How I roll

I don't listen to much music at all, and I pay no attention to contemporary popular music. Instead, periodically I "discover" a new musical, and I listen to the soundtrack, and nothing else, over and over again for months. That's how I roll. 2006 was a great year as I went from The Producers to Jesus Christ Superstar to Wicked. But I haven't bought a new musical soundtrack to repeatedly listen to in almost a year.

I've been looking. I keep thinking about different soundtracks and listening to samples. A few years ago, when my dad was picking out a car, I think he must have taken 20 test drives, sometimes in the same car. I thought it was crazy. But that was an expense of thousands of dollars; I'm trying to pick out a CD that at the absolute most is going to cost me $40, and I can't pin down a decision (but then, I'm a notorious cheapskate).

Are there any recommendations? I've been thinking about Phantom of the Opera or Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (but I'd like to get away from Webber a bit), and I'm almost ready to buy Les Miserables. I'm also thinking about Bye Bye Birdie, a play I saw around ten years ago and thought was funny.

Does anybody have any recommendations? I prefer musical theater from the past three decades, but I would be willing to try just about any showtunes.