First show seen on broadway?- Page 4

[cmorrow]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 5:15am

First play: Dracula, with Frank Langella. Sets by Edward Gorey. Saw this the last night of previews, during a visit here in 1977, and it was fantastic.

First musical: 42nd Street, the day I moved here in 1981.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 6:46am

The Roundabout transfer of 1776 in May or June of 1998 at the Gershwin. I went with my mother (and my school, at the time), and honestly don't remember all that much of the physical production -- but, at the curtain call, Michael McCormack looked *dead* at me (I was VERY close to the stage), and smiled. I will never forget that moment.

[Bdwyblues]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 8:31am

My first Broadway show was A CHORUS LINE December 19, 1977. The next night was ANNIE. Since then, I've seen 310 different Broadway shows and some of those multiple times. Before my first Broadway experience, I had seen some fun summer stock including BUS STOP with John Travolta, Anita Gillette and in his professional debut, Brian Dennehy. Also in the cast were John Travolta's two sisters. Another summer stock show was MOURNING IN A FUNNY HAT by Dodie Goodman and starring Shirley Booth. I would love to get a script for MOURNING IN A FUNNY HAT. If anyone can help with that, I would appreciate it. It was a very funny show as I remember.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 8:39am

"When you're as old as I, is anyone as old as I?"
Well, not on this board. My first show, as a family gathering, was HAPPY HUNTING in 1957. Even as a kid I knew it wasn't good, but it was Ethel Merman. The next year BELLS ARE RINGING with Judy Holliday and JAMAICA with Lena Horne, and the nothing until GYPSY with Merman.
I began to go to the theatre regularly on my own in 1962, when I saw THE GAY LIFE with Barbara Cook and SAIL AWAY with Stritch during their closing week. I then began to go every week, and sometimes several times a week, and still do all these years later.

[bandit964]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 9:43am

My first two shows I saw were definitely "starter shows."

-The Lion King (03)
-Wicked (05)


-Company (06) was the first show I saw that wasn't a long-running, pop-culture sensation.

[Mark_E]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 10:25am

The first show I saw on Broadway was [title of show]

[fyeahmaria]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 11:00am

My first Broadway experience was actually a play; A Life in the Theatre with Patrick Stewart and TR Knight in 2010. First Broadway musical was a few weeks later; Memphis.

[jetcap]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 11:49am

I remember the first play I DIDN'T see a lot more than the first I did see. It was 1979 and a group of us 17-18 year-olds went down by bus with the intent of seeing the sites, drinking, rock&roll, and whatever trouble we could find. One of our group proclaimed he was going to see a play and the rest of us actually thought that was a grand waste of time and more something our grand-parents might do.
Why waste a valuable 2 hours in the dark watching people talk instead of being out there exploring. He chastised us saying if we loved rock so much how could we not want to go and see David Bowie onstage in The Elephant Man and be up close and intimate with a performer we admired?
We had no idea and knew right then and there he was right and we were very very wrong. There haven't been a lot, but every trip since has involved the theatre. Think my 1st was "I'm not Rappaport" in the mid-80's starring Hal Linden, but I'm not sure. I may have, or may not have, seen You Can't Take it With You starring Eddie Albert a bit earlier than that. I distinctly remember talking about what the guy from Green Acres might be like in different role, but not 100% whether we actually went. I see the new production next week not knowing whether or not that I may have seen it 30 years ago. If it I start getting flashbacks and deja-vu's, I guess I'll have my answer.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 12:00pm

I saw Beauty and the Beast when I was about three. The first show I remember seeing was Mamma Mia!

[JRybka]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 12:34pm

To the person who was bitching that some of us (myself included) were posting Broadway Show at other places. Some of us enjoy seeing more then just the ONE show on Broadway.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 5:52pm

"When you're as old as I, is anyone as old as I?"

JayinChelsea-- you're the guy everyone else on this board wants to buy a drink for and take a seat with at some cozy corner banquet in a neighborhood bar and just listen to the stories you must have saved up to tell! How can you not be a Broadway Legend by now?

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 6:44pm

Promises, Promises 1971, OBC except Lorna Luft, who was a beautiful Fran. I could not have asked for a more perfect first musical.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 6:48pm

The Rocky Horror Show (2000), on a school trip.

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 6:50pm

Wait, you went with your school to see THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW? Isn't that, you know, kind of R-rated?

[theatremom2]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 6:53pm

'Plain and Fancy' class trip -sometime in the early 50's. First play "Gideon' my seat was against the back wall of the balcony and I was shocked when I saw people moving up

[ARTc3]

Posted: 9/17/14 at 6:55pm

My first was also, Hello Dolly with Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway. We had great seats, mezzanine first row dead center. My dad says that he had to hold me from falling over the railing I was that enthralled.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/18/14 at 1:13am

Wicked with Jackie Burns and Chandra Lee Schwartz

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 9/18/14 at 7:25am

Wicked in 2008.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 9/18/14 at 10:36am

Updated On: 10/20/14 at 10:36 AM

[Keiichi2]

Posted: 9/18/14 at 12:11pm

First time visiting NY was June 10th to the 13th in 1999. I went with a group out of Madison, WI. with my mother and a family friend.

I remember the group we traveled with stayed at the Mayflower Hotel (which is now torn down). The first Broadway show I saw on that trip was The Lion King the night we arrived. I remember being amazed by the production. The next night, our group went to see the revival of Death of a Salesman starring Brian Dennehy. Loved that one even more. The last production we saw on that trip was Amy's View with Judi Dench.

Starting in 2002, I started taking regular theater trips by myself. I have seen 109 shows total. My next trip is November 5th to the 9th.

[Jyn326]

Posted: 9/18/14 at 3:04pm

My first trip to NYC was with a tour group in 2004. We saw Fiddler on the Roof and 42nd Street.

[LucyEth]

Posted: 9/18/14 at 4:07pm

The 1971 (or was it '72) revival of "The Boy Friend," starring Judy Carne & Sandy Duncan.

[meyerd584]

Posted: 9/19/14 at 1:20pm

The How To Succeed Revival (or H2$) with Matthew Broderick in '95.

[Showface]

Posted: 9/19/14 at 10:36pm

Don't judge, but I've only seen one show live in New York, on Broadway was:

Matilda

I've seen a few other shows on tour, and my first one was:

Mary Poppins

A lot of my musical theatre experience comes from:

Video recordings, online clips, cast recordings, etc.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 9/19/14 at 11:10pm

My first Broadway show on my first night ever in New York- HELLO, DOLLY! with Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway. Pearl Bailey kissed me from the runway during her final call. Marked for life, I now live in New York and work in the industry. A hundred million miracles are happening every day.