Reading the Merrily thread got me thinking: What did you see that not many people did, and what is your story with it? The only things I can think of are:
- Matilda (I saw one of Craig Bierko's few performances) - Big Fish (Just the fact that it didn't run very long) - Pippin (Andrea Matrin's final performance this past September)
Does anyone else have any examples of things they could brag about seeing?
My college is putting up Dogfight in the spring, so I’m going to sit and bitch about how it’s not like the original production, which I saw while sitting in the same row as the composers, Marla Mindelle and all of their University of Michigan friends.
^ That's definitely worthy of bragging! Sounds like an awesome experience. Did Dogfight ever have plans to come to broadway? This is off topic but I think it would be perfect for The Circle in the Square.
"Does anyone else have any examples of things they could brag about seeing?"
Is bragging the right attitude to take here?
You happen to have been fortunate enough to be in NYC and to have the means to see these things. Others were not so fortunate. It's not as if it represents any great accomplishment on your part.
Bragging is unseemly. So is gloating.
I'm sure I've seen many short-lived plays of yesteryear that few people had the good fortune to see. I consider myself very lucky, unbelievably lucky. I am grateful, I am thankful, but it's nothing to boast about.
Saw Carol Channing and Tommy Tune at the Curran, that's about it.
I guess I also got to see the pre-Broadway runs of Bring it On and Beautiful, but those aren't so impressive because they are recent shows. If I got to see the pre-Broadway runs of shows like Oklahoma! or The Glass Menagerie, that would be impressive.
Updated On: 11/30/14 at 08:58 PM
Perhaps bragging rights is the wrong term. But I know what the OP means. For example: I was at the final performance of the LuPone GYPSY. It was magical, and I tell people I was there and feel very lucky and proud to have been in that audience.
It depends on whom I am "bragging" to. I have a lot of friends who love theatre, but who don't get to NYC very often or ever, so if I'm talking to those friends then most of my theatre experiences are pretty enviable. However, a couple specific things do come to mind:
-I saw the 100th preview of Spider-Man on Broadway ( I don't know if that's bragging rights, but it's a fun little thing to be able to say) -I also think I'll be able to brag about seeing Carol Burnett in Love Letters. -Seeing Jennifer Holliday sing "And I Am Telling You..." in concert.
There are probably more, but it's hard to say what people will envy in years to come.
I saw the preview of Spider-Man where the dude fell down the trap door. Definitely not something to brag about, but people are always astounded when I tell them.
"Bragging rights" is such a silly title for this thread, and I almost didn't respond accordingly, but I am among the few who saw Jeffrey Tambor in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES with Harvey Fierstein.
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
-Saw Scandalous, Big Fish, Chaplin, and Rocky before they closed -Saw Cate Blanchett and Isabel Huppert in The Maids -Saw Jason Robert Brown's concert at SubCulture this summer -At a performance of Bridges of Madison County conducted by JRB -Sat next to Orlando Bloom at The Glass Menagerie -Almost was hit by Philip Seymour Hoffman on his bike on 13th Street -Got to see the closing night performance of the recent revival of Jeykll and Hyde
--I spent time in the U of M school of music, theatre, and dance and saw some amazing things be created. --I was an audience speller in Spelling Bee and was the final speller eliminated --I saw Spiderman 1.0 with Natalie Mendoza --I, too, saw one of the few Craig Bierko Trunchbull performances --I was in a children's chorus for a stop on the mid '90s Joseph tour with Donny Osmond. He was big on giving high fives. Updated On: 11/30/14 at 11:34 PM
I watched the first preview of If/Then, watched the last performance of Rent on Broadway, and also saw Craig as Trunchbull. I am very thankful I got to experience all of them.
I got to see Anthony and Adam's last time playing Mark and Roger in Rent. I went specifically to see the last stop of the Broadway Tour in Sacramento... The Larsons were there, and Anthony said a few words about it onstage after the final bows.
I think I saw Jack Noseworthy's last performance in Lestat! That was, well, something. The show, anyway.
I was at closing night of the Benny tour of Rent. Total chaos and lots of crying, but a lot of fun.
I was at the closing of the 3rd national tour of Les Miz. No speeches, but we did get buttons and lots of balloons dropped at curtain call.
I was at Andrew Rannells' last performance in Mormon and first performance in Hedwig. I was also at Josh Gad and Rory O'Malley's last performances in Mormon.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
I have fond memories of A Cabaret Performance: Barbara Cook and Elaine Stritch in "Alphabetical Order." It was a benefit concert for Lincoln Center Theater in 2006 featuring the two Tony-winning theatre legends. What a night!
I still remember the goosebumps I had when Patti, Audra, Bernadette, Elaine, Donna and Marin came out in their red outfits at Avery Fisher Hall to help celebrate Sondheim's 80th at the 2010 birthday concert. Unforgettable.