Best and Worst Theater Experiences — Page 2

I'm not going to talk about the worst because why waste the time? I've ranted about Memphis enough. Wait a minute...

Anyway, my best are these: The Normal Heart revival, never before or since have I been in an audience that had such a communal experience. There were audible sobs and sniffles by the end, and at the curtain call the entire theater rose as one and simply applauded for a long time, no cheers, just applause. It was a profound experience from beginning to end.

John Cameron Mitchell's first and last performances as Hedwig on Broadway. It was so special to get to see him live in that character's skin so many years after he had first done it, and he was truly extraordinary and clearly feeding off the amazing energy the audience was giving him. Crate and all, he was flawless.

See What I Wanna See at the Public in 2005. I was already a huge Idina fan from Wicked, but See What I Wanna See was my first LaChiusa show and totally shifted my perspective on what musicals could be and what they could accomplish. I was sold from pretty much the first note, and I'll see pretty much anything LaChiusa now as he's my favorite contemporary composer.

Hello Again at the Transport Group. That production was fantastic and used the space in an extremely effective way. I had never seen a musical done in an immersive way like that before, and it was so exciting to see that show done so well literally right in front of my face.

Tom5 said: "My worst experience was at ACT, the American Conservative Theatre in San Francisco. While paging through the playbill during the intermission of a very fine Alan Ayckbourn play I heard a loud rumbling and then the seats began to shake. So I looked up and found myself directly below the largest chandelier ever made. Fortunately, this wasn't "The Big One" and I lived to see the curtain call. My best, by comparison, was everywhere else."

Was this before or after 1989? I imagine after the ceiling caved in during Loma Prieta then things would have been retrofitted for the better. Still, I've never been in a theatre during an earthquake in all my theatregoing in the Bay Area, and I hope I never am!

Best:

OBC of "American Idiot" (My first Broadway show)

2012 Revival of "Death of a Salesman" with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield

OBC of "Once"

"Carrie" at La Mirada Theatre for Performing Arts and the subsequent transfer the Los Angeles Theatre

Worst:

A community production of "Hello, Dolly!" that tried to copy the movie from front to back and failed miserably. They even had someone play Louis Armstrong during the title number.

One bad experience that always comes to mind is a community theater production of 1776 I saw in Massachusetts a number of years ago. The title and running time seemed one in the same.

It was summer and the auditorium had no air conditioning. Someone really should've opened up a window...

Updated On: 4/19/16 at 05:56 PM

I feel the need to mention my Worst Experience Ever when I was 11 and went to see a high school production of the Dracula musical. It was in an outdoor amphitheater-like space where the audience brought blankets and sat on the grass. Halfway through Act 2, a freaking cicada ran up my pant leg. I couldn't react in any way or stand up since I was in the middle of a sea of people and the show was going on, so I had no choice but to literally hold onto it in the fabric of my pants for the rest of the show until I could get up and shake it out during the curtain call. Absolutely horrifying.

Best: Opening night of "Hello,Dolly!" (Jan 16,1964)

Worst; "In My Life" and "Thou Salt Not"

Best:

* SF cast of Godspell w/ Stacker Thompson as Jesus. Best color blind casting job I've ever seen.

* JCS - original concert tour after the concept album came out.

* Boys in the Band - Santa Rosa Junior College 1975

* Hair - London. Cast walked in slow-motion from all over the house to stage prior to curtain

* Oliver OBC. The kids looking out from the behind the curtain before show

* The Ruling Class. Rene Auberjonois at ACT (no earthquake)

* Drowsy Chaperone, Magic Circle, Sacramento

* Best two single moment ever - Donna McKechnie, Music and the Mirror, and Kay Cole's At the Ballet crescendo, ACL, first National Tour, SF stop.

Worst:

* Oklahoma at Lincoln Center back in the 1960s. Ushers singing the songs behind us.

* So far, any of the community theater productions of Les Miz I've seen.

One of my best memories was seeing Phantom of the Opera. I was in 7th or 8th grade and it was my first trip to New York. I had the cast recording memorized and had acted it out in my living room dozens (hundreds?) of times. My mom's friend's dad worked at the majestic and said he could get us tickets. When we showed up at will call there were no tickets under my dad's name. They told us to come back because sometimes corporate tickets didn't send the names over until late. We got back and still nothing. My mom said "you know what?" And asked them to search for my dad's name backwards because my last name is a first name as well. "3 tickets, fourth row orchestra, center?" He said? It was my first Broadway show and I'll never forget the rush when the chandelier swooped over my head. And I could feel the heat when he bursts into flames. I was hooked on theater for life. We were so excited we went across the street and bought tickets to Miss Saigon the next night. I didn't know the music yet and I loved it, bought the OBCR, and added it to the list of shows I acted out in the living room. Afterward we paid $50 to BC/EFA for a backstage tour from the guy who played the engineer. I remember they said they'd take the first 5 groups of 5. We were the 6th group, and I was so disappointed. But there were 3 of us and 2 in the 5th group so they let us team up and we only paid $30. (Can you imagine now how much they'd take for a backstage tour?). It was the most magical weekend and I felt so lucky.



Another was my first time seeing Rent because it was the first show I saw without my parents and it was the first show I saw that could've been about people's real lives. I was from a small town and was visiting New York and suddenly felt like there was this whole world of people right downtown I felt nothing about. I found it so fascinating.



And I was fortunate enough to see Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria right before she left and had surgery. Who would've known she would never be able to sing like that again?



So those are a few of my favorite memories in terms of nostalgia, although I wouldn't call those my favorite shows now.



A few other favorite moments that are more recent are the first time I saw Hamilton (at the public), JCM in Hedwig, and the Light in the Piazza concert.