Top three Broadway musicals for 16 yr olds?
 

I'm taking my 16 year old niece and her best friend to NYC in April. Both attend a performing arts high school (they sing), so going to a musical is a must. What are your top three recommendations for best music and dancing that would be interesting for 16 year-olds?

I've taken a 16-year old to Rent before and she loved it.

It might be too late to get tickets for Wicked, otherwise I would recommend Mamma Mia. Rent is very dark in my opinion, but my 16 year old daughter did like it. Whatever you go to, I think it's always better if you're familiar with the music, so buy her the soundtrack to listen to beforehand. Hairspray might be another good choice.

Have taken several kids (from 12 up) to Rent and they all loved it. Yes - it;s a little dark - but so is life at times. And it deals with a lot of the same issues kids are dealing with (developing sexuality, drugs - as well as some rebelliousness versus society that is typical of that age, etc) - so they relate to it very srongly.

Wicked is great - if you can get tickets.

Chorus Line if they love dance - and again a story about mostly young people learning the realities of making their way in the world.

Chorus Line- just saw it and it was great.

We just got back from NYC. We went to two shows and our friends who were there also saw two shows. We saw Altar Boyz and the Rockettes they saw Hairspray and Wicked. Age's are 16,16,17,17,12, and 9. The 16 and 17 yr old's loved Wicked. We wanted to see Rent and heard that was great. The other family saw Wicked and LOVED it. They also saw Hairspray and the guys thought it was boring. We went to Altar Boyz, it is about a Boys band(INSYNC) that are all Catholic with one jewish boy, and they all sing. They all have great voices. It is off Broadway but the theatre is great(New Worlds Stages)You cannot get a bad seat in this theatre. It was great because they made fun(all in good)about growing up Catholic.We are Catholic and laughed and laughed. I didn't know if my 17 year old would like it, but he really liked it.If we didn't have our 9 year old we would have gone to rent and of course the hot ticket in town is Jersey Boyz. I wish we could have seen that show but the tickets were unbelievably expensive through a ticket broker.Good Luck.

Whichever show you choose (Rent!) keep tabs on Broadwaybox.com for discount tickets as your date comes near. For instance, there are $55 discount tickets for Rent if you buy before the end of January and go before the end of April.

Looking at the list of what's playing on http://www.playbill.com/events/listing/1.html
there are very few musicals that I think would NOT be enjoyable for 2 16 yr. olds who are performers. Jersey Boys is THE hot ticket and if you can find and afford those, you're sure to be delighted.

Avenue Q is with puppets, but the actors who work them are visible (and young and not well known). It's a bit racey in content. This is Sesame St. for adults. I think the girls would get a kick out of it.

Legally Blonde and the Pirate Queen are 2 new shows that will just be opening or in preview during your visit.

What, if anything else have they seen?

These are all such wonderful suggestions--thank you so much!

McLaurie: they haven't seen anything, this will be their first trip to NYC, but they seem to be resisting the things that have Disney videos they've seen all their lives as too "goody goody" (Lion King, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast). They have to do a quarterly solo recital for school and my niece has done "Popular" from Wicked for that, so they are interested in Wicked; they both sing in the show choir where they did songs from Hairspray last year, so that's another good one. I really think you are right, they have no idea how fantastic anything can be on Broadway!

I assume you know there are ways to get discount tickets. You could go the theater every day you're here (and twice a day on those with matinees). Only pay full price for advance tickets for the hard to get ones and either buy tix from the TKTS booth for some others when you get here or try to get them on discount with broadwaybox.com. How long is your stay?

Unfortunately, we're only there two nights, April 12 and 13, but there still seem to be some tickets on Broadway Box and Stub Hub for all the sold out shows for that Thursday night.

Two female teenagers who sing and want to see Broadway and one has done "Popular"? This is a no-brainer -- try hard to get tickets for Wicked.

My 15 year old daughter is nuts about Wicked, she also enjoyed Altar Boys and the Wedding Singer.

"Hairspray", "Wicked" or "Les Miz" would all be good choices.

I agree that A Chorus Line would be a good choice as well. I loved it as a teenager in the 70s and I saw the revival last month and it was great.

Thanks so much for this great info and all the wonderful suggestions. I just bought four tix to Wicked on Broadwaybox.com and my niece is beside herself with joy.

Happy new year!!!

Cannot recommend 3; alas, we don't hit Broadway often enough. CAN vouch for Wicked, which we saw w/13-yr old daughter over Christmas. Can't imagine you could top this show for girls of any age. Actually there were a lot of adults there without kids, which I found astounding, until I experienced the show. Definitely not a "just for kids" type of deal. Can't recommend it highly enough; but teen-age girls, especially, will go wild.

In addition to all the old stuff that's been playing for years, I'd also suggest you consider the new musical Spring Awakening. It has mature themes, but it was written by indie musician Duncan Sheik and is actually about teens, albeit in 19th-century Germany.

BAsed on my daughter's input (a 17 yr old who also sings and performs in her school musicals), they would be Wicked, Rent and Hairspray. She wasn't blown away by A Chorus Line (I haven't seen it it myself, but did love it way back when). She also really enjoyed the Spelling Bee. She hasn't seen Avenue Q or some of the newer productions (Wedding Singer, Jersey Boys, Spring Awakening, etc).

While Avenue Q ROCKED, it was really dirty and racy. Of course I loved that, but even I, as a mid-thirties woman, was a little embarrassed b/c I was with my mom! Better for the adults. Wicked is great and I've never known a teenager who didn't love Rent (I work as a high school/college consultant so I spend a LOT of time with them). You'll love Wicked-fabulous!