london shows experience
 

we saw three shows in london:<BR>Les Mis--we'd seen this four times in the states but this was by far, the best production. the talent was incredible!<BR>Mamma Mia!--this was a lot of fun, esp for ABBA fans, however, the talent was not very impressive, still worth seeing though.<BR>Kiss Me, Kate--this was our least favorite. The cast were the originals from NY, and they were extraordinary but we weren't impressed with the script. A lot of extraneous songs and dance that didn't pertain to the story line.<BR><BR>For tickets, we bought for each show the day of at the ticket box. very easy to do and no lines. we saw mamma mia and les mis on weekend nights too and had no problem. i'd say all the seats in the theaters are fine, they are much smaller than the theaters in the states. we bought all our tix for less than $30 per person for each show! what a deal!

This is not meant as a criticism, but loved the comments about Kiss Me Kate. (by the way, are you sure the cast is the originals from New York?--I didn't think so). How our tastes in musicals have changed. At the time Kiss Me Kate came out it was still a fairly new era when the songs and dances had "something" to do with the plot, but were mainly just "dressing". Earlier than that they had nothing to do with it. Now we expect every song to further the story along. Just an observation.

they advertise that three of the leads are from the NY broadway production--true or not, they were very talented. <BR>Side note, I guess it's my preference to have the Les mis or phantom type of musical where the songs go along with the plot. when did kiss me kate come out?

Kiss Me Kate opened on Broadway in December of 1948 with Alfred Drake and Patricia Morrison. It was rumored to be a big hit even before it opened, and it was. But was soon overshadowed by South Pacific which opened a few months later in 1949. Kiss Me Kate ran for over 1000 performances. But we are talking about a show that is over 50 years old! <BR>I suppose the leads may have been Broadway replacements, but I'm pretty sure Brian Stokes Mitchell did not do the current London Production -- not sure about the others. Was just curious about that, that's all.<BR>

There were three of the Broadways leads in the London production of Kiss Me Kate, but only two--Marin Mazzie and Michael Berresse--were originals. The replacement for Brian Stokes Mitchell (whose name I forget) was the third.<BR>Patrick is also correct about the musical's history. I'm with you all the way on this one, Patrick.