The one that got away...

Is there a particular Broadway musical or play that came and went, maybe something within the last several years, and you really wanted to see it, but it closed before you could get to NYC? Maybe it was a limited run or one that closed early? Even if it got bad reviews? For me M Butterly with Clive Owen; Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812; and Sunday in the Park with George with Jake Gyllenhaal come to mind.

I really wanted to see THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. I usually enjoy Brown's work and I was sure O'Hara would do it justice. i live in northern NJ, so getting into NYC is rarely a problem. Unfortunately, I was battling health issues that year and was hoping to catch the show in June. It closed that May. I would have loved to have heard "One Second and a Million Miles" and "It All Fades Away" performed live on stage.

GREAT COMET was an event, but you didn't miss much by not seeing M. BUTTERFLY.

I try to hit NY twice each year from Chicago, so I mostly catch everything on my small radar, though in past years I've missed both SIDESHOWS and THE BOY FROM OZ.

At BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, I fondly remember two women sitting near me in the mezzanine swooning and sighing during a few numbers.

AMERICAN PSYCHO had that great blood splatter screen. Very effective.

I mostly checked out BRIGHT STAR to see the Cort. Cusack blew me away with her singing and star power. I returned to the Cort to see the disappointing M BUTTERFLY revival.

The GREAT COMET was so immersive. From my seat in the top row in mezzanine, I marveled at the moment when the full chorus sang from the mezzanine concourse. The mini stage set up in the middle of the top mezzanine seating was used often, too.

I'm fortunate enough to live in NY now, but I'm constantly learning about productions (particularly at the Off-Broadway non-profits) that I am bummed that I missed from before I lived here.

One of the more recent ones that really stings is the production of "Othello" that played NYTW during the year that I was living in London. I started kicking myself even more when I discovered Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and realized that Rachel Brosnahan had played Desdemona in that production. I had heard mixed things about the production, but I still would really love to have seen it.

Then, ironically, once I came back to New York, the Globe in London did "Othello" with Mark Rylance as Iago. Rylance is one of my all-time favorite actors, and I was gutted to miss him in the role.

So two of my biggest examples from recent years have both been productions of "Othello" - both of which I missed because I was in the opposite city at the time.

I have to say, I totally acknowledge that I am incredibly lucky to live in New York, and I was incredibly lucky to live briefly in London, and I'd love to live there again someday. But falling in love with the theatre scenes in 2 distant cities is kind of a blessing and a curse. Because now, no matter where I live, I'll always feel like I'm missing out on shows happening in one or both of these cities.

Updated On: 11/4/19 at 10:40 PM

Most of my show regrets involve not seeing a show during its pre-Broadway run (Hamilton at The Public stands out as the main one).

Head Over Heels

the OBC of To Kill a Mockingbird

When I was younger, my dad and I went to the TKTS boards to see if we wanted to see something. This is when Rent was around (I think). For some reason, instead of seeing that, we ended up seeing Chicago. I do appreciate Chicago, but I wish we had gone with Rent.

Doesn't quite fit your original request but I wanted so much to see the original production of Annie, even with one of the replacement casts. I was living in NYC but it just never happened financially -- back then I was a proofreader living from penny to penny. Literally. Everyone I knew at the time told me it was musical comedy heaven.

I guess I'll add that at one point I got enough money to see either Annie with a replacement cast or Sweeney Todd with Angela and Len Cariou. I chose Sweeney and have never regretted it. I was eventually able to see them again and then see the show a third time with the replacement cast of Dorothy Loudon and George Hearn. Hearn was was very good, quite fine, although very different from Cariou in both his better vocalizations but not as subtle acting.

But Loudon was weird. Just weird. She bounced from brilliant in some scenes to awful in others. I think one critic said "A trainwreck hits London." Maybe I'm wrong and thinking of something else but it was was a strange performance.

There used to be clips from a boot of her performance on youtube which included a brilliant final scene and a wonderful Best Pies in London and a fun A Little Priest but when I saw her live it was sometimes wonderful but overall strange.

Updated On: 11/5/19 at 11:51 AM

I planned a trip to New York for the final weekend of of 33 VARIATIONS specifically to see my favorite American actress, Jane Fonda, live on stage, but, as I recall, the show had to close a few performances shy of its scheduled last performance because Ms. Fonda had to have emergency knee surgery. And it was her first time back on Broadway in 40-something years!

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I really wish I had seen the original production of Side Show. I wasn't using the internet regularly at the time, so I didn't really even know I wanted to see it until I got to New York and learned more about it. But by that time, all the show slots were filled.

More recently, I really wanted to see Hand to God, but I was one show slot short to cover all the things I wanted to see, and something had to get cut, painful as it was.

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