The Lion King was VERY good.

It was supposed to be my husband, mother, and father...but my mom can't keep her dates straight, so she ended up booking a trip to Chicago this weekend. So we took my daughter who will be 3 in October. I was a little bit nervous, but she did well. Our only incidents were her getting a little too excited, and clapping and cheering when Mufasa died (I guess she figured every other time the music stopped and the lights dimmed that people clapped, so why not this time...) and toward the end, she got tired.

In general, I liked how the people who were animals, but had most of their body outside the costume (like the first lion that appears) still act like the animal with their entire body. I also like how they acknowledge the fact that the animals have humans operating them, as well as the scenery is human. The only thing that I didn't care for, is when they stopped singing in a song and a bunch of dancers with only masks or minimum costumes came out and danced. After seeing some of those puppets dance, the regular dancers just didn't do it for me.

The Rafiki I saw was EXCELLENT. Also, the Mufasa and Older Nala were very good singers. Everyone else were pretty much dancers that could kind of sing (ok, they were still good, but just not the quality you expect in a Broadway show).

Did you see that the Wicked tour is coming to Charlotte next April?? :D

I am hopefully making a trip to New York this Christmas. Does anyone have recommendations for shows? I have to see Wicked and the Radio City Christmas show so those two spots are filled and we probably have room for two more.

I was planning on Legally Blonde but now that I've seen some clips I'm not 100% sure. And I wanted to see Grey Gardens also but it is closing!! :mad:

Oh yeah! (Actually, CT4 PMed me the day the announcement was made, yay for Pan-Hel sisters!!!)

I'm going to be all over that as soon as individual tickets go on sale. I'd like to see the whole series, but I don't have that kind of money right now.

AVE Q is having a run in San Fran !!!!!!! WOOHOOO

Going to see the first trial run of Disney's Little Mermaid this weekend. The show is premiering at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and already has a theatre waiting for it in New York.

A young woman that our son performed with in Colorado Childrens Chorale in middle school is playing the lead, I think.

Should be fun to watch it progress and change before moving to New York.

As a side note, the woman playing Elphaba in the national tour (manybe the one you will see in Charlotte) went to the University of Northern Colorado (UNC to those of us out here) with daughter number one.

Finally, we went on the cruise that son is entertaining on and the shows were remarkable -- he was really good.

Yeah I wish I could go see Legally Blonde on Broadway now since it debuted here in San Fran before heading out to NYC and see how they changed it.

Wicked premeired here as well, and I've seen it since then, but they really didn't change very much at all.

So am I! And I was wondering if some of you more seasoned Broadway/New Yorkers could give me your opinion: I was just quoted $1.934.00 for three people (myself, husband, and 12 year old daughter), for three nights at the Times Square Hilton w/ three tickets to Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular and Wicked, as well as a choice of either 3 tickets to the MOM or the American Museum of Natural History, and another choice of 3 tickets to either the Empire State Building or the Rockefeller Center Tour. The price includes ALL taxes on everything. This sounds awfully good to me (but now we've got to pay to GET there from Georgia!) but I'd like to hear what yall think. Also-is Wicked OK for my daughter? I'm assuming it is. And, which of the Museums would be best for a rather quick walk through? We're mainly going just to get the Christmas feel (my daughter has never been to NYC) so we'd have much to do, and couldn't spend a whole lot of time in the museum-BUT I'd like to go. Plus, we're paying for it!

(By the way, I emailed back and asked where the seats for Rockettes and Wicked would be; the lady said either Orchestra or Front Mezzanine.)

Wicked would be fine for a 12 year old.

Glitter,

There was a show called B'klyn (Brooklyn), The Musical that originated at the Denver Civic Theatre and spent a few months on Broadway. I saw it both places and there was very little change. Of course it wasn't a huge hit either, however, Eden Espanosa who I think is still playing Elphaba in NY was in both B'klyn casts -- in fact, she quit as Idina Menzel's understudy in Wicked to rejoin B'klyn in NY.

One of the minor leads in Legally Blonde is another local Denver girl. This has been a huge year for friends of our son. Hope some of the luck his older friends are having rubs off. Another of his friends is in Avenue Q in NY.

BBelle,

Wicked would be fine for a twelve year old.

I don't know how much the Music Hall show costs, but you would certainly pay $100 plus each for the Wicked tickets, and $250-$350 per hotel night in a decent hotel in Mid-Town -- so you're over $1000 already. MOMA and the other stuff are not terribly expensive.

To me, it doesn't sound too bad, but I've never traveled to NY on a package deal like that -- I've usually gone on business or lived there for extended periods on temporary jobs. There are deals to be found, but you're going at a very busy time, and it's worth something just to live without the brain damage of trying to organize everything yourself.

I'd be interested to know if anyone still living in The City would agree.

BBelleADPi - I agree w/DA. Christmas in the city, you're looking at 1K for 3 nights at a hotel. Most shows will run you about 100/ticket, so when you add that with the tours and the museums (which aren't nearly as much, but still, like DA said, nice to just have it already done for you and not have to do more planning), it sounds like a good deal.

My step-daughter saw Wicked in 5th grade and it became her favorite musical - perfectly fine for a 12 year old.

For the tour - I'd go with Rock Center. It's where the tree is and you'll want to see that area anyway. As long as the tour takes you to the "Top of the Rock" for the great views, it's best to get that area done at once.

For museum I'd go with the Natural History museum. It's more kid friendly. I have yet to go, but I know my husband has taken his daughter there numerous times. If you are only going for a quick trip, check the site out and pick the area you want to hit.

I love this thread! Theatre is my passion in life, but sadly I haven't had the kind of exposure to professional theatre that I would like to have had...but I plan on remedying that very soon! I've been drooling over the lists of plays that some of y'all have seen on Broadway! One of my goals for this year is to make it to NYC (finally) and see a Broadway show (unfortunately I won't be able to afford seeing more than one). Which show do y'all think should be my first? I am in love with Rent but as I have the soundtrack completely memorized I was thinking it might be better to see something I'm less familiar with (particularly storyline-wise; I have a lot of other soundtracks too but that's not as big a deal to me if I haven't seen a movie version or the like). Also, I noticed a mention of a West Side Story revival several posts back...does anyone know if that's running yet and/or when it will open? Thanks so much!

Eden is Elphaba in the Los Angeles production right now! With Megan Hilty. Ahhhh...wishing I could make it to see them but no LA trips are in my near future. :(

Yeah, I don't there would be much change for Legally Blonde seeing as it opened in NYC a week later. When Wicked first came they weren't opening on Broadway for quite a while, so I think there was more changes.


EDEN is AMAZING. LOVE HER VOICE OMG...

Thanks, yall, for the replies and advice. I always defer to any "experts" there may be-no sense in reinventing the wheel! I checked on Expedia and a few other sites for the same dates at the Hilton at got over $500 for the same room! And that's without taxes! So, yes, I'm thinking this is probably a good deal, and I ought to go ahead and take it. I'm a little worried, though, because it's so far away...and stuff can happen... Guess I ought to check into the insurance that was offered w/ the trip. I usually don't buy trip insurance, but this time it might be a good idea. And, I usually put together our family trips, researching on the web. And last year, several hotels offered things in September/October. But then you have to get tickets to the shows for one or two specific nights, and that sometimes is difficult. So I'm thinking this package deal might be the best way to go. If anyone has any other thoughts to throw my way, that'd be great.

I know my daughter would probably enjoy "Beauty and the Beast" and "Lion King" but we've seen little bits of it at WDW several times. And I am dying to see Wicked! Missed it when it came to Atlanta. Daughter has seen "Phantom." Don't know what the new "Mary Poppins" and "Little Mermaid" are going to be like...

I once saw four shows in three days for less than $200.

They weren't dogs either. I saw Nine, Movin' Out, Hairspray and damn, can't remember the 4th one.

Anyway, I paid for a seat for Nine ($90), and then went to the theatres in the morning (went at 8:30 for a 10:30 possibility) and got standing room only tickets for the other three at between $25 and $35 per show. If you don't mind standing at the back of the theatre at the rail, you can see a lot of good shows inexpensively.

I've also stood in line before a matinee and bought tickets that were turned in for whatever reason. I did that on a whim one Sunday while I was living in Manhattan and got tickets in the eighth row center for Spam-a-lot. That was full price ($120 I think), but was worth it in that case.

Be creative!

Good luck.

ETA, New York City during the Christmas Season is absolutely magical. I agree with Kathy on Rockefeller Center and the skating rink and tree. Also agree on the museum. As much as anything, though, the buildings are all decorated, etc. It's just great.