A Broadway Time Machine...

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:28pm

If you had the power to go back in time to sit in the audience of one specific performance on Broadway... what would you choose and why?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:31pm

Who can choose one? Just off the top of my head, I have three: Julie Harris in MEMBER OF THE WEDDING, Laurette Taylor in GLASS MENAGERIE, and Gwen Verdon in SWEET CHARITY.

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:32pm

Mary Martin in Peter Pan

[Patronus]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:33pm

The OBC of Chicago.

Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera and Jerry Orbach all on one stage. Theatrical perfection.

[Pippin]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:34pm

West side story. to see the original opening night performance becuase it was something completly unheard of on broadway at the time. it was the dawning of something new and exciting, and to see the original actors and under the direction of Jerome robbins would have been breathtaking. and of course to see Ms. Rivera back in the day, whoa what a trip.

[Kringas]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:36pm

The original production of Dreamgirls. It's my favorite show of all time and I would kill to have had the chance to see those three amazing original dreams, Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta Devine.

[Craig]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:36pm

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=229308#229336


more entries

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:36pm

Just let me go back to 1967-1983 with unlimited cash flow.
And Rath I second Ms. Taylor in Glass..... God that must have been amazing.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:39pm

Craig---I didn't limit this post to "opening nights."

[neocomposer]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:40pm

Julie Andrews in Camelot

[zippyjen]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:40pm

man this is hard. probablly mary martin in peter pan or the first time the car broke down at chitty. I would love to relive that night!

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:45pm

I have a few but my top two are probably opening night performances of West Side Story and A Chorus Line. Those are two of my favorites and I would kill to see those original casts.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:57pm

I'll give you a couple of non-opening night shows to choose from...

The night "A Chorus Line" broke the record as the longest running musical, and they gathered ALL the previous cast members available to do the show that night. It was a specially staged performance by Bennett himself. They started with the current cast for the opening number, then when they all stepped forward on the line holding their headshots, they switched to the original Broadway cast. Music and the Mirror had five Cassie actresses all dancing it at once, etc. That had to be incredible evening!

Also, Elaine Stritch talks about a performance of Call Me Madam when Ethel Merman was heckled by a drunk from the audience... She stopped the show and threw him out on the street herself. Aside from seeing Merman in her Tony-winning role, that had to be a show to remember.

I know it's tough to choose only one. But those are two performances I'd wish I could have attended. You guys have listed some beauties, though!

Updated On: 10/24/05 at 01:57 PM

[Craig]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 1:58pm

best12bars

And I didn't say you did :) Just wanted you to see what some others have said since you posed the question...

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:05pm

I know, Craig. It was a knee-jerk reaction. My apology if my post sounded blunt to you. I must admit it's a pet peeve of mine, though...

People are so quick to jump on anyone who posts a topic that might remotely have been mentioned previously in any shape or form. They cry "Search" all the time (which is difficult and sometimes next to impossible on this site. I doubt many of them have tried it.). ...Or some sort of been-there-done-that rant.

Should we all just stop asking questions that may have been asked before?

I'd like to hear some new answers once in a while to freshly-posed questions.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:29pm

This is so easy for me to answer. The first preview of Bring Back Birdie on Monday January 26, 1981.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:32pm

I would love to see the original production of "Hello, Dolly" and Katherine Hepburn in "Coco".

[djjd007]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:33pm

OK... I can't decide...

1. Opening night of "Dreamgirls" - that's a big DUH in my book

2. The first night Liza Minnelli stepped in for Gwen in "Chicago"

If only I had even been alive for either...

[BwayLeadman]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:35pm

The Wiz

[BroadwayRandy0711]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:39pm

I would have loved to see Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl.

[Lome2]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:47pm

Porgy and Bess (Original Broadway Cast)

[Color and Light]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:52pm

Porgy and Bess (Original Broadway Cast)

Oh, seconded.

[Albin]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:52pm

I'd love to go back and see some of the legendary flops:

Carrie
Shogun the Musical
The Red Shoes
Legs Diamond
Nick & Nora Updated On: 10/25/05 at 02:52 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 2:55pm

I saw three of those shows, Albin.

[cbreining2]

Posted: 10/24/05 at 3:18pm

I called my Mom & asked for her answer to this, since she can go back a lot further than I can...she said she would want to see something she already saw -- South Pacific with Ezio Pinza.