he did do beauty and the beast at one point as was nominated for an award, cant remember which one, or if it was in the uk or australia, but i remember reading it in a web interveiw with him

it is also mentioned on his imdb page http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0413168/otherworks

If you get the chance, watch the DVD recording of the NT version of Oklahoma, which truly shows what a talented chappie he is. Wasted in Hollywood!

Thanks it seems it was. I know it was really good but Gaston was not famous at the time. Cool I've seen JB I love him...

i am afraid if you saw him now i doubt you would say the same, saw him in hello dolly earlier this year and to say he was no good was an understatement, his voice is no where near as good as it was (i have seen him a few time previous, in grease, joseph and summer holiday) his voice has since gone down hill, and he is virtually unrecognisable, infact it for the first 20 mins of the show i was trying to work out if it was him or an understudy that they had failed to announce was on instead! and i wasnt the only one who thought that going from the comments i heard from people around me during the interval and on the way out

I'm sure he has changed a lot since I saw him then, so I probably would agree with you now. I do think it's an incredible waste of talent, but that's what happens when you coke yourself up to the eyeballs everyday

I seen him some years ago in Grease and Kinikie sang most of the lead. He gave a good dance show and he was presentable at the time but his singing was dreadful.

very true, and it is such a huge shame as he could sing and act and was very good on stage

kinikie singing a lot of the lead is actually how the origional musical was written,

many dont realise, but grease was origionally a stage show (1972) that then got adapted to film (1978) and then the film got re-adapted to stage, (indeed the origional london show had opened in around 73/74 with richard gere as danny!)

the origional stage show had kinike sing a lot of the main songs, but got changed when john travolta got the role in the film, and most stage productions after that showed the film version of who sang what as opposed to the origional stage version)

Wow. This thread is really making me think I should get to the West End more often! I've really liked the look (and sound!) of Wicked - hopefully I find some time to go during the summer.

What musicals/productions do you guys rate highly?

it depends what you want to see as everyone is different, i love abit of everything

for example i love the classics "les mis, phantom, cats, mis siagon, sunset boulevard, etc

but equally love the newer shows such as wicked, bat boy, rent, we will rock you, hairspray, billy elliott

and also enjoy the cheesier shows - grease, fame, boogie nights, oh what a night, tonights the night, love shack etc

and also the darker shows - ie jeckyl and hyde, sweeny todd etc

i also love plays, ie love song, glass menagerie (jessica lange was brilliant, our countries good, amys veiw (loved felicity kendal in that), otherwise engaged (with richard e grant and tony head in it)

i also like the comedy shows such as dirty dusting, mums the word, etc

Wow, thank you so much for those links!

I'll definately be using them to see some shows this summer

no problem, i hope they and the previous sites i posted help, i think theatre should be more accessable financially to more people, and those sites have been good when i have used them over the years or friends have used them

I love that dvd! May have to watch it later on...
There was a rumour before Gone With The Wind started that he was going to be in it - was gutted when they announced Darius
Wonder if the UK will ever get Boy from Oz and if Hugh will do it again? Would love to see that live!

I must say (if you haven't guessed already ) that Les Miserables is a MUST see - whether you end up liking it or not! There's a reason why it's the longest running musical in the world and I think it's the epitome of a quality West End show. Everything about it - the music, the lyrics, the story, the history - is simply exceptional.

Phantom is also well worth a look, and I think it's perhaps a lot more commercial and accessible to a wider audience than Les Mis. Wicked seems to be the craze everywhere these days and it's also very good, although I wasn't as blown away as my friends.

OMG i thought i was the only one who remembered that show lol

Living in North East Scotland isn't condusive to seeing a lot of shows, but I go as much as I can!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (about 4 times on tour, once in the West End)
Mama Mia
The Producers
Wicked (twice )
Spamalot
The Lord of the Rings
Mary Poppins
Footloose
Grease (twice, on tour)
Madame Butterfly
Sugar
The Wizard of Oz (well... I was in it, but that counts, right?)
The Wedding Singer
Les Miserables
The Witches of Eastwick (student production)
Fame (another student production)

... so not that much, but I'm only 18 and I've only been going to the theatre for five years, so not bad really!

did you see mary poppins on tour or west end?

I agree, Les Mis is a MUST for any theatre fan. I never bore of it (first saw it in 1994) and will always end up crying in the sad scenes - I'm such a softie!!

When I first saw Wicked I absolutely loved it, but it was very short lived and I got bored of it pretty fast. Seeing it more than once made me see how shallow the book was and apart from the singing/songs it wasn't that amazing like I first thought - a bit like We Will Rock You (but not quite so bad!)

It's a shame the West End is getting full up of 'juke box' shows but then I guess they have more appeal to the wider audience just annoying for the die hard theatre fans, although I have enjoyed some of those shows in the past!

for me also Les Mis - Come out of the theatre totally wrecked emotionally - love it . *Bring him home* my favourite musical theatre song

Hairspray - for the amazing feeling of Joy when you leave the theater

and for both those feelings together Billy Elliot

for me i'd say 100% see Les Miserables - excellent.
also phantom of the opera is well worth seeing, wicked is also brill.
Avenue q is good, not amazing, but worth seeing as its funny clever and different. I also love evita and a chorus line

West End!!!


(Laura Michelle Kelly, I loooove you! )

If you're looking for something funny, then I reccomend Spamalot! It's hillarious!

I agree with the majority though, Les Mis is a MUST SEE.

I missed it when it was on the west end - its on tour though, i normally don't rate the tours very highly, much prefer the west end, but i was considering seeing mary poppins. just wondered if you could let me know what the touring show was like.

I'm going in November to see it in Edinburgh. I think it's worth seeing, tour or not!

Ok thank you