We just returned from London and saw "Mary Poppins!!!" This is THE show to see!! The music is wonderful and the sets are incredible...there are many songs from the movie and a few new ones. Wait until this show comes to the USA!! The choreography to "Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious." It's too crazy to describe!!!

Going to see Wicked tomorrow night here in Denver.

Great reviews saying it's as good or better than the NY production from a critic who seldom likes anything.

I'll hold my comment until I see it since I saw it in NY with Idina and Kristin.

Looking forward to it one way or the other.

From what I've heard, the Wicked production in Broadway have been lackluster, especially the ensambles. there are rumors that the producers might pull a Cameron Macintosh.

That's too bad. I saw it there not long after it opened and it certainly wasn't lackluster then.

Delt, you should check out the Sweeney Todd revival. It's an interesting concept. The cast also doubles as the orchestra.

The Cast:
MICHAEL CERVERIS - Sweeney Todd - Guitar/Percussion
Patti Lupone - Mrs. Lovett- percussion/glockenspiel/tuba
John Arbo - Jonas Fogg - double bass
DONNA LYNNE CHAMPLIN - Pirelli - piano/accordian/flute
DIANA DiMARZIO - Beggar Woman - clarinet
MANOEL FELCIANO (Tobias Ragg) - violin/clarinet/piano
ALEXANDER GEMIGNANI (The Beadle) - piano/trumpet
MARK JACOBY (Judge Turpin) - rumpet/percussion/glockenspiel
BENJAMIN MAGNUSON (Anthony Hope) - cello
LAUREN MOLINA (Johanna) - cello/tin whistle

I have no idea how they're going to pull it off. Will be interesting to see. For one thing, the production cost is going to be cheap.

Not with Micheal Cerveris and Patti Lupone... that looks like an AMAZING cast

This may be old news to all you guys, but did you know Avenue Q is going to have a perminant spot in Las Vegas. They are building a place just for them

I'll bet the AF of M is not at all amused.

Sounds pretty interesting, though.

I was on Fleet Street in London in May. I didn't see any barber shops.

Right, and as I understand it, there will be no national tours.

Yup, no national tour. Seems that many of the theatre owners are pissed off about it. One of the reason why Avenue Q won the Tony over Wicked was the promised of a tour that is cheap to run, which mean more profit for the theatre owners across the country. Avenue Q have started playing in Vegas. If I'm not mistaken, Phantom and Spamalot will also play in Vegas. For Phantom, it'll be the 90 minutes version, playing twice a day. They're building an actual lake for the show.

As for the Sweeney Todd, the producers made a deal with Equity and the Musician unions.

On another note, West Side Story is slated for a revival in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the show. Seems like they will cast them young so the cast will be appropriate to the characters.

That's good news for our youngest who graduates in May wants to do regional theatre for the summer and then move to NY.

OK, about Wicked last night.

It was very good. It's tough to compare it to the Original Broadway cast that I saw, but the show, if not as good, was nearly so.

Pretty much exactly what you expect from a good touring company. Most of the participants have fairly extensive NY credits of their own.

I don't feel like writing a critique this morning, but sufice to say that there was a particularly weak (male) character, and the two (female) leads were outstanding -- better than the originals in a few things and weaker in others.

We sat next to a family of about eight who had flown in from Salt Lake City to see the show (including a high school theatre student) and they were absolutely thrilled. That was really run.

Saw Fiddler on the Roof last night. Harvey Fierstein & Rosie O'Donnell were fabulous. Great show all around.

Wicked is next on the list!

Seems like Sweeney Todd is getting rave reviews. A friend of mine went to the preview and he absolutely loved it. As he put it, "Patti Lupone is simply divine."

I saw Patti LuPone in London in the original cast of Sunset Blvd. She was incredible!!! I would love to see any production she's in!!!

We have tix for Avenue Q in Las Vegas. We saw it in Broadway, but living on the West Coast, Avenue Q is only coming to LV, it'll be the closest to get to it, so we've got tix...can't wait to compare it to Broadway and see it again.

Just caught this thread again. As mentioned above, I've also heard that Spam-a-lot will go to Vegas, but unlike Avenue Q, it will do a national tour, but will not have any performances in California or Nevada as part of the overall deal.

Glad I saw them both in NY, because Vegas isn't my favorite place.

Has it been 4 years already? WOW.

A few weeks ago, a friend and I saw Avenue Q. It was great, and I recommend it highly.

Yes, time sure flies -- to coin a phrase.

I agree on Avenue Q -- it's a lot of fun.

That just sounds like a weird duo, but I bet they were good. I think I would have to see it for myself.

I saw Les Miserables on Broadway and it was fabulous. I'm a huge theatre buff, and go whenever I have a chance. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't share my enthusiasm, so I have to go with my mom or my girlfriends whenever I go. (I wish he was more of a theatre fan like Delt Alum!)

In high school, I volunteered as an usher at our city's opera house, so I got to see a ton of plays. And now every year for Mother's Day, I get two tickets to one of the musicals showing at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta for my mom and me.

So far, I've seen:

Annie
Little Shop of Horrors
Oliver Twist
Phantom of the Opera
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (with Ann Margret)
Cabaret (with Lea Thompson)
Guys and Dolls (with Tony Curtis)
Grease
West Side Story
Always Patsy Cline
Big River
The Lion King
The Nutcracker
Thoroughly Modern Millie
The Crucible
Sweeney Todd
Oklahoma
Evita
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Peter Pan

I know I've seen more than that, but can't recall all the titles. I think Cabaret is my favorite so far. :)

That's so interesting!! I saw Harvey Fienstein on TV singing "If I Were A Rich Man" and I couldn't handle his voice for a 3- minute song. What part did Rosie O'Donnell play? I saw her in Grease as Rizzo years ago, and she wasn't that good....

I also saw her in Grease and wanted to stab my ears. She was horrible. Seems like she's receiving very bad reviews.

She was hired as a publicity stunt.

I agree with this...which wasn't necessary as they had Sam Harris and some other really big names....Rosie was just a draw...Grease has a following within itself...like RENT, Grease could have absolutely NO names and still sell out every night!!

That's neat. If our son had made a different decision, they might have been classmates.

He was accepted at Boston Conservatory, University of Cincinnati College Consevatory (CCM), Northwestern and Indiana University School of Music.

Thankfully, he decided on the big scholarship...

Maybe they'll meet in the big city.

I'm going back to NYC for christmas and seeing Chicago this time...I really want to see wicked, but I just don't see it happening...so expensive! maybe i can get into spamalot

Spamalot is next to impossible to get tickets for unless you buy them a couple months in advance. I don't know for sure, but I'd be surprized if Wicked is still sold that far in advance.

I saw Spamalot on a whim. I was walking by the theatre just kind of wasting time on a weekend afternoon, and decided to stand in the line for returned/unused tickets -- and got in. I'll bet there were twenty or so of us who did.

Another thing I've done in the past is gone to the threate in the morning and gotten Standing Room Only tickets. They generally only cost $25 to $30, and they aren't that long. I've seen some recent Tony winners that way.

On the other hand, I saw Light on the Piazza just after the Tony's by just walking up to the ticket window for a matinee. They had seats available.

Be creative!

Yes, go and see The Light on the Piazza. I have the cd and love Kelli O'Hara's voice.

I think that our son met her when he saw Light on the Piazza. She went to Oklahoma City University and the theatre types from there and O.U. are fairly close.

She's obviously older than he, but I think she stopped to chat at the proverbial stage door since he and the woman he saw the show with are both Musical Theatre types from Norman.

This is a little bit of a digression, but it has to do with a young woman who performed in high school theatre with our son.

We just read last night that Erica Walters has been accepted in the process for the next American Idol series. I don't know if that means she has already auditioned and will be on the show for sure, or is just beginning the final part of the process. She is heading for Hollywood today.

In any event, that means that in the years that our three kids attended the school, 2 of their friends have appeared on Broadway (one is presently performing), at least one is currently in a national tour, one is the reigning Miss Colorado, her sister has entertainied on several cruises and Tokyo Disney and numerous have done lesser professional threatre parts. The school itself is only about 15 years old. While not an official "performing arts" school, more students participated in the arts than in athletics there.

Sorry for the digression, but I think that's pretty impressive.

PS I have nothing against athletics -- one daughter was a varsity athlete and cheerleader -- and I made part of my living televising sports events, but I think it's an impressive stat anyway.

Unfortunately Erica won't go far in American Idol. They seem to have a grudge against trained voice. I know people who were cut by American Idol because their voice was "too trained". If you notice the people that they go after, they're mostly raw talents.

Well, crap-it-all; The last showing of The Lion King was yesterday here in the 'Ham. I missed it due to previous family engagements (my October has been booked solid) and mostly just lacked funds.

Edited cause I can't spell

Is she good looking? I saw her when she did Jeckly and Hyde. Unfortunately I had crappy seats and couldn't tell from the nose bleed section.

Good looking -- yes. A super beauty? No. As you know, though, fantastic voice and good actor.

Rumors are flying around that Liza Minelli will be playing Morrible starting sometime in February.

Liza Minelli may be one of the exceptions, but I often find that shows built around celebrities are only looking for "name" value. Often the "stars" are less than "shining."

I think it's beneath her talent to play a Morrible. She has very few singing lines and no song of her own. I think they'll have to write a new song for her.

The duo that made Les Mis and Miss Saigon will have a new musical comming out next year. Rumors have Colm Wilkinson playing the lead role. Chicago will host the pre-Broadway run.
Here is the article (we need more pirates musicals. I love pirates):

Oh man, and I wanted an excuse to go to Dublin again.

Well, Chicago is closer...

Just like Rosie and Harvey in Fiddler.

(insider gossip says that Fiddler won't be up for very long because it's so terrible...I give it until June)