Okay, so, I have mastered the getting of Broadway tickets at a cheap price thing. I mean, this method isn't the best if you have a limited time in the city but if you can try a couple times then you are fine. What is my trick you ask? Rush tickets and the lottery. Yup, I'm a little gambler now. Haha! JK. So, most theaters have some sort of cheap tickets or student tickets. Some you have to get up early, stand in line and then you get tickets for $30. Win! Other theaters have lotteries where you stick your name in a draw and if your name is drawn you get tickets for $30. Win! And this is how it has been financially feasible(ish) to see all the Broadway that I have!
My first show was Mama Mia. Classic Abba. I was having a bad day and thought, "What better way to be cheered up than going to a Broadway show?" And that is exactly what I did. It was a great show. Sadly, it was a Wednesday so they had some of the understudies performing. The fiancé was horrible. I could sing on Broadway if that's all it takes. I guess I'm not a super tall, good looking man though. That could make it more difficult.
Next I went to Shakespeare in the Park. Not Broadway, I know, but a show nonetheless. And this show was free!! Yay!!! I threw my name in a draw and I was selected so I didn't even have to wait in line. Oh and hilarious story. So, I'm at the theatre picking up the tickets and I sat and took the theatre in for a moment and snapped some pictures and such. As I started walking towards the theatre this guy starts waving and yelling after me. Now, this guy looked a little sketch. He looks a bit like a hippie mixed with a homeless guy. He was in raggedy clothes and had piercing and tattoos and strange hair that was all over the place. Oh and he was old which made a little bit stranger. So, when he started waving me over and screaming and yelling I put my traveling experience and knowledge to work, concluded I didn't really want to encourage him and then kept walking while pretending I couldn't hear him cuz of my headphones. Well, that didn't stop him. He kept screaming and then started to get other people to try and wave me down. Finally I gave in and walked over to him. He then proceeded to tell me how he could just tell, yah know, he could just tell I needed a ticket cuz, yah know, he was watchin' me standin' there and could see that I really wanted a ticket. (insert a ridiculous amount of profanity in there for the full effect.) He then handed me another ticket. Yup, just like that! I was a little skeptical as I was worried it was fake or he was going to demand money or something. But nope, he was just a kind man trying to do a good dead for a poor, wandering tourist. Win!! The show was FANTASTIC! We saw As You Like It and I loved it. Plus it had a banjo band in it. You can't go wrong with a banjo band.
Show number three... NEWSIES!!!!! Yah, they made a Broadway production of my favorite childhood movie. WIN!! Wow... I never used to say that. Hannah, you are rubbing off on me. Anyways, so, I had tried what felt like a billion times to win lottery tickets to Newsies to no avail. My friend Lisa and I had gone a number of times. So, one day we decided to give it yet another shot. I would come straight from work and meet her there and we would both put our names in and hope for the best. So, after work this time I went down to the subway. I had been held up at work a bit but figured I should make it just in time with maybe five minutes to spare. And then I got to the subway platform. The place was PACKED. Awesome. The first time I ran into subway delays had to be when I was trying to see my beloved Newsies. I wasn't too panicked. Lisa would be there so at least I still had a chance. When I left Wall Street finally I was starting to worry. Looked like I would make it there at about ten minutes after the draw was made. Here's the problem. They only accept cash. And I had my cash. And I had no idea if Lisa had enough to cover me and if she doesn't then too bad for me. At 14th I get reception for about thirty seconds. I quickly fired Lisa a text saying I was on the way while I simultaneously got a text saying "I won!!! Randi, where are you?!!?" When I finally made it to Tines Square I got a text from her saying "RUN!!" and boy oh boy did I run. I made it to the theatre literally in the nick of time. Yup, Lisa came running over, grabbed the cash, turned, bowled over some old man, jumped back in line as it filed into the theatre and then we got our tickets. The show was sooooooo goooooodd!!!! I love Newsies. And the set was quite cool. And the music was the same but different and the plot was the same but different so I wasn't constantly comparing it to the movie. It was its own thing and it was awesome. PLUS the show has a bunch of dancers from one of my favorite tv shows, So You Think You Can Dance. So. Amazing. Alex Wong was there. I love that man. Plus, after the show all the actors come out and sign playbills so I got to meet and talk to a bunch of them. Ridiculously cool. Sad thing was that Alex didn't come out!! I was so sad!! They were packing it all up and Lisa looked at me and was like, "He has to come out sometime. We are waiting." And that my friends is why I love this girl! And yes. I did meet Alex Wong. I have pictures to prove it.
Next show I saw was Jersey Boys. I didn't think anything could be better than my newsies experience but this one just might have done so. I actually went and saw it a second time I loved it so much. It's a play about the Four Seasons, a band from the sixties. I really had no desire to see this but my friend Mel was in town and she wanted to go so I joined her. Soooo glad I did. It is hilarious. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry. The acting is fantastic. The accents are fantastic. The singing... Holy crap. Seriously, everyone should see this play. I loved it sooooo much. That being said, there's a bit of language in it. They are from Jersey after all.
In the internship program I am in there are a couple perks. One being free broadway shows. I got to see Memphis and Nice Work If You Can Get It for free!! Well, "free" seeing as I paid his company a lot to work out my internship and such. Memphis was great as it has the guy who played Roger in Rent as the male lead. I love that guy's voice. Overall, I didn't really connect with the show or the music though. I really have no idea why. It was still very good. Nice Work I LOVED though. It has Matthew Broderick in it and you can't go wrong seeing Matthew. The female lead stole the show for me though. She is a little fire cracker and the plot is just so well written and happy and fun. I loved it. I feel like I am loving everything in this blog post and I also love that.
What else? I think that might be it. I am about to buy tickets to see Bring It On: the musical. Judge away but I like horrible teeny bopper movies and the cheer leading will be fantastic. So I'm okay with it.
Seven Broadway plays and Shakespeare in the Park all for under $140. Don't think I did too bad! Wow. I can't believe I only paid that much. Maybe I'll go see another one tomorrow! Haha!
Just another day in NYC.
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