Does anyone else have any traditions before taking a theater trip?

My next theater trip is coming up just two weeks from tomorrow! I will be visiting NY December 10th to the 15th with my girlfriend (who has come with me once last summer), and a very good friend of mine who has never been to NY before. I am particularly looking forward to showing them the city during the Christmas season, and our marathon of shows. (We are seeing a total of six shows the week we are there.)

Whenever I am getting ready for a theater trip, I do have a few traditions that I like to do, and I wonder if anyone else does the same thing.

You see, I work from home (I do data entry work from my home computer), so I often have movies or TV shows on while I work. Two weeks before I go, I usually marathon past Tony Award shows that have been uploaded to Youtube, and I listen to them while I work.

The following week, I often will have movie musicals, or movies about New York ready to play to help get me excited about the trip coming up the next week. Another tradition that I have is the day before I go, I always watch the holiday classic comedy Planes, Trains & Automobiles with Steve Martin and John Candy. No, it has nothing to do with theater, but I watch it for good luck. In the film, the characters travel between New York and Chicago (the same two cities I travel between), and run into a lot of travel disasters, so I watch the film hoping that my trip goes much smoother for me.

I understand that by posting this, I am revealing just what a huge dork I am, but I don't care. I am genuinely curious if anyone has any traditions similar to this before leaving on a theater trip. Do you listen to a lot of cast recordings before you go? Throw on some movies to get you in the mood? I'd love to hear some other stories.

Updated On: 11/25/18 at 10:13 AM

Updated On: 8/17/19 at 12:39 PM

I always smoke a joint before I see a show.

I have very long legs and often get cramped in theatres. Smoking a bit before helps.

Also, if the shows a clunker, smoking before makes me have fun during a bad show. I would have walked out of the Carousel revival during the never ending Blow High Blow Low dance break if I hadn't smoked before.

Sorry for the late reply. Haven't been on line for a while.

So, the six shows we are seeing are...

Frozen (Kind of nervous about this from the reviews, but my girlfriend really wants to see this.)

Harry Potter Parts 1 and 2 (Seeing both parts on Wednesday matinee and evening, and counting this as two shows.)

The Prom (Hoping this one is fun.)

The Ferryman (My friend who is coming with us is really huge into Irish culture. She participates at her local Irish Festival every year, and even got to go to Ireland back in January to scope out some bands to play at the Fest. So, she is very excited for this one, as am I)

Come From Away (Already saw this, but wanted to show this to them. This will be a last minute show before our evening flight back home.)

And I know it's not really Broadway, but we are also seeing the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, as I wanted to take them to a Holiday-themed show, so I guess it's technically 7.

Like BalconyClub, I usually fly out from Chicago once or twice a year for theater trips. I am planning to come back in May, and already have tickets locked in for Ain't Too Proud, Hillary and Clinton, and Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus. This trip will be by myself, but I'll be going back again with my girlfriend and her sisters sometime late next year, and am hoping to take her to Moulin Rouge.

Not really a tradition, but I always read alot about the shows I'm seeing and listen to recordings if they exist. I don't have a problem with spoilers and knowing what I'll be seeing. I particularly like to be well-versed on the lyrics so if the sound is not balanced and I can't clearly hear the actors, I know what they're saying.

I also have at least gin and tonics on the Virgin America red-eye I used to take from San Francisco to New York. I so miss that airline. The interior lighting, entertaining crew members, and overall vibe on the plane always put me in such an ideal frame of mind for NYC.

No rituals per se, but I’m a very organized person. I have lists for my lists. Only a slight exaggeration. Lol. So I organize what I’m going to see each day (or if I’m relying on TKTS, RUSH, SRO, I look at showtimes, frequent TKTS listings, Rush/SRO polices - that Playbill aggregate site is very helpful) plus other things I’m going to do (restaurant reservations, museums, shopping) each day. A Type B personality would not enjoy a vacation w/ me. I would also be bored out of my mind sitting on a beach for a week. (Plus, I burn, don’t tan. Lol). So I arrive in NYC with my file folder with my color-coded typed list for each day, any tickets I prepurchased plus other info (Super Shuttle reservations) I might need.

As far as pre-listening to shows before I see them. I’ve listened to them obsessively (DEH, Spring Awakening), casually (Hamilton, Hello, Dolly!) or not at all (TBV - wasn’t available yet). I’ve started steering away from listening obsessively beforehand because it ruins the surprise of discovering most plot points.

As far as peeing, I pee early and often. Just not before the curtain. I have a bashful bladder and I couldn’t handle peeing while the audience watched. Plus it would make a mess on the stage (and possibly on the curtain). I’m not going to be responsible for Bette or Bernadette or Ben slipping and breaking a hip on stage.

Updated On: 11/26/18 at 03:28 PM

As a young child, I would always ask for theatre tickets to a Broadway show for my birthday and Christmas presents. I wasn't Damien but the week before the show I would always say extra prayers that my grandparents' health would hold up so their funerals wouldn't interfere with attending the show. However, since I've matured, I ceremoniously do what Sondeimite does. I enter the theatre in an altered state and hope for the best.

BalconyClub said: "I almost always buy all tickets for shows in advance and then start a (nerd alert) THREE RING BINDER of the upcoming show week.

There is a divider between each show. The binder is set up in the order of that week's performances. I'll print out interesting articles, cast pictures, and reviews of opened shows."

I love the nerdiness of this and now feel like I’m not doing enough by just saving my Playbills and tickets in three ring binders.