Cindarella02, my wife and I found the music boring and repetitious and felt the show went on for about a half hour too long. We didn't see the original stars and thought that Ephedra's singing was right out of the American Idol school of shouting.
As for our grandkids, they were bored. Our 12-year-old really loved both Hairspray and Fiddler on the Roof, while the nine-year-old thought that Little Women was much better!

I can see your point ...I too loved Hairspray although unfortunately for me, my housemate hates it...that leaves me to listening to the soundtrack only when she's not home :)

I can highly recommend Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and All Shook Up. Norbert Leo Butz is amazing in DRS and the rest of the cast is also very good. All Shook Up surprised me-it wasn't my choice but I ended up loving it. Just an overall fun show and some great voices.

I also really liked Spamalot. Hank Azaria is gone for the summer and he was one of the highlights of the show but David Hyde Pierce, Tim Cury and Sara Ramirez are also outstanding. I had a seat in the back of the mezzanine-the view was a little obstructed when some the action was happening high up. I was able to just lean down a little to see it. In the mezzanine at least you aren't as far back as in the balcony. I was just happy to get my tickets.

I have done SRO before in smaller theatres. One was for Hairspray when it first came out and I thought it was worth it. The Shubert is pretty big so don''t know how good the view is from the SRO spots. I know that people line up early every day for the Spamalot SRO's so keep that in mind also.

Have fun whatever shows you see.

I received a notice from Playbill.com yesterday for discount tickets of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. While its nice to have the discount, this is usually not a good omen for a shows longevity. How sad if it closes soon, one of the current best on Broadway.

dirty rotten scoundrels is on discount? that's a surprise as most people in my office have been paying scalpers to get decent seats.

I just looked at Playbill.com about the discount tickets for DRS and the only thing I saw was offers for discounts if you join the Playbill Club. They had many shows listed for discounts if you belong to the club including those that have been running for a long time and continue to draw big audiences. I looked at grosses for the week of June 13-19 just for the musicals. Beauty & the Beast was at 93% attendance, DRS at 94%, Hairspray at 98% and Phantom at 97%. All those shows were being offered a discount if you belong to the Playbill Club. So I hope this means that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels will be around for a while because I agree it's one of the best (or at least the funniest)playing right now.

Paula, I'm not sure what you mean. Joining the Playbill Club is no big deal. You simply sign up. I wasn't aware that you get any discounts via Playbill.com without joining their club.

Meanwhile Dirty Rotten Scoundrels discounts are also available to anyone who clicks on www.broadwaybox.com

While starting discounts may sometimes seem like a bad omen to a show, there are many long running shows which have been offering discounts for years now! So it does NOT mean it is nearing the end of its run.

I agree Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a wonderful show!! And I think I enjoyed Joanna Gleason as much as the two leads.

To those of you who are raving about Norbert Leo Butz, he will not be doing the show the week that I am in New York. Playbill is offering somewhat discounted tickets, ($75 instead of $100) maybe for that reason. Should I see the show anyway?

Patrick-you're right about Playbill Club. I didn't make that very clear. And yes anyone can sign up and get the discount. And as you said and my numbers show-long running shows do offer discounts.

The day I saw DRS, Joanna Gleason was sick so she seemed a little bit off. She even mentioned it when she came at at the stage door-wouldn't stop because she was sick. I know she has a reputation for not sticking around at the stage door but you could tell by her voice she wasn't feeling well. I really liked the chemistry between John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz but one reason I like this show so much is because I think the chemistry between all the cast members is very strong.

MercersX5 - I don't know that I would see the show without Norbert because his performance is so outstanding. The other leads are great, though and as I said before the whole cast really works together well as an ensemble. Don't know if Norbert's understudy will have the same chemistry with the other players. It's a hard call so I'll be interested to see what some of the other Fodorites think.

Patrick is quite right about discount tickets. Many shows--Rent, Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, just to name three--have been making discount tickets available for years. Just about all the current shows--except for the major hits like Wicked, The Lion King and Avenue Q--offer discount tickets, some regular and some occasionally.

It's always a tough call to see a show without one of the stars. I have to admit I'm sure I liked Spamalot a little less because of the absence of Hank Azaria (and in fact, even saw his replacement's understudy -- not the replacement himself) and also missed the award winning "Lady of the Lake" who was out sick. Clearly I did not see the show in its best form -- but still very good and fun.

On the other hand I remember some shows that were greeted by boos at the announcement of understudies, that turned out to be remarkable performances by "unknowns". Last year in London, I saw Thoroughly Modern Millie with an understudy, who I swear out "Millied" Sutton Foster whom I had loved in the role.

Booing? That is so rude!

Last Monday I ordered tickets for the Odd Couple in February! I can't wait :D

Yes, booing. One clear example was going to see Patti Lupone in Anything Goes years ago at the Vivian Beaumont. The show was delayed. At about 15 or 20 minutes after 8, they finally announced that her understudy was going on, and the opening was delayed maybe another 15 minutes. A very large portion of the audience booed, and many got up to go get a refund. Linda Hart was the WONDERFUL understudy who was simply amazing in the role -- but not to the people who came merely to see Ms. Lupone.