Buying a new show on itunes-need suggestions

[gertiecummings]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 7:34pm

I got an itunes gift card for my birthday under strict rules that I am to use it to buy a new show. I already have all the basics (Les Mis, Wicked, Spring Awakening, etc) and I can't decide what else to buy. Thoughts?

(Yes I already have Book of Mormon.)

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 7:36pm

You'll need to give us a little more to go on:
Classic?
Contemp?
Revival?
Little known?

What are some of your favorites?

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 7:42pm

"Caroline or Change" or Rogers & Hammerstein's "Allegro".

If you don't have it, I would also suggest "Songs for a New World"

[gertiecummings]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 7:55pm

I haven't bought very many of the shows that have come out in the last few years. Any good suggestions there?

uncageg, I have a bunch of the songs from SFANW but not the whole album. I also don't have Parade but I'm not really sure if I wanna use my birthday gift card to buy the most depressing musical of all time.

[quizking101]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 7:59pm

I'd say give TABOO a shot. The score is actually some of Boy George's best work.

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 8:02pm

next to normal or In The Heights, if you're into contemporary musicals (n2n is a rock opera and ITH has a surprisingly fantastic hip-hop/pop score) - if you're into older pieces, the revival of South Pacific is brilliant, the revival of Sunday In The Park With George is brilliant, and the revival recording of Into The Woods is also great.
Updated On: 8/30/11 at 08:02 PM

[charlesjguiteau]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 8:08pm

Not knowing much about gertie's tastes, I'd venture to say that both "Caroline or Change" AND "Allegro" are acquired tastes for someone primed on Les Miz and Wicked. (I fancy myself really well-versed in musicals and even I found Allegro a bore.)

1. "Rent" sounds like a must-have: the full length OBC.
2. Get yourself some Sondheim for god's sake: Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music and Company for starters. (all OBC)
3. Some essential Kander and Ebb like Cabaret (the revival with Natasha Richardson is my favorite) or Chicago (OBC for me).

It's easy to sample songs from any album before you buy, so have fun and don't ever stop at just one show. :)

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 8:15pm

^agreed with ALL of the above.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 8:18pm

The Light in the Piazza

[Eris0303]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 8:36pm

Catered Affair - I really enjoyed the music and the show moved from book scene to song with little fanfare.

Anything Goes - the new recording is great

Drowsy Chaperone
Everyday Rapture
Finian's Rainbow
Kevin Earley - Earley Standards (does a CD from a Broadway actor count?))

[MusicalComedyMan]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 9:20pm

I"m not sure if "Spring Awakening" will ever be considered one of the basics... hehehe... but I suggest just doing a search for cast or broadway and listen to a bunch of the tracks and see what you like! You can listen to over a minute for free of each track so you know what you're buying.

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 9:31pm

Phantom of the Paradise. Great, quirky score.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 10:35pm

From the last few seasons...

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Anything Goes: 2011 Broadway Cast
The Scottsboro Boys
Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson
Finian's Rainbow: Revival Cast
Grey Gardens: Broadway Cast
Sondheim on Sondheim
Passing Strange
Curtains
Legally Blonde
The Light in the Piazza
HAIR: Revival Cast
Taboo: Broadway Cast

Off the top of my head...

[Barcelona]

Posted: 8/30/11 at 11:27pm

The Last 5 Years
The Light in the Piazza
Company (OBC)
Ragtime

[title of show] is a lot of fun too, and I really like the new Anything Goes recording

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 12:38am

Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - That CD has been playing in my car pretty much every day since it came out. GREAT recording with a stellar cast. The orchestrations are beautiful. I cannot recommend it enough.

[KylePKJP]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 12:57am

I like a lot of the above suggestions. I took a chance on the Ghost The Musical soundtrack this summer and I was impressed considering I was nauseous when I hear the movie was being adapted. If you're into pop-geared scores I'd give it a shot.