I would also add seeing Patti in Anything Goes was very special. I always say it was my first gay experience. My first sexual experience would come later.
I saw 'Moose Murders' & 'Frankenstein' & was so young - I thought both of them were super!
I was at a matinee performance of the original 'Nine' when construction work on the outside of the wall behind the stage caused dust to come raining down & the decision to stop the show for a bit.
The Lincoln Center Follies had Mandy Patinkin getting tongue-tied & having to start over again with one of his solos & Carol Burnett's cue cards manned behind a screen for 'I'm Still Here' w/bright lights blinding the front orchestra seats so that she could read them clear enough.
I saw Hedwig twice in one day the Sunday before NPH left
"The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world." - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Perhaps this isn’t so special, as it ran for two full months, but I had the great privilege to see Complicite’s MNEMONIC in 2001, which remains the greatest theater experience of my life.
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
Opening nights of "Once" and the current production of "On the Town."
the artist formerly known as dancingthrulife04
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Since people are putting Bridges and Big Fish, I will add those as well!
I was lucky to see: Bridges of Madison County Big Fish (twice) First night of If/Then in D.C. I will be seeing Angela Lansbury's last show of Blithe Spirit in D.C. from third row (thank you early ticket sales). Little Dancer in D.C. Sweeney Todd at the Lincoln Center (being even remotely in the same arena as Stephen Sondheim makes my life.)
But the one I hold most dearly is seeing Dame Janet Suzman and Khayalethu Anthony in a play called Solomon and Marion written by Lara Foot as part of the World Stages event that the Kennedy Center put on. I was front row and moved beyond belief. It still remains to be my favorite play I have ever seen and read and I swear Janet Suzman looked me straight in the eye during their curtain call and smiled at me because I was crying.
Last Preview and last performance of Violet on Broadway Jackie Burns and Idina Menzel in If/Then Anneleigh Ashford as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde Opening night of Wonderland (Ugh) Second to last performance of Bonnie and Clyde The matinee of Annie the day of the Tonys
I always love going backstage after shows (Rock of Ages, Mary Poppins and Wicked)
The best Broadway experience I have had to date happened two months ago, when I stood on the stage of The Broadway Theatre after Cinderella. It was just so surreal.
I've also had great times at Encores' Little Me when I accidentally ran into Christian Borle...and after A Little Night Music when I saw both Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch up close. Nice Work If You Can Get It was probably my best experience at a show overall- from the music to the performances to the stage door and everything in between.
I saw the third preview of Into the Woods (whatever happened to that show?)
I saw the first Saturday matinee preview of Carrie
First preview of the Tyne Daly Gypsy
The final dress rehearsal of the benefit concert of Company at Lincoln Center with the original cast
Chess in concert at Carnegie Hall (original cast)
Elaine Paige's first night in Sunset Boulevard (ended up with a cancelation ticket in a great seat sitting next to her sister or maybe it was her cousin)
-If/Then: Pre-Broadway performance in my home city AND Idina Menzel -Aladdin: Seeing both a Tony winner and a Disney voice actor, repeating his role was a treat -Matilda: Bertie and Lauren's performances were phenomenal! -Anything Goes: Sutton was my first Broadway star I've ever saw on the Broadway stage and it was my first show with Laura Osnes
I saw Idina Menzel in Pittsburgh, and then afterwards I got to speak with her and she gave me hug!!! She was a bit sick that night (you would never know except she kept making jokes about it) so I said she was very brave to preform sick...I was at a loss for words..and she said yeah, it's kind of rough when you're not 100%. So I just said "oh, it's okay" And then I thought, did I really just tell Idina Menzel that it's okay? Of course it is! The whole thing was one of the most surreal, best experiences of my life.
-Newsies closing weekend (Friday night, Saturday Night, Sunday show) -First preview for On The Town -Last show for Matt Doyle and Nikki M James in Book of Mormon -Seeing Bridges -Going backstage at Gypsy (the one with Patti Lupone) at a very young age and getting to stand on my first Broadway stage -Jasper In Deadland closing weekend -Last show for Gabe Ebert and six of the kids in Matilda
The performance of A Chorus Line when it became the longest running show in Broadway history. With a cast of 330 (they used the entire Booth Theatre as a dressing room) including the OC, it was the most astounding thing I have ever seen. Shubert Alley was cordoned off and covered with a tent for the pre- and after-parties. It was a spectacular event.
My wife saw Katherine Hepburn and a young Christopher Reeve in the Broadway play "Matter of Gravity" which I believe only had 70 something performances. Seeing a acting legend and a real cute guy (lol)in her opinion who would later become a major star was something she felt pretty lucky to see.
Haterobics, it took me a couple of seconds to get your joke!
I don't have as many special recollections as I would like because I didn't attend the theater for many years and came back to it quite recently. Alas.
But I would count as highlights seeing the original Pippin with Ben Vereen and Sweeney Todd with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. I also remember seeing National Lampoon's Lemmings off Broadway with John Belushi and Chevy Chase. My date at the time had been a classmate of Alice Playten, and we went to see her.
Modern amazements include the wonderful recent Twelfth Night with Mark Rylance and Samuel Barnett. How I love the dancing the cast does at the end!
Rent while it was still at NYTW and they couldn't give tickets away
Nick & Nora twice
Carousel with a then unknown Audra McDonald
Emma Thompson in Sweeney Todd
Othello with James Earl Jones, Christopher Plummer, Dianne Wiest and an unknown Kelsey Grammer
Othello with Raul Julia and Christopher Walken
starry The Seagull (Streep, Kline, Hoffman, et al)
Whistle Down The Wind in London
Judi Dench in Amy's View (Broadway) and The Royal Family (London)
Patricia Routledge in The Importance of Being Earnest
Master Class with Dixie Carter
So many others
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.