lol I worked at a professional theatre for 5 years (and theatres in general for way longer) and you seem like you're more well versed than I am.

Interesting point about Les Mis and Phantom. I enjoyed Les Mis the last time I saw it, but that was ages ago, during a time that I also liked Phantom (I still like a few songs in phantom, but hoo boy there's a lot of grossly problematic themes in it). Phantom with a high budget can be a blast to watch though, from a technical standpoint. I saw it once in Las Vegas. The chandelier was in 3 pieces hanging above the audience seating, and it slowly lit up and came together above the stage during the overture. It was fucking crazy to see. (awful audio warning: I found a terrible quality video on youtube!)

Haven't seen Wicked, Cats or Hamilton (or basically any broadway show. I'm a heretic, I know lol), so I can't comment on those. I haven't seen Evil dead: the Musical, but I've wanted to for ages. I'm big on Horror movies, and the Evil Dead movies are all wild.

I'm glad you mentioned Moulin Rouge. That movie is so fucking incredible. El Tango De Roxanne has lived rent free in my head since I first saw it and I'm honestly so glad about it.

As for recommendations to check out:

• Sweeney Todd. The 2007 movie with Johnny Depp is great (and very bloody) but I've seen a few renditions of it live and it's honestly always a great show. Checks a lot of boxes for me (good tunes, dystopian, and a surprisingly heavy story given that the theme is often horror-comedy-esqe).

• Urinetown. Been a while since I've seen it, but it's a great satirical musical (it makes jabs at a ton of stuff, but it's mostly aimed at capitalism in general).

• Little Shop of Horrors. This one has a special place in my heart because it's the first musical I worked on in highschool that I actually enjoyed. Not much to say, it's just a fun show.