Broadway Shows

Hrududu

Has anyone been to Broadway recently? I'm heading over soon and am trying to whittle down what I want to see. I wasn't too sure about Spring Awakening or In The Heights but a quick listen to some samples on Amazon are starting to change my mind.

So any tips or recommendations?

ellenmelon

if i were you, i would totally go to "spring awakening". i have the soundtrack (discovered it when watching last year's tony's) and its pretty great. it's so different to what's out at the moment i think, especially with the use of radio mic's and there are some really great song. duncan sheik who wrote the song "barely breathing" co-wrote the score..
it's quite hard to get tix for apparently so if you were going to, id investigate them soon.

my other tip would be to see something that you can't see in london maybe, or you could always go with one of the big "blockbuster" musicals...but it depends what you're into and if it's your "thing" to just see the big ones if you know what i mean..

broadwaybaby

You have to catch Patti LuPone in Gypsy it's amazing and if you're there before August the 3rd then dont miss Megan Mullally (Will and Grace) and Roger Bart (Desperate Housewives) in Young Frankenstein. Its very funny!!

Hrududu

I won't be there until September so I will miss Bart and Mullally in YF, although I still might go to see it. I'm kicking myself that I didn't go earlier to catch Sunday in the Park with George and A Chorus Line. I'm not sure if I'll go to see Gypsy, I don't know anything about the show except 2 songs and I already saw LuPone on stage years ago in Sunset Boulevard. Although I'm not discounting it.

What about chances of getting Tickets? I know for the bigger shows and ones that have done well recently in the Tonys I'd want to get them sorted out soon. But for shows like Avenue Q and the like do you think I'll be ok with hitting the TKTS booth on the day itself?

Honey-ec

Ok, it's not a musical, but I would highly, HIGHLY recommend the play "The 39 Steps". Was in NY in May on my honeymoon, and my husband's uncle had given us tickets to Wicked and this. The evening we were to see The 39 Steps was absolutely miserable and I was dead set against leaving the hotel, but hubby made me and I am so glad we went - it was absolutely hilarious! Don't think I've laughed at anything so much in a long time.

I've also heard nothing but good things about The Little Mermaid.

Hrududu

I'll look up "The 39 Steps", I've also heard good things about "August: Osage County"

broadwaybaby

If you are not picky about which night you go then why not wait and try lottery or TKTS. Even for the more popular shows. Get there early and its very easy to get tickets.

You should check out August:Osage County. Its very long - over 3 hours but its one of the best dramas I've seen in a while.

Also check out broadwayworld.com or broadway.com for clips from shows are more info.

athtrasna

Forget TKTS - prebook discount tickets on www.broadwaybox.com I use it every time and almost every show is discounted. No queues, just simple online booking.

On Broadway Spring Awakening is my absolute #1. Of the other shows that aren't in London, the Colour Purple is powerful and Gypsy is one of my all time favourite shows. Legally Blonde is a bit of fluff!

If you know your musicals then I would highly recommend Forbidden Broadway's current (off-Broadway) show, A Rude Awakening. Basically it's a show spoofing the big shows. The songs are hilarious.

And then breaking my own (don't go to a show in NY that's on in London) rule, Avenue Q works better in NY. The changes in the London production take away just a bit.

Then there's Wicked. On in London too, you may have seen it (I have, 7 times!). If you have, you can do a Behind the Emerald Curtain tour in NYC, it costs about $25 and is a fascinating insight into the show.

Hrududu

Thanks for all the tips the broadwaybox site is excellent. I'm hoping to see maybe 4 shows when I'm there, and I plan to have tickets to at least 2 of them before I go over. Probably Wicked (which I havent seen) and In The Heights. I reckon I will hit the TKTS booth with an idea of about 5 or 6 shows that I'd like to see and then see which has the better seats etc.

I know there will be tons of things I'll want to go see and will miss. I suppose it gives me a reason to go back again.

Hrududu

One last question, did anyone have any bother booking tickets from here? I'm using ticketmaster and its very emphatic that the billing address you enter should match the one for the card. The only problem is you have to enter a postal code, which I don't have. My usual trick is to just enter N/A which works. But I booked a couple of days ago and so far nothing has shown up on my card. They say when you are booking to keep an eye on this as they don't let you know if something goes wrong with the booking.

athtrasna

I've never had a problem using US ticketmaster, maybe wait til Monday and then make a call. I've found US TM to be really helpful, once I booked the tickets for the day we were leaving, a 3 minute phonecall had it sorted.

Hrududu

Yup it went through on my card this morning so I'm all set. The dollar is so bad right now I got a pleasant surprised when I saw how much it actually cost.

zacseph

If you end up with any extra time and/or money, one word... Xanadu!! It's awesome - sililar story line to the movie but not at all done seriously - I'm dying to go back over to see it!!