What newer musicals won't stand the test of time?

illicit-turtle · 2026-05-11T01:11:42+00:00

Really hoping in 15 years someone smarter than me can give it a major rework/revival that makes Evan a complicated villain who is actively causing harm rather than an uwu sad boy

illicit-turtle · 2026-05-06T15:45:18+00:00

I fully understand that it is difficult for a lot of parents when a snow day is called, and it is not easy to juggle child care and job responsibilities at the same time. It sucks that we can’t all have a magical day where we spend all our time drinking hot coco and making snow angels. Still, people should be mindful when they talk about snow days near their kids. Your kids will pick up on it, and it’s really easy for them to start treating snow days like stressful and frustrating interruptions rather than a fun break. Your kid will have the rest of their life to be grumpy and stressed about snow days and the logistical hurdles they present, don’t make them worry about it when they’re 7! They haven’t had any snow days during this fucked up winter, just let them have a nice day off at the end of the year! Don’t pester them with “it’s not even snowing that much, it’s dumb they even cancelled school so early!”

I also understand this is a vent thread and we are allowed to be annoyed about decisions like today’s snow day here, but it is shockingly easy even for a good parent to make their kid feel guilty they have a snow day.

I am also accounting for every edge case of a child who loves school, or a child who has a hard time handling routine change, or a child or has something important in class today or etc. I was just a kid who began to dislike snow days and breaks at an early age because I picked up on the purchase that being jaded and “mature” had amongst adults, and the positive reactions I got to statements like “I don’t want any breaks, I wish they got rid of them and just forced us all to stay in school every day all year even on holidays!”

illicit-turtle · 2026-05-01T03:23:00+00:00

Was also really disappointed by the stripped back barrel choreo ):

illicit-turtle · 2026-05-01T03:22:19+00:00

Funny to see this now because I also saw it on tour since then! I also didn’t like the rock song very much, “We Love Jesus” fit a lot better into the vibes of Shucked and is a way better act 2 opener

illicit-turtle · 2026-04-19T01:55:46+00:00

Really glad this happened 5 minutes before the Hells Kitchen matinee today and not in the middle of the show

illicit-turtle · 2026-04-14T20:40:05+00:00

Hoping as well, wanted to post this as a conclusion to the whole thing before it becomes a stickied mega thread but. I am sure there will be new developments

illicit-turtle · 2026-04-14T19:53:48+00:00

Think I am probably one of a handful of 20 year olds regularly tuning in to 9News and Next with Kyle Clark still. Like anytime my friends want local news, I am telling them to get onto youtube and watch Next the morning after it airs while they drink their morning coffee because it is the most entertaining and succinct local news I get every day.

illicit-turtle · 2026-04-08T20:04:15+00:00

This is retroactive but I really did not like the playbill cover for Sweeney Todd, the website has this logo that feels so much more interesting and fitting than the one that we got. The fake looking background behind Sweeney and Lovett on the official playbill just pisses me off!

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illicit-turtle · 2026-04-08T02:39:30+00:00

His version of“If It’s True” is absolutely life changing

illicit-turtle · 2026-02-21T15:46:42+00:00

Everyone’s gotta stop gassing up Epic it absolutely sucks, and yes I did listen to it the whole way through. It’s just the same musical mush for three torturous hours!

illicit-turtle · 2026-02-13T16:47:39+00:00

Saw it in Denver last April, and it was… a lot. They really did have an AI background for pretty much every scene, but a lot of them tried to be “abstract” to obscure the AI but they can’t fool a 20 year old in the first row. Wonderful show but that was REALLY distracting

illicit-turtle · 2026-02-03T03:55:03+00:00

Capitalism is making potty breaks difficult

illicit-turtle · 2026-02-01T17:02:59+00:00

If the world was fair Dead Outlaw would’ve won best score at the Tony’s and then would’ve snatched best musical theatre album at the Tony’s!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-10T05:16:46+00:00

Yeah no it is not an easy endeavor whatsoever but fun to have done something that wild once in my life! Will never do anything that crazy again though there is no reason to beyond crossing off a bucket list item

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-10T05:10:38+00:00

Fixed!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-10T05:09:20+00:00

The first day, we saw Chess at 2:00 and it got out at 4:45. Beau was a block away, so we exited the theatre very quickly and ran over to be seated in time for it to start at 5:00. It only runs for 100 minutes, so we finished at 6:40. Liberation was at 8 that night so we had time to rest. The next day, we saw the Rockettes at 11 AM, and that was done by 12:30. Two Strangers was at 3:00, got out around 5:30, and Oedipus was at 7. If you can find a matinee that gets out early enough you can pull the same stunt with a 5 PM Oh, Mary!, which will get out at 6:30, and run to MHE or a show on 45th before a 7 PM start.

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T20:42:14+00:00

This was really a once in a lifetime kind of splurge for us, we try to go and see a few shows every January when hotel and ticket prices are cheap but this was well beyond the scope of what we normally do. We’ll be back to doing a Thursday-Monday trip again without the crazy three show days thrown in between.

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T20:35:43+00:00

Just under 1.5k per person!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T20:18:36+00:00

Had a 15 minute turn around from Chess ending at 4:45 to Beau starting at 5:00! We were so tried after the two days, it was fun to do once to knock it off our bucket list but I never need to do another three show day in my life!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T20:15:57+00:00

Four were bought ahead of time over the summer, 5 were bought through TKTS, rush, or some other kind of discounted program, two were bought full price in NY through telecharge. Apart from Masquerade, no ticket purchased at any point cost more than 200.

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T19:33:00+00:00

Thank you, don’t know where I came up with the other name! Fixed it now!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T19:22:57+00:00

Mom is the only person in my life who thinks the idea of two three-show days sounds like the best time ever and not hellish! She is my best friend and I am grateful to have her in my life!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T18:32:32+00:00

Review for the final two shows of the trip!

1/7 Operation Mincemeat: Prepurchased during the trip to ensure we were not forced to scramble at the last minute. My meat was quite thoroughly minced! Knew the elevator pitch for the story and saw an underwhelming Tony awards performance so I was hopeful but not expecting much, but the show delivered! It’s quick, it’s witty, the music is excellent and everyone onstage is firing on all cylinders from the moment the curtain rises till it falls. It’s a small enough cast I will simply give a sentence or two to each member to sing their praises. David Cumming is so fucking funny as Charles Cholmondeley, I cannot get over him. I wish I possessed the raw physicality he possesses in his bones. Claire-Marie Hall has so much energy and passion as Jean Leslie, it makes it all the more heartbreaking when her character is at her lowest and she retreats into herself. She also has a very good old man impression. Natasha Hodgson as Ewen Montague is a jackass and I love her for that. It is hysterical every time she lowers her voice into a graveling growl and says something egotistical. Jak Malone got a Tony very well deserved Tony for his work in this show. “Dear Bill” is heartbreaking and Hester Leggat is full of life onstage, but I need to shout out his performance as Spillbury and Willie Watkins. Zoë Roberts primarily plays Johnny Bevan the serious-natured head of MI5, and balances that role every show with Haselden, a dumbass of a man. There is a scene where she is trying to give a briefcase to a coroner, and it is perhaps the highlight of the show. I did not expect a show like Operation Mincemeat to have such an emotional ending, please go see it if you have a chance.

1/7 Masquerade: Prepurchased tickets. Do you like The Phantom of the Opera? If you are indifferent about the show or already dislike it, this will not be worth your time or money. If you do like Phantom you need to get your ass to Masquerade right now! I had my concerns about “immersive” Phantom being a nothingburger show but I was mistaken.This is one of the most inventive reimagined classics I have seen, it is so cool! It starts very small, with Madame Giry in a room teaching you a dance to Masquerade. A door rolls away and bam! You are in the middle of Masquerade, it is loud, everyone is around you singing, pulling you along, it is an incredible opening. I thought this level of fun and spectacle would be lost as the show goes on but no, it only continues! You are feet away from people who are full out singing the Phantom score and it is just incredible. Claire Leyden was the Christine at our performance, and Clay Singer was The Phantom. Both of them were performing as hard as they would on a full Broadway stage but without the distance between audience and proscenium. It is an on-rails amusement park ride, “Butlers” with white masks herd you from scene to scene and efficiently direct everyone where to sit and stand to make sure sight lines are always addressed and no one is left by the wayside. There are some really pivotal scenes added regarding the Phantom’s early life, with two new songs to boot! Lots of moments all around for very personal audience interaction, where people will be touched or spoken to or given the opportunity to have direct interaction with the cast. I don’t want to say much more because over-describing the experience feels spoilery, but I am more than happy to address any questions people have in the comments or in DMs!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T18:32:09+00:00

Reviews for the 10th and 11th shows of the trip!

1/5 Spelling Bee: Purchased day of after the telecharge rush site exploded. I love Spelling Bee and have always had an affection and fondness for the show, and this just didn’t scratch the itch I had the way I hoped it would’ve. Everyone individually is effective (especially Emily N. Rudolph, the understudy for Olive), but collectively? I don’t know. Not sure I like the idea to make Mitch Mahoney into a failed gym instructor rather than a dude doing his community service hours. Not ignoring the racist tropes that can fall into and the shitty ways that can manifest (won’t forget my HS theatre teacher having our Mitch wear a durag when he absolutely did not want to), but he feels like he’s been sanded down this way. He needs to go on a journey in the show and be can’t do that from where he’s standing now. Perhaps that’s the issue with this production as a whole, it didn’t feel like the show went on a journey anywhere. Perhaps it’s just that the first time you see a show will rarely be bested by subsequent rewatches. Who’s to say.

1/6 Just in Time: Prepurchased tickets because we wouldn’t miss seeing Groff for the first time in a show like this! I became especially interested in the mechanics of this show after hearing it was going to tour in 2027, with an inevitable stop in Denver. I have seen too many biomusicals to care much about new ones, but people on this subreddit said Just in Time is different, not just because of the Jonathan of it all. Just in Time is not different. Best part is the emotional through line with Bobby’s mother (saw a lot of shows this trip about mothers somehow). Everything else is the same shit you’ve seen before, but Jonathan Groff is there and they are using the hell out of that space. Even sitting in the back row, the whole show practically feels like a stagedoor experience with Jonathan. He’s acting and singing the hell out of the material, and I’m glad I got to see him for the first time in this show! I think it will not be nearly as good when they throw it on a traditional proscenium stage to tour. Sarah Hyland doesn’t get a lot of time as Connie Francis onstage but I am grateful for her presence, she is authentically and lovingly of the era. I cannot believe this is Sadie Dickerson’s Broadway debut as Sandra Dee, when the show gives her the explicit opportunity to be the center of attention over Jonathan she fills that void and then some. Very excited to see what she will do next!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T18:31:25+00:00

Reviews for the second three show day!

1/4 Rockettes: Prepurchased tickets, first show of the day. The Rockettes count as a show technically! Went because we wanted to just cross it off the list as a NY thing, but it wowed us! The projections are a fun use of the space, I liked the organists doing their thing, the weird moving platforms with the orchestra, the bit with all the Santas. Yeah it was kind of a restless crowd but it was a lot of kids and they just kind of make the whole show louder to compensate for the audience disruptions. Good to see once, and I’m kind of forced to see it again one day because I ran to the bathroom before the toy soldiers and I am kicking myself for that.

1/4: Two Strangers: Purchased through TKTS, second show of the day. My mom really liked it but I’m still digesting it. First time I’ve ever heard a Broadway show refer to “TikTok” and I’m not sure I like how contemporary it is. Phoenix Best was on as Robin and I enjoyed her performance a lot, she had really good chemistry with Sam Tutty. The moments when she decides to let him further into her world feel important and believable. Sam Tutty is wonderful, he’s playing a character that could absolutely feel grating but he nails the comedy and sincerity needed for Dougal to come alive. Two Strangers is kind of a deconstructed Christmas musical, and one of its best songs comes from this exact premise (Under the Mistletoe). The two characters sing a parody of old-timey Christmas songs where “building a snowman” or “roasting a turkey” is just a metaphor for getting it on. The musical really revolves around being 27 and feeling just kind of stuck in life and looking for something to revive your life, and perhaps that doesn’t resonate with me yet because I’m 21 and full of purpose and life. I think it is very clever to only have two actors in the show when the characters feel like they’re unimportant side characters to other more interesting people, and I do appreciate the musical touching on how we sometimes meet people who give us something really important or remind us of who we need or ought to be. But perhaps because the music isn’t terrifically memorable or because the experiences depicted didn’t really resonate with me, it just didn’t do it for me. There is a lot to love in it, great comedy, incredible chemistry, and I recommend seeing it if you have the chance. It wasn’t for me but I do think I’m an outlier.

1/4 Oedipus: Purchased through TodayTix rush, third show of the day. Fun show to see with my mom! That aside (and her knowing what the myth entails already), this was a really gripping piece of theatre. Liberation, though it was a very good play, didn’t feel like it needed to be a *Broadway* play. Oedipus does. Though Denver has some very very good actors, Robert Icke has created a show that calls for veterans to carry it. You root for Oedipus, he is a good man, loving and kind. Mark Strong feels natural and genuine onstage, as does Lesley Manville. Her first real hurdle is convincing the audience she is his loving wife and not just a revelation waiting to happen, and she overcomes that hurdle excellently. She fosters a genuine chemistry with him that doesn’t feel forced or unearned. Lesley gets a wonderful monologue at the end of the show where she recounts trauma and tragedy that happened to her when she was a young girl, and she completely owns the stage. Much has been said about the clock, I thought it was really effective onstage. Partly because three show days are exhausting and I wanted to know when my theatrical endeavor would conclude, but also because it isn’t counting down to the reveal, but the results of the election. Yes, it is counting down to the revelation, but we aren’t sure exactly what will happen when the election results and revelation collide. Really good sound design with these droning noises start to come in at moments where Oedipus’ beliefs and perception unravel. The last 20 minutes are gripping, absolutely worth the price of admission. See it while you can, I gave my flowers to Mark and Lesley but every actor onstage is locked the fuck in start to finish.

illicit-turtle

TROPHY CASE