Who has a to-see list--and if you do, is it based around personal time constraints, working around when the shows will close, or at leisure?
Mine is an amalgam of the first two: I can only go on weekends and generally have to go to matinees, so I try to see all the shows I want to see before they close (hey, it's hard! Many are open only for, say, 3 weekends).
My list at the moment [chronological] Specific dates All That I Will Ever Be (March 3rd or 4th) LaChiusa's The Wild Party [Columbia Stages!] (April 22nd) Not specific, but within a certain time frame In the Heights (ASAP, or at least before it closes [although I do expect it to make The Jump]) All The Wrong Reasons (ASAP, after Heights) Curtains (ASAP) Legally Blonde (ASAP) Spring Awakening (early summer) The Big Voice: God or Merman? (by the end of the summer) Deuce (...before the chance to see Lansbury and Seldes passes!) Beauty and the Beast (before it closes) The Producers (before it closes) No Child (by the end of the summer) Spelling Bee (hopefully by summer's end; definitely by year's end) To see again--whenever (alphabetical) Chicago, with Bebe (if at all possible--no Bebe, no go) A Chorus Line (hopefully still with most of the original cast) Company (hopefully with Angel Desai still around) Rent Wicked, with Julia/Kendra (if at all possible--no Julia/Kendra, no go)
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I have a To See list. Several, really. It usually works that I find one show I really want to see, so I work out a good date for that, then I take in a few shows around it. For instance, I wanted to see 'Wicked' early in previews in the West End, so I took that entire week off work and saw 'The Woman In Black', 'The Last Five Years', 'Les Miserables', 'Evita', 'Billy Elliot', 'Guys And Dolls', and 'Avenue Q' as well.
My next block of To See was based around 'Faust' (a National Theatre production). I chose a date that I knew I wouldn't be at work and booked my ticket. Then I booked myself in for 'The Tempest' in the afternoon. Then I booked a couple more days off work and am going to see 'La Boheme' (for £30; very specific days for that offer!) and 'Cabaret' and hopefully something else as well. I call it my March Culture Trip.
My NY Trip is coming up in March and was based around 'The Pirate Queen'. It also covers 'Spelling Bee', 'Beauty And The Beast', 'Spring Awakening', 'Company', 'Pirates Of Penzance', 'Curtains', and 'Les Miserables'.
Then I'll have a May trip back to London which should involve 'The Lord Of The Rings' and 'The Drowsy Chaperone' at the very least. Oh, and there's an April trip in the offing too, but it may not include much more than 'Wicked' and 'Equus' so may not count. Although it looks as good a time as any to slip in 'Total Eclipse'...
Anyway! ^_^ I try to work around days off as far as possible, but when I decide to extend and have a few days in London, it doesn't always work out that way. I like to work around opening dates more than closing dates; I got the final performance of 'Frost/Nixon' and have been kicking myself for not getting an earlier one, because I really would love to see it again.
Weez: The only reason I generally work around closing dates is because they're like deadlines--I mean, first off, I got started loving theatre only about in the spring (I guess you could call it my 'Spring Awakening'! Harr, harr!) and only started seeing shows toward the end of the summer. So, I have to work in the shows that I haven't yet seen (because of other short engagements or other things I have to see before they close, or the like), and then I have to work in the long-term stuff around that.
Spring Awakening, in particular, is waiting until summer so that I'll have a whole day where I can eschew responsibility and wait in line for rush, old-school Rent style. Others that can wait until Summer (with the exceptions of Curtains and Legally Blonde, both of which I'm dying to see!) probably will, also--convenience and all that.
ClumsyDude15: No way, I didn't realize that Anneliese would be in B&B! I'm going to try and catch it with her in.
I did have others with specific actors (specifically, Wicked with Julia/Kendra and Chicago with Bebe)--but I've seen both shows twice already and I also don't want to see Bebe and Julia/Kendra enough to miss any limited-engagement shows I would have to miss.
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February 27-8pm-Simon Boccanegra March 1-8pm-Curtains March 2-8pm-Prelude to a Kiss March 3-8pm-The Pirates of Penzance March 4-2pm-Some Men March 5-7pm-The Sisters Rosensweig March 7-8pm-The Year of Magical Thinking March 11-2:30pm-Our Leading Lady March 19-8pm-Die Agyptische Helena April 1-7pm-King Hedley II April 3-8pm-Frost/Nixon April 11-8pm-Deuce
Shows I need to fit in: All That I Will Ever Be Jack Goes Boating
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
This is a combination of my Broadway "To See" list and my West End "Too See" list
Shows I already have tickets to: The Producers The Coast of Utopia (all three) Leagally Blonde Equus
Shows I plan to see: Chicago (w/ Bebe) Curtains Deuce Grease Les Mis (w/ Lea Salonga)-I've never seen this show before...hard to believe Love Musik Billy Elliot Evita The Drowsy Chaperone (West End)
More West End Possibilities: Cabaret Guys and Dolls Dirty Dancing The 39 Steps We Will Rock You
I have a to-see list as well. Currently, only "Poppins" is on it, but "Legally Blonde" will be soon. If a show announces a closing date, that usually puts it on my to-see list.
I also have a want-to-see-again list, which currently has "Company" and "A Chorus Line" on it.
"The world is a better place because of hairspray." - Michael Ball
Altar Boyz Chicago (once more before Bebe leaves hopefully) Curtains Deuce Grey Gardens Legally Blonde Spelling Bee Spring Awakening Tarzan (I plan to take my brother)
SNLMedia: I actually like the idea of a to-see-again list (and mine contains the same two shows). The only reason Wicked and Chicago would still not be on such a list is because I feel that 3 is more than enough when there are all these other shows I want to see.
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http://www.goodprattle.com
Very cool, keely! I want to see "A Chorus Line" again because I had a lotto seat my first time and was on the extreme right, so I'd like to see it from somewhere in the center to get the full experience. "Company" is basically to see Raúl's riveting performance again.
I have yet to see Wicked on Broadway. I've only seen it once on tour and have had no desire to revisit it in New York.
"The world is a better place because of hairspray." - Michael Ball
SNLMedia: I didn't win lotto--I had Standing Room. I would gladly stand through another show, but I would prefer to get lotto tickets.
There are so many London shows I wish I could see, but--alas--I'm 14 so deciding to just go on (or even actually planning) a theatre trip is out of the question. Thank god I live in NYC!
I'm updating my list as I see other things on other people's lists that interest me.
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Grey Gardens (happening) Mary Poppins (happening) Spring Awakening (hopefully by end of the summer) Curtains (with OBC) Frost/Nixon Sunday in the Park with George
TOURS:
Doubt (with Cherry Jones) The Light in the Piazza
How to properly use its/it's:
Its is the possessive. It's is the contraction for it is...
To See ASAP: The Apple Tree Chicago with Bebe Company Beauty and the Beast with Analiese
Haven't Opened Yet: The Pirate Queen Curtains Legally Blonde
"In theater, the process of it is the experience. Everyone goes through the process, and everyone has the experience together. It doesn't last - only in people's memories and in their hearts. That's the beauty and sadness of it. But that's life - beauty and the sadness. And that is why theater is life." - Sherie Rene Scott
If I could gte to NYC more often, my list would be much larger.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
To See (In Order, "Ill Die If I Dont See it" First to " Eh If i Get To It" Last):
LoveMusik (4/29) King Lear Spring Awakening Deuce The Apple Tree A Chorus Line Beauty & The Beast Mary Poppins The Color Purple Legally Blonde 110 In The Shade Curtains Jersey Boys
"I wouldn't let Esparza's Bobby take my kids to the zoo...I'd be afraid he'd steal their ice cream and laugh."- YankeeFan
"People who like Sondheim enjoy cruelty."-LuvtheEmcee
Well, I am taking a school trip during the end of March thru the start of April (my choir is singing in Carnagie Hall!)
And I am seeing:
-Spelling Bee (have tix) -Pirate Queen (have tix) -Inherit the Wind -Either BATB or Producers (trying to decide which one to see, since they are both closing)
I WISH I was there for LB, but the 1st preview is the day after we leave. I am just really interested in how that is going to work.
I also am looking for recommendations for what to see. The last time I was in NYC I saw:
And on tour I've seen: -Hairspray (pretty good) -Wicked (loved it) -Doubt (loved it) -Joseph (ew, my high school production was ALMOST as good) -Les Miz (ehhhh) -Spamalot (pretty good)
Based on what I've seen before and what I said I liked, what would you say I should see?
Here are what I suggest for you (both currently open and yet-to-open): A Chorus Line (Non-negotiable. It kicks so much ass and almost all the actors, except the normally terrific but horrifically miscast Charlotte D'Amboise, are fantastic. Contrary to some others who've seen the show, I think that Deidre Goodwin and Jessica Goldyn are wonderful). Company (Doyle direction never gets old! Plus, if you've never seen the show before--I hadn't--you should. Besides, it's Sondheim--whom I adore.) Curtains (I've heard some of the music and it's great--plus, it's a K&E!) Legally Blonde (Well, you've seen the reviews! Plus, I love the music.) 110 in the Shade (Audra McDonald, HELLO! Plus, it's based on a Katharine Hepburn movie--which was based on a book or something like that, I'm not positive of the story, but still. Plus, I heard it was originally a flop, and don't tell me the idea of seeing a flop doesn't excite you. Well, it excites me, anyway: I only wish I was around to have seen Carrie!)
Good Prattle, my very NYC-friendly interview website:
http://www.goodprattle.com