This forum has so many different kinds of people contributing I think it would be fun to see what professional stage productions we as a group have seen.
Just list the titles and note the one you consider the best experience for you. I'll keep track of the replies and tally them and then post the list and totals for everyone to see.
to say the least my family has seen quite a few . We live in Maryland and will take a trip to NYC to see at least 2 plays at a time:
42nd street Nine A Chorus Line Wonderful Town Spamalot Little Women Chicago 2 times Dracula Lestat Little Shop of Horrors Light in the Piazza Grey Gardens-- most powerful story Legally Blonde ----- fun musical Beauty and The Beast Mary Poppins Bare Les Miserables Scarlet Pimpernel--- enjoyed this quite a lot Civil War Thourghly Modern Millie Rent Spring Awakenings The Drowsy Chaperone Dirty Rotten Scoundrels dance of the Vampires Aida Tarzan Wicked Brooklyn Three Penny opera Sweet charity Lennon I am sure I missed a few.... but this coming weekend we are going to see Curtains and Xanadu
You may have given yourself quite a task, Gramps! I don't think I can remember them all, but here are some: You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown Man Of LaMancha Fiddler On the Roof Me and My Girl Les Miserables Aida Avenue Q The Boy From Oz Cats Phantom of the Opera (best experience, awesome staging) Annie Oklahoma Hairspray Grease South Pacific Camelot Starlight Express Kismet Gypsy Chicago Wicked Jesus Christ Superstar The Music Man
I know there are more, but I can't remember them right now. I have an Italian charm bracelet with charms from just the Broadway and London shows that I have seen on it.
These are just the musicals. I don't think I can remember all the plays.
Hello there! I have seen: Hairspray Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat The Lion King Grease (yay!) Les Miserables Chicago Annie More I'm sure I'm forgetting at the moment.......
My favorite: Thoroughly Modern Millie :) I am from Minnesota,and went to NY for the day specifically to see it, and the divine Sutton Foster. Boy, it did not disappoint---it was spectacular! I had memorized the soundtrack, and actually being there live and hearing it in person just did it for me----I admit to some happy tears when the show started. It was simply magical, and such a fun moment in my life; I truly look back on it as the best day ever (and I appeared on "Wheel Of Fortune" last year, ha ha!) I have to say going to the stage door after and actually meeting Sutton and the cast was INCREDIBLE, they were all so nice! Oooooh, I am getting SO excited to do it again in 2 months when I go see Grease!!!! Hope you are having a nice day :)
Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Les Miserables Chicago Annie (I saw this when I was 12 years old and I had dreams of being Annie) Man Of LaMancha Jesus Christ Superstar A Chorus Line Mary Poppins Cats (First show on Broadway-I actually thought it was pretty wierd) Dreamgirls My Fair Lady Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Blood Brothers (First show I saw on London's West End) The Secret Garden Godspell Evita
Footloose Cats Wicked <3 Miss Saigon Beauty and the Beast (my frist show in NYC) Jesus Christ Superstar Crazy For You Footloose Gypsy Hello Dolly You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown Children of Eden
Maybe more.. I can't remember off hand... lol and there's SOOOO many more that I would love to see like.. A Chorus Line, The Drowsy Chaperone, Evita, Hairspray... and so far I have tickets for Grease (duh!) later this month, Wicked in August, and The Lion King in January.
So far the following productions have been noted. 7/16 2:15pm PDT
42nd street A Chorus Line A Little Night Music Aida Annie Auntie Mame Avenue Q Bare Barefoot In the Park Beauty and The Beast Blood Brothers Brooklyn Camelot Cats Chicago Children of Eden Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Civil War Crazy For You Curtains Dance of the Vampires Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Dracula Dreamgirls Drowsy Chaperone Emporer's New Clothes Equus Evita Fiddler On the Roof Footloose Godspell Grease Grey Gardens Gypsy Hairspray Harvey Hello Dolly Jesus Christ Superstar Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor... King and I Kismet Legally Blonde Lennon Les Miserables Lestat Light in the Piazza Lion King Little Shop of Horrors Little Women Man Of LaMancha Man Who Came to Dinner Mary Poppins Me and My Girl Miss Saigon Music Man My Fair Lady My Six Convicts Nine Oklahoma Oliver Owl and the Pussy Cat Phantom of the Opera Rent Romeo and Juliet Scarlet Pimpernel Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Skin of Our Teeth Smoky Joe's Café South Pacific Spamalot Spring Awakenings Starlight Express Sweet charity Tarzan The Boy From Oz The Music Man The Secret Garden Thoroughly Modern Millie Three Penny opera Wicked Wonderful Town Xanadu You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Here are some plays I've seen that aren't on the list yet:
1776 A Doll's House A Thousand Clowns Cabaret Damn Yankees Death of a Salesman The Fantastics Les Cages a Folles Mark Twain Tonight! Mother Courage and Her Children Nobody Don't Love Yogi Our Town
And productions of Shakespeare:
All's Well That Ends Well As You Like It A Midsummer Night's Dream The Merchant of Venice Mush Ado About Nothing
The production that had the biggest impact on me was probably 1776. It was my first show on Broadway!
42nd St. Aida (x3) Beauty & the Beast Fiddler on the Roof Hairspray Les Mis (x3) Light in the Piazza Lion King Miss Saigon (x2) Phantom of the Opera Cabaret Throughly Modern Millie Wicked (x2) Boy from Oz
My favorites are Aida, Les Mis, and Miss Saigon. Least favorite "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Cabaret." Biggest disappointment because of my own high expectations: "Beauty and the Beast." Would love to see Laura as Belle. I'd also love to see Laura as Ariel in Little Mermaid.
Beauty and the Beast Lion King Wicked Tarzan How the Grinch Stole Christmas Hairspray The Phantom of the Opera
My favorites were definitely Hairspray and Wicked. My least favorite would have to be Tarzan, I'm not really sure why. It didn't thrill me at all. But I did go to the stage door for it and the people were really nice! I met Jenn Gambatese and got a picture. But anyway, it just wasn't my cup of tea. As for other professional productions (not Broadway), Fiddler on the Roof was my favorite but I also like The Scarlet Pimpernel.
Think I have seen as many as Gramps if not more. Living in NYC I have been to Broadway, off Broadway, off off off Broadway, concerts, dance, just about anything you can name. Been going
There is nothing like a live performances. I think Sound of Music with Mary Martin was my first, but I could be mistaken. It's been a while since then :)
Yes, there are quite a few, I do have a couple that aren't on the list
Annie Beauty and the Beast Cats Chicago (x2) Fiddler On the Roof (x2) Hello Dolly Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (x4) Les Miserables Man of LaMancha Phantom of the Opera Rent Seven Brides for Seven Brothers The Odd Couple Titantic Thoroughly Modern Millie Youre a Good Man Charlie Brown 42ne St.
Of course, my favorite is Joseph.......Would love to see Max as Joseph.
I wish I had seen that many, but maybe now, I can see a few more.
I will add Grease to this list after next Tuesday. Yeah!!
Wicked - with Kristen, Idina and Taye Diggs as a sub. A Choris Line Victor Victoria - With Julie Andrews when she came back (with Max age 11 I think) Phantom X2 - Once with Max same trip Cats X2 - First time with Betty Buckley second time with Max same trip The Secret Garden Damn Yankees - wtih Jerry Lewis Titanic The Wizard of Oz - with Rosanne - Max too Once Upon a Mattress - with Sarah Jessica Parker - Max too Le Mis Starlight Express - Max was 7 when he saw this Beauty and the Beast - Jack was 3
I think most of us have seen all the shows on the list, but this called for professional performances right?
The list continues to grow and grow. Here are all shows listed as of 9:30am PDT, Tuesday, July 17.
Gramps/Stan
1776 42nd street A Chorus Line A Doll's House A Little Night Music A Midsummer Night's Dream A Thousand Clowns Aida All's Well That Ends Well Annie Arsenic and Old Lace As You Like It Aunty Mame Avenue Q Bare Barefoot In the Park Beauty and The Beast Blood Brothers Boy from Oz Brooklyn Cabaret Camelot Cats Chicago Children of Eden Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Civil War Crazy For You Curtains Damn Yankees Dance of the Vampires Death of a Salesman Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Dracula Dreamgirls Drowsy Chaperone Emperor's New Clothes Equus Evita Fiddler On the Roof Footloose Glass Menagerie Godspell Grease Grey Gardens Gypsy Hairspray Hamlet Harvey Hello Dolly HMS Pinafore Jesus Christ Superstar Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor... King and I Kismet Legally Blonde Lennon Les Cages a Folles Les Miserables Lestat Light in the Piazza Lion King Little Shop of Horrors Little Women Man Of LaMancha Man Who Came to Dinner Mark Twain Tonight! Mary Poppins Me and My Girl Mikado Miss Saigon Mother Courage and Her Children Much Ado About Nothing Music Man My Fair Lady My Six Convicts Nine Nobody Don't Love Yogi Oklahoma Oliver Once Upon a Mattress One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Our Town Owl and the Pussy Cat Phantom of the Opera Pirates of Penzance Producers Pump Boys and Dinettes Rent Romeo and Juliet Scarlet Pimpernel Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Show Boat Skin of Our Teeth Smoky Joe's Café South Pacific Spamalot Spring Awakenings Starlight Express Sweet charity Tarzan The Boy From Oz The Fantastics The Merchant of Venice The Odd Couple The Secret Garden The Wizard of Oz Thoroughly Modern Millie Three Penny opera Titantic Victor Victoria West Side Story Wicked Wonderful Town Xanadu You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Here's my list as best I can remember it. I think the one that made the largest impression on me was Man Who Came to Dinner. I was in my teens when I saw it and it was my first exposure to the legitimate stage. I couldn't hardly believe how "real" the scenes seemed. And I have always remembered the first lines I ever heard from a professional stage actor, the opening lines in this play, "I may vomit!"
Needless to say, it brought down the house.
In a more recent viewing Joseph performed with a large youth choir singing from high bleachers off to the side of the stage in accompaniment to some of the songs. Very impressive and moving.
I'm pretty sure there were some other plays that I saw (not musicals) but I can't remember them.
Gramps/Stan
A Little Night Music Annie Arsenic and Old Lace Aunty Mame Barefoot In the Park Camelot Cats Chicago Damn Yankees Emperor's New Clothes Equus Fiddler On the Roof Glass Menagerie Grease Hamlet Harvey Hello Dolly HMS Pinafore Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor... King and I Little Shop of Horrors Man Who Came to Dinner Miss Saigon Music Man Mark Twain Tonight Mikado My Fair Lady My Six Convicts Oklahoma Oliver Owl and the Pussy Cat Pirates of Penzance Pump Boys and Dinettes Romeo and Juliet Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Show Boat Skin of Our Teeth Smoky Joe's Café South Pacific Sweet Charity The Music Man West Side Story
World of Suzie Wong Aunti Mame Porgy and Bess Our Town The Out of Towners Same Time Next Year A Choris Line Pippin Man of LaMancha Chicago 42nd St. Witness for the Prosecution (London) Grease-78 Grease-92 Cats Phantom Kismet Equus The Lion King Fiddler on the Roof Little Shop of Horrors Smokey Joe's Cafe Damn Yankees Producers Cabaret Curtains Mama Mia City of Angles Liza with a Z This request brought back found memories, the play that even today I feel was 1 of the very best was Man of LaMancha.
Stan, thanks for starting this thread. I'm amazed at as well as envious of the amount of theatre many of the posters have seen.
One of the productions I've seen this summer is "Pump Boys and Dinettes." The musical is listed here as "Pump Girls and Dinettes," which you may want to correct.
(At age 59, I think I'm too old to call anyone "Gramps"...but also old enough to have seen "Hair" in the early 70s.)
1. Cats 2. Beauty and the Beast 3. Tie: Me and My Girl, Fiddler On the Roof, Les Cages a Folles, Chorus Line 4. Tie: Wicked, Grease, Hairspray, Footloose, 42nd Street, Damn Yankees
1. Cats 2. Beauty and the Beast 3. Tie: Me and My Girl, Fiddler On the Roof, Les Cages a Folles, Chorus Line 4. Tie: Wicked, Grease, Hairspray, Footloose, 42nd Street, Damn Yankees
Stan/gramps
Wow! Kind of surprises that Phantom didn't make the cut! And of course, your post on set designs reminded me of the set that was used for the London production (and probably the Broadway one as well) for The Woman In White. They used a white background and projected the set onto it. It was actually quite effective. But I didn't include that play on my list. Quite forgot about it!