I appreciate your suggestions Bulldog, I really do, but I get to the city not nearly enough. So when I am there, I like to take in Broadway and all Broadway. Maybe when I live in the city a few years from now I'll do some of the things you've suggested, such as see off-off B'way shows, but for the time being, it's all about Broadway for PJ. Thank you.
I'm leaning towards The Boy from Oz as my 2nd second to see while I'm there. I know the show was panned, but I think just seeing the performance by Hugh Jackman would be worth it. But I don't know for sure. Is anyone really anticipating the revival of Fiddler?
PJ, it's always a matter of individual taste, but personally I thought that the critical pans of both The Boy from Oz and your definite choice, Wicked, were unfair and undeserved. Both shows certainly do have flaws, but both were tremendous crowd pleasers with a lot of good things going for them as well, and the audience comments I heard after both Oz and Wicked were extremely positive and included a lot along the lines of "what in the world were the critics thinking? Did they see the same show?" I saw Wicked in San Francisco, where it was a bit different, but the critics here panned it in a very similar fashion to what most of the NY critics did to it, and to Oz (with ecstatic praise for Hugh, Kristin, and maybe Idina). Both of these shows did get positive reviews from some critics, however--neither got unanimously bad reviews.
Anyway, to answer your Oz question, IMHO Hugh Jackman alone is more than worth the price of admission, but I thought that there was quite a lot to enjoy in the show besides Hugh. Several of the supporting actors have gotten excellent reviews and IMHO stand a good chance of getting Tony nominations, including the very talented kid who plays the young Peter Allen, Mitchel David Federan, who you might have seen perform his showstopping When I Get My Name in Lights number on the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, and Isabel Keating's remarkable Judy Garland, and there are other established or rising actors like Jarrod Emick, the recently interviewed Stephanie Block, and Beth Fowler. The script gets a lot of laughs, despite lacking depth, and some parts of the show are surprisingly moving. A lot of people here have recommended it because it really is much better than some of the reviews claim.
As far as Fiddler is concerned, after seeing two or three high quality national tours over the years I have zero interest in the B'way revival, but I expect that the producers are counting on families bringing their kids to see the show for the first time, or people who are nostalgic for the show and want to see it again, or tourists who recognize the title. I have no idea how well Fiddler will do at the box office, but I guess we'll find out soon.
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