#1
Posted: 9/4/05 at 7:10pm
I am currently doing an essay for an application for college. They said it could be any topic of my choice. So I decided to talk about Broadway shows. Here is a little rough draft of it. It is not quite finished yet. It needs to be a maximum of 6,000 characters (including spaces). You can tell me what you like about it and how I can possibly improve upon it:
One of my most favorite things to do is to go into New York City and see a show on Broadway. Including on and off-Broadway shows, I have seen, as of September 3, 2005, a total of 42 shows, probably more than any other person who has been to Broadway. But I do not mean to brag about that, though. I have always enjoyed seeing a play or a musical performed live on stage and getting a feeling that I do not get at all when I go to see a movie. Throughout the years that I have been going to see Broadway shows, I have seen plenty of memorable musicals and plays. I have also kept track of all of the shows I have seen with a table that I type in Microsoft Word. Going to see a Broadway show has always been a favorite thing to do in my life.
I saw my very first Broadway musical on my birthday in August 1994. The musical was a theatrical adaptation of Walt Disney Pictures’ 1991 Oscar-nominated animated feature, Beauty and the Beast. Of course, the reason I wanted to see it was because I really loved the movie. At the time, I really did not know much about Broadway. The only shows I saw that were close to Broadway shows were the 30-minute live adaptations of animated movies at Walt Disney World. But this was something entirely different because there were more songs in this version, and more scenes as well. Not only that but there were two acts and one intermission. I was just completely blown away by it. What blew me away even more was the fact that everything was done live: the acting, the singing, the music, and even the special effects! (The end scene where the Beast transforms into the Prince is amazing!) From then on, I was practically hooked on Broadway.
Throughout my life of seeing Broadway shows, I have had favorites of some aspects of it. The Top Four Broadway shows that I have seen (in no particular order) would have to be The Producers, Avenue Q, Wicked, and Monty Python’s Spamalot (the musical “lovingly” ripped off of the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail). What I love about those musicals mostly would have to do with the concepts. The Producers (billed as “the new Mel Brooks musical”) marked the comeback of the traditional musical comedy. Avenue Q, with its concept of a non-P.C. “Sesame Street”-type show for adults gave me a lot of things to laugh about. Wicked took two stellar actresses, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, and brought in killer sets and costumes that were a sight to see, and combined those elements to make a great back-story to The Wizard of Oz. Monty Python’s Spamalot had me almost peeing in my pants when I saw one of my favorite low-budget comedy movies with quotable lines (I was practically lip-synching along with almost every word from the movie) live on stage. These shows have made a very lasting impression upon me.
My favorite Broadway celebrity of all time would have to be Kristin Chenoweth, who, as I mentioned before, was one of the actresses in Wicked. I first saw her in a New York City Centers ENCORES! production of the Gershwin musical Strike Up the Band, where she played Anne Draper. She had a very high-pitched speaking voice, but a very powerful singing voice. Another person who was in the cast of that show was Rebecca Baxter, who would later become my singing teacher. One year later, I heard that the 1967 off-Broadway hit, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, was coming to Broadway and that Kristin was going to play Charlie Brown’s little sister, Sally, a part that was not in the original show. I saw that and I loved her even more. She won a Tony award for that. Of course, I saw her in Wicked, and most recently, she did another show at New York City Center ENCORES! The show was Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s (Fiddler on the Roof) The Apple Tree. She never failed to amaze me each time that I saw her.
There are many things about seeing a Broadway show that I like that it is very hard to list them all. But first and foremost, as I have mentioned before, I absolutely love the fact that everything is done live. When I go to see musicals, I love the fact that there are songs in the show. When I go to see comedies, I love to get good laughs. When I see the show, the actors on stage look like they are having lots of fun and they share that feeling with the audience.
One of my most favorite things to do is to go into New York City and see a show on Broadway. Including on and off-Broadway shows, I have seen, as of September 3, 2005, a total of 42 shows, probably more than any other person who has been to Broadway. But I do not mean to brag about that, though. I have always enjoyed seeing a play or a musical performed live on stage and getting a feeling that I do not get at all when I go to see a movie. Throughout the years that I have been going to see Broadway shows, I have seen plenty of memorable musicals and plays. I have also kept track of all of the shows I have seen with a table that I type in Microsoft Word. Going to see a Broadway show has always been a favorite thing to do in my life.
I saw my very first Broadway musical on my birthday in August 1994. The musical was a theatrical adaptation of Walt Disney Pictures’ 1991 Oscar-nominated animated feature, Beauty and the Beast. Of course, the reason I wanted to see it was because I really loved the movie. At the time, I really did not know much about Broadway. The only shows I saw that were close to Broadway shows were the 30-minute live adaptations of animated movies at Walt Disney World. But this was something entirely different because there were more songs in this version, and more scenes as well. Not only that but there were two acts and one intermission. I was just completely blown away by it. What blew me away even more was the fact that everything was done live: the acting, the singing, the music, and even the special effects! (The end scene where the Beast transforms into the Prince is amazing!) From then on, I was practically hooked on Broadway.
Throughout my life of seeing Broadway shows, I have had favorites of some aspects of it. The Top Four Broadway shows that I have seen (in no particular order) would have to be The Producers, Avenue Q, Wicked, and Monty Python’s Spamalot (the musical “lovingly” ripped off of the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail). What I love about those musicals mostly would have to do with the concepts. The Producers (billed as “the new Mel Brooks musical”) marked the comeback of the traditional musical comedy. Avenue Q, with its concept of a non-P.C. “Sesame Street”-type show for adults gave me a lot of things to laugh about. Wicked took two stellar actresses, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, and brought in killer sets and costumes that were a sight to see, and combined those elements to make a great back-story to The Wizard of Oz. Monty Python’s Spamalot had me almost peeing in my pants when I saw one of my favorite low-budget comedy movies with quotable lines (I was practically lip-synching along with almost every word from the movie) live on stage. These shows have made a very lasting impression upon me.
My favorite Broadway celebrity of all time would have to be Kristin Chenoweth, who, as I mentioned before, was one of the actresses in Wicked. I first saw her in a New York City Centers ENCORES! production of the Gershwin musical Strike Up the Band, where she played Anne Draper. She had a very high-pitched speaking voice, but a very powerful singing voice. Another person who was in the cast of that show was Rebecca Baxter, who would later become my singing teacher. One year later, I heard that the 1967 off-Broadway hit, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, was coming to Broadway and that Kristin was going to play Charlie Brown’s little sister, Sally, a part that was not in the original show. I saw that and I loved her even more. She won a Tony award for that. Of course, I saw her in Wicked, and most recently, she did another show at New York City Center ENCORES! The show was Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s (Fiddler on the Roof) The Apple Tree. She never failed to amaze me each time that I saw her.
There are many things about seeing a Broadway show that I like that it is very hard to list them all. But first and foremost, as I have mentioned before, I absolutely love the fact that everything is done live. When I go to see musicals, I love the fact that there are songs in the show. When I go to see comedies, I love to get good laughs. When I see the show, the actors on stage look like they are having lots of fun and they share that feeling with the audience.
"Ev'ry-buddy wants ta get into de act!"
- Jimmy Durante
"Breathe from your hoo-hoo."
-Kristin Chenoweth
