Musical Mania

Shortly after getting back from NYC, I threatened to list all the musicals I have ever seen... and given the lack of an original thought this morning, today is that day!   (Are those groans I hear off in the distance?!?)

But it kind of makes sense to compile this list right now.  I recently had a "full circle" musical theater moment.  My very first musical was Evita in 1980 at the Broadway Theater in NYC... and my most recent one was this past summer... The Color Purple at the Broadway Theater in NYC! 

In between those... and over the course of some 27 years... there have been 62 others!   

That's 64 different musicals folks!  I know, I know... gay stereotype freak flag is flying high... but, believe it or not, that figure even surprised me!   These days, I don't live anywhere near NYC and, when I did, it wasn't as an adult that could afford Broadway shows!   The number I did think was going to be higher was the number of musicals I have seen more than once... only 10 of those.

Now, there's a possibility I am leaving some out!   Don't think I did this all from memory.  While my brain does tend to retain this kind of very important data (vs. say, where I put the darn car keys!), a huge help was Playbill.com's Long Runs On Broadway listing... .and, as I have 'fessed up to this in the past, I do keep ticket stubs... so a quick run through of the ticket "bag" proved quite handy as well.

Blame (or credit) for getting into the 60s is the many, many years of season tickets to the Broadway Across America series.  I would guess there are at least a good dozen (or two) shows that I likely would not have gone to if they were not part of a pre-paid season ticket package.  Occasionally I am pleasantly surprised, but more often my instincts are right... but the bad/so-so ones certainly make you appreciate the good ones.  That said, there's no good explanation for why I have seen Starlight Express three times!

Here are my "multiples":

6 times

3 times

2 times

I'll put the "one-timers" in after the jump since I've already entered "cuckoo for cocoa puffs" territory.

Though I am taking advantage of TypePad's relatively new "page" feature and creating a Musicals Page with the intention of updating it as we go along... Musical #65 is just a couple of weeks away! 

I may have created a monster... perhaps this is just the start of a new W&C list feature... I love lists!

UPDATE:  Just a response (or two) from the comments.   As Scott mentioned, and to confirm, these are professional production only, no high school musicals.  Yes Gail, NO "South Pacific"... we were supposed to see with our season tix, but ended up being out of town (which tend to happen, we missed "Sweet Charity" while we were in Colorado last month).  I am sure there are some other glaring omissions.  As mentioned in my "threat" post, I am most shocked that I have yet to see a stage production of "Grease."

1 time
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
A Chorus Line
Aida
All Shook Up
Altar Boyz
Annie
Annie Get Your Gun
Aspects of Love
Avenue Q
Beauty and the Beast
Big
Blast
Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk
Cabaret
Camelot
Chicago
Civil War
Color Purple
Contact
Crazy for You
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Falsettos
Fame
Footloose
Fosse
Full Monty
Guys and Dolls
Hairspray
Jelly's Last Jam
Jesus Christ Superstar
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
King and I
Light in the Piazza
Lion King
Little Shop of Horrors
Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake
Miss Saigon
Movin' Out
Music Man
My Fair Lady
Nine
Oklahoma!
Producers
Ragtime
Scarlet Pimpernel
Show Boat
Smokey Joe's Cafe
Sound of Music
Sunset Boulevard
Titanic
Urinetown
Victor/Victoria
Wicked
Will Rogers Follies

Comments

[Scott C]

Well, while I certainly don't number 64, the first professional musical I saw (thinking high school ones don't count) was also Evita in Chicago in 1980.

[Gail]

What? No South Pacific? That's the only one I've seen multiple times, but only because I was an usher. You could be on to something. I feel like counting my musicals.

[Beth]

Ah my all time favorite at the top of your "most seen" list! The last time I saw Les Miz was a high school production. It was awesome! The show was done by P.K. Younge in Gainesville FL - their one and only production for the year. Les Miz seen in London, Los Angeles, NYC, touring company (several times) and the PK Younge's one. Still my fave!