Favorite Musicals

[Prof. Arielle Lemoyne]

What are some of your favorites musicals?

It's really hard for me to pick mine - I always end up with a list of like 15 if I try to start naming them. The ones I worked on in high school - Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Wizard of Oz - will always have a special place in my heart. But if I had to name my top 3 all time favorites, I think I'd go with Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton, and Les Mis.

I'm still incredibly obsessed with Hamilton, but I've been trying to branch out and give some musicals I'm not familiar with a listen. I started with "In the Heights", which was fantastic, but I need some more suggestions!

[Maxwell Shadow]

Wow, how did I not come up with this thread?! I'm a little obsessed with Last Five Years at the moment. In fact I've got it on in the background right now instead of going to bed. It's too hard to choose a favourite as there are so many brilliant shows out there and so many I've not seen yet. I'll watch this thread with interest for recommendations.

[Ivelisse Ada]

I've not seen many musicals and have never worked in one, but the high school I went to was known for performing arts, so I always went to the student shows to support my friends who were in them. My all-time favourite was definitely Phantom of the Opera! Not only did I love the story and the songs, but the class that year was absolutely incredible so it was very well done.

Other ones I really loved were Into the Woods and Seussical the Musical. Both of them were lots of fun and I think I prefer fantasy stories and other things like that in musicals rather than more real-life based stuff. Into the Woods was especially memorable for me because it was one of the first musicals I really enjoyed and talked about for a long time afterwards!

[Wicket Wilcox]

I love musicals so very much! I honestly haven't found many I don't. Right now, I'm acting in Bye Bye Birdie as Mae Peterson, so obviously, it's the musical I'm in love with right now! I have every single song memorized, not to mention the rest of the lines... heh.

My current favorite musical, though, is "next to normal." It's actually a very sad story about a Mother who is severely schizophrenic and bipolar, and she and her husband lose a son after 18 months. They go on to have another child, a daughter, but the mother never stops seeing her son, and it drives the whole family to madness. There are a lot of dark themes in it, not for the faint of heart, fair warning. A rather precious song from there is "Maybe," a song sung by the mother, Diana, and her daughter, Natalie. I'd recommend listening to that before trying the whole musical. It's not nearly as sad as some others and helps give some insight into the show.

Another I'm really on that I'm not going to talk about much is "Avenue Q", as it's very inappropriate, but it is HYSTERICAL. That is all I'm comfortable to say about it...

The first year in middle school I did "Beauty and the Beast", as well, and even though it flopped, it was a lot of fun and I'd love to go back and do it again. I was Mrs. Potts, which intimidated me a ton, because I was so ickle and all the other leads were high schoolers, but apparently I have talent and it showed! My costume was also fabulous in that one: I had a bleach white wig that was horribly itchy and uncomfortable :/. I now love this musical beyond compare. I have multiple different recordings of the songs and listen to them a LOT! They're just so pretty!

My all-time favorite musical is "Into the Woods," though. I've dreamed since I was about 7 years old that someday I would get to play the Baker's wife. It may take me till the day I die, but I will play that role. She's such a beautiful character and I would love to portray that. Not to mention the rest of the roles in that show- The Witch is another role I would GLADLY play in this show because of "Children Will Listen." Actually, let's be real. I'd play anyone and everyone in that musical.

To go on, I really like "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," and barely missed being in it when I changed schools in middle school. I was VERY sad but I got to do scenes from it so I wasn't THAT sad. We did a 60-minute version the next year, and I was the Narrator . I just love the way this show turns out every time it's done. There are happy and sad parts, and parts like the "DONT OPEN THE DOOR" moments in horror movies.

Last year, I was in "Seussical: the Musical" and I am certainly a big fan of that too! (looking at you Ive.) I played Mrs. Mayor alongside one of my best friend's as Mr. Mayor. People told us we would be adorable together but we've known each other for WAY too long for that to be okay. My favorite song in that show was one that I sang, "How to Raise a Child," because I was singing that, and since I'm such a child, it was very ironic and it was amusing to sing.

OOH! Another one I'm very much on right now is "West Side Story." I got to sing Anita in some scenes we did last year, and it was way fun. Of course, any play that I get to sing with an accent in is one I'll love. I really love accents. But that one was lottttss of fun! (I also had to get a spray tan. Ick.) On another note, it was way fun. Every single one of the songs is catchy and gets stuck in my head regularly, and most make me want to dance. I regularly sing "Maria" with altered lyrics, because you'll notice, you can say a lot of things to that tune.

Of course, there are also the classics that I'm in love with; Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, etc., etc. But I'm going to stop talking now. The point is: throw me a musical and I will probably love it. Rephrase: I'll love it.

[Prof. Limine Snidget]

I love love love musicals! The past several years I've gone to NYC on so many trips to see musicals but I always have another one I want to see and have to go back for.

My all time favorite musical is Wicked. I absolutely adore it and am pleased to say that even though I hadn't seen it in 10 years, I got to see it twice within two months late last year.

I really like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, probably because they're my favorite Disney movies and because the latter was the first musical I ever saw on Broadway.

I saw If/Then with Idina Menzel on Broadway two summers ago and thought it was absolutely spectacular. I had second row seats and oh my gosh, she is just wonderful. I also loved Finding Neverland when I saw it this past summer. I thought it was a wonderful mix of jokes and serious, touching moments.

I'm not particularly fond of any of the musicals I've performed in growing up. While I loved performing in them, I think I'm just overly critical of minor things in our performances.

I could go on and on about musicals I enjoy so I think I'll just end this here...

[Ariella McManus]

Oh man, the list is almost too long to start! I have always adored musicals, and even was fortunate enough to be a part of some during my younger years. Anyway, some of my favourites are West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Phantom of the Opera, and Cats. I want to see The Last Five Years and Wicked (which I have regretfully never seen yet), so those are on my "must watch" list along with a score of others.

[Shiloh Adlar]

I have way too many to name! Phantom of the Opera is definitely at the top of my list. Hamilton is up there right now as well. I also really like Cats, Wicked, Billy Elliot, West Side Story, The Lion King, Rent, Next to Normal, and Aida. There are so many others!

Most of my favorite musicals are probably ones that I've been in personally as I have good memories attached to them like Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Hairspray to name a few. I have a friend in the touring cast of The Lion King, or she was. I'm not sure if she still is or not. She was a swing meaning she was in the ensemble but also understudied for Nala. I was lucky enough to be at a show where she got to perform as Nala. She was incredible to watch. I also got to meet a couple members of the touring cast for Next to Normal which gives me good memories of that musical, too. My other favorite musicals are those that are dance heavy, so Carousel, Chicago, Footloose, Kiss Me Kate, On the Town, and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

[Austin Ollivander Black]

Phantom of the Opera,Sweeney Todd,Rent,Tommy,and Grease (the original not II )
My favorites of those are Sweeney Todd,Rent, and Phantom of the Opera.

[Marie Dark]

Grease with John Travolta....
Chicago....
Connie & Carla....
Nightmare Before Christmas ....
These are favorites for myself but for my family on holiday and summer "Gatherings"...

[Vanessa Tilley]

So that is sooooo hard!

Of the musicals I have seen in person, my favorite musical would be Spamalot. The musical I love most would be My Fair Lady!

[Adaleine Shuster]

I've only seen a few musicals, but they were all pretty great! My favorite has to be SIX, though (this might just be because I saw it 3 weeks ago and it is my new obsession, but I don't think so). It doesn't really show near me, so I had to fly half way across the world for it, though seeing it in London with the original West End cast was amazing! Well... I say original West End cast, but it wasn't exactly the usual cast. This is actually a kind of funny story. The show we saw was sold out, and the show didn't want to let down two sold out audiences (the other was the show before ours, the same day). Now, the person who plays Jane Seymour (Natalie Paris) had a sore throat, Alexia Mcintosh (Anne of Cleves) was also out, probably because of a sore throat, and Maiya Quansah-Breed (Catherine Parr) was on vacation. The cast has 3 alternates, but sadly 2 of them were sick as well. In the end Natalie was replaced by Courtney Stapleton (an alternate), Genesis Lynea was playing Anne of Cleves (she is Anne of Cleves in the studio cast recording), and Toby Marlow (one of the writers and the composer of the show) played Catherine Parr. It was performed concert style. Despite all of this I thought that it was an incredible show, and I know that I'll never forget it!

[Lorence Alwood]

Musicals are so much fun! I really love Be More Chill, because all the songs are great and its super relatable. Its fun to pop some of those tracks on while I'm drawing or cleaning my room, and I always end up singing along. I also really like Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog, Hamilton, and Heathers!

[Anna Westbrook]

INTO. THE. WOODS. It's honestly the greatest musical of all time. It's the 'fairy tale' stories we all know and love, but they aren't the Disney tellings. It's based on the old fables. And the idea of all of these characters acting with each other? Of course we all know the show "Once Upon a Time" but this musical came before that, so this was a brand new idea.

I also love the difference between the acts. Act One ends so perfectly. Act Two feels entirely different. It's like the show is telling two different stories while maintaining the overall theme.
AND THE MUSIC!!!!! IT'S EVERYTHING!!

[Lucia Dinapoli]

I feel like a lot of my favourite musicals have definitely already been mentioned in this thread so I'm going to mention two of my favourite musicals I had the pleasure of being a part of!

Carol King's Musical 'Beautiful' was absolutely amazing to watch! I was lucky enough to get a work experience placement within my local theatre during the time in which this was being shown and getting to see the ins and outs of full productions before, during and after is just an exceptional experience! The energy, the love, the family orientated aspects of all the production team, managers, directors, cast and crew a like was so brilliant to see! And also hilarious! I can't even begin to tell you how often you see actors baring all behind the scenes lol!

For a while I also went to a Theatre school and studied Theatre Performance Design and was tasked with being a costume assistant on one of the student ran shows! It was both stressful and exhilarating and definitely a lot of good fun!

Musicals are so much fun and I feel lucky to have been both an audience and crew member for lots of shows!! My all time fave I think is Blood Brothers!!

[Marianne Bowers]

The first musical I got really into was Les Miserables. I was in fourth grade (which was also when I was in my first play), and I went to see Les Mis with my family. I had never heard of it before. My aunt spoiled Eponine and Jean Valjean's death for me during the intermission, but I still enjoyed it.

I got the Les Mis CD as a present and listened to it non-stop (a bit of Hamilton there for you). I ended up singing On My Own with my voice teacher and for pretty much anyone I met on the street. I knew all the lyrics. I knew the weird, easily forgotten songs like Beggars at the Feast. I even wrote an essay on each character's point of view on love and kindness.

I've forgotten most of the songs, and I couldn't give anyone a clear point-by-point summary of the plot, but I'll always be grateful for getting to go to that show simply because it introduced me to something I now love.

[Bee Misty]

I love musicals! My absolute favorite is Once on this Island! Some of my other favs include:
Wizard of Oz
Beetlejuice
Hamilton
Bye Bye Birdie
Peter Pan
Mary Poppins
Les Mis!

[Bellatrix Bryce]

My favourite musical is Dreamgirls!! The songs are so catchy and I always go back to watch it every couple of months.

Some of my other favourites are:
Beauty and the Beast
The Lion King
West Side Story

[Clementine Silas]

I have so many that I love! My absolute favorites are:
Epic the Musical by Jorge Rivera-Herrans
Sweeney Todd
Moulin Rogue
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Anastasia
Beetlejuice
Hamilton
Hadestown

I'm actually currently listening to Epic the Musical!

[Heather Valentine]

omg i love love musicals!! I have been to see les mis, six , heathers and beetlejuice. Im seeing hamilton in January and i rlly want to see dear evan hansen. My fav has to be heathers and deh though i do love them all. Im also playing in beuty and the beast soon.

[Adeline Morior]

I love musicals but have never seen a live show and do hope I get the change. Some of the ones I love is Nightmare Before Christmas, Lion King, Burlesque, the series: Zoey's extraordinary playlist. I would love to see Phantom of the Opera live. A dream of mine.