i remember going to see my first Broadway show like it was yesterday. When i was in high school, our local community theatre group, the Union County Players, organized a trip to New York in the fall of 1992, my senior year. The idea for the trip began when my friend Kim Russell, who i had done a show with the year before, thought i needed to go to NYC and experience it. So, the trip started being planned. i think about 30 people ended up going. But, honestly, there were no group activities...we all did our own thing. i think it was a "group" trip because as a group we got a discount on our hotel rooms lol
Anyway, i was determined to see as much as i could. We would be there three full days and i managed to see 5 shows. But the first one i saw was really the one i wanted to see most....The Secret Garden. We flew into NYC on Thursday morning and Kim and i were attending the Thursday matinee of TSG. i was so excited. i had loved the clips of TSG on the 1990 Tony awards. i bought the cast recording as soon as it came out. i was hooked and ready to go!
We arrived at the St. James Theatre before the doors were open to let us in. We were waiting in the lobby's ante room, which was small and packed with other tourists. Of course, i thought that was the actual lobby and was kind of disappointed. However, my spirits perked back up when we looked at the seating chart. Our seats were on row AA, so i had assumed that meant we were on the 27th row. WRONG!!!! Row AA was the first row and we were in the center seats. Front row, center at my first Broadway show.
After we were let into the lobby, we looked around at all of the souvenirs for sale...and there were lots. i still have most of the ones i bought during that trip. We made our way into the theatre and sat down. The orchestra was warming up and i was close enough that i could have touched the conductor. i was tempted, but i didn't do it. i remember the house lights going down and the hairs on my arms standing up...i was so excited. The orchestra hit the first chords of the show and there she was, Rebecca Luker. She was one of the few original cast members left in the show. She portrayed Lily, Mary's aunt...a ghost. In that first moment of the show, she is seated in a picture frame high above the stage, behind a scrim. The lights hit her and she began to sing..."Clusters of crocus, purple and gold" i really was in heaven.
The next 2+ hours were some of the most thrilling in my life. i had never seen anything like it before. Yes, i had seen a few national tours come through Charlotte, but this was different. This was a Broadway musical ON Broadway. i was totally captivated. Being that it was a Thursday matinee, several understudies were on but that did not matter. Everyone in the show was wonderful. And the audience was filled mostly with children, who i must admit were extremely well behaved.
One of the amazing elements of this production, besides the score, was Heidi Landesmann's exquisite scenery. She turned the St James Theatre into a Victorian child's toy theatre. And she won a Tony award for her design as well.
It was a glorious afternoon. My first one in NYC. As soon as the show was over, we went back to the hotel and i told Mom all about it and insisted that she go and see it, which she did on the Saturday matinee. i was definitely on cloud nine!!
There have been many firsts in my life, but this is one of my most cherished.
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