Memorial Day Trip - 5th show?

Howdy, y'all. You were of great help to me when deciding what shows to see in first Broadway trip back over Labor Day weekend, so I was wondering if you could help with this one. I'm planning on taking another trip over Memorial Day weekend, and plan to see 5 shows. One of these slots is already filled with an already bought ticket to Hello, Dolly!. I'm planning to rush Groundhog Day and Great Comet as well, since they're nominated for Best Musical. So that leaves 2 more slots open.

I'd like to see Dear Evan Hansen, but it looks like it's already sold out, and the only chance of seeing that would be lottery - and I prefer to rush or use TKTS if I can for budget. Come From Away I don't necessarily need to see because I saw it already when it was at Ford's Theatre, though I loved it immensely so wouldn't mind seeing it again if there's nothing else that would be worth a view. And then as for the other Best Revival noms, I see Falsettos isn't showing anymore while I saw Miss Saigon in that one movie theater telecast of the West End production, and it sounds like Broadway is the same cast/production, so I don't think I need to see that again.

So with that, what 2 shows should I put as priority to try to see, especially before the Tony's? IF I do manage to win a lottery ticket to Dear Evan Hansen I'll of course see that so I'll have already seen all the major Tony noms (minus Falsettos, which can't be helped), but I'd like the other two shows to be strong ones as well that might have a chance of winning in other categories. Any advice? I apologize if this was long-winded, I'm autistic and bad at keeping my thoughts concise. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Dollhouse Part 2 is getting lots of great reviews on here. I second The Play that Goes Wrong. But you have to enjoy that type of humour.  Bandstand might be another option if you want to stick with musicals.

Thank you for all of your responses and advice!. Just to clarify, I'm already planning on seeing "Great Comet", along with "Groundhog Day" and "Hello Dolly" - and I'm not currently planning on seeing "Miss Saigon" or "Come From Away" because I've already seen them with their current casts. It's 2 other shows that I'd like to try to see (only 1 if I strike it lucky and manage to get into a showing of Dear Evan Hansen).

I do mostly prefer musicals to plays, but I will look up The Play That Goes Wrong and "A Doll's House." If it's Part 2, would I be at a disadvantage if I did not see Part 1?

As for musicals, Bandstand and War Paint both sound like appealing choices so far. Bandstand sounds like it appeals to me in terms of theme and music, and War Paint I'm considering looking into since it features 2 of the Best Leading Actress nominees (And as I only got into musicals last year, I've never seen either Ebersole or LuPone perform before).  Is War Paint worth checking out?

Sunset Boulevard is also tempting, though I heard it's just more of a concert. And while I do like ALW, I'm not a big fan of most of the music in that one - it's just not my taste. I may still consider going if Close's performance is really enough of a powerhouse to be worth seeing despite not really digging the score.

 

Updated On: 5/3/17 at 05:23 PM

A Doll's House, Part 2 works just fine without ever having seen the original Ibsen play. Reading a Wiki summary wouldn't hurt, but everything is well-explained, and the two are tonally very different anyway. I recommend it too- my favorite play of the season, and Laurie Metcalf is perfect in it. 

"As for musicals, Bandstand and War Paint both sound like appealing choices so far. Bandstand sounds like it appeals to me in terms of theme and music, and War Paint I'm considering looking into since it features 2 of the Best Leading Actress nominees (And as I only got into musicals last year, I've never seen either Ebersole or LuPone perform before).  Is War Paint worth checking out?"

Bandstand is a really beautiful production and I'd absolutely recommend it. 


 

Having seen this production of Sunset Boulevard twice (and the original 9 times) I can dismiss that it's not just a concert.  And in fact, this production is directed in a way that is far more moving than the original - and musically, with a 40 piece orchestra on stage, the largest on broadway in over 80 years - with Glenn Close and an amazing cast - this is really a once in a lifetime theatrical experience (and with tickets available on TKTS you don't have to shell out the $299 top premium price).

Have you considered doing SRO for Dear Evan Hansen? You'd have to line up very early, but if you were already planning on rushing a show it could be a good option, especially for a two show day in which you have available slots.

Oak2 said: "...War Paint I'm considering looking into since it features 2 of the Best Leading Actress nominees (And as I only got into musicals last year, I've never seen either Ebersole or LuPone perform before).  Is War Paint worth checking out?"

I had exactly the same reason for seeing War Paint (I'd never seen LuPone or Ebersole live), and then I regretted doing so. Both ladies are powerhouses, but I thought the story was weak and the score forgettable. Also, the set, which seemed clever at first, was a one-trick pony that became redundant after a while.

Oak2 said: "Sunset Boulevard is also tempting, though I heard it's just more of a concert. And while I do like ALW, I'm not a big fan of most of the music in that one - it's just not my taste. I may still consider going if Close's performance is really enough of a powerhouse to be worth seeing despite not really digging the score."

Sunset is one of my favorite ALW scores and I've seen this revival three times. It is NOT a concert production.

Updated On: 5/11/17 at 10:06 AM

There is enough visual stimuli in Sunset, I agree, Sunset you can't miss.

Sorry it took me so long to reply, I've been pretty busy. Thank you for your honest advice, Lot666. I think I will take that advice on War Paint as well. Upon further review and reflection, I think I made the mistake of letting Tony nominations make decisions for me rather than my own taste - I have to decide for myself, it's my time and money, so what's more important to spend it on - making sure I see everything that's nominated in awards season, or seeing stuff that I'm more likely to enjoy? Based on what youv'e said, I think I probalby won't go for War Paint or Sunset.

However, I'm also thinking I probably won't try for DEH either, because upon further review of that, I'm not sure if I'd personally enjoy it either. A lot of the advertising I see seems to compare it to or talk about how it shares creative personnel with RENT and NEXT TO NORMAL - both of which I hated, so that's not a good sign for me personally. Though beyond that, I'm also thinking of this - based on how hard it is to get a ticket/how well it's selling out, it's reasonable to asusme that DEH will still be on Broadway the next time I visit in a year or two, correct? So perhaps I should put greater focus on shows that WON'T be here the next time I visit Broadway. That's partially why I put priority to seeing Matilda, Fun Home, and The Color Purple the last time I visited over Labor Day Weekend, and I'm glad I saw those shows - loved all 3. (I also saw Aladdin, School of Rock, and Waitress as well in that trip, all of which I also loved/enjoyed at worst, but they're of course still around. Of the 6 I saw in that trip, Id have to say Aladdin was the weakest, while my biggest enjoyment overall was probably Matilda.)

I'm still going to aim for GROUNDHOG DAY and GREAT COMET, as well as my already-bought ticket to HELLO DOLLY. The other 2 slots are still up in the air. I'm considering BANDSTAND now - is that any good, despite not really getting nominations? I suppose I might consider Off-Broadway or Plays as well for the 5th slot. I will consider BroadwayConcierge's suggestion of THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG. I'll think about SWEENEY TODD as well - I'm personally not a big fan of Sondheim overall, but Sweeney is one of his shows I actually like. (ASSASSINS and A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM  probably my favorite of his that he did both music and lyrics for.)