with a friend of mine and her D, a good friend of my D. The girls were both 16 at the time, and the other girl told us afterward that what she was fretting about was, “Can my mom handle this stuff?” Gotta love those kids.</p>
<p>The potential misperceptions about Sesame Street-ish puppets are why Avenue Q isn’t going to have a national tour. Instead it’s going to stay in NY and also open for another long run in Las Vegas…figuring that in those cities people won’t be baffled or bothered by hormone-crazed puppets.</p>