Best experience you've had at a show? - Page 2
Best experience you've had at a show?
#25Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/7/18 at 8:45pm
Alex Kulak2 said: "SeeingWickedon Broadway when I was a sophomore in high school. That night, I vowed to myself that I'd work in the theatre someday."
In that very same theater, when it was The Uris, I did the same after seeing the original production of Sweeney Todd. I sat I my seat jaw dropped for about 15 minutes until an usher came over and told me i would have to leave! I looked around and realized I was the only person left in the theater. That is actually my number one experience! And I have became a part of the theatre community about 15 years after and still am!
Just give the world Love.
#26Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/7/18 at 8:49pm
Ben_Platt_Out said: "Scottsboro Boys. I still think about it."
Yeah loved that show. Met John Cullum at the Irish Rep a few years after and he told me the protestors of the show, which caused it to close , were invited to a free performance. They were all moved to tears when they saw how the Black Face and Minstrel aspect was used. Says a lot for knee jerk reactionism!
Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!
canadian fan
Featured Actor Joined: 8/15/16
#27Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/7/18 at 8:54pm
Great question.....
1st- I also vote for the Great Comet. Totally unique, never been immersed in anything like that before.
2nd- Mark Rylance in Jerusalem.
3rd- Seeing original cast of Book of Mormon with Josh Gad. Wasn't ready for that :)
#28Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/7/18 at 9:23pm
The best experience was takijg my mom to see CATS. No I wasn't crazy about the show but she loved it so much and so it made me happy to see her so happy.
#29Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/7/18 at 9:56pm
Wait...I can't be the oldest person here!!!
some great ones:
1. Annie Miller in Mame - enters in gold lamé Heaven!
2. Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls - never experienced a moment in the theatre like that Act 1 closing - not even Bette Midler in Dolly
3. A Chorus Line Off Broadway - stunning and startling
4. A Little Night Music (original) - exquisite
5. Nicholas Nickleby - hot, hot, hot
6. First performance of Hairspray
7. An Evening With Lena Horne - consummate
8. Blood Brothers in London - cheesy and I loved every minute with Stephanie Lawrence
9. Maggie Smith in Private Lives
10. Derek Jacoby's production of Much Ado About Nothing and Cyrano
and the all time best:
11. Follies in Boston and New York - 6 times - everytime was the BEST!
#30Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/7/18 at 9:57pmFor me it was Come From Away. The show was just a very uplifting experience. It was the part about the immediate post 9/11 experience that I had never heard about before. Like everything here was very depressing. This show left me hopeful.
"I don't want the pretty lights to come and get me."-Homecoming 2005
"You can't pray away the gay."-Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy.
Ignored Users: suestorm, N2N Nate., Owen22, master bates
#31Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/7/18 at 10:16pm
I'd have to agree with Skip23 about the Boston pre-Broadway run of FOLLIES. I can't even describe it... Luckily for us, Ted Chapin has written a fantastic book about the Boston tryout, EVERYTHING WAS POSSIBLE: THE BIRTH OF THE MUSICAL FOLLIES. I love to pick it up every now and then and just relive the experience...
I also remember remember seeing the revival of THE MUSIC MAN just after 9/11...I don't think I've ever experienced a finale so joyful and happy that it reduced most of the audience to tears...happy tears at that.
Finally, one more remembrance of Broadway right after 9/11. I remember seeing the revival of OKLAHOMA! with Patrick Wilson at the Gershwin (Hugh Jackman originated this production at London's National and it's now available on Blu-ray). The show was great and the feeling of patriotism permeated the audience. What happened after the show is what REALLY got me. Coming down the loooong escalators of the Gershwin, and painted above the exit doors for the entire length of the lobby...which you could not really see upon entering the theatre unless you deliberately turned around and looked for it...was this lyric from the show: "We know we belong to the land, and the land we belong to is grand!" There were a lot of teary eyed people on that escalator...I was right there among them.
#32Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/7/18 at 10:40pm
Seeing Cathy Rigby in PETER PAN, the show that made me fall in love with the magic of theatre.
THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE. Having blood unexpectedly and realistically splatter with me in the front row, inches from the hilarious violence occurring...it was theatre at its best.
CORAM BOY. An epic journey that moved me with its vast staging and incredible performances. Plus, catching the unknown Uzo Aduba in one of her first professional gigs is a reflective treat.
BAT BOY, tremendously exceptional high school production in PA that I caught. Made me fall in love with a show I hadn't been aware of, and helped solidify that I would choose theatre as a profession.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
mplstheatrefan
Chorus Member Joined: 9/16/17
#33Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/7/18 at 10:46pmSeeing the national tour of Matilda about a year ago really sparked my love of theatre, our seats were in the third level balcony in the back, but I was smiling the whole time. The first show I’d seen with that level production value, I was simply stunned. A month later I saw Wicked at the same theater, we won the in person lottery and were seated in the third row. Finally, seeing “Phantom” the first time (current tour). The first note of the overture evoked tears and goosebumps!
#34Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/7/18 at 11:27pmSkip23, I saw the broadcast of Nickkeby and fell in love with it and Roger Rees. Fast forward to a few years ago, I got to hang with him a bit and told him I had a major crush on him for years! He was a very nice man.
Just give the world Love.
Cryoutloud131
Swing Joined: 10/26/15
#35Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/8/18 at 12:34am
Sitting on stage at The Great Comet tbh
Closely followed by hearing Being Alive performed live for the first time in Prince of Broadway (also seeing Hal Prince at the stage door).(I'm not American and musical Theatre isn't a thing in my country but somehow I became a theater nerd) The show was just okay but Being Alive is probably my favorite Sondheim song so I died.
Also seeing the off Broadway production of Sweeney Todd because that's the score that REALLY got me into musical Theatre. I sat at the tables and I'm pretty sure I sobbed the whole show.
#36Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/8/18 at 12:56am
uncageg said: "Skip23, I saw the broadcast of Nickkeby and fell in love with it and Roger Rees. Fast forward to a few years ago, I got to hang with him a bit and told him I had a major crush on him for years! He was a very nice man."
I got to know quite a few of the Nick/Nick cast, too, and they were lovely, talented, sweet people. Ah...fond memories of a great cast!
BwayLB
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/18/17
#37Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/8/18 at 1:41amWicked at the Pantages in 07 with Eden as Elphaba and Megan as Glinda. My love of theatre began there. I was so nervous going in ready to be dazzled and scared in pieces all at once. I smiled halfway through the opening number and was speechless (mixed good or bad way) by the bittersweet end.
Danielle49
Broadway Star Joined: 10/28/17
#38Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/8/18 at 8:02am
I will always, always point to The Great Comet (Broadway). I only got to see it twice - once being the closing performance - and it has touched me in a way that no other piece of theater has.
Another was seeing Stephanie J. Block perform "I'm Breaking Down" during one of the first previews of Falsettos. It's of course a silly song, but her brilliance in that role brought me to tears, even before the song was over. I couldn't fathom the talent I was seeing.
#39Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/8/18 at 9:21am
The best experience I ever had at a show, in terms of being the most memorable and emotional, took place on June 30, 1995. It was Yul Brynner's final performance as The King in The King and I. It was the subject of this article published the next day in the NY Times, which I urge you to read in order to get an understanding of why the performance was so special:
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/01/theater/farewell-performance-for-brynner-in-king-and-i.html
When, as described, the cast gathered on stage to sing Auld Lang Syne, there wasn't a dry eye in the entire sold out theater, and it created an indelible memory that will stay with me for the rest of my life (I hope.)
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
lindsayxxjb
Swing Joined: 4/24/16
#40Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/8/18 at 9:35am
The best experience I've ever had was the closing performance of Billy Elliot!
There were SO many standing ovations, and every Billy got to perform. It just seemed so special! The guy next to me had never seen the show though and was confused most of the time. I'm sure it was much better through the eyes of someone who had seen it a few times haha.
Dkinny23
Stand-by Joined: 7/27/17
#41Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/16/18 at 12:32am
I’ve had so many great experiences! Most recent is I won the Dear Evan Hansen lottery (FINALLLYYYY) last week and took my mom. I had seen the show previously with Ben Platt while sitting in the rear mess. Well, this time we were seated front row oechestr and saw Noah Galvin playing Evan and it was magical! We were sooo close we could see his lips quivering, face twitching, tears rolling down his cheeks, the expression in his eyes...just every last emotion you could think of. It was really an incredible experience seeing such great acting up close and become so intimate with the characters. I was mesmerized with Noah’s performance and couldn’t take my eyes off him the entire time.
Besides that, seeing Something Rotten the second week it came out without knowing a thing about it was one of the best experiences in broadway I have ever had. My mom and I were cracking up the entire time and were absolutely stunned when it didn’t win best musical. It was just such a pleasant experience laughing that hard with my mom and it’s a memory I’ll always carry with me.
BroadwayAndSports
Stand-by Joined: 12/8/17
#42Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/16/18 at 1:56pm
Closing night of In The Heights, not even close. It was a party and a pure celebration of joy. Even Lin-Manuel has said it's still his greatest experience on stage. Still have the Playbill!
#43Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/16/18 at 2:06pm
I've had a lot, but it's going to be hard to beat John Cameron Mitchell sitting on my face during Sugar Daddy.
Bwayfan292
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/19/17
#44Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/16/18 at 3:01pmAladdin at the Pantages a couple nights ago. After the annoying lady kept quiet, I really enjoyed myself. The audience LOVED the actor playing genie. I dont remember his name but he was the standby it was such an amazing experince. The energy in the theatre is something I wont ever forget.
"Why was my post about my post being deleted, deleted, causing my account to be banned from posting" - The Lion Roars 2k18
thedrybandit
Leading Actor Joined: 12/10/18
#45Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/16/18 at 3:07pm
Way too many amazing times in theater to narrow it down to just one, so I'll have to settle for two.
Seeing John Cameron Mitchell's last performance of Hedwig on Broadway. It was my second time seeing him, but other than Mark Rylance, I've never seen an actor totally become a character quite to the extent he managed to, and the room was so full of excitement and love.
The second was the 25th anniversary performance of Phantom on Broadway. It was an absolutely perfect performance of a great show, but it also helped that I met my now-fiancee the night before at an unofficial party for the show.
#46Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/16/18 at 4:36pm
Most memorable would be at the gorgeous Academy of Music in Philadelphia watching the National Tour of “The Phantom of the Opera”, and it was in the final scene actually involving the Phantom. The roller coaster of emotions leading up to that moment in the last ten minutes of the performance, the incredible force of acting by Derrick Davis, the music box briefly coming to life one more time, and the song heard off in the distance by Christine and Raoul. The venue added so much to the ambience of the show, and there must have been an audience full of newbies, including myself, because when “it” happened a very audible gasp was heard over the entire theater. It literally sent chills across my whole body.
yankeefan7
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/14/12
#47Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/17/18 at 9:47am
I would say watching my wife see her friend from HS days (Robert Cuccioli) perform in Jekyll & Hyde. The other was seeing "Annie Get Your Gun" and Bernadette Peters smiled and winked at me in the first row. I know it was part of the show but it made my evening -lol.
#48Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/17/18 at 12:45pmThe best experience I’ve ever had was when my dad took me to see Les Misérables in London. We had front row seats in the middle and it was so exhilarating. You felt so connected with the characters. The best part was whilst the actress was singing IDAD as she looked at me and I could see the pain in her eyes. I left the show feeling shaky with lots of goosebumps. I’d seen the show twice before and seen many concerts but hands down this was the best one yet.
dirily
Swing Joined: 11/18/11
#49Best experience you've had at a show?
Posted: 2/17/18 at 9:50pm
On Sept 7, 2008, my best friend and I entered the lottery for the finale of Rent on Broadway. Our 2 friends that we had met at the show back in 1999 (during our stint of seeing it every weekend) won lottery while my friend and I did not. We went next door to a bar to drown our sorrows and wait for our friend's review of the show... while we were at the bar, we were reminiscing of all of our fun times at that theater and how much the show meant to us. We happened to be sitting next to someone who worked for the theater, and he overheard us talking and said how sweet it was that we made lifelong friends at the show and he loved our story. He then proceeded to hand us 2 tickets to the show (which had already started!) and tickets to the after-party at Chelsea Piers. He had us meet an usher who brought us to the only 2 empty seats of the theater during "Tune Up #2" and I spent the entire time crying my eyes out for so many reasons!! He gave us enough after-party tickets that our friends (who were in lotto seats) could also come and we had the most incredible night! We call that guy "Our Angel" and I still, to this day, can't believe it happened... the magic of Broadway!
Updated On: 2/17/18 at 09:50 PM