West End Musicals - recommendations?

[Autumnfairy82]

DH and I are desperately in need of a good day / evening out. I was thinking of surprising him with some theatre tickets for Christmas. I love a good west end musical but haven’t been for years so I’m out of touch with what’s on. He’s never been to a show but has dropped hints that he’d love to go.
What would you suggest?

Wicked is fantastic!!! Best thing i’ve seen for years!

What type of thing does he like? There’s such a mix! Book of Mormon is fab if you don’t mind swear words / are not offended by crude jokes about religion. I loved Matilda, Billy Elliot is great, there’s more traditional ones like Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera but they’re not my first choice. Tell us more and then we can advise!

Hamilton

Go see Hamilton

It is AMAZING!
wicked is good as is miss Saigon
But HAMILTON - that’s the one

Hamilton!

Lol. Cross posted.

Hamilton. Best thing I've seen.

Isn’t is just amazing!
2 months later
I still listen to the album daily.
I have even downloaded the book that inspired lin mm to write it.

A pure work of genius.

Company! Closes in March. Come From Away starts at the end of January, it's a great show set in Gander, Newfoundland in the wake of 9/11. But if he's never been to see a West End show, it might be better to stick with something like Wicked or Les Mis that he'll know a bit about.

He probably wouldn’t like anything too girly / romantic but apart from that he likes a very, very wide range of music / films / books which is why I wasn’t sure where to start.

I’ll google Hamilton. Not heard of that one?

It’s a rap musical about the founding fathers of America (namely Alexander Hamilton). The battles are rap battles, the key historical characters are mainly played by BAME actors and...it’s just awesome. Very clever.

Barack Obama even arranged a private concert version of it at the White House when he was president.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=b5VqyCQV1Tg

If you're looking for something for next year, Dear Evan Hansen opens in November. It's a great little show written by the people who wrote Greatest Showman but a lot better

That does look good.....

For a heterosexual male non-musical aficionado I’d repeat the recommendations for Hamilton or Book Of Mormon (but check out a plot summary of the latter first in order to avoid nasty shocks).

We saw Bat out of Hell a few weeks back, it was incredible. Much better than I thought it would be- highly recommended.
Great reviews on Theatre Monkey too!