Mine is The Music Man. Love all the music and the counterpoint duets!
Off-Broadway production of The Last Five Years with NLB and Sherie Rene Scott!
I saw Norbert Leo Butz in Catch Me If You Can, and thought he stole the show. (I liked him a lot better than that young blond bloke who played opposite him… whatever happened to that guy?) A few years later I saw NLB in a play, Dead Accounts, where he absolutely carried the show.
Have never seen a production of The Music Man (I happened to visit New York when the Hugh Jackman/Sutton Foster production was playing, but the prices!!!), but it has some great songs, doesn’t it? “Rock Island”, “Ya Got Trouble”, “Good Night My Someone”, “Seventy Six Trombones”, “Till There Was You”, and more.
My favourite show is Les Miz - has been ever since I first heard it years ago. Vying for second place, depending on my mood, are Ragtime and Falsettos.
Favourite new musical is Kimberly Akimbo - I haven’t been so charmed and moved by a show since I saw Fun Home. I don’t know though how much of my reaction was due to the cast (led by Victoria Clark, who was beyond transcendent) and how much of it was the show itself. A lot probably - David Lindsay-Abaire’s book and lyrics were sharp, and Jeanine Tesori is arguably the best musical theatre composer working today. Will have to see a few different productions of it (and really hoping to get the chance) to know for sure.
