How many professional shows have you seen throughout your life?

[greengirl11]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 7:40am

Example: Off broadway, broadway, tours, etc. Not school productions.

And how old are you? If you don't want to give your exact age, just an approximate estimate of your age group.


Don't count multiple times seeing one show, just the shows themselves. Updated On: 6/3/13 at 07:40 AM

[gchris11]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 7:45am

too many to remember all of them. I am in my 40's



Updated On: 6/3/13 at 07:45 AM

[Andre4]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 8:02am

Funny that you should ask since I just catalogued everything I have seen. This includes Broadway, Off-Broadeay, concerts, stand-up, and special performsnces like Cirque du Soleil. I have seen 503 and am 39 years old. My first concert was Phil Collins during his The Serious Tour in 1990. Excluding concerts it would be about 300 shows, not double-counting.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 9:35am

I've been keeping a spreadsheet that covers all the plays/musicals I've seen/read, and while there's certainly room for error and forgotten memories, in the eight years or so since I was in school and starting to pick up theatregoing as a serious hobby I'm over 200 productions. About 40 of those were school productions, so professionally I'm around 160-170 or so.

[once a month]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 11:04am

At 57, I have now seen my 365th equity production.

I actually had my list published with special notes...dinner with Penn and Teller or meeting Bernadette Peters or blocking Barbra Streisands view at Tommy, the musical.

[greengirl11]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 11:43am

once a month, I'm curious about this blocking Barbra Streisand's view? Want to elaborate?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 11:50am

Please tell me that I'm not the only one that would have no earthly idea what this number would be!

I started seeing b'wy shows when I was 16. I suppose I average maybe 10 a year(many more now than when I was young) -- that would put me near 350. But that is only a guess.

[ErinDillyFan]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 12:15pm

So far this year: 8
Last year: 22
2011: 20
2010: 16

Before that,
National tours: 150 (aprox)
broadway: 12 (approx)
other regional(20)

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 1:21pm

Greengirl, what are you collecting this data for? By that I mean why do you want to know? Or is it just a point of discussion?

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 2:51pm

Funnily enough, it's all because of BWW that a couple of years ago I first compiled a list of shows I'd seen (yeah, I had a previous name before -- got hacked last summer-- posted under a new name-- don't even get me started...).

Unfortunately I only tallied all the musicals I'd seen, not the plays. Why'd I do it? Because I never ever want to forget the hours I've spent in a theater seat, even to watch the lousy stuff. It's all precious. So tracking back to my first Broadway show (Fiddler) in 1967, I've seen 191 Broadway/ Off-Broadway/ West End or Equity Tour shows. I'm 56.

Sounds like I'd better do the straight play tally soon before the brain cells all slip away in the ether. Ok, there'll be a followup post when I get the other tally done.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 4:35pm

I'm sure, dramamama, that those of us keeping tally are the freaks. Worry not.

I've kept track ever since I took a Theatre Management class in college that touched on the responsibilities of Artistic Directors and Literary Managers, those for whom a wide and expansive knowledge of plays and musicals would be valuable to have to call upon. So I started a tally out of curiosity and, for fun, have been keeping it ever since.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 4:52pm

No idea. Well into the hundreds, not counting repeats.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 5:09pm

seriously?

too many to think... my first broadway show was in 1986.

i average about 10-15 broadway a year
10-20 off broadway
and i can't count regional and state theaters and tours....


a lot.

[JuanValjean72]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 6:29pm

I saw Fiddler on the Roof on Tour in 2011, and on Broadway, I've seen 9 shows with a 10th being seen on Wednesday. (Beauty & The Beast, Hairspray, Phantom of the Opera (3x), Memphis, Enemy of the People, Evita, Chaplin, Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Assembled Parties, with Nice Work If You Can Get It to be added on Wednesday ) I'm only 19, so the count will increase haha.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 8:02pm

I honestly couldn't even wager a guess. It's well into the hundreds because I would say I average about 90-100 per year.

[greengirl11]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 8:11pm

Just a point of discussion! I think it's interesting to hear from real theatre fans about this kind of stuff

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 8:15pm

No idea why anyone would care, but it turns out I've only recorded attending 105 Broadway plays, compared to 191 Broadway (etc.) musicals. 296 sounds like a respectable total at the age of 56.

(Are those who aren't tallying their shows also not sharing their ages because they're coy?)

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 8:26pm

I'm not tallying my shows because I literally have no idea. Hundreds. I'm not giving my age because I think it's a rude question and nobody's business.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 8:27pm

9

[Finch]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 8:32pm

Well, I started the professional shows with "A Majority of One" with Gertrude. Berg in 1956' and Sylvia Sidney in "Auntie Mame" in 1956. These were both touring companies. But I followed up with "Music Man" as my Broadway first in 1957. That leads up to last weeks's list of "Nance," "Matilda," "Kinky Boots," "I'll eat you Alive," and "Pippin." In other words, I've see a lot over the past 57 years.

Updated On: 6/3/13 at 08:32 PM

[ARTc]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 8:35pm

A while ago, there was a thread about how many Broadway musicals you saw. I listed over 200 (just Broadway musicals and that didn't include repeats) and was both a little surprised and pleased to list the most of any poster.

That was just Broadway musicals... I am an avid attender of other professional productions including Broadway plays, and Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. I also love dance and attend dance concerts often.

This doesn't include the shows I attended because of a direct involvement in their production. There are many years of those, too.

I just turned 56 and I suspect that if I was to tally all the professional shows I've seen it would have long ago surpassed the 4 digits.

Am I bragging? Perhaps. But, like so many people here, I am passionate about the theater and cherish my many many many experiences spent in a darkened room.

And, I'm just beginning...
Updated On: 6/3/13 at 08:35 PM

[jackieoh]

Posted: 6/3/13 at 8:43pm

I'm almost 19 and my rough estimate (though I have no real way of knowing for sure) is about 75-80 if we're including Broadway, off-Broadway, national tours and regional productions.

[ActingDude172]

Posted: 6/4/13 at 11:47am

Five Broadway productions, fifteen tours, twenty-six regional productions, and one very professional outdoor drama (not counting a few of the semi-pro others) make forty-seven professional shows. I may be forgetting a few. And I'm seventeen.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 6/4/13 at 12:27pm

I would guess around 50, maybe a little more. I would say the majority of them have actually been on Broadway. Last year, I saw two shows on the West End and I think I have seen 3 tour shows. I have not lived in NY since 1990 so I don't see as may as I would like. I am in my 50's.

Updated On: 6/4/13 at 12:27 PM

[RozeeRossi]

Posted: 6/4/13 at 12:32pm

17 professional in total (not counting multiples)- 8 Broadway, 5 tour, 2 off Broadway, and 2 regional. I'm 14 and I live in Florida so. :P