I don't post on the boards very often but have been reading them for years, so, hello, everyone!
I'm Amanda, twenty-something Southwestern woman. I grew up on theatre and eventually realized just how badly I wanted to write plays and musicals, so I did. I'm mainly a musical librettist and dramaturg, although I've written a few straight plays that have had readings or been in festivals. Always trying to find ways to tweak what theatre is to find what it can be.
Also, I'm actually a writer here at BroadwayWorld! You can find most of my articles in the CDs section, plus a few other articles and interviews under my author page.
Let's see, I am a 27-year-old gay man living in Chicago.
I'm originally from Oklahoma and I randomly went to a Blockbuster and spent my $20 allowance on a copy of "The Producers" (2005) and after watching it, I became hooked on musicals. There were so many references and insides jokes that I didn't get, but I wanted to know more. So I would rewatch catching something new every time. I loved it and the idea of theatre.
After graduating from college, I worked on a taco truck and at a gay bar as a spotlight boy. Both places, oddly, is where I learned to love drag and campiness in general. After saving enough money, I moved to Chicago in 2014 where I earned my very first Playbill seeing the ill-fated pre-Broadway production of "Amazing Grace." The experience of finally seeing a musical in that large of a theater got me even more hooked on live theatre and now I have seeing well over 200 productions in my time in Chicago!
My first Broadway show was "The Color Purple's" revival where I got to see Jennifer Hudson and... Bre Jackson! She was phenomenal. I have seen more than 25 productions on Broadway since then. (Including all three Dollys with a fourth scheduled on August 25th.)
Shameless self-promotion, I'm a drag queen in Chicago that goes by Briawna Banana where I perform random showtunes and disco mixes like any good ol' drag queen. I do weekly reviews of RuPaul's Drag Race (including one tonight!) with my good judy Soju on her YouTube channel. We've had guests like Aquaria, Sasha Velour and Shea Coulee on. Check it out!
Hey all! Frequent lurker, rare poster. I'm in my early 20s, grew up in the midwest but I go to college in the city. I see as many shows as I can during the school year before I go home for the summer and take in the theatre here(I literally spend my summer in Ohio lol). I fell in love with theatre when my mother took me to the Chicago sit-down right around when it opened, I was in elementary school and I've been hooked ever since. I was a show choir kid in high school, and the first broadway show I saw was on a class field trip was Phantom, and my mom and I started to do semi-regular trips to NYC to see shows together before I came here for school. Usually around the end or beginning of a semester, my mom will come stay with me for a weekend and we'll still see shows together, since she is my first and best theatre buddy.
I'm in school for nursing, and also have a deep love for film, and I love searching out more arthouse fare, while also keeping up with Oscar season around the end of the year. I work at a senior living facility and love to talk to and work with our residents. Currently, I'm trying to convince my mom so stay with me the weekend before classes start and see some shows, before it gets so busy that it gets a little harder to find time to get to midtown. My goal for this year is to see more off broadway and other stuff around the city, though!
Early 40s. I’ve been lurking on here a while, but finally decided to officially join. I grew up in a small town where I was in chorus in school, so grew to love musicals through what we sang. Took a drama course, but my high school could never get it together to put on a production, so a big part of me wishes I had had that experience... I might have chosen a different path in life. Had a boring major in college, but spiced it up with a couple of drama/theatre courses. Finally got to see my first musical (Phantom of the Opera) in Atlanta when I was in college. After I got my first job, I took my first trip to NYC in 1999. I saw Rent and fell in love with the city.
Now that I have a boring job that pays me pretty well, I decided to make it my mission to make at least one or two trips to NYC every year to see new shows with the OBC. I try to catch shows I missed seeing on Broadway by going to the touring shows and community theatre productions in Atlanta, but they often don’t quite compare.