theatre

i love theatre with my entire heart, specifically musicals. i'm very passionate about the backstage aspects like set design, costumes, and stage management. here's a list of the musicals i've seen, both on broadway and locally!

newsies - june 30, 2019

at the count basie center for the arts

one of my favorite musicals, and every actor here did an amazing job! my most vivid memory of this performance was during bows, when crutchie's actor waved a pride flag tied to the crutch.

beetlejuice - august 21, 2019

at the winter garden theatre

i believe i saw the full original cast, sadly the cast replacement paper has been lost to time.

what an amazing magical and emotional show!! i'd been a fan of the musical for a while, it was even my special interest! i had so much fun. leslie kritzer signed my playbill at the stage door and i had the chance to give her a poster i'd made for the fanart wall. alex brightman came out with his adorable dog but didn't have the time to sign.

other beetlejuice playbills

i've bought two special playbills online that have alternate art! both were signed by alex brightman, and the first was signed by sophie ann caruso as well. very lucky i got to add these to my playbill collection!

back to the future - november 19, 2023

at the winter garden theatre

george mcfly played by will branner
jennifer parker played by hannah kevitt
3-D played by samuel gerber
kevitt's ensemble roles played by gabi stapula

this was a very unique theatre experience, at least for me. i bought tickets at a discount through my college as part of a trip. i went along with my friend who adores the bttf movies, which i've only seen a few times. because the tickets were so cheap, i wanted to go in completely spoiler-free (at least music-wise— the musical follows very closely to the plot of the first movie) and didn't look at anything related to the show before we went.

it was incredible! the special effects were amazing and the set design was incredible, i cannot convey it in words. the story and songs were great too. there were a few changes from the movie to streamline everything and make it a more "emotional" story, for lack of a better word.

i was very excited for will branner's george, as i'd watched him as max in nerdy prudes must die. his vocals were amazing and every day i wish for a recording of his songs. he played a very good "pathetic wet blanket of a man" and his lisp/stutter was very cute.

unfortunately, the college bus' schedule didn't make time for us to stagedoor, but we were able to sneak a few minutes in before we rushed back. we got our playbills signed by merritt david janes and jj niemann, who were both very kind!

spamalot - march 13, 2024

at the st. james theatre

sir galahad played by graham stevens
sir bedevere played by drew redington
redington's ensemble roles played by darrell t. joe
michael fatica's roles played by matt bauman

was so cool being there for matt bauman's broadway debut! unfortunately none of the actors came out to stagedoor but that's fine, we still had fun!

honestly, some of the jokes weren't funny to me but the whole thing was so silly and it was a good time! my favorite characters were robin, lancelot, and herbert. you may notice a common theme among those three... anyway. leslie kritzer was amazing. alex brightman was super funny and his big speech to herbert's dad was genuinely really emotional. james monroe iglehart and graham stevens had really good chemistry as arthur and galahad.

fun bits: while all the knights were kneeling to god to accept the grail quest, a stray piece of confetti/dust floated down from the top of the stage. galahad very visibly stared at it the entire time until it landed on stage next to him, and robin looked at him like "???"

during the "we're no longer the knights who say ni, we're the knights who say [whatever]" bit, arthur broke character by smiling really wide and during his next line he was very obviously trying not to laugh. it was really cute.

back to the future - june 16, 2024

at the winter garden theatre

full cast; no understudies!

where do i even start? this show is so amazing. seeing it live after my first visit sparked a new special interest was magical. i took so many notes on the little details i noticed while soaking it all up.

there were quite a few goofs/bloopers that happened, which i love. casey likes broke character and tripped & fell on his ass (he was fine) within the span of five minutes. and that's why theatre is so special!

it was tony night, which i completely forgot was that day when getting tickets. so only a few folks came out to the stagedoor. i don't mind because i met nate hackmann and he told me happy birthday (this trip was an early birthday present) and he was so kind and i'm surprised i didn't melt into a puddle right there and then.