The Perfect Gift for Any Broadway Fan!

If you’re searching for the perfect gift for your favorite Broadway fan this holiday season, this list is exactly what you need!  Trust me, I’m an expert; most of this list is copy-pasted from my letter to Santa.

This year’s hot items:

• The Be a Broadway Star board game: The perfect gift for anyone who practices their Tony Award speech in the shower with a shampoo bottle as a substitute Tony.  A description of the game, provided by the website: “You'll start out in acting school and work your way up to the top, buying pictures and resumes, earning your "Equity" card, getting an agent, going to auditions, going to more auditions, and maybe even winning a Tony Award!”  Cost: $35
• Stephen Sondheim’s Finishing the Hat: the book of the season for any fan of musical theater, particularly for the Sondheim fan in your life.  It’s the definitive book of Sondheim lyrics, annotated by the man himself, and includes tons of behind-the-scenes photos and information.  It’s sure to please even the pickiest Broadway fan.  Cost: $22.90 at Amazon
• Dance on Broadway game for Wii: This Wii game teaches you the choreography as players dance along to 20 of their favorite show tunes.  It’s great Broadway fun and an enjoyable workout all in one.  Note, if you’re getting this for someone like myself, you’re going to have to buy a Wii to go with it.  Cost: $16.73 on Amazon.
• Patti LuPone's Memoir: Chances are high that the Broadway fan in your life pre-ordered this and read it cover-to-cover the day it came out.  On the off chance that he or she has been holding out for the paperback edition, go ahead and give the gift of the life of one of Broadway’s biggest starts!  Cost: $14.38 at Amazon.

If money’s no object:

• For the Broadway fan who has everything, how about investing in his/her name in the Spring 2011 production of Godspell!  How cool would it be to be an actual Broadway producer?  This is a gift that’s sure to be a big hit – especially since all producers get their names on display in the theater.  Cost: $1,000 and up.

If you’re on a budget:

• Get crafty!  If you’re like me and you don’t have a whole lot of money to spend this holiday season, make something!  Use your imagination!
• If you want, you can borrow an idea I’ve used for decorating my apartment.  If you have a bunch of those flyers they hand out advertising Broadway shows, they make great collages!  Just buy a cheap frame at your local craft store, and arrange/glue the flyers.  You can make a collage with a bunch of shows, or choose your gift recipient’s favorite show.  I’ve included pictures of the ones in my apartment.  If you don’t have any of these flyers on hand, you can get a bunch pretty cheap on eBay.  There’s a whole section in theater memorabilia just for ads and flyers.  I was able to get a collection of about 75 flyers for about $5.  This is especially handy if you live far from New York City.

For the activist in your life:

• One of the great things about the Broadway community is the commitment to charity, from the biggest star right down to the fans.  A perfect holiday gift would be a donation in your loved one’s name to a Broadway charity.  Don’t know any?  Try these: Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Broadway Impact, and Broadway Barks.
• Is your gift-ee a hardcore fan of a particular Broadway star?  Do a little research, find out what charity their favorite star loves, and make a donation to that charity.  For example, if your loved one is a huge Kristin Chenoweth fan, consider a donation in his/her name to the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.
• If your loved one is already a proud supporter of one or more of these wonderful charities, give them a way to show their support and pride!  Try a BC/EFA tote bag or a Broadway Impact t-shirt?
• What better way to get in the spirit of the holidays than to sign up as a potential life-saver?!  Leukemia has been in the news around Broadway lately.  Go ahead and sign yourself and your gift-ee up as bone marrow donors.  It only takes a minute, you’ll feel great, you could save someone’s life, and best of all, it’s free!

For the collector:

• If you want to get the perfect piece of Broadway memorabilia for your Broadway fan, check out eBay!  You can find tons of good stuff on ebay.  My personal favorites are the BC/EFA auctions, which are always packed with great stuff.
• Don’t forget about the Playbill store!  They have Playbills from current and past seasons, and nifty Playbill storage and display options!
• There’s also lots of fun Broadway Christmas stuff out there.  My favorite?  The Chita Rivera ornament. 

The obvious:

• I feel silly even mentioning this, because it seems obvious, but the best gift for any Broadway fan is, of course, tickets to a Broadway show!
• Not sure which show to see?  TKTS offers gift certificates, and a good old-fashioned home-made coupon saying “I’ll take you to the Broadway show of your choice” can’t possibly fail.
• Not in New York City?  A trip to NYC is always a great gift, but a less expensive option is a night of awesome regional theater or a national tour.  Most theaters around the country offer gift certificates, but many require you to purchase them in person at the box office.

Hopefully this told you everything you needed to know to get the perfect gift for your favorite theater nut.  Whatever you decide, don’t forget your Broadway wrapping paper!

Braving the Balcony for Billy Elliot - Twice!

                I have a confession to make: I despise sitting in the balcony and mezzanine.  I live for orchestra-level seats.  I guess I just like to be as close to the action as possible – I don’t like not being able to see facial expressions.  I know people who prefer balcony seating; they enjoy looking down onto the stage.  I suppose I just have expensive taste, which is particularly unfortunate considering I’m constantly in search of thrifty theater.  My mother once told me something to the effect of, “it would be a lot easier if you weren’t such a snob about it.”  Thanks, mom.  But realistically, she has a point.

                My budget recently forced me to decide between seeing the national tour of Billy Elliot at the Durham Performing Arts Center from the upper balcony or not seeing it at all.  I chose the upper balcony.

                Ever since sitting on stage at Spring Awakening and dancing on stage at Hair, no seat in the house is close enough for me.  I realize that I’m ridiculous.  Yet, sitting in the upper balcony was hardly the nightmare I had feared it would be.  Initially, when I sat down in row L of the balcony, my first thought was “Dear God, I’m going to hate this.  The actors will all look like ants!”  Thankfully, I was wrong.

                In fact, there are actually some benefits to having the “cheap” seats!  (I put “cheap” in quotation marks because my ticket was still $30.)  While there were a few times when I was frustrated that I couldn’t tell which actor was speaking, I found myself actually appreciating the balcony’s vantage point, especially for a show with so much dancing.  I loved watching the numbers with the ballet girls from up high, and I don’t think the profundity and emotional impact of the show (especially the “Angry Dance” and the part with the older Billy) were at all dampened by my distance from the stage.  Even though I couldn’t see the actors’ faces so well, I still bawled during Billy’s response to his mother’s letter.

                Don’t get the wrong idea here – I haven’t changed my ways or anything.  I still would so much rather be in row A than in any tier, mezzanine, or balcony.  But, I’ve opened my eyes to the fact that sitting up high doesn’t suck as much as I thought it would.

                I have another confession to make: I’m a repeat attender.  I like to see certain shows (cough, cough Spring Awakening) again and again.  I’m not sure why, but I think part if it may have to do with where I live.  Not living in or near NYC, I get limited opportunities to see kick-ass Broadway shows, and I don’t have much in the way of options.

                When a national tour comes to town: a) the dates of that engagement are pretty much my only chances to see that production (with the Broadway creative team, etc.), and b) it’s the only thing around – it’s not like in NYC where you could choose from 30 Broadway shows any given day.  I often feel like I have to really make it count.  If I like a show, I’m probably going to see it again.  Thus, I’ve been known to see the same show multiple times in one week.

                Thanks to DPAC’s student rush tickets, I was able to see the show a second time for $22.  Since the touring company of Billy Elliot has five actors who take turns playing Billy, I didn’t want to miss the chance to see another Billy.  It paid off.

                The first Billy I saw was good, but the second one was great!  He’s already been Billy on Broadway, and he was awesome.  Despite the fact that there were 98 stairs (I counted!) between the orchestra level and my seat in the very last row of the 2,800-seat venue, I was blown away.

                I don’t want to be negative about the first Billy I saw (and I’m not going to name names), but his cockney accent needed work (though it was clear he’d been working hard on it – keep it up!), and his singing was good but not great.  I don’t like saying bad things about anyone, especially young performers, especially since this “not as good” Billy was a squillion times more talented than I’ll ever be.  It’s just that Billy #2 was a little more seasoned as a performer, and it was noticeable.  To make a long story short, going back was quite worthwhile.  Except for the teenage boy and his mom next to me, who made plenty of comments quite loudly.

The Time I Danced On Stage At The Kennedy Center (Hair!)

                I have a confession to make: Hair makes me giddy.  Bouncing up and down, squealing like a pre-teen girl, willing to do anything for tickets giddy.  I've already confessed to owning six different recordings of Hair, to naming my cat Frank Mills, and to being an all-out Hair freak.  If you haven’t seen it yet, check out my Dos and Don'ts for seeing Hair.  To say I was excited about seeing the touring cast of Hair this past Saturday at the Kennedy Center would be the grossest of understatements.

                I saw the show last December in NYC with my mom.  We drove up from DC for a matinee.  It was magical.  It really got my musical theater flame going strong, and is almost singlehandedly responsible for my current musical theater junkie status.  When I left the Hirsschfeld Theatre, it had just begun to snow in Times Square (a magical continuation of the snow on stage at the end of the show), and I haven’t shut up about Hair since.

                I got a great deal on my ticket to Hair at the Kennedy Center: I got my mom to pay for them.  I went with both of my parents – it was my dad’s first time seeing the show!  Before the show, I walked up to the merchandise booth on a mission: love beads.  I bought the beads, put them on (the perfect complement to my “Let the Sun Shine In yellow” shirt), and proceeded to my seat.  As always, I read the playbill very carefully.  I love that the cast bios for Hair aren’t your typical playbill fare.  Many include the performer’s astrological sign, love for their tribe, and marriage equality enthusiasm.  Every playbill should be so cool.

                Highlights of the show: the really hot blonde guy tribe member with glorious abs, having a tribe member play with my hair during the title song, seeing an actress bump into a banister while running around the darkened house (the beauty of live performance, folks!), Berger needing to use his back-up lighter (seriously, live theater is the best!), getting goosebumps while the cast walked by me singing “Let the Sun Shine In” a capella while walking out the back of the theater, and dancing on stage with the tribe.

                It was so awesome being on stage at the Kennedy Center!  I loved it so much!  The cast members kept coming up to me, giving me hugs, dancing with me, and saying in-character things like “thanks for coming, sister.”  There was a really old man (at least 80 years old) who came on stage, which was surreal.  It was the perfect example of how Hair reaches all different people.  As I was leaving the stage after the dance party, I stopped for a moment, turned back toward the back of the stage, and soaked in the moment, just absorbing the sheer awesomeness of the experience.  One final tribe member gave me a big hug, chock-full of hippie love and said “thank you.”  To this, I quickly replied, “thank YOU!”  There simply aren’t words to describe the amazingness.

                I returned to my parents, waiting in row AA, both exclaiming how cool it was to see me on stage.  My dad said, “wow, you hugged the whole cast!”  I was still beaming.  I couldn’t stop squealing for at least the next hour.  My mom laughed when I asked “can we come back for tonight’s performance?”  She thought I was kidding.  While we didn’t go back that night, she and I are hoping to go again later this month.  I already have tickets to two performances when the tour rolls into Durham in May (and I’m buying a ticket to a third performance when I’m at the box office tonight), but the thought of waiting all the way until May to see Hair again makes me die a little inside.

An understated note of caution:

The cast:

Hair Tour Website - buy your tickets now!

The DOs and DON'Ts of Hair!

                As a self-proclaimed Hair enthusiast (come on, my cat’s name is Frank Mills), I took it upon myself to create this fun, yet informative, list of DOs and DON’Ts for seeing Hair when it rolls into your town.

DO splurge on orchestra-level seats, especially ones on the aisle to get the best possible interactions with the tribe.

DON’T French-braid your hair or get a fancy up-do.  If you wear your hair up, the tribe can’t mess with it during the title song!

DO have fun with fashion.  While not ignoring theater etiquette, feel free to throw on your hippie skirt, your love beads, your tie-dye.  Just try to keep it all on at the end of “Where Do I Go?”.

DON’T be inhibited or shy.  The cast thrives on an enthusiastic audience, especially those who aren’t afraid of a little good-natured mocking.

DO get to the theater on time – or you may be called out in front of a packed house.  Plus, it would be tragic to miss the opening number.

DON’T forget to buy a copy of the cast recording before you leave.  You’ll want to re-live the experience again and again.

DO dance on stage with the tribe.  The post-curtain call dance party is ridiculously fun, and you don’t want to miss it.  What other show lets you do that?

Have fun!

Website for Hair on tour  - get your tickets now!

The Ultimate Thrifty Theater: Fences for Free!

                Two straight plays in one week?  Is this a case of a musical theater junkie gone mad?  Fortunately not – I’m just getting back to my roots.  Oh, and taking advantage of a killer thrifty theater opportunity!  A friend said to me one night in class “Hey, you know about theater, right?  What do you know about this free night of theater thing?”  I hadn’t heard of it before, but it sounded right up my alley.  I told her to email me a link, which led me to Free Night of Theater, which you must check out immediately.  Right then and there I signed up for a free ticket to Fences at the PlayMakers Repertory Company, a professional theater located on the campus of UNC in Chapel Hill.  When it comes to thrifty theater, there’s nothing better than free, especially for high quality productions like this one.

                As usual, I’d like to air my grievances first, just to get them out of the way.  The list is short, and they’re not actually about the production itself.

                Firstly, even if you are a college student, basketball shorts and a backwards ball cap do not constitute appropriate theater attire.  Just put on pants and take off the hat – am I asking too much?

                There were a lot of students at this performance, which is fine.  In fact, I think it’s beyond great.  However, I’m a little frustrated with whichever professor asked them to take notes during the performance.  They all used their cell phones as flashlights to see what they were writing while the performance was in progress.  Way distracting for those of us in the audience with ADHD.

                Whew!  Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I can get to the good stuff – and there’s plenty of that!

                Right off the bat, I’d like to give the PlayMakers Rep an A+ for their late seating policy.  On the tickets, they’ve printed “No Late Seating.”  What’s even better is that they follow through on that.  I’ve had too many opening scenes ruined by latecomers.  At the PlayMakers Rep, they’ve got chairs along the back wall of the theater, and discreetly, during a blackout, they let latecomers enter through a rear entrance (the main entrance is in the front), and sit in these chairs.  No entire rows have to stand and hear 15 “excuse me”s as folks make their way to center seats five minutes into the show.  This makes me want to drop everything and write a really mushy love letter to the PlayMakers Rep immediately.

                Also, the production was fantastic!  I loved how the set (which was the outside of a Pittsburgh house) included a view into the kitchen so we could see Rose hard at work.  I was quite impressed by the cast’s resumes – plenty of New York actors doing spectacular work right here in North Carolina!  It was everything I could have hoped for, short of Denzel Washington.  I was particularly impressed by the actor playing Gabe – I was moved by his performance, to the point of tears in the final scene.  It’s such an intense role, which could have been portrayed any number of ways, but I’m immensely pleased with the acting and artistic choices which went into shaping this incarnation of Gabriel.

                This was my first August Wilson play – and I promise it won’t be my last!  I was consistently engaged intellectually with the text, and there were two things which are still on my mind, days later.  The first is Cory.  On an emotional level, I just wanted the kid to be able to play football, to enjoy his youth.  However, it’s hard to deny that Troy knows a harsher reality, and one can see why he’d want to protect his son from some of the world’s ugliest truths.  But still, it breaks my heart.

                The other thing which has been on my mind is Rose.  There’s a line which is still echoing in my head: “What about me?  When’s my time to enjoy life?”  Sure, Troy’s been dealt a tough hand, but Rose had the added pressure of being a woman.  I don’t think Rose gets nearly enough credit for how she lives her life.  Save for little Raynell, Rose is the only female character.  I think what’s most important in understanding Rose is what we don’t see.  We’re privileged to a lot of Troy’s personal life, discussions with friends and so on.  The social structure is clearly depicted as a man’s world.  The character of Rose doesn’t get to chat with friends, drink gin, or ask for a promotion.  In fact, when she left to take the cakes to the church for the bake sale, it suddenly occurred to me that that was the only time she’s even left the house!  I’m going to continue to ponder August Wilson’s social commentary on the intersection of race, class, and gender as presented through Rose.  I’ll let you know if I make any breakthroughs.

                Overall, I give this theater experience a big thumbs up.  PlayMakers Rep, you can expect my call for tickets to Angels in America – I’m even going to pay!