Welcome! The purpose of this thread is to talk about all things related to the wonderful world of musical theatre. Each week I will post a thread with a topic/question for everyone to respond to. This is also a great place to mention any new musicals you’ve discovered and/or general recommendations for other musical fans. Heard/seen any good shows lately? Have any theatre news to share? Tell us about it!

Alright, everybody, I think it’s time to talk about our favorite leading ladies. I’ll be gushing about how much I love Sutton Foster, but who are some of your favorite leading ladies? Of course, I won’t stop you if you also want to gush about Sutton. J Because, let’s face it, she is amazing. She can sing, she can dance, she can act, she’s funny, she can do it all! She has brought so many wonderful and compelling characters to life over the years, and not just on Broadway. Her work on Bunheads was spectacular, and I’ll never get over the cancellation of that show. Basically, my point is that Sutton Foster can do anything.

I’ve talked about my love of The Drowsy Chaperone before, but that wasn’t the musical that introduced me to Sutton. No, it wasn’t Thoroughly Modern Millie either. It was Little Women. If you haven’t seen/heard this musical before you might be thinking, “Huh? That? Is it even good?” Before I heard the musical I thought the same things. I heard there was a Little Women musical and figured it would be lame. I mean, why would you need a musical of that? A friend of mine kept insisting it was really good, but I didn’t believe her. Until she played a song from it in her car one day. That song was “Astonishing” and it truly was astonishing! After that my friend decided we should listen to the whole show (we were on a road trip). As we listened my friend answered any questions I had about the plot (I’ve never read the book, so I only had a vague familiarity with the story—she had read the book and seen the show) and it was a really memorable experience for me. While I think the whole musical is great, Sutton Foster is what brought it to life for me as I was listening to the album. She is such a powerful force that I couldn’t help but fall in love.

So, on that note, let’s watch Sutton Foster sing “Astonishing” before 9:00 in the morning like it’s no big deal: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2vcbng

Oh heck, since we’re here, let’s also watch this video of her performing “Gimme Gimme” from Thoroughly Modern Millie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYmjDSpGmtE

How is anyone that good at anything? It’s astonishing!

But I’ve said enough for now. There are a lot of amazingly talented women in musicals, so who are your favorite leading ladies?