What would you recommend?

The current and ongoing discussion about TBV and what kinds of folks find what kinds of shows interesting makes me wonder -- If you knew someone who had never seen live, Broadway theater, and s/he was coming to NYC for a weekend -- what currently running THREE (or maybe four) Shows would you recommend??

Feel free to even program them -- which ones on Friday and Saturday evenings, which ones as matinees. Don't worry about availability of tickets -- assume your friend can get into see anything.

Updated On: 12/19/18 at 06:30 PM

My experience while living in NYC in the 70s and 80s (a rather bleak period for Broadway musicals) is that folks from out-of-town expect to see a big, splashy musical like the ones usually portrayed in the movies. So I saw THE WIZ more times than I care to count, until (thank God!) SWEENEY TODD finally opened.

I'm on the other coast now, but from reading here, I'd say THE CHER SHOW, ANASTASIA, MY FAIR LADY, HAMILTON, PHANTOM, WICKED, etc., all fit the bill.

Unless they have more theater experience than they sound from your question, I doubt they'd care much about a deconstructed OKLAHOMA! (But see next paragraph.)

And I don't know HARRY POTTER or THE FERRYMAN, but if you take them to two big musicals, they might enjoy a straight play (or a small or experimental musical) just for the variety. (ETA after reading ALL MY SONS thread: they might also enjoy seeing movie/TV stars live.)

All this based on my experience with MY relatives; they are by and large educated in other areas and big readers, but not frequent theatergoers (except when I take them).

Updated On: 12/19/18 at 07:12 PM

Personally. Id agree with one of the other posts. Two musicals and a play.

My thought would be Harry Potter or the ferryman. For the play

Then for the musical. Id see one new one and one thats more prominent and opened for a couple years.

I saw the Cher Show. Loved it for what its worth - a visually impressive, light. Fun night and show with catchy music. I did also enjoy mean girls.

Then the third something like lion king or phantom or wicked or Hamilton. Theres my two cents

In no particular order...

Harry Potter
Come From Away
Wicked
Hamilton

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Recently, I took one of my friends (who just moved up here from Florida) to his first Broadway show, WAITRESS. I picked it because it's a solid, middle of the road show in terms of tone and quality (in my opinion). If I immediately overshot and picked a very high-tech, opulent musical, then I feel like if I ever were to go with my friend again, he'd be disappointed at the high bar that was set.

On the other hand, I took my 69-year old aunt from Indiana to her first show this summer, which was HELLO, DOLLY with Bette Midler. Hey, at her age, go big-or-go home.

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MUSICALS

Hamilton

Wicked

My Fair Lady (traditional)

PLAYS

Torch Song Trilogy

The Ferryman

To Kill a Mockingbird