My wife is a big fan of Broadway musicals, having just purchased another season of Broadway Across America here in Portland. Of course, it’s not really Broadway if you don’t see it in the “Big Apple,” but it’s better than not going at all. Last night we went to see The Sound of Music at the Keller Auditorium, and she of course knew all the words to every song. I’m sure it took all of her willpower not to sing along, let alone charge the stage. For me, the best part of going to a show  is watching her expressive face, like a kid on Christmas morning, grinning from ear to ear.

I can’t really say I was a show-goer prior to meeting her. In fact, here’s a list of shows that I attended prior to even dating her:

 Hair 1970 Chicago 
 Miss Saigon

Once we did get together, our first seating was to see her daughter perform a Once On This Island role in high school and the list goes on from there, with most dates and cities noted in groups of 10, so I can keep track. I’m lucky to remember any details of these shows, and there are probably some non-musicals listed, but I will try to recall some of my favorite memories with at least some accuracy. 

 Once On This Island-4/30/0 
 Music Man Indy 2/5/02
 Urinetown, NYC 12/01/01
 Smell of the Kill, NYC 3/26/02
 Sweet Smell of Success, NYC 3/23/2
 Cats Indy 5/14/02
 The Producers 3/24/2 NYC & 1/11/5 Indy
 South Pacific – Indy 12/25/1 & Austin 11/8/11

The Producers is one of my all-time favorites, as I prefer the Mel Brooks’ comedies. Smell of the Kill was a play that opened on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theater just before our 2002 visit. This would probably be one of several events on this list that would not meet my wife’s definition of a “Broadway Show.” 

 Swing Indy 6/11/02
 Saturday Night Fever Indy 10/16/01
 Phantom of the Opera 6/28/1 & 11/12/4 & 3/18/10
 Ragtime Indy 05/01/01
 Contact NYC 3/17/01
 Sunset Boulevard Indy 3/21/00
 Beauty and the Beast 1/19/0 & 2/4/

Phantom of the Opera, Fosse, the Full Monty, Jersey Boys, Beauty & The Best, and Spamelot were all worthy of three separate viewings. Spamelot is the only musical where I bought a souvenir for myself, a can of custom Spam back in 2005. I’ve yet to open it, but whenever I do I’m sure it will still be “good.” Bob Fosse was always one of my wife’s favorites, so any show that he was involved with was always a viewing priority. 

 Stomp 11/2/99 Indy
 Cinderella Indy 1/9/01 & NYC 2/8/13
 Cabaret 10/24/00 & 12/10/99 NYC
 Mark Twain Indy 4/28/00
 Scarlet Pimpernel 12/11/99 NYC
 Fosse, 3/18/01 NYC
 Fosse 11/6/99 Chicago
 Fosse 5/22/99 NYC

I did also see Stomp in Toronto with a group of fellow convention goers that did not include my wife. It’s the only show I’ve seen on an International stage. I also went without my wife to a performance of Mama Mia in Las Vegas, but left at intermission. The cast had part of our CBS-TV annual meeting, so between that, the movie, and a New York show, I had simply had enough of ABBA.

 The Civil War Indy 02/01/00
 Best Little Whorehouse in Texas – Indy 3/13/01
 Swingtime Canteen 3/16/01
 J C Superstar Civic Theater Indy 3/4/3
 Fiddler on the Roof Indy 12/12/00 & 3/2/10 Austin
 Jane Eyre NYC 3/18/01
 Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues NYC 5/30/99
 Seussical 12/02/00  & NYC 09/17/02

We both agreed to leave at intermission for The Civil War musical, despite Larry Gatlin’s impressive voice.  Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues was the first and last performance that I was allowed to pick out. I loved Seussical, as a big fan of the poetry of Theodor Geisel, Dr. Suess. 

 Jekyll and Hyde Indy 11/17/99
 Lion King 12/03/00 & NYC 02/21/04
 Mamma Mia 12/03/01 NYC 
 The Full Monty 12/02/01 NYC & 01/06/04 Indy & 8/8/6 Sullivan
 Hairspray NY C 12/5/2 & 6/12/7 Sullivan
 Dance of The Vampires NYC 12/06/02

Dance of the Vampires, The Vampire LeStat, and even Dracula were all horrible song and dance ideas. Broadway sometimes Bites! On the positive side, Hairspray was worthy of an encore viewing, along with seeing the movie. I actually got to have an extended conversation with Henry Winkler, “The Fonz,” at intermission of this show, since he was sitting in our section. We got our exceptional seats at the box office due to cancellations because of a New York December blizzard that shut down the city.

 Movin’ Out NYC 12/7/02
 Side Show 9/29/02  
 Les Miserables 10/15/2 Indy & 10/25/13 Austin
 Aida 04/08/03-Indy
 Aida 11/12/05-Decatur Civic Ctr.
 Thoroughly Modern Millie 4/13/3 NYC & 2/15/5
 Moby Dick 09/05/03
 The Graduate 11/25/03

We bought tickets for The Graduate tour with Linda Gray of Dallas fame, who always claimed that it was her legs on the promotional posters for the movie instead of Anne Bancroft’s. Ann-Margret starred in the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas performance that we saw. Harvey Feinstein, of Hairspray was also in the Fiddler on The Roof production that we enjoyed. In addition, we had the privilege of watching Jerry Lewis in Damn Yankees while we lived in Indianapolis. A mutual friend also played that role in a Civic Theater production. He wasn’t quite as famous or talented. 

 Wicked NYC 12/4/3
 Nunsense Indy 12/22/3
 Bombay Dreams NYC 4/10/4
 Johnny Guitar NYC 4/10/4
 Boy from Oz NYC 4/11/4
 42nd Street Indy 4/27/4
 Chicago Indy 9/14/4
 Dracula NYC 11/26/4
 Brooklyn-NYC 11/27/4
 La Cage-NYC 11/28/4 8/14/7 Sullivan

Wicked was an outstanding show that made Idina Menzel as Elphaba even more famous than her original Rent role as Maureen Johnson. Hugh Jackman starred in Boy From Oz.

 Listen To My Heart Indy Civic Theater 1/14/5
 Damn Yankees  3/25/5 Indy Civic Theater
 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang NYC 3/31/5
 Spamelot NYC 4/1/5, & St. Louis 11/11/6 & Austin 3/10/9
 Will Rogers-Champaign 11/15/5
 Chita Rivera 11/29/5 NYC
 Woman In White 12/01/05 NYC
 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels 3/25/6 NYC

Chita Rivera must have insisted on playing herself. It was a bad idea. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was the second time we saw John Lithgow on Broadway, following his Tony win for Sweet Smell of Success back in 2002. My mind was on an NCAA tournament game that night, as I stepped out into the lobby too many times to check the scores on my phone. Bad Broadway etiquette back then, but today I know more about what’s going on at the theater than on the court. 

 The Color Purple 3/26/6 NYC
 Putnam Co. Spelling Bee 3/26/6 NYC
 Vampire LeStat 3/27/6 NYC
 Tarzan 4/18/6 NYC
 Ave. Q 4/23/6 Vegas & 4/15/9 Austin
 Do Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up 6/27/6 Sullivan
 Godspell-7/11/6 Sullivan & Austin 11/26/13
 Anything Goes 7/25/6 Sullivan
 All Shook Up 9/19/6 Indy

Avenue Q was by far my favorite of this last group after seeing it in two different cities, and by far the most risque of lyrics. “The internet is for porn.”

 Joseph 10/31 Springfield UIS
 High Fidelity 11/25/6 NYC
 Spring Awakening 11/25/6 NYC & 10/19/9 Austin
 Drowsey Chaperone 11/26/6 NYC 
 Chorus Line 11/27/6 NY & 7/24/13 Austin
 Mary Poppins 11/30/6 NYC 
 Light In The Piazza 2/3/7 St. Louis
 Curtains 4/12/7 NYC 

Spring Awakening involved rock music and some nudity that helped keep me awake. It reminded me of my “shocking” experience with seeing Hair back in 1970. The Full Monty featured a male smorgasbord of nudity, but the lights went out quickly much to my relief. 

 Grey Gardens 4/13/7 NYC 
 Follies Sullivan 50th 6/1/7
 My Fair Lady Sullivan 7/3/7
 Sound Of Music 7/31/7 Sullivan
 Jersey Boys 12/30/7  Chicago & 8/8/8 Chicago & 8/19/10 Austin
 A Bronx Tale 9/3/8 Austin 
 Legally Blond 2/3/9 Austin
 Billy Elliott 6/11/11 Dallas & 12/11/12 Austin

We had to make the drive from Austin to Dallas to see Billy Elliott, the longest journey by car we’ve ever made specifically for a show. 

Grease 10/14/9 Austin 
101 Dalmations 11/27/9 Austin  
In The Heights 4/20/10 Austin 
Wizard of Oz 6/12/10 Austin  
Memphis 12/10/13 Austin 
West Side Story 3/29/11 Austin 
Rock of Ages 5/13/11 San Antonio 9/25/12 Austin 
Rain Beatles Austin 10/21/11  
Addams Family NYC 11/12/11   
Lysistrata Jones 11/12/11 NYC
Book of Mormon 10/13/13 Austin

I wanted to see Lysistrata Jones because it was about basketball. It only lasted a couple of months. (See Post #353 on Basketball Jones). The book, however, was nominated for a Tony Award. At that time, we were still waiting for them to get the bugs out of the Spiderman harness. Given my humorous preferences, my wife was excited to take me to Book of Mormon, but much to her disappointment I just didn’t get it. 

Young Frankenstein 3/11/12 Austin
Nice Work if You Can Get It 4/20/12 NYC
Spiderman 4/21/12 NYC
Tap Dogs 10/9/12
White Christmas 12/13/12 Austin
American Idiot 1/14/14 Austin
Million Dollar Quartet Sullivan
Man of Lamancha 1/15/14 Austin
Pippin 2/19/14 NYC
Beautiful 2/20/14 NYC & 11/3/16 Portland

We were late for the NYC performance of Beautiful, and finally saw the first part of the show in Austin two years later. My wife overlooked the nontraditional start time on the tickets, and the lady behind us complained to her about disrupting the show. However, nobody was more upset than “the biggest Broadway fan of them all,” after missing the curtain call by 30 minutes. I just thought the show went by really quickly. 

Dirty Dancing Portland 1/17/2015
I Love Lucy Portland 4/10/15
Finding Neverland Portland 1/4/17
Something Rotten 10/3/15 NYC
Dames at Sea 10/4/15 NYC
Beauty and Beast – Portland 12/1/15
Anastasia – 10/24/17 NYC
Hello Dolly – Bette Midler 10/28/17 NYC
Prince of Broadway- 10/25/17  NYC
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 10/26/17 NYC

The Bodyguard – Portland 11/9/17
Sound of Music – Portland 3/8/18 

We got to go back stage following Hello Dolly, hoping to meet Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce. My wife was just thrilled to do a little “soft shoe” on the same stage where they performed. Something Rotten was surprisingly not “rotten” but rather quite funny.  Also, It was over 17 years between my first Beauty and the Beast performance in Indianapolis and the most recent in Portland. It was the only show that I saw with my wife’s parents, and even more memorable from the standpoint of renting a stretch limo to transport us all on a snowy evening. We also watched some excerpts of this classic at Disney World with my grand kids, so it’s the only show that I sat beside three generations of family.    

Last night’s performance of Sound of Music was my 146th show on my wife’s arm. We’ve seen high school productions, Civic Theater shows, and several decent small-town presentations in Sullivan and Decatur, Illinois. We’ve also traveled to bigger cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio to get our fix. We lived in Indianapolis, Indiana and Austin, Texas and witnessed the Broadway touring groups with a variety of talent that regularly passed through town. We’ll finally see Hamilton in Portland next month, after somehow passing on the higher costs of the Broadway stage. Plus, we have tickets for Dear Evan Hanson and The Band’s Visit in NYC in just a few months that will be my 55th and 56th musicals at Broadway Theaters. I’ll also undoubtedly be in line at Half Price Tickets for additional shows while we’re in the city.

My wife has attended many more shows with her daughter and friends without me during the course of our 19-year relationship. For me personally it has opened the door to a whole new world of song and dance. After all, I’ve averaged at least one Broadway show every five weeks of our relationship. For her, it’s been easily once a month. The Shows Must Go On! (Also See Post #335)