For a Teenage girl, any recommendations on Priate Queen vs. Chicago vs. Drousy Chaperone? Thanks so much!

When is your trip?

Of those options, I guess I would suggest Drowsy, but we need to know more about her! What other shows does she like? What type of music? And how old is she?

If your trip is in April or later, you might consider Legally Blonde. If she's more mature, Spring Awakening is an excellent choice. And you can't go wrong with Wicked, if you have enough time to buy tickets.

OK--she loved Les Mis, Wicked, Phantom, has seen Lion King, Mama Mia,and we ARE doing Hairspray. But, for a possible other night...She wants a play with a story she doesn't know (i.e. Mary Poppins, Tarzan, Legally Blond)--thus the question about those in particular. So............

We saw The Pirate Queen in its Chicago preBroadway run, and all in our party (2 fiftysomethings, a twenty something couple, and a 24-year-old woman) were underwhelmed.

While Pirate Queen hasn't been getting the best reviews, for a girl who LOVED Les Miz and Phantom -- apparently more than Hairspray -- I'd think Pirate Queen will be more to her liking.

Avenue Q.

My 16 year old daughter liked Drowsey Chaperone much better than Chicago. She has seen all of the others you mentioned. Also she loved Spelling Bee which she didn't want to see last year but heard it was good and tried it this year.

what about Rent or a Chorus Line?

My 14 year old daughter's favorite musical is Rent, with Wicked a very close second. She saw Spring Awakening and did not love it nor does she listen to the music the way she does for Rent and Wicked.

There is a new production of Xanadu going into previews in late May and opening in June. She's probably too young to remember the original movie so might enjoy this one. I think Drowsy -- while very funny, might be a bit too theater insider for her taste. Don't know anything about PQ, although the reviews here aren't promising. Chicago is a bit raunchy -- but in a theatrical way, so she might like that. It would be great to see BeBe in that production. What about the new David Hyde Pierce show -- Curtains? or The Color Purple? or the new version of Grease with the much publicized leads cast from the TV special?

My 16 yo loved Rent!! She just saw Spelling Bee in NY when she went there for a chorus trip. She and all her friends loved it.

Since you seem to focus on the unfamiliar "story" that she is looking for, and you have used the term "play" twice, I'm curious why everything you mentin is musicals. Is it possible it's time for her to see a real PLAY, one without music?

Also, no one has mentioned Grey Gardens, which might be a wonderful choice for her, a musical that plays more like a play.

Hello! In that case, I would definitely look into Spring Awakening a bit more. For one thing, it's something her friends won't yet be familiar with- so a "novelty" in that sense. And for another, it's a great show! The website, springawakening.com, is very interactive, so perhaps she can take a look and see if she likes the music, etc.

Spelling Bee is a great show too, and a nice contrast to Hairspray (smaller, very funny).

I was a little taken aback by how sexually explicit Spring Awakening was if my teen had any illusions about sex they are gone now. She really enjoyed it though. She enjoyed Avenue Q and Rent last year too both of which had sexual content too but we went from puppet nudity in Avenue Q to the real deal this year in Spring Awakening. Avenue Q was very funny. I asked her to decide which of three she'd rank first and she really couldn't decide. She saw Spamalot and Les Mis too and ranks Spamalot her lowest she thought it was funny but not as riveting as the others.

I don't know if this is too late for your trip, but Pirate Queen is just plain awful.

When and where did you see Pirate Queen, kirbyks?

I just saw Pirate Queen last week. I wouldn't say it was 'awful'. I thought the sets were good, other than one scene where it was a tad disappointing. The costumes were wonderful, and the story was good. Where is was lacking was the music. It was pretty much an operetta, (sp?), but it seemed like just one long run-on song. Droning. Took it from an above average to an average show. The music was actually distracting.
However, it was 2 hours of entertainment and exactly what I thought it would be.

I saw it last Tuesday at the Hilton Theater. I'll admit that the sets and costumes were good, but the review in the Times was spot on.

the new David Hyde Pierce show -- Curtains, my 18 & 20 yr old daughters loved it.

Oh, forgot about that one. Yes, loved Curtains!

How about Jersey Boys? When rock n roll was rock n roll! People are standing and screaming for somethng.