The Broadway show thread where we discuss all things Broadway

[Lorelei Lee]

My daughters dance school did that also! It was painful. When she was in a play at CM Performing arts I went to every single one-normally I do with her other theater group but those are only 3 shows-CM runs much longer!

And by the end of the run you feel like you could get up on the stage and perform alongside the kids.

The irony was that I initially chose the studio because the owner didn't want to do recitals. But the original owner sold the studio a few years later.

 

[rebeccam31]

My son is nine and I think would do great in theater. I'm trying to encourage him to try out for his school's play next year (he attends a magnet school for arts and humanities so the creative arts are really emphasized). I've always wondered if I would attend every single production (of a single play) if he were cast in a role, and I have to admit, I think I would! I definitely don't blame you!

My daughter (she's 12) just auditioned for a part in the children's chorus in Joseph at our regional theater. I was so proud of her for even trying, but we were notified today that she made it!! She's ecstatic. It's a two week run, and I imagine I'll go every night.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I couldn't imagine hanging around at home or doing the grocery shopping knowing my son was up on stage playing Pippin! I felt like if he was up there, I had to see every performance. Plus, he relies on DH and me to give him notes after each show. DH is a musical director and singer and helps him with his vocal technique. I helped him solve a costume issue with Pippin's shirt (boys don't think about safety pins!). He also wants to know how his makeup looks from the audience and if he needs to tweak anything (this show didn't have a makeup person). They did 6 performances over 2 weekends. I almost feel like I could watch it again this coming weekend, but sadly it closed.

He also performs with a youth theater group that double-casts their shows. My son had a big role in Cabaret (Herr Shultz), but he was double-cast over 6 shows. He performed Shultz in 3 shows, and was in the ensemble for the other 3. In that case, we saw all of his Shultz performances and 1 of his ensemble performances so we could see the other cast. It's fun to see the kids' different takes on the roles.

 

[rebeccam31]

I couldn't imagine hanging around at home or doing the grocery shopping knowing my son was up on stage playing Pippin! I felt like if he was up there, I had to see every performance. Plus, he relies on DH and me to give him notes after each show. DH is a musical director and singer and helps him with his vocal technique. I helped him solve a costume issue with Pippin's shirt (boys don't think about safety pins!). He also wants to know how his makeup looks from the audience and if he needs to tweak anything (this show didn't have a makeup person). They did 6 performances over 2 weekends. I almost feel like I could watch it again this coming weekend, but sadly it closed. He also performs with a youth theater group that double-casts their shows. My son had a big role in Cabaret (Herr Shultz), but he was double-cast over 6 shows. He performed Shultz in 3 shows, and was in the ensemble for the other 3. In that case, we saw all of his Shultz performances and 1 of his ensemble performances so we could see the other cast. It's fun to see the kids' different takes on the roles.

I do love me some Pippin! My daughter is in a youth theater group as well (she recently was Grace Farrell in Annie). It's such a neat experience. We struggle with finding boys to audition locally--I think it's fantastic that your son is so involved!

 

[JenM]

Got my tickets for Aladdin in May!

It was pretty cool, actually. I ran into a friend who works at the theater when I was in the box office, and she helped me get great seats in the front row of the mezzanine. Can't wait to see it.

 

[rebeccam31]

Got my tickets for Aladdin in May! It was pretty cool, actually. I ran into a friend who works at the theater when I was in the box office, and she helped me get great seats in the front row of the mezzanine. Can't wait to see it.

We're going on Easter Sunday. We're very excited!

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

I'm planning my family's trip to NYC for the first week of July. It will be the first trip for my son (12-1/2), the second for my daughter (16) and husband, and my third. We've seen Wicked and Mary Poppins in the past. We have tickets for The Lion King. I'm trying to decide what other show to see. I've read good things about Newsies, and there are discounts available for it at that time. My daughter is a fan of Idina Menzel, so we are very interested in If/Then. I know it is currently in previews, but I would love to hear a review if anyone here has seen it. After paying full price for TLK for the 4 of us, I don't know if I can swing full price for another show. Right now I can only find discounts for If/Then through mid-May.

I guess I'm looking for advice from you awesome Broadway experts - is If/Then worth full price? From your experience, do you think there might be a discount beyond the mid-May one that is available now? Do you think I should just go with Newsies instead? And if I see Newsies, the discounted tickets are for orchestra rows N and back or rear mezzanine rows KK and back. Which would you recommend?

Thanks for your help! My trips to NYC before have only been 3 nights each. We're looking forward to having a 6 night stay. If I can get discounts for If/Then, I might even convince my husband we need to see 3 shows!!

 

[LaLalovesWDW]

Good morning! I was so excited to find this thread! I work for what is technically a Broadway house in NYC, but we are not located in the 42nd Street area. We do mostly plays but have done a few musicals - The Light in The Piazza, Sarafina, South Pacific to name a few. Just wanted to introduce myself in case anyone had questions about shows, tickets, etc.

I only read the posts on the first page from back in the Ice Age so I know you've all moved far from that topic, but my favorite Broadway Shows to date are Phantom of the Opera (seen it like 20 times), The Color Purple, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Starlight Express (wow, I can't believe someone else but me remembered that).

I'm planning my family's trip to NYC for the first week of July. It will be the first trip for my son (12-1/2), the second for my daughter (16) and husband, and my third. We've seen Wicked and Mary Poppins in the past. We have tickets for The Lion King. I'm trying to decide what other show to see. I've read good things about Newsies, and there are discounts available for it at that time. My daughter is a fan of Idina Menzel, so we are very interested in If/Then. I know it is currently in previews, but I would love to hear a review if anyone here has seen it. After paying full price for TLK for the 4 of us, I don't know if I can swing full price for another show. Right now I can only find discounts for If/Then through mid-May.

I guess I'm looking for advice from you awesome Broadway experts - is If/Then worth full price? From your experience, do you think there might be a discount beyond the mid-May one that is available now? Do you think I should just go with Newsies instead? And if I see Newsies, the discounted tickets are for orchestra rows N and back or rear mezzanine rows KK and back. Which would you recommend?

Thanks for your help! My trips to NYC before have only been 3 nights each. We're looking forward to having a 6 night stay. If I can get discounts for If/Then, I might even convince my husband we need to see 3 shows!!

The problem with shows in Previews is that you really don't know how they are going to do until after they Open. If the show is a dud (which I doubt this will be) you will be able to find discounts sooner than later in order to keep the seats full. However, if its a smash, you may not see any for a year or so. I am a member of Playbill.com and I see the discounts they have now only go through May, as you said. However after it opens on the 30th, you may want to check back and see if they extend the discounts. Usually if its really a smash hit, it will be really hard to find any discounts for July.

You could always brave the TKTS line in Times Square when you get here for discounts. Most of the show houses allot a certain # of deeply discounted tickets to them. Good luck and enjoy!!

 

[Lorelei Lee]

Good morning! I was so excited to find this thread! I work for what is technically a Broadway house in NYC, but we are not located in the 42nd Street area. We do mostly plays but have done a few musicals - The Light in The Piazza, Sarafina, South Pacific to name a few. Just wanted to introduce myself in case anyone had questions about shows, tickets, etc.

I only read the posts on the first page from back in the Ice Age so I know you've all moved far from that topic, but my favorite Broadway Shows to date are Phantom of the Opera (seen it like 20 times), The Color Purple, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Starlight Express (wow, I can't believe someone else but me remembered that).



The problem with shows in Previews is that you really don't know how they are going to do until after they Open. If the show is a dud (which I doubt this will be) you will be able to find discounts sooner than later in order to keep the seats full. However, if its a smash, you may not see any for a year or so. I am a member of Playbill.com and I see the discounts they have now only go through May, as you said. However after it opens on the 30th, you may want to check back and see if they extend the discounts. Usually if its really a smash hit, it will be really hard to find any discounts for July.

You could always brave the TKTS line in Times Square when you get here for discounts. Most of the show houses allot a certain # of deeply discounted tickets to them. Good luck and enjoy!!

So, how are things at Lincoln Center these days? I've seen a few shows at the Beaumont.

 

[elgerber]

I'm planning my family's trip to NYC for the first week of July. It will be the first trip for my son (12-1/2), the second for my daughter (16) and husband, and my third. We've seen Wicked and Mary Poppins in the past. We have tickets for The Lion King. I'm trying to decide what other show to see. I've read good things about Newsies, and there are discounts available for it at that time. My daughter is a fan of Idina Menzel, so we are very interested in If/Then. I know it is currently in previews, but I would love to hear a review if anyone here has seen it. After paying full price for TLK for the 4 of us, I don't know if I can swing full price for another show. Right now I can only find discounts for If/Then through mid-May.

I guess I'm looking for advice from you awesome Broadway experts - is If/Then worth full price? From your experience, do you think there might be a discount beyond the mid-May one that is available now? Do you think I should just go with Newsies instead? And if I see Newsies, the discounted tickets are for orchestra rows N and back or rear mezzanine rows KK and back. Which would you recommend?

Thanks for your help! My trips to NYC before have only been 3 nights each. We're looking forward to having a 6 night stay. If I can get discounts for If/Then, I might even convince my husband we need to see 3 shows!!

We are also wondering if anyone has any feedback yet on If/Then. My dd is also an Idina obsessed girl. We have seen her twice in concert. She really wants to see this when we visit in July, but we can only do two shows (since I bought us Queen/Adam Lambert tickets last week) so we have to choose carefully.

Our high school production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, opened last night. We have major sound issues, but the cast was great, and it was hilarious. My dd is playing Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre.

 

[LaLalovesWDW]

So, how are things at Lincoln Center these days? I've seen a few shows at the Beaumont.

Ha!! Good job Things are great. We got two plays going on right now...wait, do I know you? LOL

 

[Lorelei Lee]

Ha!! Good job Things are great. We got two plays going on right now...wait, do I know you? LOL

Broadway house, not in the theater district, home of "The Light in the Piazza", not too hard to figure out.

My daughter is a Fordham student, spent the first two years of her college career at their Lincoln Center campus before transferring up to the Bronx. So I've been in your neighborhood a time or two.

 

[meajuly5]

Headed to wicked in nyc next week and Mathilda in london next month.

 

[JenM]

Broadway house, not in the theater district, home of "The Light in the Piazza", not too hard to figure out.

Yep, that clued me in too! I used to work across the street.

Also,

I only read the posts on the first page from back in the Ice Age so I know you've all moved far from that topic, but my favorite Broadway Shows to date are Phantom of the Opera (seen it like 20 times), The Color Purple, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Starlight Express (wow, I can't believe someone else but me remembered that).

I saw Starlight Express twice! Once in NY, once in London.

 

[LaLalovesWDW]

Yep, that clued me in too! I used to work across the street.

Also,



I saw Starlight Express twice! Once in NY, once in London.

Thats too funny... no one ever remember that we are a Broadway Theater too and Im usually too lazy to explain lol. But this is refreshing that TWO of you know!! I Love love love Starlight Express. It was the very first Broadway show that my Mom ever took me to and every time I hear "I Am the Starlight", it brings back the memories.

 

[Lorelei Lee]

Just got an email that's so...so...so disappointing.

Have you seen all those ads for "Hearts and Lights", the spring show at Radio City? We love the Rockettes, we bought our tickets even befor ethe big as campaign.

Just got an email that the entire run of the show was cancelled. They have some major technical issues, so they're postponing the show until 2015.

 

[TifffanyD]

I saw the rockettes and thought they were kind of lame. Like... They were ok for a bit in a variety show but not for a show all their own. Not enough substance.

 

[JenM]

Thats too funny... no one ever remember that we are a Broadway Theater too and Im usually too lazy to explain lol. But this is refreshing that TWO of you know!! I Love love love Starlight Express. It was the very first Broadway show that my Mom ever took me to and every time I hear "I Am the Starlight", it brings back the memories.

I saw Carousel at that theater! Back when Audra McDonald was listed in the Playbill as "Audra Ann McDonald." It's so far out of the theater district that I think a lot of people don't know there's a Broadway theater in there.

Starlight Express was a joint graduation present for my sister and me in 1988. She had just finished up elementary school, and I had just finished middle school, and I remember we went to the Saturday matinee that week. It was so cool! I remember coming home and going out on my roller skates for the rest of the day.

We saw it in London in 1998. It had closed on Broadway ages before that and we we excited to see it still playing there, so we had to go. We probably liked it a little better when we were kids, but it was still a lot of fun, and the theater was really cool. One of the tracks went right along the front mezzanine.

 

[elphaba91]

We are also wondering if anyone has any feedback yet on If/Then. My dd is also an Idina obsessed girl. We have seen her twice in concert.

I haven't seen If/Then yet, but Idina did sing one of the songs in her Australian concerts last year and it was breathtaking. I've also been reading really positive things on social media, but these are Idina or If/Then fan pages so possibly a tad biased!

 

[gometros]

Great trivia about the Lincoln Center that is Broadway related. Scenes from the movie version of West Side Story were filmed on the site Lincoln Center stands today.