Musicals!

[sourcreampringle]

Inspired by the Come From Away thread, thought it would be nice to have a thread about musicals in general.

Favourites? Least favourites?

Favourite Evita I adore it . Least Favourite Wicked I was very meh about it.

I avoid musicals with lots of children in it so Annie and Matildaare not for me. I've an IOU for Hamilton for my birthday but not organised it yet .

Love a good musical moment, have seen so many of them..

Loved,:
Heather's
Sweeney Todd
Waitress
Les Mis
Joseph
Priscilla
And so many more that I cannot remember .

Hated:
Rent - the version I saw was like a GCSE drama production, in the west end..thankfully I didn't pay for tickets
Cats -just wtaf is it.

I would go every week if I could afford to, I'm lucky I have friends and family in the business and get a good share of free/discounted tickets but it's still hugely expensive even in local theatres.

I really want to see sister act, it's on my Xmas list..

Love Joseph and JC superstar.

Hated Cats

I too would love to see The Greatest Showman on stage. Although I don't know if anyone can beat Hugh Jackman and Zack Efron 😍

Best musical ever by a mile
Cabaret current version in west end - wish I could go more
Cabaret Donmar Warehouse production on Channel 4 (full version is available on YouTube with Alan Cumming as Emcee- so powerful, go and watch it)
Cabaret Rufus Norris production

Love
Matilda
Billy Elliot
Bat Out of Hell
Heathers
Book of Mormon
Rocky Horror
My Neighbour Totoro
Back to the Future

I enjoyed but wouldn't rush back
Moulin Rouge
Dear Evan Hanson
Grease
Kinky Boots
Mama MIa
Hairspray
Anything Goes

Hated
Wicked
Lion King
Prince of Egypt
Frozen
&Juliet
Joseph and any other ALW I have had the misfortune of seeing
Cabaret the Liza Minelli film (Bob Fosse, singing, Emcee good but miscast and plot faffed around with so not a fan)

What I liked:
Miss Saigon - this is my fave. Such a good story
Legally Blonde
Priscilla - I had zero expectations for this & bought some last minute tickets at the TKTS booth in Times Square, but it was so much fun
Cage aux Folles - starred John Partridge (Eastenders) who was excellent
Blood Brothers
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Musical - bought the soundtrack & listened to it for months afterwards

What I didn’t like:
Cats - me & my friend just looked at each other at the end like “wtf was that?” - zero storyline
Chess - truly awful
Jesus Christ Superstar

On the list:
Moulin Rouge
Pretty Woman
Phantom

We saw Joseph for the millionth time recently Jason Donovan was so bad as pharaoh that it was good,! I strongly believe if you don't love joseph you have no soul😀

I’m not such a fan of tragic musicals, I will watch them once but won’t usually want to see them again. I have seen West Side Story on the stage and it was good but wouldn’t probably pick it again ditto Blood Brothers. Les Mis I saw as a high school production and I’ve seen the film, again I liked it but wouldn’t choose to go see it in the theatre.

Phantom has a special place for me as it was the first musical I ever saw, I was a tween and I wasn’t that bothered about going, I remember being in awe and thinking I had found something surprising that I really enjoyed.

I like Wicked, I’ve seen it twice. My favourite kind of musicals though are the more fun upbeat ones (although sometimes with some serious themes) like Legally Blonde, Waitress, Aladdin etc. I have a big wish list of musicals I want to see. I’m going to see Strictly Ballroom the Musical next year, I love the film so I hope it’s good.

Matilda
Girl from North Country

I can’t wait for them to make Encanto into a stage musical 😍

There was a Come From Away thread?????

How did I miss it?

Me too! I think that would make an excellent stage musical 😍

Can’t get enough musicals (usually) and I’ve seen many more than once. Only one I would go back to (even if you paid me) was Copacobana which I saw in the mid 90s - it was terrible.

Currently considering a fourth visit to Come From Away…. but NOT the GBBO The Musical , for some reason that does not appeal at all.

I loved Sunset Boulevard. Saw it 23 times.

I also enjoyed Miss Saigon, Les Mis, Joseph (Jason Donovan!), Jesus Christ Superstar, Beauty and the Beast and Jerry Springer the Opera. There was a short-lived one at the Donmar Warehouse called The Fix which was good. I haven't been to the theatre in ages, but my collection of programmes is much treasured.

I’m going to see Strictly Ballroom the Musical next year, I love the film so I hope it’s good.

I don’t think you’ll be disappointed @kikisparks , I liked it more than the film.

Everyone I know who saw Bake Off in Cheltenham said it was really good. I also like the writer Pippa Cleary

Love Les Mis, Cabaret, Chicago

and Joseph for its sheer ridiculousness

Is Kevin Clifton in it ? I'm not his biggest fan and the film is one of my favourites I'm scared he would spoil it for me!

No Kevin Clifton when I saw it…

Phew hopefully it will tour with no Kevin.

Anything by Stephen Sondheim. Favourites are A Little Night Music and Sunday in the Park With George, though I thought Imelda Staunton and Michael Ball were brilliant in the 2012 London Sweeney Todd. I also love lots of Rogers and Hammerstein musicals, though most of them I've only seen on screen.

Least favourite stage musical was Wicked, which I thought had a risible plot and only two good tunes, and the performances didn't make up for that lack. I have a bit of a soft spot for Phantom, because of the insane set, Big Tunes, and Big Eighties Hair. My now ten-year-old adores Matilda and has seen it more than once.

What a great thread! I was brought up on West End musicals as my dad was a huge fan. So of the 'classics' I've probably seen them all. Less so in recent times because London theatre has got so expensive, but I did love the original Miss Saigon which brought Lea Salonga to stardom.

Also enjoyed:
Anything Goes
White Christmas (recent revival)
Waitress
Jesus Christ Superstar
Les Mis
School of Rock
Jersey Boys
Phantom
Aspects Of Love (very excited a revival has been announced for next year)

There's not much I don't like something about, but as pp have said I thought Love Never Dies was a disappointing follow-up to Phantom
Nine to Five was a complete waste of 2 hours

Can't say I'm a Sondheim fan. We saw Passion some years ago and it wasn't up to much despite Maria Friedman and Michael Ball in the main roles.

I think Musicals need memorable songs to have longevity and not just one or two. That's why jukebox musicals are so successful - even if the story's rubbish, the songs are good.

My absolute favourite is Les Miserables.
Unpopular on this thread but I loved Cats - possibly because I saw it when it first came out with Elaine Paige, Wayne Sleep, Bonnie Langford, Paul Nicholas etc and a few times more.
For the teens The Heathers was brilliant.

My all time fav is Lion King but that was 20 odd years ago, more recently Moulin Rouge was fabulous.

Least fav is Rocky Horror, in several decades I’ve never seen one that lives up to the movie, whereas so many other musicals manage to pull it off by doing things in a unique way.