See Tippiechick's signature.

He's going to do fine, DA. And if he doesn't, he'll come back and be no worse off then he is right now.

It was announced this morning that the high school I graduated from is doing a new musical based on the Disney Channel movie, High School Musical. Here is the link to the news release.. http://www.news-tribune.net/local/lo...223170544.html

That's great news, but first a quick question -- which New Albany is this one. They are all over the country and I couldn't tell by the article.

As an aside, Music Theatre of Wichita is trying to get rights to High School Musical. Even though it is a professional company (mostly made up of top college students and graduates, it has a huge presence in local high school theatre, including a select choir that sings at every performance and area wide awards programs for HS Theatre, and has talked to the licensing agency about doing the show with Broadway leads and all other parts cast from local high schools instead of the usual resident company. (There are HS students in the resident company sometimes, the young woman who played Dorothy in The Wizzard of Oz was a local HS student -- and unbelievable.)

I'm not sure how I feel about this -- it cold be thrilling and very educational for the local kids to work with professionals -- still it is a high school based show.

We'll see how it goes.

New Albany, Indiana. As someone who works in a middle school theatre department I am conflicted. I LOVEd the experiences I had doing big budget huge shows (senior show had a 160,000$ budget) but I am not sure I learned anymore then I could have with a much smaller budget.

Where will he be living? Mr. Munch has many Conservatory and Musical Theater friends; most of them live in our neighborhood because it's close to Midtown and very inexpensive.

PM me if you'd like.

I wanna know where you live that's inexpensive and close to midtown. I'm having zero luck in the apartment search.

Does the apartment seach have to come on to EVERY thread?;) :p

NYC apartments are close to the top of my list at the moment.

See posts about the kid above to know why.

Today is the day he leaves.

Look out, Broadway.

OK,

Daughter number one just got a lead in 42nd Street at a local "professional" theatre here in Denver.

Son returns home tonight and starts rehearsals for Millie at a local Equity house that casts out of New York.

In February he starts rehearsals for a 6 month European cruise.

He was cut in the third (dance) callback for Spamalot in NY.

After skipping one very average season, Mrs. DA and I have resubscribed to the Broadway Series at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts -- although I've seen almost all of the shows in NY, it's a good season this year. As I recall, it has Spamalot, Lights, and two or three other good shows.

That's our Christmas present to each other every year.

Saw High Fidelity last night. It was great. Now I have all of the songs from it stuck in my head. I highly recommend it.

Just got my tickets for The Lion King here in Charlotte.

R Mezzanine, Row C, baby.

Has anyone seen the touring version??

I've only seen the Broadway version. My parents saw it when it was in San Fran and loved it.

Saw it both in NY and on tour.

Both were a lot of fun.

I think you'll enjoy it.

Quick update on the son -- he leaves next month as an entertainer on a six month cruise ship. A couple of months basically going from Seattle to Alaska, then a 60 day cruise of Asia and the South Pacific.

Poor baby.

I have, in STL. It's quite excellent :)

Very, very good!

My best friend and I saw it when it game to Gammage a couple of years ago. It was amazing!

You're going to love it!

Nice "theatre news" in our family recently.

Saw Light in the Piazza here yesterday and think I enjoyed it more that when I saw it in New York.

Oldest daughter had a very good audition at a local professional dinner theatre for Maria in The Sound Of Music. She played the part at another dinner theatre last year. We're keeping our finger crossed for her.

Her husband (finally) got a job as director of a Christian oriented youth theatre organization. He's an actor, dancer, director, etc. but hasn't done much to support the family until now.

Newspaper reported yesterday that a woman that oldest daughter went to Musical Theatre School with (University of Northern Colorado -- daughter changed majors and has a degree in graphic design from Ohio U., my alma mater) was just cast as Elphaba in the next major national tour of Wicked. Another of her UNC and high school classmates is in Mama Mia on Broadway right now. He is the second of her high school friends to land a Broadway part.

Disney's Little Mermaid will open in Denver, and there is a local kid in a lead in that also. I think she may also be from UNC.

Then, son who is nearly done rehearsing for his six month cruise ship entertainment gig, called yesterday to say that one of his former classmates from Oklahoma University (and good friends -- two years older than him) was just cast as Lady Of The Lake in the first national tour of Spam-a-lot. He was called back three times for the show (don't know if it was for tour or NY -- they never made it clear), but wasn't cast. However, I think the same casting agency cast him on the cruise ship, so there's hope.

Hopefully.

Finally, Wicked will make its second Denver stop next month -- and I'll be out of town for the entire engagement. The good news is that I've seen it twice (NY & Denver), and that I'll be in New York for at least a couple of days while it's here.

Jersey Boys anyone? I hear that's the hot ticket right now, and that's what I'm thinking about seeing.

So apparently, 4 glasses of wine make me believe I can sing Christine, La Carlotta, AND the Phantom. My husband wanted to watch the movie last night. I think he regretted putting it in by the time I was done. I'm sure "Music of the Night" was especially entertaining. The best part was that the kids decided to join in too.

I'm still in the opinion that there were only two mistakes made in the movie version: Cutting the last verse of "The Phantom of the Opera" and the costume choices in "Masquerade". The gold, black, silver and white were elegant choices, but just didn't have the "flair" and color that the stage version has. Plus, it's missing the Monkey & Cymbals and the tradtional Red Skull costume for the Phantom when he shows up to deliver "Don Juan".

I'm also convinced that "Don Juan Triumphant" is the Phantom's version of "Don Giovanni" and "The Point of No Return" is the Phantom's verion of "La chi darem la mano".

Jersey Boys has been running here in San Fran for QUITE a LOONG time now, I'm not sure the exact length of the run is at now... but it's def. popular. I saw it and thought it was great, Let us know what you thought.

It's a tough ticket in New York.

Unfortunately, my freelance directing job for GE was cancelled at the last minute, so I didn't go.

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.

Saw Altar Boyz and Spring Awakening last week... loved them both!

MinDyG... haven't heard anything about a Broadway WSS revival other than speculation, but it is coming to the Fox Atlanta in August on tour if you are really in the mood to see it. ;)

Beauty and the Beast just closed last weekend. Little Mermaid will be replacing it. Disney usually does a good job, but I'd go for Wicked. At her age she will definitely enjoy it, and I'm always a fan of supporting new musicals and not movies turned into musicals (yes, there are a ton that are great [Lion King, Hairspray], but if I had to pick one over the other, I say go for the original show). Also, I've never seen any of the shows at Disney, but I don't think the version there is anything like the B'way version. Not like, "Oh Bway is better", but like they are completely different productions, I think. Anyone know that for sure?

minDyG - I know I've heard rumblings of WSS revivial and think I even saw an audition notice, but nothing confirmed. Also, are you currently a student? You can go to the theatre about 2 hours before showtime and show your Student ID for "Student Rush" tix. They are usually in the back of the balcony, but I saw 42nd Street that way about 5 years ago for $20. If you are only going to see one, I think it really depends on what you like. Do you want spectacle? Are you more concerned with interesting songs and singing, do you want a show with a lot of dancing? All these things should be considered when picking your one show.

Wow! That's the first I've heard of that...I knew you could get discount tickets for same-day shows but I had no idea they were that cheap. I'm still a student...technically. And more importantly, I've still got a student ID! :)

As for what I like...I'd say pretty much anything. I know that's kind of a cop-out answer but it's hard for me to really dislike a musical assuming it's done well. (Which, obviously, a Broadway production would be--at least in my under-exposed eyes!) I think I may be going to New York in October with a friend of mine who is obsessed with Caroline, Or Change and we may see that. I'd also really like to see Spring Awakening...and Avenue Q, but I think I'll wait and see that in March when it comes to Atlanta. :)

Caroline, or Change closed. You would LOVE Spring Awakening, though... it's your type of show.

Also, I don't know how similar it is to the West End production but if Gavin Lee is still in Mary Poppins then you must see it. I love him.

I think we have another Broadway lover.

The young woman who is Technical Director for our network is in New York for the first time and saw Wicked last night.

She's hooked.