A Short Review of Every Musical I've Seen Live

I really really really like Broadway musicals and I try to see them live every chance I get (but not necessarily on Broadway), so here's a review on each of the fourteen I've been to.

Image courtesy of Mashable

Into the Woods:
This was the first musical I ever saw live, so I was pretty little when I saw it and I don't really remember it that much. However, I do remember loving it and being starstruck when the actors came out into the lobby after the show (I saw it at Hale Centre Theatre--West Valley). I can't wait for the movie adaptation and I'm really excited to see Anna Kendrick and Chris Pine together!

A Christmas Carol:
Again, this was a long time ago, so I don't remember it very much. I remember liking it, but not loving it, and this one I saw at Hale, too.

Phantom of the Opera (2): 
I saw this one at Hale Centre Theatre quite a few years ago and, even though I don't remember much about it, I remember thinking it was pretty dang sweet. I saw it again on Broadway last April with Samantha Hill and Hugh Panaro who have some of the best voices ever and it was so incredibly powerful. Not quite as wonderful as the 25th anniversary cast, but still really rad.

She Loves Me:
She Loves Me is the most recent live musical I've seen. I saw this one at Hale as well and it was really cute, but somewhat dated and sexist. Fun, but not one of my favorites.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat:
Ok now I thought this one really sucked. It could have just been that the performers weren't very good singers or actors (I saw it at local Centerpoint Theatre which had just barely opened so it didn't attract very many people), but I wasn't crazy about the music or the execution of the story, either, even though it's composed by the brilliant Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Man of La Mancha:
Don Quixote is a little bit cray cray, but the music from this musical is beautiful. "The Impossible Dream" is undoubtedly one of my favorite songs from a musical ever. I saw this one at Centerpoint Theatre too but by then it had become more well-known and the performers were much better. One point that I must make, however, is that in both of the musicals I've seen there, the costumes have looked like they came out of a dress-up box. In Joseph, you could clearly see t-shirts layered under badly-constructred dresses, and in Man of La Mancha, the corsets were ill-fitting and ugly.

Les Misérables (2):
I'm pretty sure Les Mis will always be my favorite musical. Seeing the movie adaptation was what really got me into musical theatre. I saw it at Pioneer Theatre last year and this made me realize how much the movie cast sucked. The performers at this one had great voices and played very convincing characters, while most of the main actors in the movie were just picked for their fame and can't really sing (Éponine and the Barricade Boys were really awesome though). After finding out that Carrie Hope Fletcher would be playing Éponine on the West End, I begged my mom and finally got the opportunity to go see her (along with the drool-worthy Rob Houchen) in April. The West End of 2013-2014 is the best ever cast of Les Mis and I will argue that to the death. The only things that could have made my experience better would have been: a) Enjolras being played by Anton Zetterholm instead of first cover Oliver Savile, b) my sister not complaining the entire time, and c) more actors than just Rob showing up at stagedoor for autographs.

West Side Story:
I've loved the movie with Natalie Wood for a long time, so I saw it on the national tour in SLC with my grandparents. It was just as good, if not better, than the movie and we had really awesome seats so it was a pretty fun time.

A Chorus Line: 
While I was watching this at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City this summer I just wanted to be dancing in the story with the characters. It was SO. FREAKING. GOOD. Paul is my bae, and no one else can have him. I expected it to be dated, considering it premiered in the 1970s, but it's just as relevant today as it was then and I understood almost every single reference.

Annie Get Your Gun:
The music was cute, the story was cute, the performers' voices at the Sundance Theatre were great, and I enjoyed it. It just wasn't, like, THAT spectacular.

The Lion King:
During "Circle of Life" when all the animals are walking through the audience and onto the stage is the best part of the whole thing. It's sO COOL and pretty much everyone would enjoy seeing it. The costumes and the music are amazing and I love the fact that Rafiki is played by a woman.

Wicked:
It deserves all the hype it's been getting for the past 10 years. 'Nuff said.