Favorite Theatrical Experience

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Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/14/05 at 10:11pm

What was your favorite theatrical experience, and why?

"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

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 12:10am

Seeing a show:

The Producers was definitely my favorite. Nathan Lane is my all-time favorite actor, and the show itself was just filled with talented actors, crew, and developers. It was just such an honestly good time.

In a show:

My favorite on-stage theatrical experience was in a production of Rumors when I played Lenny. It was just the first time I was given the opportunity to really show everyone how funny I was. It was a very emotionally charging and rewarding show.

I hold a degree in Musical Theatre from Montclair State University. It is useless. Now I'm funny for money. Oh, and I sing.

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 12:57am

Seeing a show:

backstory: I grew up in Hawaii, which not too many tours passed through back in the day due to the cost. When I was in high school a pretty serious hurricane tore up my small town, and after that Les Miz on tour came to our state- I think Les Miz may in fact have been the *first* Broadway production to ever tour in the state.

Anyway, the producers of Les Miz gifted students at my high school with free tickets, due to our hurricane suffering, and that was that- the first time I'd ever heard the music (except for "On My Own"), my first theatre experience, my favorite show for a long time, etc.

And I have been hooked ever since! :)

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 12:58am

My favorite theatrical experience... wow... OKay, I have to be a dork and categorize them because I love them that much...

- Favorite Theatrical Experience: Angels in America (Part 1) because it was my first non-high school play. It was a college production but my first with real setting, props, costumes that we're appropriate to the play. In my high school (as awesome as the productions were) we re-used things like costumes and only rented when it was absolutely necessary (mice costumes... how were we gonna make those out of old prom dresses?), and not to take anything away from my lovely friends the Technical Theater geeks (yes, I was one of them) but you could tell that it was a high school production. Angels in America was the first play that I had seen that was "professional" in a sense. It is also a highly emotional play and I got caught up in the entire atmosphere (the stage was in the center with seats all around... it was breathtaking)

- Favorite Broadway Theatrical Experience: This would have to be Spamalot... and yet not because of the show. I mean, the show did have a lot to do with it but my friend and I stood in line for Standing Room Only and met some great people. We even got to see Spamalot with them (well, 3 of them). It was actually really funny because we spent so much time with them in line and when we got back to the hotel we realize we didn't even know their names. We knew a lot about their personal lives but no names...

- Favorite "Broadway Watching" Experience: Even though it wasn't my first Broadway show (it was actually the last on my trip, Fiddler was the first) Phantom of the Opera was my favorite... my friend and I were so excited to be there we kept looking at each other and saying "Guess where we are!!!" I had been waiting so long to see that show... and even though it wasn't perfect (although I love Hugh Panaro) the fact that I got to see it was great.

Um... I think I'm done...

Mujhse Dosti Karoge?

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 1:26am

Seeing a show:

Seeing six Broadway shows the first time I traveled to New York.

In a show:

My favorite on-stage theatrical experience was actually recently when I was in a production of The Kentucky Cycle-part one, and I was so moved by the piece that I cried every night on stage. That is one of the most moving and deep pieces of theatre I have ever experienced.

Updated On: 7/15/05 at 01:26 AM

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 1:41am

I have too many but some highlights are seeing Antonio Banderas and Chita Rivera on stage in Nine, watching Hugh Jackman in BFO, and watching Jefferson Mays in IAMOW.

"Chicago is it's own incredible theater town right there smack down in the middle of the heartland. What a great city! I can see why Oprah likes to live there!" - Dee Hoty :-D

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 1:47am

I was lucky enough to go backstage after one of my favorite musicals, and just being able to stand there on the stage looking out at the almost empty theatre was ... amazing. Intoxicating to just think about being there professionally (which won't happen, but I dream).

Then for a show I myself was in would have to be one specific experience with the show this last year (The King and I). My director had just lost her step-mother earlier in the year and then she lost her father only a week or so into production of TKAI. A few weeks after that, we were rehearsing the Kings death scene for the first time and my director started to talk about death. About the feeling you get when someone, especially someone you love deeply, takes their last breath.

She started to cry then we had to take a minute or so break to recover before actually starting the scene. I came close, but didn't actually cry because I just don't like crying in public (dunno why, I just wait until I'm home hugging my pillow), but I got darn close.

Then we started the scene. By the end of it everybody was in tears and we all were hugging after we stopped the scene and it was really bonding and powerful. I had to leave and take a couple minutes to stop crying, because I just couldn't stop. That will be with me for the rest of my life.

"If you can talk, you can sing...if you can walk, you can dance." - T.K. Greene

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 2:15am

I was about ten years old. All my father could talk about for weeks was that Angela Lansbury was leaving "Mame." He and my mother had seen the show countless times and were lamenting her departure. They kept getting tickets and going to every performance they could toward the end of her run.

One night, my dad told us kids to "get dressed for going to the theatre" (as people USED TO do in the old days). My little brother and I kept asking our dad what we were going to see, but he wanted to keep it a surprise, so he wouldn't tell us. On the way to the theatre, I guessed, "I know! We're going to see Angela Lansbury in 'Mame'!"

We had standing-room, and I remember my 7-year-old brother and I were sitting on the steps leading up to the Mezzanine so we could actually see the stage.

Shortly into the show, the most wonderful usher came over to us and said, "Come with me kids." She brought us down to the sixth row center orchestra and gave us house seats!

Well, I will NEVER forget Angela Lansbury as Mame; my father's gift of offering us the once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing a Broadway legend in a role no one will ever do as well as she did; and the kindness and generosity of that elderly usher who--instead of trying to keep "kids" out of the way, ensured that we experienced exactly what my dad had intended...and in the best way possible.

I know this story may sound schmaltzy to some people on this board, but it is one of my most treasured childhood memories and one I tried to replicate for my own 8-year-old daughter when I took her to see Idina Menzel right before she left "Wicked." Hopefully, my daughter will carry on the tradition. (Can you imagine how expensive tickets will be by then? When my dad took us to see Mame, the best seats in the house were about $10.00 each!)

"Be on your guard! Jerks on the loose!"

http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html

**********

"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"

~ Best12Bars

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 3:14am

I named my 5 best ones in my last blog (#3), but if I had to pick one, it wouldn't even be a professional production. It'd be this past year's Illinois All-State High School Theispian production of Ragtime. I had made myself very familer with it long before seeing it, as I had actually auditioned (and failed) for it. I had owned and listened to the CD almost religously for about a year before seeing it this past January, saw another High School production of it (not too bad, actually), read the novel (if you've never read it, please do, even if you didn't really like the musical), and had been expecting so much that it would have been reasonable for it to be ruined by my expectations. Fortunatly, it not only meet them, it surpassed them. They did, I believe, about 5 or 6 performances all together, and there wasn't a dry eye in the entire house (or even on stage) at anyone of them, from what I heard - there definetly weren't any at our performance. Two people from our school made it into the cast (Younger Brother and Willie Conklin), as well as the techie who worked the light board. My only regret was only getting to see it once, though I tried to buy someone's ticket to other performances, but I couldn't find anyone willing. There's more info on Ragtime and my other four best expeirences on my blog - oh, come on, like you've never shamelessly plugged YOUR blog, before! :)

"Who is Stephen Sondheim?" -roninjoey
"The man who wishes he had written Phantom of the Opera!" - SueleenGay

GO CARDINALS!!!

#10

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 3:21am

For me it was my third time seeing Wicked in Toronto. I had become friendly with Jenna and we had exchanged emails and phone numbers. She mentioned to me that she would be going on as Elphaba for her first time ever, for three shows in Toronto. I tried lottery for the first two, but lost, so I got a hold of her before her final show as Elphaba and she was nice enough to get me AMAZING tickets to see her. I was 8 rows back, center. The set was SOOO amazing from that angle, and to be that close to the performers was exhilerating. Jenna was jaw droppingly good and I got such chills throughout. I bought her a pink rose to thank her for her generosity and we discussed the show when she came out at stage door. We still keep in contact and i can't wait to see what she does next.

My other one would have to be my various times seeing Hairspray. This show is my drug. I leave the theatre high on life and music and dancing and colour and harmony. I would give anything to be able to share that joy with an audience.

Akiva

#11

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 3:30am

I would have to say Shared Experience Theatre's international touring production of 'After Mrs Rochester' at the Festival of Perth (Western Australia) would be my favourite theatre watching experience in my 20 years on this planet. So wonderfully moving and inventive. Precisee characterisation and beautiful staging. I don't think this production or this company have ever opened in the US, but they are extraordinary. X

#12

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 3:33am

I have two, but their kinda like one.

The most amazing was seeing Kristin's last show in Wicked. Feeling the energy of the crowd, noticing the little changes and special moments btw Kristin and Idina, it was unbelievable!

However, a week earlier I saw Wicked for the VERY FIRST TIME sitting second row after winning lotto. Being that close for your first time . . . OMG. My jaw was dropped the whole show!

#13

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 4:20am

Hmm..there are SO many. My first experience to Broadway was when I was 10 or 11 and went to go see Rocky Horror Show. It introduced me to the side of Broadway that sadly not many people know, the Broadway that isn't Cats, POTO, Annie, Oklahoma...or things that most non-Broadway fans think of when they hear Broadway. It was so much fun and I was totally hooked on watching, and meeting the cast members after.

Hugh Jackman is one of my favorite actors, so of course, I had to see BFO. lol. Before the show we went and he hugged me, took a picture, and signed and inscribed my Van Helsing autograph, it just meant the world to me and his performance in the show was purely amazing.

DRS = hilarious. It's the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life and is now my obsession. lol. It was also the first time I went into the city by train, saw a show, came home by train, with no adults, just my cousins. Quite an experience!

Okay, so that's more than one...

#14

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 7:38am

Last year I saw The Lion King with the band/chorus/drama club in NYC. It was amazing!!! We had orchestra seats and it was really cool to see the "animals"(I quoted it because they're actually humans, not animals lol) walk down the aisle. I thought a lady waving a bird was going to hit me with the bird lol because it was flying so close to me. My favorite scene was the scene when the antalope are chasing Simba. It was so cool because they had the zebras moving on a screen or something onstage. We also saw Beauty and the Beast the next day and that was pretty good, but The Lion King has been my favorite performance I've seen. Next year we might see Rent and Wicked!

"The opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation."

#15

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 4:42pm

I think my favorite seeing-a-show experience would have to be the first time I saw Hairspray. The cast was so amazing, and I just had so much fun.

#16

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 5:34pm

Seeing the Snoopy rehearsal was probably my best theatrical experience ever. I was really nervous going into the rehearsal studio. I thought that Sutton Foster would think I was a freakish stalker, but I ended up having a really great time. Also, it sort of showed me that they're not superhumans, but real people that aren't necessarily perfect.

#17

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 7:49pm

Seeing a show:

Little Women at Duke. It was only a few months before that I had discovered the joys of Sutton Foster. When I heard LW would be at Duke, I got tickets to the very first show. Wednesday, October 13th, 2004. I was sooooo excited to see Sutton and I had never read or seen Little Women before (a little rebelling against the parents ideals of good literature thing that I got WAY over). I got SO into that show. I was leaning over in anticipation, gasping, laughing, crying...it was the best thing ever. At intermission I could barely stand because Sutton had kicked the sh*t out of "Astonishing" and I told my mom that I already knew I liked it better than Wicked (which kind of freaked her out, LOL). I just identified in nearly every possible way with Jo. It was crazy. As I walked out of the theatre after the show I was shaking like I had parkinsons or something. It was that awesome.

In a show:

I only got into acting recently (for reasons that are too long to explain in a short time) and, as such, haven't been in any honest-to-God shows. But I had a showcase for the last class I took and I got to play Elphaba in the "For Good" scene. The first night, my ear mic FELL OFF, but I managed to keep it together. My acting instructor gave me a few tips and the second night went perfectly. I got green and into costume in, like, 6 minutes (not the greatest paintjob, but, what can you do?) and the adrenaline was flowing like nobodies business, but I stalked on stage and just KNEW I did it a perfect as can be. After the show, my acting instructor (who I can't even put into words how much I respect) BOWED DOWN TO ME and told me that I have what it takes to get work, if I really want it. I was on the biggest high for WEEKS after that.

artistic dominion

#18

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 9:22pm

Seeing a show would have to be seeing Miss Saigon the secnd time with my Grandma. She cried so hard at the end that she couldn't stand u. A few months later, she passed away, and that was our alst outing before she got sick. She al;ways told me I would be in that show, so thatleads me to my best exerience in a show, the road to making our dream come true.
I was in Grease this year. It was my first show, and I loved it all. I was Marty, and during the scene with Freddy My Love, Marty talks about a ring. I wore my grandma's ring, and I knew she was there with me during the show. After, my mom got me a bouquet of roses from my grandma's memory.

Megan Mullally as Karen Walker on Will and Grace: "Tell me more. Tell me more. Like does he have a car?"

#19

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 9:33pm

LyTeMyCanDyI, that is so cute!

freeadmission, can you post a recording of yourself? I really want to hear you sing now!

"If you can talk, you can sing...if you can walk, you can dance." - T.K. Greene

#20

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/15/05 at 9:52pm

Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz.

A little swash, a bit of buckle - you'll love it more than bread.

#21

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/16/05 at 1:36am

Angela Lansbury in MAME? *dies*

What I wouldn't give...

Anyway:
Seeing a show:
Off-Broadway, but in NY: The Musical of Musicals---because I actually GET the show, and I was laughing most of the time! And besides that, I made my parents DRESS for the theatre and the actors THANKED us for doing so.

Broadway: The only thing I've seen ON Broadway is "The Producers", so, that has to be my favorite

. haha..but it was great even if not

.

Touring productions:
I saw "The Producers" in St. Louis at the Fox Theatre and it was MARVELOUS. top notch.

Being IN a show:
Annie. I became Annie this year for my high school's production of the show and the first performance I got something like 30 roses...but the important part: SUCH an OVATION! *sigh* I miss that. It's a big reason why I act---applause

. But besides the flowers and the ovations...I really just enjoyed BELTING. It's an incredible feeling. I love walking off the stage after bows and, since it was a high school production, after signing people's programs and such, just feeling SO tired, because I used EVERYTHING I had on-stage (even though "Annie" isn't really a challenging role, I felt like I was cheating the audience if I didn't give EVERYTHING).

#22

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/16/05 at 3:13am

Seeing a show:

Never saw Broadway. Well, yet, anyways. Either way, the best to this point has got to be a touring production of Les Mis I saw in Buffalo's Shea's Theater. Not that the production was absolutely stunning (in fact, there were a lot of sound problems), but there's a bit of a story: I went Thursday night to find one ticket for Friday night's performance (yea, i'm antisocial like that). So i'm expecting balcony only, and the guy says "Well, we have this balcony seat, this one, that one, and sixth row center." So, I paid about 20 bucks more than I was planning on, but it was worth it: the first pro show i've ever seen where I could actually see facial expressions. Or faces, for that matter.

Acting:

Joe Zutty in Working this past fall. My senior high school show and I got a lot of positive feedback on it, which made me happy. First time I played a role and didn't go home and say "Man, that sucked rocks through a hose." That's never fun. But yea, those are my two good experiences

#23

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/16/05 at 4:05am

well my first NYC trip included 12 shows and all of them were amazing...but my first ever b'way production was seeing the producers with roger bart still as carmen ghia...and i just loved his character...and after the show were we waiting and such with my group and our chaperones(we were dancing for the summer) and he came out and i just couldnt get the courage to ask him for an autograph and picture and my teacher told me "he who hesistates, regrets"...ill never ever ever forget standing outside the st. james and hearing her utter those words and immediatley running up to him and finding out he was one of the nicest b'way performers i have ever had the honor of meeting

hear the beat...

#24

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/16/05 at 4:06am

double...sorry

hear the beat...

Updated On: 7/18/05 at 04:06 AM

#25

re: Favorite Theatrical Experience

Posted: 7/16/05 at 8:38am

"freeadmission, can you post a recording of yourself? I really want to hear you sing now!"

If I had a recording of myself, I'd post it, but I don't. Nor do I know how to do it. Aaaand, I have no voice right now becuase I have a cold and whenever I get a cold I completely lose my voice (grrrr!).

Sorry.

artistic dominion

Updated On: 7/16/05 at 08:38 AM

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