The Theatre Enthusiast

  I have wanted to write about  Newsies  since the inception of this blog . Now that we are a couple days away from the 10th anniversary of  Newsies ' opening night on Broadway, I wanted to pay homage to this underdog show that I love. I want to share my  Newsies  story in full for the first time. I want to dive into the good and the not-so-good and how my relationship with  Newsies  has evolved and matured over the last ten years. Over the years I have changed so much, but my love for this show has remained. Whew, I'm already tearing up a little bit. I just want to express gratitude so here goes nothin'.  Newsies  first appeared on my radar on Thanksgiving Day 2011 when the Paper Mill cast performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. By the end of the performance I was sold, and  Newsies  went on my list as a show I just had to see. Fast forward to April 2012 and I was en route to NYC on a school-sponsored trip, which incl...

photo by Jenny Anderson It seemed so normal yet foreign and dreamlike all at once. On a warm September afternoon, I walked out of the New York Marriott Marquis, turned right towards 46th Street, cut through the Hotel Edison lobby, and emerged on 47th Street. I stared at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, its marquee lights sparkling like a lighthouse welcoming weary sailors home. I joined the line to enter the theatre and showed the attendants my ID and proof of COVID-19 vaccination - a sign of how different life really is these days. As I passed through the metal detectors, I heard the unmistakable beeps of the ushers' ticket scanners (a sound I hadn't heard in far too long), and that's when it hit me. Broadway is back, and so am I. The usher directed us to our seats and with a deep breath, I stepped into a theatre for the first time in 18 months.  My family and I arrived into New York City earlier that day with tickets in hand for that evening to see Wicked's second perform...

A couple weekends ago marked one year since BroadwayCon 2020 and one year since I last set foot in New York City. 2020 was my first year attending BroadwayCon and over the past couple weeks, I've become quite nostalgic reflecting on this memorable weekend. At this time last year I wasn't particularly active on this blog, so I have decided to give myself this excuse to go down memory lane and review, in no particular order, my top 10 favorite memories from BroadwayCon weekend 2020.  THE SUITCASE I went to BroadwayCon last year with my friend and co-worker Mackenzie. Much of the week leading up to BroadwayCon consisted of us texting each other frantically trying to narrow down what to pack. It took some work, but I was able to limit my belongings for the weekend to my carry-on suitcase and a backpack. Mackenzie and I agreed that we would leave work together the night before Con and drive to a hotel near the train station to make our lives easier the following morning. When the ti...

I consider myself a chronic collector. By far, my most prized collection is that of my Broadway Playbills (to you laymen out there, a Playbill is the booklet the usher hands you when entering the theatre). Though some Playbills I saved date back to my middle school years, I have been seriously collecting them for the better part of a decade. It started by keeping one Playbill per show I saw on Broadway, then the collection snowballed until I was grabbing extras on my way out of the theatre when the ushers weren't looking. I saved these extras for years because I thought a time might come when I will need some extra money, and I knew there was a market out there for Broadway Playbills. Sure enough, my intuition was correct. Enter 2020. It started innocently enough. Last January I was living my best life at BroadwayCon in New York City, trading Playbills with other collectors and fanatics. I was in way over my head; some people were bringing in suitcases full of Playbills! Neverthele...

photo by Taidgh Barron As of the publish date of this post, I am 109 days into my personal quarantine due to the outbreak of COVID-19. That just happens to be the same number of days since Broadway has played a performance. It's an interesting parallel the more I think about it; the same day Broadway shut down, so did life as I knew it. Today The Broadway League announced that all Broadway performances are suspended through January 3rd, 2021. Though this news isn't the least bit surprising and though we all agree The Broadway League made a wise decision for the safety and health of all involved, the theatre community is hurting. Hundreds of actors, musicians, crew members, designers, directors, ushers, box office staff, etc. are out of work for that much longer, as if the theatre industry wasn't cutthroat enough already. Fans around the world who turn to live theatre for artistic expression or a form of therapy are feeling empty and starved of the shows they cling t...

photo by Jeremy Daniel I could not have been more excited when I learned that Finding Neverland would finally be launching a national tour. I saw the show twice on Broadway starring Matthew Morrison, Kelsey Grammar, and Laura Michelle Kelly, and I completely fell in love with the breathtaking yet underrated musical. At long last, the tour reached the National Theatre in Washington, DC, and I was so excited to score cheap tickets! I had some concerns about seeing Finding Neverland this time around. Despite the glowing reviews from my friends who had seen it earlier in the week, the Washington Post completely slammed the production. The Post's review mainly blamed the tour's shortcomings on being a non-equity tour. In summary, an actor who is non-equity has not yet worked their way into the Actor's Equity Association (the actor's union, in laymen's terms). Non-equity actors are not protected by the AEA regulations, and therefore are not obligated to be paid a ...

On the weekend of February 22nd, I took advantage of my President's Day floating holiday from work and traveled to New York City with my family to catch four Broadway shows. I intend to post my reviews over the next couple weeks for each show we saw. Our final show of the trip was the highly anticipated but highly disappointing Be More Chill. I am so sorry, you guys. I really was excited to see this show and then come on here and write a glowing review. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to do that with a clear conscience. As much as it pains me to say it, I would like to recommend any self-proclaimed #Squips (the name Be More Chill  fans have given themselves) to close this page and continue to celebrate and support the show that you clearly love a lot more than I do. After spending four hours sitting on the sidewalk outside the Lyceum Theatre on a rainy Sunday morning, I scored rush tickets to Be More Chill . I was ecstatic.  The buzz coming off the s...