December Weekend - Requesting Input

Decided to cash in some points for Amtrak and a hotel night, so I'm headed to the city next weekend for one night (Saturday). I have a list of shows I'd like to see over the course of a few trips I'll have between now and March and I've narrowed it based on relevant dates to try and get to most everything I'm interested in. However, I'm having trouble getting my list down to three so I'm turning to you folks for any input you might have.

At this point there are 5 contenders with some additional thoughts:

Junk (I'm intrigued, and LincTix being available is boosting its case)

Kinky Boots (saw the tour a couple years ago here in Boston, but interested in seeing Sands & Porter)

Meteor Shower (not getting the sense it's a must-see, but if I can snag a SRO/cheaper StubHub ticket, that would put it over the top)

Miss Saigon (have never seen a production of it, probably #5 on my list for this trip currently)

Dear Evan Hansen (contingent upon last-minute availability of course, but I would like to see Galvin - have never seen any incarnation)

There's a possibility I'll be back in early January which would render much of this debate moot, but nothing is firmed up so I'm operating on the assumption I won't be.

Thanks for your insights!

Miss Saigon is a beautiful production and cheap tickets are easy to come by. If you haven't seen Kinky Boots you should, and probably Dear Evan Hansen. Junk can easily be skipped and Meteor Shower got meh reviews from the professional critics which is good enough for me to skip it.

haterobics said: "Also, why can you only see shows on Saturday if you have a hotel? Gotta add in that Sundaymatinee, and catch a later train home. "

Sorry if the original post wasn’t clear - I am staying long enough for a matinee on Sunday! Just need to cross two off my list above.

ellbellthomps said: "100% Miss Saigon. Try to avoid Saturday matinees, as Eva Noblezada doesnt perform and she is AMAZING. I would still see it either way, though.

I know this isnt on your list, but Anastasia is amazing too."

Good to know about Saigon, thanks! Especially because the Saturday matinee probably would’ve been when I’d have seen it.

By no means does my list consist of the only shows I want to see that are currently running. It’s just that these are the time-sensitive ones due to either limited runs or cast changes. I’ll definitely take the Anastasia rec and consider it for a later trip.

I'm glad you were able to get a ticket. Ben Platt or not, it deserves to be seen. Also, Miss Saigon is an easy rush, so, maybe you can balance out the $213 you just spent with a $39 ticket to that.

Quick update now that my visit is underway. Grabbed a decent seat for Meteor Shower on stubhub for the matinee. Paid around $40 with the fees and frankly, I’m very glad I didn’t pay full price. It was nice, had some good laughs, and Laura Benanti has it all - but it won’t change my life.

I’ve got DEH tonight which I’m looking forward to of course. Going in pretty blind, save for the Tony’s performance as well as the parade.

My train is at 7 PM tomorrow so Miss Saigon is out as I didn’t know the curtain is at 4 (I avoided seeing it this afternoon based on the various posts here about Noblezada). That leaves me with Kinky Boots for tomorrow, though I’ll enter some lotteries first before making use of the lottery loser code.

mufish said: "Quick update now that my visit is underway. Grabbed a decent seat for Meteor Shower on stubhub for the matinee. Paid around $40 with the fees and frankly, I’m very glad I didn’t pay full price. It was nice, had some good laughs, and Laura Benanti has it all - but it won’t change my life."

Heh, I came to post in here to skip this if you can, since I remembered it being in contention and I just saw it today. Oh well...

haterobics said: "mufish said: "Quick update now that my visit is underway. Grabbed a decent seat for Meteor Shower on stubhub for the matinee. Paid around $40 with the fees and frankly, I’m very glad I didn’t pay full price. It was nice, had some good laughs, and Laura Benanti has it all - but it won’t change my life."

Heh, I came to post in here to skip this if you can, since I remembered it being in contention and I just saw it today. Oh well..."

It’s the thought that counts! And DEH more than made up for the meh afternoon.

Struck out on lotteries this morning so likely to head to KB to get a lotto loser without the fees, though maybe I’ll swing by a different theatre or two to try a rush.

mufish said: "Sounds like you're a lot like I used to be! I got a late start with theatre, not seeing my first show until the tail end of a year I spent in New Jersey (talk about missed opportunities!) about eight years ago. It was bits and pieces for a few years as I had moved back to Wisconsin, but then started really getting after it and did a trip or two similar to what you do. I've been in the Boston area for the past few years so it's much easier to get down there for more frequent, shorter bursts now. Plus, we obviously get all the touring productions at one time or another.

Also similar to you, I don't like to repeat shows at the expense of something I haven't seen, and if I'm not particularly excited about a particular cast/show I will sometimes skip a show if I know the tour will be coming at some point. I made an exception for KB - became a fan of Stark Sands after watching Generation Kill. The only other shows I've repeated on Broadway are Hamilton and Great Comet (the second viewing was a similar last minute trip, which also allowed me to get to Groundhog Day before it closed).

I've also seen Newsies, Pippin, and Rock of Ages multiple times, but the repeat viewings were tours. RoA came through the little town I was living in twice in a calendar year (though different "seasons" - I still have the "Save our Strip!" flyer that Regina handed me - as the first show I ever saw on Broadway, I carry a certain affinity for it (sorry all you purists, I won't apologize for it!). The productions I saw were the 2nd & 3rd or 3rd & 4th national tours so I'm fairly certain they were non-equity, not that I minded."

The only show I saw twice on Broadway was American Idiot. That was actually my first show I ever saw on Broadway in 2010 (my first time in NYC) and I saw it again when I was in NYC in January 2011.

I saw two other shows twice. I saw touring production of Wicked twice on same tour through Tulsa (first time it toured through Tulsa).

And I saw the OBC of Hamilton in November 2015 then just saw it again in Chicago last month. The second viewing confirmed why it’s my all time favorite musical.