I'm a huge fan of Broadway and yet I don't live anwhere near New York and the closest theaters are quite a distance away. The only access I have to Broadway plays are high school productions, which aren't that great over here. What should I do to foster my Broadway addiction and make sure that it thrives...THRIVES...THRIIIIIIIVES?
Buy cast recordings, buy them by the hundreds! It's how I survive in Florida. See if any good productions are touring at the nearest theatre.
1. Ted Allen: Everyone has an interesting life if you ask the right questions.
2. Great buckets of Spoffnor, they're going to sing!
3. "I love shrubs that are historical." -Johnny and The Sprites
4. "We're not singing it to you, we're singing it for us." -Rosario Dawson, about La Vie Boheme
5. "The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours." -The History Boys
6. "Pass the parcel. That's sometimes all you can do. Take it, feel it and pass it on. Not for me, not for you, but for someone, somewhere, one day. Pass it on, boys. That's the game I want you to learn. Pass it on." -The History Boys
While you're buying CD's, Cruel Sandwich, try budgeting for DVD's as well. A lot of shows are available on DVD now, so you can at least get to "see" shows this way. Movies, of varying quality it's true, have been made from many classic shows, so this is also a possibility. Do you have radio stations as part of your cable tier or satellite tv? Many of these services offer a "Showtune" audio channel on which they program a wide variety of show music. There are lots of ways to keep the interest and obsession going. Enjoy. Hope this helps you! Also, use the search engines on your computer. You'll find more stuff available than you've ever dreamed.
"And the postman sighed as he scratched his head, you really rather thought she ought to be dead..."
You are totally right Grizzabella. And that is a pretty good advice for everyone who doesn't live in America as well, like myself.
Norbert Leo Butz quotes about John Lithgow: "He's really clumsy. One of the joys in life is to watch a great big huge man totally wipe out backstage. It takes John about three minutes to hit the floor. It's like watching a Great Sequoia falling gracelessly."
I don't live in NYC either, and there are no professional theatre places around me, but OBC recordings and the Tony awards, this website, broadway.com, and I am going on a trip there in 15 days keeps me going.
Sometimes it is only through cast recordings that shows live beyond their run on broadway...so yes, please spend all the money you can on Broadway cast recordings to keep musical theatre alive to those who don't live in NYC! And you can learn a lot through buying librettos (scripts) and recordings of shows about what they were like.
-Anyone want to turn anarchist with me?"Bless you and all who know you, oh wise and penguined one." ~YouWantItWhen????
Thanks, cserannie! Every so often my brain gets in gear. I'm glad this helped. I don't live in NYC either, and while I'm not too far away, I don't get in as often as I'd like, so I use these resources, too!
"And the postman sighed as he scratched his head, you really rather thought she ought to be dead..."
The bwayworld radio station on this site is truly amazing. It plays a lot of lesser-known shows. For more online broadway radio, check out accubroadway.com . It has multiple stations all related to Broadway. It's amazing.
Buy all cast recordings, musical dvd, as well as stage dvds, suhc as Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Passion, Jekyll and Hyde, Cats, Candide in concert, les miserables in concert and many more. ENJOY! wlecome, to obsession! :) I'm Brian btw if u have any bway ?'s just PM me or talk to me on aim, wickedgeek28.
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird
Just a suggestion Sandwich, before you spend tons of money on cast recordings, rent them from the library, and see if you like them first.
I also don't have the chance to go see Broadway shows (I'm only 17 and live in Ohio), but I have many friends with whom I talk about Broadway all the time. Knowing other people who also care about your interests helps keep things "thriving." Well, for me anyways.
I second listening to bww radio, as Zoran mentioned.
"I've got a fever, and the only perscription is more cowbell!!!!"
~Christopher Walken in one of the best SNL sketches EVER!!