Seeing shows more than once- Page 2

[liotte]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 1:26am

I agree with Lizzie. And my list of shows is much worse (or better?) than most of yours.

Rent 27
All Shook Up 26
Wicked 25
Les Miz 12
Hairspray 11
Mamma Mia 8
Lion King 8
Spelling Bee 7
Aida 7
Jekyll and Hyde 7
Footloose 7
Avenue Q 6
DRS 5
Chicago 5
Phantom 5

I know there are so many more shows I've seen multiple times that I am forgetting, but you can assume (and be correct) that I've seen most everything a few times.

[justme2]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 1:35am

Well, in my case there are two reasons:

1. Being in SF...not that many shows come to town. Your options are much more limited than New York.

2. When a show is really great, I want to bring as many people to it as I can. This is what happened last winter with White Christmas. I went 5 times with different people each time.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 2:09am

Was waiting for you to respond Liotte

[SirLiir]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 2:56am

O.O Liotte for the win!

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 3:46am

It's a good issue to be raised though I think most longterm BWW members see as many shows as possible.

I only get to New York every so often and since I do theatre reviews I HAVE to see the newest shows and time usually doesn't allow repeat visits no matter how much I love the show.

But I do see different productions of shows, and some titles I have seen numerous times over the years:

INTO THE WOODS - 11 times
SWEENEY TODD - 11 times
EVITA - 9 times
CABARET - 8 times
LES MISERABLES - 7
COMPANY - 7 times
GYPSY - 7 times
A FUNNY THING...FORUM -6 times
ALLEGRO - 6 times

But there are shows (SUNSET BLVD, WICKED, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) that are soe empty once is more than enough!

[lfae]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 6:04am

When a show is really great, I want to bring as many people to it as I can. This is what happened last winter with White Christmas. I went 5 times with different people each time.

Same here. Well, not seeing WC five times, but wanting to "show off" the show to as many people as possible. Drag them along

I tend to see things twice if I like them - I try and make sure my 2nd ticket is for the closing performance, though, so I can't be tempted to go anymore. But I live in a place where things don't stay for years on end. I just like to soak up the show and I like to see it again so that I can pick up on anything I may have missed the first time. I won't see *everything* twice, but I generally think, well they'll never do this again, as long as I live. And if they DO, it won't be with the same people. I want to make my memory even stronger. And it's just so fun :) I'll watch a DVD I like countless times, read the same books over and over...why not for shows.

Recently saw Wicked 5 times in the US (within the space of 16 days )...because it was just enchanting. I wanted to note down every tiny little detail. And it'll be a good number of years before I see it again - if ever! I had to "stock up"

[Demitri2]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 8:08am

When I was dating my present partner we were both in college and the price of a student orchestra seat to the Dorothy Chandler Theater in L.A. was an unbelievable $3.50! "Evita" was trying out that whole summer before its move to Broadway that fall. We ended up seeing the show 12 times because it was cheaper than seeing a movie. It would be 7:15 pm and one of us would say to the other,"Whatcha wanna do tonight?" and the other would reply, "Let's go see Patti" and we'd jump in the car and be sitting in our seats by 8pm. It was great fun seeing the show but we enjoyed watching Patti build the role week after week. She would find new little pieces of business she would bring to the character from one performance to the next and just got better and better. Interestingly enough though, Mandy Patinkin's take on the role never changed. He had it down from performance one. I remember writing Patti a letter one Tuesday and telling her that she was wonderful in the role but I had one criticism. When it came time for curtain calls, Mandy was such a crowd pleaser that when he came out the audience went so crazy that his applause carried over to Patti's entrance and by the time she took her bow it would drown down and sort of peter out. Two days later we saw the show and after Mandy's bow there was a LONG pause for the first time and then Patti appeared to raptuous applause and yelling and hooting. I felt I had done my part...LOL. Also interesting was the very last performance in L.A. By that time the box office knew us and said, "Patti's in trouble tonight. She's been recording the double LP cast album during the day this week and is having voice problems but didn't want to disappoint her friends and fans for the last performance and insists on going on" (what a trouper!). Well she made the wrong choice and though she was a bit raspy but fine during "Buenos Aries" by the end of act one she couldn't even yell out the lyrics much less sing them for "A New Argentina" and was replaced for act two. It was truly heartbreaking to see a performer "die" on stage and was a first for me. (Poor Julie towards the end of "Victor/Victoria" was the only other time I've experienced this). So, all in all, "Evita" and Patti will always hold a very special place in my heart...:))). Seeing a show like "Evita" in its U.S. inception with two new stars on the rise was fantastic, especially knowing what would transpire once the show opened on Broadway.

[freeadmission]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 8:23am

I remember the first time I saw a show twice. It was a local production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that had me rolling in the aisles with laughter and crying with joy. So a took a friend to see it the next week and was sorely dissapointed. It was like the magic was gone. I think there's something inexplicably magical about seeing a show for the first time and when you see it again. it's just not the same.

Since then, the only show I've seen more than once is Little Women -- once on the first night of previews at Duke and once in NY (student rush). The only reason I let myself do that is because I knew they would be so different.

Anyway, the point of this post is that I would rather not see the same production more than once. Somehow it ruins the magic for me. That may all change in the event that I ever move the New York, but, for now, that's where I stand.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 8:36am

I mix it up every year by seeing shows I've already seen AND seeing new shows. On Broadway I usuallt go anbd see new shows. The exceptions were Phantom, I'd already seen it 4 times on tour and it was a gift for me, and seeing Wicked for the second time on Broadway because my best friend had wanted to go so I asked her to go with me.

Shows I've seen multiple times:
THE PHANTOM OF THE OEPRA-6
BEAUTRY AND THE BEAST-4
LES MSIERABLES-2
WICKED-2
INTO THE WOODS-2
THE MUSIC MAN-2

and many others.

BUT, I have also seen many shows once. I've been to the theatre roughly 60 times now, and seen about 40-45 shows. SO I have a variety.

[hannahshule]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 8:46am

Les Mis-3

I saw The Boyfriend twice in three days. It was sooo good.

[wowobball2000]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 10:04am

My theory is that seeing a show multiple times is like reading a good book multiple times. Granted, reading a book 10 times that you have taken out of the library or own doesn't cost you nearly as much as taking in a Broadway show, but the comparison is there.

If it is a truly good show, much like a truly well-written book, there will always be new things for you to discover and new levels of thought that it will take you to.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 10:09am

I've seen Rent dozens of times, probably more than 50 but I lost count a long time ago. The main reason is that I love the story but I also love seeing different actors in the roles. Each performance is different to an extent. I know a couple of people who have been in the show so that has increased my numbers, too. Also I've seen so many different productions, Broadway, all the tours, that makes it different as well.

There are other shows I've seen more than once on Broadway, though not as often as Rent. Hedwig, Ragtime, Footloose, Scarlet Pimpernel, Chicago, Les Mis, Phantom, The Producers, ITW, IAMOW, The Pillowman. If I like a show, I enjoy seeing it more than once. Often, I'll enjoy it much more the second time.

I've seen probably every show that's run on Broadway in the past ten years, and most that are off-Broadway so I'm not denying myself other shows.

edited to add, before someone corrects me, yes, I know that Hedwig wasn't on Broadway. I spent enough time at the Jane St. theatre to know that. :)
Updated On: 10/29/05 at 10:09 AM

[DoogieB]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 10:12am

I usually wish to save my money to see shows I haven't seen before, but damnit, everytime I see a show, I want to see it again. However, I've only allowed myself to do that with my two favorite shows:
THE PRODUCERS-2001 with only Broderick present, then 2003 with Lane and Broderick
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS-April-full cast, August-full cast minus Laura Marie Duncan

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 10:42am

And also additionally, in terms of just seeing a show twice. What I tend to do if a I love a show is I go in the first time trying to know as little as I can about the plot and music, hardly ever will listen to a score before seeing the actual show. Then I go out and buy the cast recording, and the second time I seew it I have the score memorized, and I dunno, just a different experience. Like the first time I'm engrossed in trying to make out the lyrics and follow the plot, and the second time I'm much more able to focus on all other aspects of the show except the plot.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 10:52am

wickedrentq, what about straight plays?

[Patronus]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 10:56am

Every individual person has a different "cut off" point for when it's "enough".

It's never right or wrong as long as you are enjoying yourself and not infringing on the enjoyment of other people.

There are many reasons that someone may see a show multiple times and it could be anything from being infatuated with the music to having a connection with the show to being in a geographic area where there aren't a lot of options to using the experience to mourn the loss of a loved one. Personally, I can site all of the above as reasons that I have seen shows multiple times.

Honestly, I think it's a bit closeminded to suggest that there is a magic number that suddenly signals "too much" when we are dealing with other peoples reasoning for seeing something multiple times.

Theatre is art and art is diversity. A main ingredient in that is opening your mind to other people's interpretation of things and losing the grip on the concept that your interpretation is the only correct interpretation.


Updated On: 10/29/05 at 10:56 AM

[greenifyed]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 12:09pm

A little late in the conversation, but I play the "no two shows are ever the same" card as well.

For instance, the second time I saw Wicked was the matinee on January 8th, 2005.

If I hadn't seen Chitty a second time (or fifth, for that matter), I wouldn't understand and appreciate how fresh and new actors like Jan Maxwell and Raul Esparza are every night.

And in all the times I've seen RENT, there's always something new that I notice.

It's just something that's fun to do. It's not that I don't broaden my horizons, but since I don't get to the city as much as I'd like, I go where I feel most comfortable, and where I know the evening won't be wasted. I enjoy seeing new things, but I also enjoy feeling "at home".

[Fosse76]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 12:18pm

"Who says they don't expand their horizons? Just because you see one show several times doesn't mean you're forfeiting the option to see other shows. "

Especially those of us who live within walking distance of Times Square. I've seen four shows this week, and only one of them is something I've seen several times before. Some shows I enjoy more than others, so there are times I want to go see Wicked, or Avenue Q, or Hairspray. There are times I want to go see Doubt, or Sweeney Todd. Just because I've seen Wicked and Hairspray dozens of times doesn't mean I don't see anything new, it just means I'm partial to seeing those shows. But I would never make an assumption that just because someone sees shows more than once that they don't see other shows.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 12:44pm

My theory about those who see shows 50 + times is.

Hey, if you want to waste your money, go ahead! Dosen't effect me.

I don't live in NYC, so I guess I really can't imagine seeing my favorite show EVERY single time a new actor joins it.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 12:58pm

After seeing HELLO, DOLLY! 74 times (that includes the original Broadway production, revivals and National Tours), I can strongly state that people should never see a show more than once.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 12:59pm

74 times? I'm oddly jealous?

I've seen things twice, but after that I'd just feel like a stalker. If I love the show,I'd see different productions of it several times, but to see the same cast over and over, it'd have to be damn good.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 1:16pm

I don't think it's wrong for a person to see a show multiple times. Maybe there's something about the show, or the energy that draws you in. Or maybe the actors.

The show I've seen the most times is All Shook Up, at fourteen. I saw it that many times because something about that show touched me, and I loved the energy the cast had during it. Also, I have to say that it was the nicest cast on Broadway. Every time I left that show, I felt wonderful, and I kept wanting to feel that way, so I went back.

I do expand my horizons, though - I try to see all the shows I can, and am interested in.

Okay, off the soap box now.

[angelic1]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 1:28pm

This thread is amusing. I know I've seen things I like a few too many times. But I do see a variety of shows, musicals and straight. Student rush and play-by-play and tdf and all that allows me to see at least four shows for the price of one regular ticket. And honestly I just love the whole theater experience. So, sometimes I want to see a show I've seen before for reasons everyone has already stated (favorite actor, or makes me happy when I'm in a bad mood, etc.) or I want to try something new, whether it just looks interesting or a friend said to see it or someone I respect is in it.

I think it's a good thing just to keep seeing shows and supporting the theater community in whatever way you like most. I'm sorry, I'm a rambler.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 2:52pm

It is quite obviously people's own business how many times they see a show. It is an individual decision and varies from person to person. There is no reason to think that something is wrong with someone who sees a show 5, 10, 50 or 500 times. Every experience of theatre is different every time, and people react in various ways.
It is not a waste of money to someone who enjoys it, if you don't enjoy it, don't do it.

[lfae]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 8:52pm

"If it is a truly good show, much like a truly well-written book, there will always be new things for you to discover and new levels of thought that it will take you to."

Perfectly said :)