<p>Just shoot me before buying my ticket to Annie or Kiss Me, Kate.</p>
<p>I could never hate Annie. Maybe it is because as the parent of girls who did theater, being in Annie is an experience every young theater girl would like. Each of my girls has been in it twice. So for me, it has good memories of young MT experiences. While my kids have outgrown their days in Annie, it just seems like a show or role that every little theater girl might like to experience.</p>
<p>Having problems with CC loading, and so could not add this to my previous post as intended…so am making a new post…</p>
<p>Talking about this just reminded me of a line in one of the many college essays my D wrote. One essay chronicled her journey and growth through seven summers at her beloved theater camp and while this line is out of context without the rest of the essay, my mind just turned to it when talking about Annie. She is describing the point she was at when she was 12 at camp: "I’d outgrown Annie, yet was not quite ready to fill Velma’s shoes, and as a A Chorus Line lyric puts it, was “too young to take over, too old to ignore.” " </p>
<p>Annie is sort of a benchmark experience for a young theater girl, I think.</p>
<p>BILLY. ELLIOT.</p>
<p>Sucks so bad.</p>
<p>Everyone’s tastes differ!! I really enjoyed Billy Elliot. Curious what you didn’t like about it.</p>
<p>Anything by Andrew Lloyd Weber – I can’t even think of one song I like, except “Midnight” as sung by David Letterman.</p>
<p>Soozievt, appreciated your (and your daughters) fond memories of Annie, but our feelings are so different. Songbird, at 17, is a veteran of MT since she was 7. Many dozens of shows. Did her share of ensemble…also gets lots of leads. But the one show she would NEVER audition for was Annie. I can’t explain it other than to tell you that she (and I) both have a loathing for everything about the show.
Now, the one that she was all dreamy over throughout her childhood was Wizard of Oz. So when she was cast as Dorothy at 13 in a large community production of it…that was nirvana (for both of us, I must admit).</p>
<p>I disagree with lololu. Andrew Lloyd Weber is amazing. I especially like “Phantom of the Opera.” The worst one is the “Lion King.” Very overrated</p>
<p>I can’t say that I “hate” any musicals that I have seen, but “Carousel” is definitely my least favorite. The only show I have ever walked out on at intermission was “Guys and Dolls.” I like the show, but the particular production was so bad that I just had to leave. Two current favorites are “A Little Night Music” and “Next to Normal.” My biggest surprise was “Evil Dead: The Musical.” Expected to hate it but had to go because my D was in it. Loved it! So you never know…</p>
<p>momofsongbird, I guess I always presumed that most young MT girls wanted to play both Annie and Dorothy. There are not a lot of starring roles for young girls in adult MT productions (there are some others like in Secret Garden). My D played Annie in an adult production (as well as Molly in another adult production). She was in Wizard of Oz three times, the first two being adult productions but then played Dorothy in her HS show in 10th grade. </p>
<p>I never listed least favorite musicals as I would have a hard time coming up with a list. There are no musicals that I really dislike that much. One thing I have always enjoyed about seeing Broadway shows is the vast variety of musicals that exist. I enjoy seeing the creativity that goes into some new works, as well as enjoy classic musicals too. I’d have an easier time listing more favorite musicals, than least favorite.</p>
<p>I will have to agree with Soozie about Annie. I could never hate Annie. For a lot of young MT girls it is a stepping stone to something bigger. The music brings back so many good memories, one being one Mother’s day d had a dance recital at noon, and an Annie performance at 3:00. D was Molly, Kate, July, and Annie over the years. For me, it was wonderful to have d be that lead role who carries the show at such a young age. Yes - d was Dorothy too her freshman year in HS, the only time she was ever in Wizard of Oz. Both were great experiences for her as an actress.</p>
<p>Personally, I’ve never liked Grease. I think my former teacher summed it up nicely: “The moral of Grease is: If you want to get a man, be a wh***”</p>
<p>I have to go with the don’t like Annie, at least for my D. (It was the first professional production I saw as a kid). D hated Annie - knew she would never be Annie since she didn’t “look” the part and was told her speaking voice sounded too old. D always refused to audition for Annie. On the flip side Lion King has a soft spot in our heart as there are VERY few parts specific to young AA girls, (yes lil Inez and we did that one too) so DD still dreams of doing Lion King as an ensemble dancer, since it was where she first was acknowledge as having the something special.</p>
<p>soozievt, we sure agree on one thing: the list of musicals we love is WAY longer than the the list of those we don’t. My daughter and I see tons of MT, opera, and classical musical events and even when I’m not crazy about a show, there’s always something interesting in the performance or production that I can enjoy.</p>
<p>It was surprising to me to see so many of my favorites listed here as other people’s least favorites. Oh, well, tomato/tomahto.</p>
<p>(Though I will add one more to my list of shows I can do without ever seeing again: Once Upon a Mattress.)</p>
<p>I love most musicals and this is my first time posting. My favorites are Wicked, Billy Elliott, South Pacific, Les Miz, West Side Story, Rent and The Lion King</p>
<p>My least favorites are Suessical, Oklahoma, Cats, Sweeney Todd</p>
<p>Love: A Little Night Music, Assassins, In the Heights, Spring Awakening, Cabaret, Into the Woods, Rent, Next to Normal, Forbidden Broadway
Dislike: Joseph…, Les Miserables, Jesus Christ Superstar (But I saw one Latin version I loved), Annie, Oliver
Hate: PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Sorry, guys! Just don’t get the hype.</p>
<p>I think it is so great that we are all so diverse. How boring would it be if all the plays were the same cookie cutter stories and songs. Different tastes bring about interesting stories. If EVERYONE loved Annie, my D would never get to be in anything because all stories would be about little pale red-headed girls. If Full Monty were the only show people liked, my D would never be in ANYTHING (not a lot of great female roles!} Now if WSS were the end all be all, she MIGHT have a chance! The variety is part of the magic of theater! Woohoo!</p>
<p>Anyone else like The Color Purple? I saw the National Tour and thought it was fantastic.</p>
<p>I just saw The Color Purple National Tour too and thought it was really great. I had never seen the show before or heard the music and so it was a treat. One neat thing to me is that it was a story that could stand alone even without the music (then again, it was a book first, after all). That was one thing I loved about Ragtime (that also was a book first, btw). Also, it was kinda neat to see that one of the cast members was a young woman who performed with my daughter in Broadway Rising Stars. So nice to see someone’s dreams come true.</p>
<p>I think it all depends on the cast performing, but generally speaking, here are my tastes:
Love: Hair, Spring Awakening
Like: Billy Elliot, In the Heights, 25th Annual…
Middle-of-the-road: Next to Normal, Joseph…, Legally Blonde, Avenue Q, Wicked, Chicago, Spamalot
Dislike: Godspell (though that one is really dependent on the individual production), Pajama Game
Really dislike: Annie, Phantom of the Opera</p>
<p>I have plenty more to say, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind.</p>