I'm not much of a musical fan. I tolerate them okay but they always seemed just too fake and cheesy. Les Miserables bored the crap out of me. I thought Miss Saigon was decent but it had pimps, prostitutes and a giant helicopter. Lion King had great performances but was hokey. Spamalot was a disappointment and not that funny (IMO). I saw all of these in Chicago.
Since it was P's 30th birthday she wanted to go see a Broadway play, on Broadway. Wicked was sold out for weeks so I thought a show we would both enjoy would be The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. It's a musical but the emphasis is the comedy. It's done in a small theater that they converted to look just like a school gymnasium. There's crowd participation. The show uses the entire theater for the performance. It was outstanding. Darrell Hammond joined the cast as the Vice Principal and he was also excellent. Dead pan delivery of some great material. I'm a big fan of his and seeing him in action literally 3 feet from my face was worth the price of admission alone.
This play will go on to other theaters in the country as part of a tour and also is a regular show in Chicago. It really needs to be in a small theater designed to have the audience actually be part of the stage. I highly recommend it even if you hate musicals. In fact, it's a great choice if you don't like them but want to take someone who does. It will not disappoint.
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