Thrifty Theater – Broadway on a Budget?

I have a confession to make.  I’m broke.

                I’m trying to balance my obsession with theater and the fact that I’m a full-time grad student working full time to pay the bills.  I’m literally saving my pennies for a trip to New York City – I have a “Broadway Jar” with $68 in change in it.  However, something in me needs theater.  I can’t live without it.  And I like to be super close to the action – the best seats possible.

                My mom’s advice?  “Maybe you shouldn’t be such a theater snob.”  Thanks, mom.  She was, of course, referring to my tendency to buy the most expensive seats available despite my limited budget.  Yet I can’t imagine living my life differently.  A little credit card debt compared to the pain and agony of never being able to go to the theater?  No contest.

                However, I have a plan.  I’m going to try to save money by (gasp!) opting for less-expensive seats, except for a select few shows.  For example, when Hair and In the Heights come to the Durham Performing Arts Center next season, I am, of course, going to splurge on killer seats.  But I think I’ll survive with balcony seats for other shows.  It will be a chance to prove to my mom that I’m not a snob, and to prove to myself that theater can also be enjoyed from further back than ten rows from the stage.

                I’m thinking that for some shows, it might actually work better to be in the balcony – like The Lion King and Shrek the Musical.  Perhaps a less expensive seat could actually be a better theater experience.  But I still want to sit as close as possible for Hair.
               Any advice for broke theater fans like myself?  I'd love some tips for when I do save enough pennies to make that trip to the Big Apple.

Why I Like to Go to the Theater by Myself

        Unless I go with my parents (because they pay for the tickets – and because I love them), I generally attend theater performances alone.  I like it that way.

         It’s hard to find people in my life who really get how I feel about theater.  My dad sort of gets it, my mom just wants me to be happy, and my best friend tries to understand, although she thinks it’s silly that I’ve seen Spring Awakening four times.  I wish I could see it forty times.  Yes, there are some people in my life who get it, but they don’t live near me.  Plus, there are a lot of benefits to seeing a show as a single.

         When I see a show, I get there early (this isn’t limited to shows – I’m habitually early to everything), and I take in the atmosphere:  the people gathering, the theater-goers chatting, the stage before the actors step out, the general ambiance of the theater.  I love to look around the theater and get mentally prepared for a live stage performance.  I stay in my seat from the moment I get to it until I stand for curtain call (even through intermission).  During the show, I have nothing to distract me.  I am able to focus completely on what’s going on around me.  I’m not tempted to comment to the stranger next to me, the way I might be if it were my friend.  Not that I necessarily would make that comment, since that would be rude, but the temptation would be there and it would distract me from enjoying the show to its fullest.  I also don’t have to worry about anybody talking to me during the show.  I don’t like to shush my friends, but I will if they talk to me during a show.

            The only bad thing about going it alone is that I never feel bad about hogging the armrest if the seat next to me is occupied by my friend or parent.  I tend to keep my elbows in when I sit next to strangers.  But other than that, I truly prefer to go solo.

       Any other solo theater-goers out there?

Frank Mills: The Song, The Source Material, and the Cat

     In the spirit of living up to the blog title of “Confessions of a Broadway Musical Junkie,” I have a confession to make.  I own six different recordings of Hair.  If there are more out there, I want them.  I think it’s such a genius musical, and I’m enthralled by how the show evolved over time.  Not all of the songs are in all of the recordings.  Some songs are only on one or two.  But one song that I happen to love a particularly large amount which also happens to be on all six recordings is “Frank Mills.”  For those of you who are only familiar with Allison Case’s fabulous version of the song, which is on the new Broadway cast album, or even for those of you who are well-acquainted with the original Broadway cast album, I want to encourage you to check out how some others sing the song.  I love Allison Case’s version, but hers is the most “mature” Crissy, to me (bear in mind that I’m going just off the recording and I haven’t seen any of these performers live – Vanessa Ray played Crissy when I saw Hair in December of 2009).  Case brings a unique idea of who Crissy is and why she is looking for Frank Mills.  It is clear that she really thought about the character on her own terms.  The original off-Broadway recording by Shelley Plimpton, for me, makes Crissy seem much more young and innocent, and really captures the feel of the source material.  Additionally, I think that Annie Golden’s version from the Actor’s Fund of America benefit recording brings that same naivety, but you can feel that her Crissy wants to seem older, she feels trapped by teenager-ness.  Check out the source material, I hope you’ll think it’s as cool as I do.  You can find it here: Frank Mills.

                I have another confession to make.  I have a cat, and his name is Frank Mills.  His collar has peace signs on it.  It’s probably not all that surprising at this point that I would name a pet after a Broadway musical.  Here’s a picture of him:

For any of you who are curious, these are the six recordings of Hair that I have:

-original off-Broadway cast

-original Broadway cast

-original London cast

-Film soundtrack

-Actors Fund of America benefit recording

-new Broadway cast

If you know of one I don’t have, let me know!

An Anecdote About Awesome Theater-Goers

       Since I complained about some theater-goers, I thought it was only fair to show the flip side and talk about some awesome people who see shows.

        Intense fandom is an instant connection between people.  When I sat on stage at Spring Awakening, I knew I was in the company of kindred spirits, people just like me.  We all started chatting excitedly before even being shown our seats, gushed together about how cool it was to be on the set, shared interesting facts about the show with each other, all the while validating one another by demonstrating that we’re certainly not alone in our intense feelings for that show in particular and theater in general.  There’s little in this world more nurturing and supportive than the community of musical theater junkies.  When I mentioned to some fellow on-stage audience members that I’d always wanted to go to the stage door but was nervous to go by myself, they didn’t hesitate to invite me to join them at the stage door after the show.  And I had no qualms about accepting their generous offer.  We didn’t even know each other’s names.  That’s the beauty of die-hard fans.  We understand and accept each other, no questions asked.  While my own mother chuckled when I told her I was driving four and a half hours to see a show I’d already seen twice, the folks on stage with me thought it was awesome, even admirable. 

            If only the rest of the world understood us like that – I’m talking to you, old man who hated Rent.

Audience Interaction = Amazing Theater

     Consider this somewhat of an open letter to all the writers, directors, and producers of theater out there. Getting the audience involved is something I would like to encourage more of you to do.  It creates such a rewarding theater experience. 

      I recently had the privilege of sitting on stage for two performances of Spring Awakening, and the experience made my love and appreciation for the show grow immeasurably.  The rush of having “Martha” and “Georg” sit right next to me simply cannot be adequately described.  For more on that experience, see my post Spring Awakening in Greenville.

         In December [2009], my mom and I saw Hair on Broadway.  Months later, I still can’t get over how cool it was to be so close to the performers (especially Gavin Creel!) as they sang and danced throughout the house.  I had an orchestra seat on the aisle, and the actors were so close that one spit on me a little!  I have my flyer for the Be-In (handed to me during the show) hanging in a frame on my wall.  In a recent interview, Gavin Creel said that “the biggest character in the play is the audience.”  I think that’s so cool, and when I saw the show, I definitely felt that the cast respected the audience as essential to the show.  The creative team behind Hair has done such a phenomenal thing for the world of theater by acknowledging the audience and truly incorporating them fully into their own theater experience.

         I never got to see it live, but I would be remiss if I didn’t include The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in this discussion.  A major part of the comedic genius of the show is audience participation, which goes above and beyond what goes on in Spring Awakening and Hair.  In Spelling Bee, audience members actually get to be in the show, spelling words with the actors.  I can’t fathom a more exhilarating experience than that, especially since I have no other chance of getting on a Broadway stage.  I’d love to hear from someone who got to be a contestant in the spelling bee – what was it like?  Although, I must say that in Spelling Bee and even Spring Awakening, only a few audience members really get to be part of the action, but in Hair, the whole audience is a vital part of the show experience.  I think really that’s the best possible scenario.

         Certainly I recognize that not all theater lends itself to such radical forms of audience participation as these three shows, but I do think that all theater can strive to acknowledge the audience as an essential part of the show.  Because, really, what would the theater be without us?

You're Never Too Young to Love Broadway!

        I have a friend who is a five year old budding Broadway addict.  He’s never actually even seen a musical in person, but I predict that will change very soon (especially since Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King are coming to the Durham Performing Arts Center in the next year).  However, I often play him kid-appropriate songs from musicals (he loves Thoroughly Modern Millie, especially “Speed Test” and “Forget About the Boy”) and show him clips on YouTube – the loves the Tony Awards performances from Shrek the Musical and the tenth anniversary of The Lion King, and he thinks the tap dancing in Millie is “so cool!”  Whenever I play show tunes for him, he asks me “what’s this play about?”  You try explaining Les Miserables to a five-year-old!  Anyway, the point I’m trying to make here is that my young friend isn’t even in kindergarten yet, and he is old enough to appreciate the wonder of musical theater.  Even though I’m embracing the digital age (I can’t imagine life without my ipod!), I think that makes it all the more essential to introduce the next generation to live theater.  It’s a unique experience which we should make sure all young people get to have.  The recent proliferation of digital media brought with it a personal disconnectedness in our society.  I adamantly believe that live theater encourages personal connections.  It’s got something your television just can’t give you.  Kids love theater.  Kids need theater.  Don’t deny them!  Sharing my love of Broadway has helped bridge an 18-year age gap.  Give it a try.  Play some Broadway music for the child in your life.

Play these videos for a kid you know:

An Anecdote About Non-Awesome Theater-Goers

         This is a true story.  The first time I saw Spring Awakening was at the Durham Performing Arts Center in Durham, NC.  I had a pretty good seat in the orchestra – probably $75.  Needless to say, anyone who buys these seats should know what they’re getting themselves into.  There was a group of older theater-goers behind me, probably in their sixties or seventies.  Now, I’m not saying that all older people are like these folks.  My parents are 62, and my mom was disappointed that Gavin Creel kept his clothes on in Hair.  Anyhow, at the intermission of Spring Awakening, the gentleman behind me remarked, “Well, I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it as much as I hated Rent.”  It took everything I had to keep my jaw off the floor.  I had to resist the strong urge to turn around and exclaim “You can’t be serious,” a la Hanschen.  If you hated Rent, you probably shouldn’t be allowed to go to the theater anymore.  Except for maybe Cats (no disrespect to any Cats fans out there, but I think we all know it’s not exactly challenging any social mores).  Spring Awakening and Rent are works of sheer genius and I feel sad that that man clearly did not “get” what they are all about.
Spring Awakening Official Site

A Regret About Ragtime

When I was in the seventh grade, I went on a school trip to New York City.  That trip was, and still is, the only time I’ve been to NYC overnight.  In case you’re wondering, I did go to NYC in May 2008 to see Rent and in December 2009 to see Hair, but on both occasions, my mom and I just drove up for a Saturday matinee and returned home to DC the same day.  Anyway, this 7^th-grade trip coincided with our unit on immigration to America; on our schedule was a visit to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, a tour of Ellis Island, dinner at a Mars-themed restaurant (God only knows why my teachers chose that one – the food was terrible!), and seeing the then-brand new Broadway hit Ragtime.  Al Gore was visiting Ellis Island that day, so it was closed to the public and we didn’t get to go – we went to FAO Schwarz instead.

Honestly, I remember more about the tenement museum and the dumb Martian restaurant than I do about Ragtime.  And that is something I deeply regret.  I wasn’t yet living at the mercy of all things Broadway as I am now.  That show had its share of stars, including a pre-Glee, pre-Spring Awakening Lea Michele, and I didn’t even keep the Playbill!  Sometimes the thought makes me shudder.  I sat in the back row of the theater, and my seat was between two male classmates who were best friends – and we weren’t allowed to trade seats.  I sat there bitter that my friend Sarah was not near me, and I didn’t let myself get swept up in the majesty of the production, the magic of the moment.  Now, I desperately wish that I had paid attention.  And kept the Playbill!  That could have been ten more years of my life utterly mesmerized by the stage.

I couldn’t afford to see the show during its 2009 revival, but I very much hope that I get another shot at Ragtime in my life.

Spring Awakening in Greenville

                I just returned from a weekend in Greenville, SC in which I saw Spring Awakening twice, both times on stage!  This brings my total times seeing Spring Awakening up to four.  It’s not enough, but that’s for another blog post another day.  Nonetheless, being on stage for the show was the most amazing experience ever.  It was so cool to be so close to the actors.  I was moved to tears on Saturday night by the expressions on the actors’ faces during Moritz’s funeral.  It was beyond words.  I recommend it to absolutely everyone.  The lighting design took on a whole new dimension for me as I was immersed in it.  The switch to neon lighting during the rock-and-roll moments, the lowering of blue lights during Mirror-Blue Night, it was all amazing. 

The one thing that was more difficult on stage was noticing which art pieces were illuminated during which musical numbers/scenes.  As much as I enjoyed the show seeing it from the house, getting to sit right next to the performers was so thrilling.  After intermission, I (along with the girls sitting next to me) was able to talk to one of the swings about her experiences as a cast member.  I asked her about being an understudy and we chatted about the show.  I don’t think there is any other theater experience like that, in which you can interact with performers during intermission.  I still can’t get over how cool that was.

Also, I waited at the stage door and got cast autographs.  It was raining out, but the cast was so friendly and it was so cool to meet them!  It was my first ever stage door experience, and I’m so glad it was with this show and this cast.  It was surreal that these awesome performers would come out, sign some playbills, take a few pictures with fans, and then just walk off downtown to have dinner together with relative anonymity.  That doesn’t happen really in Hollywood.  It’s a theater thing.  They have such devoted fans, but they get to know that their fans are in it for the right reasons.  I don’t know firsthand, but I get the vibe that actors who pretty much stick with the theater community get the best of both worlds.  They get to live this awesome life on stage with fellow actors and create that bond and they have dedicated fans, but there aren’t paparazzi sitting outside the stage door waiting to pounce.  It seems like they get to lead more “normal” lives than movie stars.  Frankly, I would choose the theater community over Hollywood any day.