catching up...finally!!! part 2

Welcome to the musical theatre blog post!

I've been fortunate enough the past month and a half to attend some AMAZING performances!

My sister's in-laws had an extra ticket to see Wicked in San Francisco and asked me if I would like to go with them. I, of course said, yes! I have been wanting to see Wicked for a long time now and couldn't say no!

Unfortunately, the tickets were in the balcony, the second to last row in the balcony. At one point the guy sitting next to me asked me if I could hear everything okay, and it was then that I realized that the sound did seem a bit garbled at times. I don't know if it was because we were sitting so far back or if it was just 'off' that night. Anyway, it was good, but I didn't think it was as fantastic as everyone makes it out to be, but I think I'd probably appreciate it more when I see it a bit closer up. So, I'm thinking one of these days I'm going to try my luck for Wicked 'lottery' tickets. [People arrive 2 1/2 hours before showtime and enter the lottery for tickets for only $25!] Probably would need to come up with a back-up plan, in case I don't win a ticket.

About a week after that, I went to Berkeley to see American Idiot!

Believe it or not, but it was my first time in Berkeley!

I headed there straight after work....well, okay, not straight after. I went to Target and bought a couple things, before taking BART to Downtown Berkeley. I had some time to kill while I was there, so I got something to eat and looked around and bought a couple $1.00 books at Half Price Books. [LOVE that store!!!]

Then I finally made my way to the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

The show was AMAZING!!!
It exceeded my expectations! The show is only an hour and a half long, but it is nonstop! There were more performers than I had expected in the show and was pleasantly surprised at how many female performers there were. There was also a lot more choreography in the show than I had expected. While there were a couple scenes that were, ummm...'not my cup of tea', I think they were there to make you feel a bit uneasy and uncomfortable. Anyway, I could go on and on....

After the show, they had a talk back with some of the cast members.

As usual, by the time I either think of a question and/or get the courage to ask it, time runs out! :P

After that, there was an after-show party outside. It took a bit longer than I expected to finally get a chance to talk with a couple of the cast members...whom I had met before two years earlier, when I saw them in Spring Awakening.

I first chatted for a bit with Gerard Canonico, who is part of the ensemble. I told him that I had something for him to sign, but it wasn't American Idiot related. He said 'Uh-oh!" and seemed a bit worried. But that worry turned into relief, when he saw the photo book I had made from when I first saw Spring Awakening...which included a few photos with him. He thought it was pretty cool! We chatted a bit more and then he gave me a hug as I went on my way.

I finally spotted my chance to get the attention of the show's 'star', John Gallagher Jr. [Because I'm too polite and don't want to interrupt when they are with other people.] Although someone interrupted us just seconds after I got his attention and he graciously told them he'd be there in a minute, even though I told him that I could wait. I told him that I had something I wanted him to sign...and pulled out the photo book. "What is this?" he asked. It seemed like it was a walk down memory lane for him. When he got to this page, he said, "Wait a minute. I remember this. I remember pointing to the sign." I'm thinking, "WOW! That was 2 years ago and he remembers doing that!" Then he asked me if he should sign the book on this page and I told him that would be cool!

AWESOME!!!

We chatted a bit more about the demands of the show and the differences between AI & SA. I don't know why I didn't think to get a photo with him, but at least I got a hug.

I also got to chat with Michael Mayer, who directed both, American Idiot and Spring Awakening. He remembered meeting me last year and when I showed him the photo book, he asked me, "You made this?"

I told him I designed it, but that a photo website actually 'made it.' I showed him that I even had a photo of him in it, from an appearance at the Apple Store in SoHo. He asked me if I was there and I told him I was and that I took those photos. He asked me why I didn't show this to him last year and I told him I didn't have it with me then. Anyway, I was glad to see that he was so receptive to it. We chatted a bit more about the shows and he gave me a hug goodbye.


I'm really hoping to be able to catch the show again before it closes!

And most recently.....

It had been almost a year to the day since the last time I saw a show at the Curran Theatre.

[Any guesses as to what that show could be?] ;)

This time I was here to see RENT.

I had never seen the show before [although I did see the movie], and since this tour had cast members who were in the movie, as well as the original Broadway cast, I figured I should try to go see it!

I found out that they were selling 'rush tickets' 2 hours before the show for only $20! [And those seats were in the first 2 rows, too!] So, I took BART into San Francisco to see if I could score one of those tickets. I got to the theatre at 4:45pm and there was already a line of about 20 or so people. There was a limit of 2 tickets per person, so I was feeling optimistic. Instead of keeping us outside until 6:00pm, they let us inside at 5:30pm to form a line to wait. While we were in there they announced that once the rush tickets sold out they would then sell box seat tickets for $30. I only had $20 on me, so someone saved my spot so I could run to the Walgreens at the corner to get ten more bucks, just in case. [I also got water and some candy there, too.] Anyway, it's a good thing I did that, because the rush tickets did sell out, about 6 or 7 people ahead of me. So, I got a box seat. If I had known how the set up was of the stage for this show, I would've asked if I could get a box seat on the other side of the theatre. My seat was on the right side of the theatre and unfortunately quite a few moments of the show happened on that side of the stage, which had speakers blocking our view.

It was almost like being at a concert rather than a musical. The audience was so excited and weren't afraid to show their enthusiasm for upcoming numbers and giving a thunderous response at the end of a number. Some people even clapped along during a couple of numbers! It was just crazy!

So, it shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did when I left the theatre and saw how long the line was outside the stage door was...but it did! I made my way to the end of the line because I wanted autographs and photos, too. Unfortunately, because of the crowd, they didn't pose for pictures, so people just took them as they walked by.

Adam Pascal 'Roger'

Anthony Rapp 'Mark'

I only managed to get 4 autographs, but that's better than nothing!

I'm hoping to attend another musical by the end of this month.... It's been a great time for theatre!!!