DISers Love Broadway!

[EmJ]

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Return to the Forbidden Planet
Chess
Les Mis
1776

I haven't ever heard of Chess. Did I miss it? I'll have to look it up! Les Mis gets an honorable mention in my list. It was the first staged production I ever saw, at age 10, and I bawled my eyes out after Val Jean died and all the way through curtain call. It is still high on my list and I actually did like the film remake, except for Javert

 

[sophy1996]

Chess is from the 1980s, about the Cold War as seen/experienced through an international chess tournament. One of the songs you might have heard is "One Night in Bangkok."

 

[mouschievous]

Favorite shows?! How am I supposed to choose????

Ok....ummmmm........in no particular order...

The Prom
Beetlejuice
Big Fish
Fiddler on the Roof
Into the Woods
Newsies

You know what would be easier to tell you? The worst musical I've ever seen. King Kong. Holy moly, that was awful.

 

[hiroMYhero]

5 Favorites?

I’d have to choose the ones DDs performed in :
Beauty and the Beast
Cats
West Side Story

Then...
The Lion King - in SF
Phantom - saw the touring show in Sacramento and enjoyed the Las Vegas show, too!

 

[mentos]

I love the Lion King!!! Top 5 again, lol.

Okay everyone, what are your Top 5 favorite musicals? Mine are, in rough order, (1) Ragtime; (2) Rent; (3) The Lion King; (4) Chicago Before They Changed It; and (5) The Book of Mormon. Nothing too out of the ordinary there, I think. Hamilton would probably bump either Chicago or BOM, but I have to see it live first.

Ah I love Book of Mormon. Saw it the day after Christmas one year and paid $200/ticket for loge center row 1. I thought *THAT* was expensive, then Hamilton came to town in that same theater and $200 got you these nasty obstructed view seats way off in Egypt

I'm gonna have to go 1) Rent, 2) Chicago, 3) Hamilton, 4) BOM, 5) 42nd Street (because I'm corny like that and this is what I imagined what B'way musicals were supposed to look like growing up)

I also have fond memories of various school workshops/productions (Arsenic and Old Lace, Man of La Mancha), and honorable mention to "A Christmas Carol" which was my first live theater show ever at age 7 that I vividly remember to this day.

 

[mentos]

Okay all, I'm about 10 minutes into the audio book. I can already see LMM madly scribbling notes on a second read of this book.

There's a part in the beginning that describes Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton staring into the eyes of a bust of A. Ham... "(she) gazed and gazed into its eyes, as if she could never be satisfied."

 

[EmJ]

Favorite shows?! How am I supposed to choose????

Ok....ummmmm........in no particular order...

The Prom
Beetlejuice
Big Fish
Fiddler on the Roof
Into the Woods
Newsies

You know what would be easier to tell you? The worst musical I've ever seen. King Kong. Holy moly, that was awful.

Lol, I'm not sure this counts, but hands down the worst thing I've ever seen produced on stage was the first (yes, the first, of two, both of which I've seen) PJ Masks Live. My god. I also think it was the most expensive show I've ever seen But the tyke really thought it was something special, and you can't put a price on that. Right? ... Right?!

 

[E&Cmom]

I just watched the new interview documentary ( History has its Eyes on You) with the Hamilton cast on Disney+ This morning and enjoyed it. I watched the show the day after it came on and loved it! I have been listening to the cast recording for years.

Top 5 show that I have seen live : Wicked, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Les Miserables, and Phantom of the Opera.

Hamilton is suppose to come here a year from now,. Here’s hoping.

 

[mouschievous]

I had to google PJ Masks Some of those children's things are atrocious.

But King Kong was on BROADWAY. And it was awful. Like, people in line at the TKTS booth were telling other people in line - people they'd never met - not to get tickets I wasn't planning on seeing it, but someone gave me tickets. When we saw it, they'd already announced their closing. After the show, we were talking with one of the cast members and she was like "I don't know, I guess we're just not selling enough tickets? I don't know why people aren't coming" and I thought to myself, I can tell you - where would you like me to start??

But the tech was AMAZING. The entire back wall is a screen, like a jumbo tron, that they used for digital scenery. It was incredible. And the puppetry was so cool. They can control Kong's eyebrows even!

 

[EmJ]

I just watched the new interview documentary ( History has its Eyes on You) with the Hamilton cast on Disney+ This morning and enjoyed it. I watched the show the day after it came on and loved it! I have been listening to the cast recording for years.

Top 5 show that I have seen live : Wicked, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Les Miserables, and Phantom of the Opera.

Hamilton is suppose to come here a year from now,. Here’s hoping.

I'm going to watch that tonight! Thanks for the tip.

 

[mouschievous]

For those of you interested in other documentaries about Broadway shows and stars, Playbill posted this today

https://www.playbill.com/article/18...5mmtQaDJDVnfm5PpTQHhG-dshRD_GgIOuvKlKbfLn3SMc

 

[EmJ]

I had to google PJ Masks Some of those children's things are atrocious.

But King Kong was on BROADWAY. And it was awful. Like, people in line at the TKTS booth were telling other people in line - people they'd never met - not to get tickets I wasn't planning on seeing it, but someone gave me tickets. When we saw it, they'd already announced their closing. After the show, we were talking with one of the cast members and she was like "I don't know, I guess we're just not selling enough tickets? I don't know why people aren't coming" and I thought to myself, I can tell you - where would you like me to start??

But the tech was AMAZING. The entire back wall is a screen, like a jumbo tron, that they used for digital scenery. It was incredible. And the puppetry was so cool. They can control Kong's eyebrows even!

Omg that is a cool puppet!! Shame that the show was so bad. What was weakest? I’m guessing story?

The second time we saw PJ Masks, it was a Christmas gift from my parents to my son. And of course, Granny went all out and got the fancy-pants tickets where you get to meet the cast afterward. After seeing children dressed up at the first show, my boy begged to go as the evil scientist, Romeo. To their credit, the show may have sucked, but the cast members were so kind and made a huge production of being alarmed at the pint-sized villain in their midst. It was a year-and-a-half ago, and he will still occasionally comment about how “Catboy has his eye on me.”

 

[mouschievous]

Omg that is a cool puppet!! Shame that the show was so bad. What was weakest? I’m guessing story?

The second time we saw PJ Masks, it was a Christmas gift from my parents to my son. And of course, Granny went all out and got the fancy-pants tickets where you get to meet the cast afterward. After seeing children dressed up at the first show, my boy begged to go as the evil scientist, Romeo. To their credit, the show may have sucked, but the cast members were so kind and made a huge production of being alarmed at the pint-sized villain in their midst. It was a year-and-a-half ago, and he will still occasionally comment about how “Catboy has his eye on me.”View attachment 508347

This is quite possibly the cutest thing ever! It's also how a love of theatre begins, so good job! ;-)

 

[EmJ]

This is quite possibly the cutest thing ever! It's also how a love of theatre begins, so good job! ;-)

Ah, he’s my little theater buddy His first show was A Charlie Brown Christmas at age 2. I thought it only had a 45 minute run time. When we got there and I saw the show was 90 minutes with an intermission, I panicked a bit. But he was enthralled and good as gold. We’ve taken him to several national tours, once we gained confidence that it wasn’t a fluke, lol. His favorite is probably Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It left an impression anyway, because he comments on it when we drive past the theater.

 

[EmJ]

Ah, he’s my little theater buddy His first show was A Charlie Brown Christmas at age 2. I thought it only had a 45 minute run time. When we got there and I saw the show was 90 minutes with an intermission, I panicked a bit. But he was enthralled and good as gold. We’ve taken him to several national tours, once we gained confidence that it wasn’t a fluke, lol. His favorite is probably Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It left an impression anyway, because he comments on it when we drive past the theater.

ETA: I love that @hiroMYhero has performers in the family! The boy was briefly interested and took tap, ballet, and hip hop for awhile. But the first “big recital” at the real theater with the real stage, he froze up and that was the end of that. No big stages for him

 

[mouschievous]

ETA: I love that @hiroMYhero has performers in the family! The boy was briefly interested and took tap, ballet, and hip hop for awhile. But the first “big recital” at the real theater with the real stage, he froze up and that was the end of that. No big stages for him

There's always tech! Or, as I tell people all the time "that's ok - we always need audience members!"

My youngest nephew loves watching. When he was younger, he would forget that he wasn't supposed to talk and we would get running commentary on what he was seeing. My favorite was anytime there was kissing. The second time the leading couple kissed on stage during one show, he said "not this again!" At Cinderella when he was about 4, when the prince came on and she was gone, he realized the prince was looking for Cinderella and yelled "she went that way!" It took everything they had for the performers to hold it together.

@hiroMYhero, is your daughter still involved in theatre? I am always amazed at how many of my students think that after high school their option is to either quit or major in theatre. I love to tell them about all there is in between!

 

[hiroMYhero]

I love that @hiroMYhero has performers in the family!

is your daughter still involved in theatre?

She minored in dance in college and after graduation, she went off to WDW for the College Program - she was also accepted by DLR but felt she would have more opportunities at WDW. And boy, did she!

During her CP, she was moved into shows and parades. She actually danced onstage with Mariah Carey for the Christmas Day special and was in the Christmas specials almost every year ~ for 10 years bringing one of the iconic mice to life. If you ever happened to see Mickey or Minnie on The View and The Chew or even the popular BBC program Ant and Dec, that was DD making the Magic.

Many of her fellow Disney performers were theater or dance majors. Although not everyone moves into shows or travels around the country, CMs love their magical roles. DD loved performing for Disney but finally moved back to CA in February and married on 2/20! Perfect timing on her part! I can see her getting involved in some way with East West Players if they are able to start back up after this covid season.

 

[wingednike]

Most of my favorite shows are tied to who I watched them with so...
Spamalot
Mamma Mia
Wicked
Avenue Q
Cinderella

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... Perfect timing on her part! I can see her getting involved in some way with East West Players if they are able to start back up after this covid season.

Wow, what a story! Congratulations to DD on her marriage -- hope the newlyweds are happy and doing well. And we love the East West Players! Haven't seen a show there in a while, but we were planning on seeing their most recent Sondheim production right before the lockdown happened. And now I'm craving udon... (our usual dinner pre-show at EWP).

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I haven't ever heard of Chess. Did I miss it?...

"Chess" is by Tim Rice and the ABBA guys -- very 80s. Starred Elaine Page in the original London cast. I think the OBC starred Judy Kuhn (singing voice of Pocahontas). There is a live filmed version with Josh Groban and Idina Menzel, but I think I still like the original London stage version best. Elaine Page was great.