Seconding BroadwayTravis' vote for Whistle Down the Wind, though of course you can count on me to vote for anything involving Jim Steinman. 
People give Whistle a bad rap, but that's partly because it's only the uneven '96 D.C. and '07 touring versions that America has seen. The version that emerged late in the run at the Aldwych Theater in London following minor revisions is the best version of the show. I'm not going to claim that Whistle is perfect, mind you, but the Aldwych version works, and I agree with Hal Prince (who directed it in its original D.C. run):
"...it had validity. I also never imagined that it could be a critical success, and that doesn't always matter. The original reviews of The Sound of Music, another musical about children, were terrible, and besides, no one really remembers what the original reviews of a hit show are. I knew that Whistle Down the Wind would likely be labeled as 'sentimental,' as The Sound of Music had been, and correctly so, but I also felt it had a potentially irresistible quality. Going in, I felt it had all the ingredients to become a popular success, and I still think it would have been infernally popular."
(Quote from Foster Hirsch's Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre.)
It just needs the right cast, and a better director than Bill Kenwright, whose national tour was criticized for its "rudimentary" staging by several critics.
(Brief casting note: In all honesty, I am quite surprised that Ted Neeley was never approached for The Man [the show's Christ-like figure], considering he's been playing Jesus for the better part of 40 years and seeking darker parts for longer, and this role straddles the line between both. It would have been a great comeback, well within his vocal range given his advancing years, and Webber could have gotten a nice publicity angle, to say nothing of a built-in Tedhead fan base, out of involving Neeley. He's who I would cast were I to produce it.)
People give Whistle a bad rap, but that's partly because it's only the uneven '96 D.C. and '07 touring versions that America has seen. The version that emerged late in the run at the Aldwych Theater in London following minor revisions is the best version of the show. I'm not going to claim that Whistle is perfect, mind you, but the Aldwych version works, and I agree with Hal Prince (who directed it in its original D.C. run):
"...it had validity. I also never imagined that it could be a critical success, and that doesn't always matter. The original reviews of The Sound of Music, another musical about children, were terrible, and besides, no one really remembers what the original reviews of a hit show are. I knew that Whistle Down the Wind would likely be labeled as 'sentimental,' as The Sound of Music had been, and correctly so, but I also felt it had a potentially irresistible quality. Going in, I felt it had all the ingredients to become a popular success, and I still think it would have been infernally popular."
(Quote from Foster Hirsch's Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre.)
It just needs the right cast, and a better director than Bill Kenwright, whose national tour was criticized for its "rudimentary" staging by several critics.
(Brief casting note: In all honesty, I am quite surprised that Ted Neeley was never approached for The Man [the show's Christ-like figure], considering he's been playing Jesus for the better part of 40 years and seeking darker parts for longer, and this role straddles the line between both. It would have been a great comeback, well within his vocal range given his advancing years, and Webber could have gotten a nice publicity angle, to say nothing of a built-in Tedhead fan base, out of involving Neeley. He's who I would cast were I to produce it.)
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joined:8/31/06
Posted: 2/23/12 at 11:46am