I caught lots of national tours in Cincinnati, and I remember most, but not all, fondly: I was not crazy about Channing in the pre-Broadway Lorelei but i remember very well Camelot, with Arthur Treacher as Pellinore, Hello Dolly! with a radiant Mary Martin, No No Nanette, The Sound of Music, Cabaret, Godspell and The Magic Show, which I adored, as well as the Lincoln Center tours of Carousel with John Raitt and Susan Watson, and Kismet with Alfred Drake and Anne Jeffreys. Some tours, like Man of La Mancha and 1776 didn't hold a candle to their Broadway productions at all.
My first "Broadway" show was still off-Broadway at Union Square in 1966, the original production of Man of La Mancha on Dec. 26, 1966. I remember it vividly. Since then, I've seen the good, bad and ugly on and off Broadway. And missed several that I wished I'd seen as well!