Hi all

Just wondering if anyone could recommend a good musical? I'm off to NYC soon and can't decide as so many to choose from, I quite fancy Jersey Boys but don't want to miss out if there are better ones showing. Any recommendations would be great

I would highly recommend Wicked. The singing and staging of the production is phenomenal.

I'm not sure what the Broadway cast are like but I can't give the London cast enough praise, especially Rachel Tucker - what.a.voice!! But I'm sure the Broadway cast are just as excellent.

Completely agree, seen it twice at the West End and it's by far my favourite musical.

Both Wicked and Jersey Boys are amazing shows, but the London productions of both are said to be much stronger than the Broadway ones. If you're going all the way to New York, why not see something that isn't playing in London?
Big musical on Broadway at the moment is The Book Of Mormon. The cast recording is fantastic, one of my fave recent musicals, but it's not for the easily offended, as you'd expect as it's written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
The Anything Goes revival is also supposed to be amazing. Sutton Foster is the perfect Reno Sweeney, well deserved her Tony win.
Then you've got How to Succeed in Business or Catch Me If You Can if you fancy seeing something new.

Sorry but I thought it was dull. Too much like a pantomime for my liking. Far too many plays to the audience. The set served no purpose whatsoever.

All the songs are instantly forgettable. My girlfriend assured me there was a famous song, but only because it had been covered in 'Glee' (which is why I think it's as popular as it is, drawing in the younger crowd)

Wicked was famous before Glee and will be long after. I personally think it's great. The dancing was spectacular, singing phenomenal and the story just utterly fantastic. As for the songs, I can't get "The Wizard and I" out of my head and"Defying Gravity" is amazing. Younger audiences were being drawn before the Glee cover because it's perfectly fitted to the teenager - feeling marginalized by everyone, hoping to be the most adored person, realizing that person isn't all that and then finding yourself - feelings experienced by the vast majority of teens

I know this isn't obvious and I didn't quite understand when I first saw it but this is what I read on the internet and it makes sense to me...



I think the songs and the score are absolutely fantastic. The singing is incredible! I find it impossible to believe that someone can't be taken away by the singing, especially from the current cast - Rachel Tucker and Louise Dearman. Just incredible talent, beautiful voices. Each to their own though!

I'm not being funny, but when you pay £x for a seat in a West End / Broadway musical I expect quality singing. If this was a production in a local hippodrome, I wouldn't be so critical.

To be fair Wicked London has had very few weak vocalists in the 5 years it's been running. I might not like Louise Dearman's Glinda, but I can't fault her vocals. And Rachel Tucker is amazing, one of the best voices in the West End. Was it those 2 that you saw in it?

Very true - but for Wicked you have to take into account how the score is written for the voice.

Wicked's songs are some of the hardest to sing around! You have to be on the top of your game all of the time to sing them night after night, sometimes twice in a day. The score, although it sounds excellent, was pretty insensitively written for the voice (mainly Elphaba's part I'm talking about here). The last minute and a half of Defying Gravity and the whole of No Good Deed are very technically demanding. You also have to take into account just how much Elphaba sings on a whole as well. Plus - you don't want to see an Actress or Actor giving a half hearted performance just because it's say, mid week in a quiet part of the season. They really do give their all as if it's opening night, every night. Rather them than me - It would be a fantastic job but I imagine it's very tiring.

Many actresses have suffered after finishing their run in Wicked. Idina Menzel certainly damaged her voice and I don't think Kerry Ellis has quite sounded the same again (all in my opinion ofcourse).

I don't think Kerry has ever sounded better. Yes, her voice has changed over the years, but not for the worse. She was amazing in Godspell last night, awesome vocals. And this version of Defying Gravity she did at the Shaw a few weeks ago is just stunning. Actually the whole Shaw concert was perfection.

Well I stand corrected - that is excellent actually! Her voice there sounds like it's matured a lot. I used to think she was very nasal. I think I was basing my views too much on the end of her second London run she sounded tired and a bit lazy if I'm honest.

I think Rachel Tucker has handled the role the best out of all the London leads though. Her voice is improving and hasn't really shown any evidence of deterioration which is great! She must obviously look after her voice well and is singing it correctly. And she has signed on for another year YAY! I do think it will be her last year though, sadly.

You can tell I'm a fan of her can't you? I think she is beautiful when green as well.

To be fair, Kerry was very nasal after she came back from Broadway. I blame them for having made her use an American accent for her run over there. Think it did funny things to her. She did pick up towards the end of her run though. Her performance at her last show was amazing, but yeah, agree she had been playing the part for too long and it did show at times.


As much as I'm a Kerry fan, I'd say Rachel Tucker is my fave London Elphaba in terms of overall performance. Her 'No Good Deed' is just made of awesome.
Haven't seen her as much as I'd have liked though. Really want to go one more time before Louise Dearman leaves.

One of the best No Good Deeds ever?

I'm lucky enough to have got tickets for the evening of cast change. Can't actually wait! I'm going with three other friends and two of them haven't seen the show before so they are in for a treat!!

Seeing the thread title I immediately thought 'Les Miserables', but unfortunately that is no longer on Broadway. 'The Phantom of the Opera' is a classic that is definitely worth seeing, and it is the longest-running musical on Broadway. Also, seeing as most people seem to be exclusively discussing it here, I very much enjoyed the West End 'Wicked' with Rachel Tucker. Musically, I don't think it's really up there with the other two I mentioned, but it is a very professional and well-performed show with a handful of really great songs.

She does just get better and better, doesn't she? She's so growly in that audio. I love it. It's missing her Fiyero riff though. Don't tell me she's stopped doing that? I always liked this One. 2:08-2:16 is just the greatest riff ever.


This will be the first cast change I've not been able to go to since 2009. Gutted. Especially as I've still not even seem Mark Evans as Fiyero.

That is an amazing audio - that riff! I think she only pulls it out for special occasions these days. I'm sure I read somewhere that she had told someone at the stage door that she wasn't allowed to do it anymore. - or maybe so often.

I've never been to a cast change so I'm really looking forward to it. It'll be sad but I'll walk away happy knowing Rachel will still be there. Shame you haven't seen Mark cause he is really good.

The Book of Mormon

Cast change is always amazing. The atmosphere is just something else.
Think I need to arrange a trip before Mark leaves. It's been far too long since I've seen it.

I'm getting really excited now. Haha, I've explained to the friends who haven't seen it that there might be more cheering etc. than usual... I hope Rachel riffs it up. I know it's not all about the riffs but I would kill to hear some of them live!

I absolutely love Wicked! but when I go to New York in a few weeks' time I am not planning on seeing any shows that are on in London - it's a chance to see something before it gets here or something that may not transfer at all.

So far I've booked Follies - Sondheim score AND Bernadette Peters? No brainer.

Still deciding on what else to see. Will probably go for Book of Mormon but am also quite interested in Bonnie and Clyde (very new), Spiderman (to see how bad it is!) and the Anything Goes revival.

Then there's also the Patti Lu Pone/Mandy Patinkin and Hugh Jackman shows.

Oh God ... I've only got four days!!!!

Oh now, come on, we all know Wicked is all about the riffs and always has been.
They normally do the riffs at cast changes. I'm pretty sure Rachel did at the last one.
And your friends will be fine at the evening performance. It's the cast change matinees that can be a problem for newbies, depending on how carried away they get with the muck-ups.

Hahaha Well yes, I do love how excited Wicked fans get when they hear a new riff.

Ah yeah I've heard a lot about these 'muck up' matinees. I think I'm most looking forward to a cast change Defying Gravity. AHHH!!!

This is what I don't get. Unless you were going to see a certain performer, why go all that way to see something you could see in London? I had some friends go over there and they saw The Lion King. It was like, why??

I really wish I could see Anything Goes. I love Sutton Foster. And the fact that Stephanie J Block is doing a limited run in it, would love to see her in it.


Think they've had to tone them down a lot in the past couple of years. There wasn't anything major at the last cast change. Whereas Kerry's last matinee was out of control, and very confusing for people who hadn't seen it before. Great for us fans, just maybe not very fair for everyone else.

Ah yes fair enough - it would be unfortunate for the people who don't know the show and just happened to book for that day!