I was a theater geek in HS too
I'm also a bit of a snot about musicals. I cannot stand ALW. I think his stuff is trite, basic and panders to the lowest common denominator of theater goer - he gets a catchy tune and uses it over and over
My all time favorite is Into the Woods. Sondheim...now THERE is a true musical genius. That man has the power to weave words and music together into a multi-layered tapestry. Its amazing.
My other faves include: Will Rogers Follies (I was in that show in HS
), Crazy For You (can't go wrong with Gershwin) and Ragtime (they were robbed at the Tony's in 98 - I'm STILL not over the Lion King winning best musical
).
I saw Annie Get Your Gun on Broadway 2 years ago. The show itself was pretty standard. But seeing Bernadette Peters live was INCREDIBLE. She's awesome. I also saw Jery Lewis in Damn Yankees. Man, I need to get back to NYC. I'm *dying* to see The Producers