Broadway Shows - I've Seen a Few

Once upon a time I put together a life list of over 100 things I wanted to experience. I add to it sparsely, and I check things off at least a couple times a year. One of those things was to see a show on Broadway. I've seen dozens of Broadway shows on tour, most often at Gammage but also in Chicago and California. But when I made that life list item, I had no idea I'd have the opportunity to see a DOZEN shows on Broadway. I checked it off for the first time with my sister, Christy, on a trip to NYC for her friend's wedding in 2008. The show was Wicked and the experience was amazing. I returned to New York City for New Year's ringing in 2010, and saw Wicked again on Broadway, a suggestion from my then-boyfriend who felt that Wicked was the most approachable of all the musicals.   

Moving to and living in Connecticut has been rough and undesirable, to say the least. But the proximity to Broadway and the frequency with which we've had the opportunity to see Broadway shows can't be beat. I am certain that our proximity to Broadway will be what I miss most about our short time in Connecticut.

It's almost surreal that something people wish to do once in their lives - that I, at one time, hoped to do once in my life - has become almost routine and familiar.  I'd be remiss if I didn't feel and show gratitude for the opportunity we've had here. We've seen stars, award-winning shows, surprises, on-stage magic, and absolute wonder. 

We learned that there are a number of ways to get Broadway show tickets on the cheap. Many shows have same-day or next-day lotteries that you can enter entirely for free, so there is no risk or down-side. If you win, then you have just an hour or so to pay for the tickets. This was the most economic way we found, ticket prices were $10 for Hamilton ("the ten dollar founding father") and maybe $20 or $30 for most other shows. Then you have to get your butts down to Broadway to see the show. We utilized this a lot, although it made for some disruptive and hurried days when our initial plans were to veg or do things around the apartment. 

Obviously, this method only works if you are able to get to NYC quickly, within a couple hours, and can try repeatedly until you win. Otherwise if you're only visiting for a few days, the chances of winning are pretty slim. If you want to guarantee you'll see a show, Broadway Roulette, priced just a tough higher, around $40 per person, guaranteed a show for the day and timeframe you wanted, you just didn't know what show it would be! For shows that I was adamant about seeing, I would fork over the face value ticket price. 

Here is a complete listing of the shows we've seen, and how we acquired the tickets.

• Cats - won the lottery the day of
  

• Miss Saigon - bought tickets in advance

• War Paint - won the lottery the day of
  

• Waitress - played Broadway Roulette (won the lottery for Dear Evan Hansen the same day, but the primary lead was off that day, so we stuck with Waitress) 
  

• Groundhog Day - won the lottery the day before (actually I won five days in a row, maybe a marketing gimmick?)
  

• Hamilton - won the lottery the day before
  

• The Play That Goes Wrong - bought tickets in advance for Christy's visit
  

• SpongeBob - won the lottery the day of (won one other time and didn't notice in time - whoops!)
  

• Hamilton - bought tickets at face value before we even moved
  

• Elf the Musical - bought tickets in advance
  

• Radio City's Rockette Christmas Spectacular - bought tickets in advance
  

• Spamilton (off-Broadway) - bought last-minute tickets for the show's last day
  

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - bought last-minute tickets for the show's last week
  

• Lion King - won the lottery the day of
  

• Aladdin - bought half off tickets in advance
  

• Dear Evan Hansen - bought tickets in advance

Updated Feb 8, 2022

Almost immediately after we moved away from Connecticut, I saw through a friend's facebook group that a wonderful singer who graduated from my high school a few years before me had made it Broadway! Joey London was the first actor to ever have played Mary Sunshine and Amos Hart in the musical Chicago on Broadway. Talk about talent! I was so bummed that the timing had been so off - had he started just a few months earlier I easily would have gone to see him. But, I figured a New York trip would happen sooner or later and I'd try to get tickets then. I connected with Joey on facebook and loved seeing his gushingly grateful posts about the opportunity he has to be on Broadway.

The COVID pandemic hit everyone hard and differently. Broadway was shut down, the first time ever. New York is expensive. I followed as Joey gave up his apartment and went to live with his parents to wait out the pandemic. He started selling baked goods, using his stage character as inspiration: Mary's Sunshine Sweets. I bought some to show my support - and they just happened to also be delicious! 

One of the positive things COVID did was make all of us reconsider what was important in our lives. We never know when life will come to an end, or when the things we take for granted will suddenly be taken away. When Broadway re-opened, I felt compelled to get back to NYC to see Joey perform. Since he was an alternate, his performance schedule was often last minute, so I knew it would be tricky. But one day, he posted that he'd be performing in a few weeks. That was plenty of time for me to make plans and book tickets, and that is exactly what I did. I messaged him that I was coming. It was a frigid January, but I didn't care. I was determined to see him on Broadway. 

Side note: I love a good play on words. Since his last name happens to be the name of a city, as was the name of the musical, I got a kick out of saying, "We're going to see London in Chicago in New York." Because, obviously that makes sense, right? 

The moment our plane touched down in New York, I got a notification that our flight a couple days later was cancelled due to the impending winter storm. Ah well, I guess we're stuck in New York City. Might as well book another musical! I had been listening to Hadestown recently and hadn't considered booking it for this trip, but if we were going to be stuck in New York indefinitely, I figured we might as well. I extended my hotel stay and booked Hadestown. How's that for turning lemons into lemonade? 

J. London, as the cast list aptly called him to conceal his gender, was spectacular. I was already quite familiar with the musical and had seen it touring once, but this was the first time seeing it on Broadway and it was extra special given I knew one of the cast members. After the show was over, Joey met us at the stage door for a quick hug and chat before he had to rush home, still in full Mary Sunshine makeup, to take his dog out and rush back for his next performance. 

After all that, I am happy to add to the list of shows seen on Broadway:

• Chicago - bought tickets at face value
  

• Hadestown - bought tickets last minute online