Billy Elliot the Forum

I am showing it currently at 81. Only about 160 votes away (or 16 people really since you get 10 votes) from the top 50 where it belongs, IMO.

As for the other survey, I am always leery of putting in my email as an open invitation for even more spam, so did not partake in that one. I will say that the poll designer did seem to put some thought in it, as several are very hard to choose.

My personal top five:

BETM, Les Mis, Cabaret, Assassins and Miss Saigon

Can you explain what you love about Miss Saigon? I have to admit that I did see it and didn't care for it at all. However a lot of people love that show, so I think I was either missing something, or I was just in a bad mood or something like that.
So just wondering if you can share what you like about it. Are there any songs that I should maybe listen to?

I liked Miss Saigon for a lot of reasons, but probably speaks to others in different ways. I'll try to be brief..

For me, my first exposure to the musical was actually through drum and bugle corps (Santa Clara Vanguard played this in 1991) and got hooked on the soundtrack after wanting to hear more from the DCI show. My top 2 favorites from the ST were The Heat Is On In Saigon and Bui-Doi, but also like The Movie In My Mind, I Still Believe, If You Want To Die in Your Bed, and I'd Give My Life For You.

Modern day (or at least 20th century) is more of an interest for me as well for subject matter so that helped too.

The story is a classic tragedy (Madame Butterfly) with a contemporary twist, so there is a great foundation to work with. Surprisingly, it seems many musicals are quite weak with a plot or story line. Of the 5 shows I have a subscription to this year (Rock of Ages, Jersey Boys, West Side Story, Mary Poppins, and Wicked - the last one I have yet to see), WSS is the only one that I would consider to have a somewhat interesting storyline to follow. Jukebox musicals are terrible if you want substance.

A seemingly minor point, but I was fascinated with the set design on Miss Saigon, especially with the helicopter that flies off when they evacuate the embassy. (The equivalent set design "climax" for me in BETM would be when the union / boxing hall breaks apart to start the Dream Sequence - I love this!)

Last, and just like BETM, I simply like musicals that not only bring out all emotions - they make you laugh and cry - but also have a great story to tell and music to back it up. I would think most people would like to have this experience, but obviously people rank these in different priorities and have different tastes. This would explain the "outrage" in the comments section when they see their favorite musical ranked too low in the linked polls.

Thank you for that. Perhaps I will try and see it again if the opportunity arises. I may enjoy it more than I did 10 years ago. The same thing happened with Chicago. I hated it the first time I saw it, and then loved it the second time.

I do agree with the Jukebox Musicals. they are generally very weak stories. Also, while I can appreciate that the average theatregoer loves to hear music they are familiar with, I worry that too many of these types of musicals will do damage to shows with music created especially for them. Part of the enjoyment of seeing musicals to me is hearing new music that had a direct impact on or incorporates the storyline.

BETM has now slowly moved up to 76 in the rankings. Only about 140 votes or so to get it into the top 50. This should be very doable since it has received over 200 in the last month I believe.