“Broadway Joes from all over MO…” 10 Broadway Performers from Missouri

Welcome back, everyone!

Courtesy of giphy.com

I hope you all are staying safe. For me, I’ve been very blessed all things considered. For those of you are wondering, my production of Bonnie and Clyde has been pushed back. Because we don’t have traditional stadium style seating, we were able to find a way to still put on the show and do so safely. (More information below)

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Anyway, a big shout out to my roomie and best friend Hallie (who is a saint for having not killed me through all this). Sometimes we get into discussions about various actors, famous people, etc. from Missouri, so I thought “Why not do something like this for Broadway?

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“The Last Five, no scratch that, Ten Years” A Revisit with the Tony-Winning “Best Musicals” of the Decade

Welcome back to Memoirs of a Theatre Kid for the final post of the year, but also the decade.

My gif-courtes of Giphy.com

Navigating through the social medias this month, I couldn’t help but notice a trend of reviewing/reminiscing through the two thousand tens, aka the first decade where I was old enough to be cognizant of the world and its goings on from start to finish. I thought to myself, “What theatre-related thing of the past ten years can I write about on Memoirs of a Theatre Kid?”

Eventually, I decided I’d dive into the ten winners of the highly sought-after “Best Musical” Tony award from 2010-2019, and what the original cast and creative team of each show has gone on to do since their respective wins. (Obviously it would be impossible to chart ever accomplishment and accolade from every individual who mounted these musicals, but I tried to squeeze in the bigger ones with a somewhat logical and well-transitioned narrative).

So travel back to me to the start of the decade…when your humble author was an underclassman in high school, Obama was in his first term of office, and Toy Story 3 was released.

“At the Moment We Start Weeping, That’s When We Should Smile” Full Circles and Farewells

Picture it: January 12, 2012. Jefferson City, Missouri.

It was a happy day in the life of Deb for numerous reasons. For one, it was opening day of one of my all-time favorite musicals and one of my favorite productions I’ve done to date: Man of La Mancha. It was also the very first show I would do with a group then known as Capital City Players, now called Capital City Productions at Shikles Auditorium in Jefferson City, MO.

(I’m the one in the donkey head. It was quite the time!)

“And One Day, I’ll Shine For You…” The Chaz Chronicles Part IV

Welcome back to Memoirs of a Theatre Kid, and the fourth installment of “The Chaz Chronicles”. (Be sure to read Part I, Part II, and Part III if you have not already done so, for the full story of my unexpected and life-changing friendship with actor Chaz Wolcott.

When last seen, Chaz had just finished competing on So You Think You Can Dance, and I was a fresh college grad trying to find her place in the real world.

“And soon they’ll all know my name I’ll have fortune and fame…” A-Listers with Theatrical Roots

Welcome back to the blog!

 

Courtesy of giphy.com

For this installment of Memoirs of a Theatre Kid, I decided to share the spotlight of the stage with the more “mainstream” entertainment. (Movies, TV, Top 40, etc).

It’s probably not surprising that so many of our entertainers in the world of Broadway and beyond grew up doing school plays, singing in church choir, etc. But I decided to take a look at some individuals who are not primarily known as Broadway/theatre people in their adult careers, but had at least one professional theatre gig onstage as a child.

I suppose part of me wants to prove once and for all that theatre kids are, in fact, cool. (Maybe it’s a lost cause…but hey, worth shot, right?)

“The Costumes, The Scenery, The Makeup, The Props…” Theatrical Travels Part II

Welcome back to Memoirs of a Theatre Kid!

Courtesy of giphy.com

I apologize for the month gap in posts. For those of you who know me personally (which I’m guessing is my entire readership) you can probably guess the reason behind this gap…namely an F-3 tornado that hit my apartment complex and had my roommate and myself (as well as our fur babies) displaced for a month.

Courtesy of giphy.com

I’m happy to report all animals and humans are healthy and well, and we’re moved into a new place and are slowly but surely getting our lives back together and reestablishing a sense of normalcy. For me, part of that is getting back to writing. But since I am still in the middle of a thousand boxes that need to be unpacked and a massive to-do list, I’m keeping it simple this month by continuing with my theatrical travels series. (Should you care to hear more about us getting our lives together after the tornado, check out this video interview we did with KMIZ on the fourth of July, and this interview I did with News Tribune about being separated and reunited with my kitty Gavin in the after math of the tornado).

For this post I decided I’d focus on places where theatre enthusiasts can travel to view props, costumes, and other notable memorabilia from Broadway musicals and plays, as well as well as their film adaptations and other movie musicals.

Courtesy of giphy.com

(I should probably clarify the difference I mean between adaptations of musicals/plays verses movie movie musicals. I would classify adaptations as any works that began as a stage show that was than adapted for the screen, such as Hello Dolly, The Crucible etc. But when I refer to “movie musicals”, I mean any musical that was initially created in cinema such as La La Land, Singin’ in the Rain, etc.)

This didn’t leave me quite as wide a berth as my first post in the theatrical travels series, so I didn’t follow quite such a strict set of criteria this time around. While costumes, props, and filming locations were the primary focus for this post, if any of the selected locations also had items/features that tied in to a musical/play based upon historical events, I decided to include those as a historical bonus if you’re like me and can’t get enough of those real life tie-ins between the stage and real life.

Courtesy of giphy.com

“My heart would still be here at the stage door with you”… Deb’s Guide to Stage Door Etiquette

(Featured image courtesy of giphy.com/Waitress the musical)

I first discovered the concept of stage dooring (that is, the act of going to the stage door after a performance and meeting the performers, getting your program signed and a picture with them, etc.) by accident after my middle school drama club group trip to see Stomp. On the way back to our car after the performance, my immediate group stumbled upon a group of the performers on their way to their tour bus, and our teachers were awesome enough to let this crazy crew of middle schoolers stop and chat. A few minutes later the prop newspaper that had been thrown into the audience that I had grabbed was signed (possible foreshadow to my Newsies obsession?), and a new era of my life began.

 

 

(And may I add that we have some peak middle school Deb on display: long unruly hair, faded Wicked hat, jean jacket, Cullen crest wrist cuff…fashionista, am I right?

As a Midwest kid who grew up having to scrape under the couch and save her allowance for months for a prayer of a nosebleed seat for a national tour or concert, the opportunity to meet the people who make the magic happen face to face was a euphoric experience. For the first time, the people I blasted on my CD player and read about on Broadway.com, were no longer the elusive, far way unicorns in the magical land of New York City, but were right in front of me in the flesh, stripped of the costumes and microphones and everything else that had made them another person for the course of their performance.

It was a bizarre phenomenon, but despite my often crippling social anxiety and feelings of isolation from my peers (crazy as it sounds, growing up in a tiny hick town with a weird Polish last name, a face full of acne, a stutter, and a love of musicals does not add up to popularity), I had little to no hesitation or shyness chatting with the big names of Broadway. Of course, I’ve made a fool of myself a few times, (looking at you, fifteen year old Deb meeting Bebe Neuwirth after the Pre-Broadway run of The Addams Family) but what can you do. I like to think it’s because despite the fact that Broadway’s brightest don’t know me from Eve, there’s still a connection in my head. These are the people I cheered for when they’re nominated for Tony awards, the ones whose songs pumped me up before a big audition, who had social media accounts I’d scroll through when I needed cheering up, and whose techniques I’d studied to master my own craft. (And through a bizarre set of circumstances I even befriended one of the incredible people I met at the stage door…see The Chaz Chronicles for that story).

With that in mind, I know that crazy theatre kids can be a bit intimidating in large groups simply because we are such a strange herd. Over the years people have asked me for tips and advice for hitting up the stage door, and I’ve been meaning to compile my knowledge from going to the stage door into a blog post for some time now…better late than never, right? And in honor of the upcoming Tony awards I decided I’d accompany this list with my old stage door pics, particularly those with nominees of the 2019.

“Insert ANOTHER Adele Dazeem Joke Here” Recommendations for New Musicals to Listen To Part 2

Welcome back, everyone!

My gif-courtesy of giphy.com

If you haven’t already, check out Part 1  of this post, review the criteria, and read on!!

“Where I Go, When I Go There…” Theatrical Travels Part I

I want to thank Sisilia Shaffer, one of my pals from college for giving me the inspiration for this post…it was at intermission for Corey Cott and Laura Osnes’s concert in Kansas City…which was fabulous, by the way.

Me with Corey Cott, Laura Osnes, and Ben Rauhala (accompanist/arranger/fairy godfather)

 

Sisilia and I were chatting after bumping into each other, and the conversation turned to Bonnie and Clyde the musical, only natural since we were seeing one of the original stars perform, right? With her living in Springfield, MO where we both went to school, I mentioned to her that in Joplin (just an hour away for those of you not familiar), stands a former residence of the real-life Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. I have this embarrassing tendency to overshare on my far too intricate knowledge on macabre/nerdy topics like this, but to my relief, her response to this information was an enthusiastic one…to paraphrase, “You always know about this stuff”.

It’s true. Travel, history and musical theatre, a few of my greatest passions, intertwine so seamlessly, so why not make a blog post on musical theatre-related travel destinations?

My gif-Courtesy of giphy

“Hey big spender!” Deb’s guide to discount Broadway tickets and New York City (Especially when you’re in college and/or broke)

We’re now at the two year anniversary since my magical, young adult coming of age story-esque solo trip to New York City, and not a day goes by when I don’t think about that week.

When I got back, and still to this day, there’s one question I get more than any other:

“How did you afford it?” More specifically, “How did you afford to see all those shows?”

That’s a valid question. New York City is pricey, and at the surface, so is attending Broadway shows.

But there’s a loophole. Several in fact. Broadway tickets are kind of  like textbooks: if you’re paying the full price, either  you’re stupid rich or just stupid. There is almost always a discount ticket to be had for a show.

Notice that I didn’t say “every show”. If you’re dead set on seeing one of the major blockbusters (Hamilton, Aladdin, Wicked, Book of Mormon, etc.) then you’re going to have to plan far in advance, and probably shell out quite a bit of money. But if you’re like me and want to see a little bit of everything, then you’re in luck.