Shuffle Along, She Loves Me, or Waitress?

[pmsept]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 2:45am

Hey guys! New to the board here but I'm planning an upcoming NY trip and need some advice! I'm going to be in NY for the 4th of July weekend and I need to choose two shows to watch between Shuffle Along, She Loves Me, and Waitress. I'm going to see Hamilton on Sat at 8:00pm so that leaves me with Sat matinee and Sun matinee for the other shows. I was originally leaving towards She Loves Me and Waitress but I just came back from seeing 42nd Street and now I'm on a tap dancing kick :) Out of the three, which two shows would you recommend? Besides hearing great reviews in general for all three shows, I want to see She Loves Me mainly for its set/production design, Waitress for the score, and Shuffle for the choreography. I'm completely torn since those three are the main things I look for in a show. Any help will be very appreciated :)

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 2:50am

She Loves Me, definitely. It is very good. I found the other two have positive things to them, but SLM is a perfect revival. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 5:50am

My exact thoughts!   My next suggestion would be Shuffle Along.  More unique, and I don't think it will be the same once the OBC leaves.

Updated On: 6/6/16 at 05:50 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 7:42am

She Loves Me for sure. 

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 7:58am

She Loves Me and Shuffle Along.

[quizking101]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 8:25am

I would say SHE LOVES ME only of those three. If not elevated by Sara Bareilles' score and Jessie Mueller, WAITRESS would be kind of bland. SHUFFLE ALONG, while glitzy, ended up seeming like a confusing waste of great talents.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 8:28am

She Loves Me and Waitress. 

[pmsept]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 1:46pm

Thanks for the input everyone! I'll definitely see She Loves Me when I'm there. Still torn between Shuffle Along and Waitress. Right now I'm leaning towards Shuffle Along based on the comments and also since Waitress will be going on tour in 2017 anyway. I guess my other question is, do you think it's more important to see Audra in Shuffle or Jessie in Waitress? (Which show would lose more if I end up seeing it on tour without the OBC? I've never seen Audra or Jessie in person before)

[bwayandstuff]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 1:51pm

I haven't seen Shuffle Along yet (next week!) so I can't speak about Audra but Jessie was great in Waitress. Even though it has its flaws, I (and my mom) really enjoyed it and I think the cast is great together!

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 2:54pm

Haven't seen WAITRESS.

Even though it's imperfect, the ecstatic highs I found in SHUFFLE ALONG far outpaced the sitcom-y shtick-laden charms with which SHE LOVES ME was saddled. SHUFFLE ALONG for the win. Plus Audra. Plus Brandon. 

Updated On: 6/6/16 at 02:54 PM

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 3:06pm

Such a hard comparison between Audra and Jessie. One thing I will say is, and I'm a fan of the show in general, is that Jessie really makes Waitress and I don't think it will feel the same on tour. Her performance is really beautiful and it's clearly built around her. Audra is great in Shuffle Along but to me the overall cast and the tapping are the stars of that show.

[_IrisTInkerbell]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 3:15pm

I agree with what NJ_BroadwayGirl said about Waitress. Jessie ownes this show, and she really is the heart and soul of it. I'm so glad I got to see her in it. And I really really liked the show overall. Bright Star is still my favorite of the season, but She Loves Me and Waitress are next in line. It has an amazing score and the whole show just wowed me. It was a joy to see.

Shuffle feels much more like an ensemble show, and Audra's part is much smaller than Jessie's in Waitress, so it's hard to compare. I just didn't really get the show. I saw it 5 days or so before opening, so I'm not sure how much still changed after that, but the show still felt unfinished to me, and a bit messy and oddly staged in parts. I love tapping and the choreography was great, but at least to me it couldn't save the show overall. I know that other people felt differently, but that was my takeaway.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 3:21pm

Don't miss SHUFFLE ALONG...it is one of the most exciting musicals this season and once again, Audra is beyond sensational and the choreography is breathtaking.

Here's a discount but it expires 6/10 telechargeoffers.com

code: sadmx1016

Select Orchestra/Front mezzanine: $99-$75

Mid Mezzanine-Rear Mezzanine seats: $59-$45

[KnewItWhenIWasInFron]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 5:34pm

If you're on a tap dancing kick, you absolutely cannot miss "Shuffle Along." I'm not on a tap dancing kick but I could not stop smiling at the precision and inventiveness of the dancing in "Shuffle Along." I was also unexpectedly moved by the show, which, like "Hamilton" (which I also loved, but not as much as "Shuffle Along", it's about telling the story of influential but not well-remembered people. (Oh, and McDonald is fantastic in it but it'll just fine without her, if she's not on when you see it.) Go!

[pmsept]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 6:23pm

I bought tickets for Shuffle Along! And going to do TKTS for She Loves Me Sunday matinee. I just checked all the shows again to see if any are doing Sunday night show so I can fit in a fourth show, and it looks like Fiddler On The Roof and School of Rock are! Which one between the two would people recommend? Thanks again for all the help!!

[iamjwk]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 6:32pm

I've seen both School of Rock and Fiddler, I would lean towards School.  It has a dynamic lead performance from Alex Brightman and is great fun.  Fiddler has an excellent cast, but I think if you caught it on tour you wouldn't be missing much.  I will be in town over 4th of July seeing shows too!

[gfaustswa]

Posted: 6/6/16 at 8:07pm

She Loves Me

[_IrisTInkerbell]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 5:26am

I would go with School of Rock between those two.

[10086sunset]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 6:31am

School of Rock if Brightman is performing Sunday night. Believe he's only scheduled to miss certain matinees.

[pmsept]

Posted: 6/15/16 at 1:08pm

Now that SLM is being live-streamed, do you think it'll be a better choice for me to just watch the live stream and go see Waitress instead when I'm in town? Or do you think I should still skip the live-stream and go see it in person?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/15/16 at 1:15pm

Did not see Waitress. It would have been a hard choice between Shuffle & She Loves Me. Since the latter is being live streamed, go for Shuffle. You get to see a great show plus Audra before she goes out of the show for awhile. It should have won costumes & choreography Tonys  but that is another story.

Updated On: 6/15/16 at 01:15 PM

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 6/15/16 at 1:18pm

Ranking:

1. She Loves Me

2. Waitress

3. Shuffle Along

[_IrisTInkerbell]

Posted: 6/15/16 at 2:39pm

Of course She Loves Me will still be better live than on a TV screen. If you really want to see it I would still it. If you don't really mind between She Loves Me and Waitress, then go see Waitress and just watch the stream, so you can see all 3.

[JPeterman]

Posted: 6/15/16 at 3:06pm

Original question:  1)She Loves Me 2)Waitress 3)Shuffle Along

Second question:  I love and adore Audra but I think Waitress without Jessie would suffer more than Shuffle without Audra.

Third question:  Definitely recommend School of Rock over Fiddler. Fiddler was a big disappointment for me.  I saw Fiddler about 2 years ago in Canada at Stratford and it absolutely crushed this Broadway Fiddler.  Don't worry about if Alex is in the show or not, I saw it with both him and his understudy and I think I preferred the understudy.  He had a TON of insane energy .... and whether you consider it a good or bad thing, I don't know, but the understudy really looked and sounded like Jack Black.

Updated On: 6/15/16 at 03:06 PM

[nicnyc]

Posted: 6/15/16 at 3:26pm

Absolutely agree with the other posters that She Loves Me is the "must see" of these three.  As far as old school classic musicals go, this production is perfection.  Of the other two, I'd really recommend Shuffle Along.  The choreography is fantastic and Billy Porter's Act II solo alone is worth the price of admission.  There are some script and directing issues here and there - but the positives far outweigh them, in my opinion.