The Theatre Enthusiast

 Over the summer I got a text from a friend that read, “What are you doing tomorrow night? Do you want to go see Dear Evan Hansen with me?” The show was on my radar as one I wanted to see, so obviously I said yes. We bought Pay Your Age tickets, took the Metro into Washington DC, and that night our lives changed. For the couple months Dear Evan Hansen performed its world premiere at Arena Stage, everyone in the DC theatre community had one thing in common – we were all obsessed with this show. It seemed as if everyone saw the show at least once. When it was announced Dear Evan Hansen would transfer to Off-Broadway in the spring of 2016, we were relieved and thrilled. This incredibly powerful show will live on, and New Yorkers get to see it now as well, and they have no idea what is about to hit them. Here are 5 reasons why you need to see Dear Evan Hansen . 1)       Pasek & Paul wrote the music. You know, the guys who wrote Dogfight ? James and...

 If you’re following Lin-Manuel Miranda on Twitter… Wait – you did NOT just ask me who Lin-Manuel Miranda is. Seriously?! If you don't know who Lin is stop reading this right now, go educate yourself, then come back and return to my good graces. Bye. If you’re following Lin-Manuel Miranda on Twitter (if you’re not you need to seriously analyze your life choices), you’ve probably seen that he’s constantly asked to sort the characters of Hamilton into Hogwarts houses. You may have also seen that a few months ago, Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe saw Hamilton and sorted the characters with Lin backstage. Last week, Lin and Radcliffe’s Potter co-star Emma Watson teamed up to sort the Hamilton characters as well (and also beatboxed and freestyled, but that’s another story). So, I decided that I’m going to let myself completely geek out on two of my favorite things and have my own little Hamilton sorting ceremony. Firstly, to help you Harry Potter amateurs, I’ve cop...

  All theatres have a stage door. It’s primarily where the actors, musicians, crew, etc. enter the theatre. At Broadway and large regional theatres, it’s also where the audience gathers after the show to get autographs and pictures with the actors. Stage doors can be very fun, but can also cause some people to reach an unacceptable level of crazy. I have waited at dozens of Broadway stage doors over the years and have many stories to tell. I will share some of these stories to help teach you all proper stage door etiquette, because let’s be honest – a lot of people in the theatre world need to be taught how to property act. 1)       Don’t be bitter because you’re not at the front of the crowd. For those of you who have never “stage door-ed” a show before, typically the theatre puts up police barricades that the fans wait behind, to provide crowd control and safety for the actors who come out to sign autographs. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a s...

  Two weeks ago I went up to NYC with my mom and a friend and had a marathon Broadway weekend. From Thursday to Sunday, we saw five Broadway shows: School of Rock, The Color Purple, On Your Feet!, She Loves Me, and Noises Off . I’m taking the time now to post my reviews for each show we saw, because there’s much to be said about each. 1)       School of Rock: I heard this show was good. I just did Jesus Christ Superstar late last year, so I felt an obligation to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new show. I had a feeling Sierra Boggess would be wonderful and the little kids would be ridiculously talented. What I didn’t know was that the show would be THAT good. I absolutely LOVED this show. As I predicted, the kids were incredible. The little girl who sang “Amazing Grace” in Act 2 blew my mind. She couldn’t be more than 10 years old but she had the voice of a 25-year-old. Each kid had such well-developed characters, and the fact that they played all t...