What defines a Broadway tourist to a Broadway regular.- Page 3

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 1:46pm

I love Weez.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 2:13pm

I'm still not sure why a distiction has to be made. Who cares? As long as people are buying tickets and keeping Broadway in business, I'm pretty happy about it.

Most tourists would assume that Off Broadway must suck without even going to see it themselves.

Really? Then how would you explain the longevity of such shows as The Fantasticks, I Love You You're Perfect Now Change, Forever Plaid, Stomp, Blue Man Group, etc?

Now, a Broadway regular is someone who doesn't have to live in NYC or around the city (though it helps) but is instead someone who can name the cast of the show and know what other projects they have been in can name the theatres that the shows are playing in etc

No, those aren't "regulars", but rather "enthusiasts" or "fanatics", most likely. Or sometimes they are just out-and-out snobs. There are plenty of "Broadway regulars" who don't care about that stuff. They just like seeing shows.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 2:57pm

Well, I'm glad that my Norm Lewis themed math binder precludes me from being a total tourist according to rule 8! (Sadly, I'm... actually not kidding.)

You know, I've never seen being a tourist as necessarily a bad thing. After all, isn't it tourism that really helps keep NYC running? And haven't we all been tourists? Even if you're a New York native and know everything about the city, you might still be a tourist in DC or Berlin or Los Angeles. People who laugh at tourists who don't understand New York's street system might be utterly perplexed by the way DC's streets are organized.

[Weez]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 3:37pm

5)When you saw I Am Legend did you think
A) Pretty good movie, Will Smith was good in it
B) Apparently Wicked will still be playing after the vampires take over

I had a backwards version of this with any 'Heroes' episodes that involved going to the future. Apparently the vampires will still be taking over after the world stops playing. (Or, in coherent English, I laugh like a drain EVERY TIME I see the 'Lestat' marquee in a film or TV series.)

I quite love givesmevoice too. I don't get the sig quote, but that doesn't mean it doesn't make me chuckle.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 3:57pm

haha, it's an Eddie Izzard quote, from his Dress to Kill routine.

[Weez]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 4:55pm

I suspected Izzard! (Well, Moran was my second guess.) It's just... something very peculiar to him about the phrasing of "covered in jam". Redolent of "covered in bees" (which also tangentially makes me think of Moran...). :3

[SNAFU]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 5:39pm

A Broadway Tourist is someone who stops in the middle of the sidewalk and looks up on their way to the theatre.

[broadwaytourist]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 6:07pm

I agree with the statement that it really doesn't matter. Tourists will generally pay full price or more for their tickets which really benefits the shows, and the regulars buy more tickets which benefits the shows. I know that some tourists are just plain rude, but generally aren't they seeing shows regulars either have already seen or avoid? So, each to their own.

As a tourist who just saw 8 shows in 5 days, I try to be very cognizant of my surroundings, polite to other theatre goers, and I hardly ever look up while I'm walking any more!

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 7:34pm

I'm not thrilled with the Norm Lewis one either. One of the best voices in New York? He's good, but I wouldn't say that. I mean, remember that NYC has the Met Opera too.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 7:35pm

To me the tourist is the one who can't figure out where their seats are.

[geekgirl06]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 7:52pm

You're definitely a tourist if you don't understand the difference between a straight play and a musical.

[njohn]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 10:17pm

I think a person has to be comfortable in a theater. Knowing proper show etiquette, being familiar with the theater's seating arrangement, and knowing where certain theaters are located would make someone a "regular" or least a Broadway vet. I mean, people don't have the money to spend on tickets every month or the chance to live by or in Manhattan. I think a better discussion would what makes a NY tourist vs. a NY regular.

[osage08]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 12:57am

I live and go to school in the city, have seen more than 30 shows, know of enough BW actors to be able to identify a few favorites and I know how and when to get the cheapest tickets I can get. That said question 8 stumped me, I often have a difficult time figuring out which actor is who/ played who at the stage door unless I am extremely familiar with the actor and I did not get many of the [TOS] jokes.

Perhaps I would be better acquainted with "classic" Broadway shows/actors if I had developed an interest in BW earlier, but I didn't develop an interest until I saw my first show in 2007.
I consider myself a Broadway fan and I don't look down on myself just because I can't name an extensive list of obscure Sondheim musicals and I don't know the history of the Shubert Brothers.

PS: jasonf- Do I get bonus points for having seen the Broadway Beauty Pagent and a performance of Tell me on A Sunday at overpriced dinner theatre?

[Hest882]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:14am

Of course by strict definition I will never be a regular. When I think of a "regular" to a restaurant it's someone who eats at said restaurant quite a bit more frequently than other patrons. Thus a Broadway regular is someone who attends Broadway shows much more than the average person. As someone who lives 3000 miles away from NY and is not a millionaire who can jaunt over to the East Coast every other week, I will never be a regular to Broadway.

Am I a Broadway tourist? If the emphasis is "tourist" then yes because I will always be a visitor to the city. If the emphasis is on "Broadway" then no. What I *am* is a theatre and Broadway enthusiast who is interested in theatre, including Broadway shows, and who might plan NY trips around Broadway.

What I don't do is check off "Broadway show" in the same way someeone checks off the Statue of Liberty and Rockefeller Center--which I'd like to think is what the OP is getting at when trying to define "Broadway tourist."