A Utahn's First Broadway Experience

One of my favorite things in life was the Broadway musical, but I'd never actually seen one. I had seen school and community and regional productions of musicals with Broadway origins. I had seen Equity and non-Equity tours that replicated Broadway staging. I had even had the incredible opportunities to see the pre-Broadway tryouts of The Little Mermaid and Shrek the Musical with their original star-studded casts in Denver and Seattle, respectively. But not on Broadway.

Despite its geographical distance from New York, Utah is remarkably connected to Broadway and the theatre world. I'm sure many people would be surprised by the level of talent and sheer number of productions and theatres here. I regularly attend and enjoy shows at several of our area's quality venues. Especially thrilling are the occasional visits by Broadway stars (such as Idina Menzel's concert with the Utah Symphony at Deer Valley), artistically and emotionally satisfying productions of musicals recently on Broadway (such as A Tale of Two Cities at Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley), and rare combinations of the two (Audra McDonald and Will Swenson in 110 in the Shade at Hale Center Theater in Orem).

Still, it seemed to me that my love of the theatre would never be fully matured until I had visited the mecca of what I so adored. I had a couple of false starts in 2002 and 2003, but it was another decade before I was able to make the dream a reality. Thanks to a helping of good luck and the urging of my wonderful wife and parents, I was finally able to visit New York City this summer.

Although my wife and I visited a number of areas in the city, Times Square was by far my favorite. I love Walt Disney World and Universal Studios and Las Vegas for the color and light and imagination they evoke, but Times Square was even more pleasing because of its absolute connection to the theatre. It was exhilarating walking down the street and seeing larger-than-life advertisements that I normally would only see digitally on BroadwayWorld. I also enjoyed sitting in Times Square-area restaurants frequented by industry insiders, such as the Café Edison, Joe Allen, and Sardi's, and hearing the theatre chatter that surrounded me.

My first "theatrical experience" in New York was the Broadway Showcase at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum for Fleet Week. I knew that the majority of performers there would be understudies from the represented musicals, so I went with my guard up. After hearing the mic check, I immediately let it back down. I was floored by the abundant talent of the understudies, who sang rousing numbers from Sister Act, Memphis, Chicago, and a number of other shows.

We saw one of the understudies again that night when I attended my first ever Broadway show-Ghost the Musical. At first I was a little upset that I wouldn't be seeing Caissie Levy, who had originated her role in the West End, but my disappointment dissipated when Alison Luff's crystal voice rang out in the first line of the show, "Here right now." Ghost was everything I could ask for in my first Broadway musical and more: mind-blowing spectacle, wonderful performances by Richard Fleeshman and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, soul-stirring music, and affecting emotion.

The following afternoon, we saw the revival of Evita. I loved the operatic set and lighting and enjoyed seeing Ricky Martin and Michael Cerveris (whom I often listen to on my cast album of the musical Titanic). The Eva standby Christina DeCicco (whom I saw as Glinda in the national tour of Wicked in Denver) gave a tour-de-force performance.

That evening was my first straight play on Broadway, Gore Vidal's The Best Man. I knew little about it going in, but I was intrigued by its political world for all three acts. The cast was populated with veterans of the stage, television, and the cinema, and it was surreal to see Angela Lansbury, Eric McCormack, James Earl Jones, Candice Bergen, and others in front of me on stage. I often had to remind myself that the show was live and not projected on a screen.

Tyler Hinton is an avid theatre-goer and a big fan of Broadway musicals. He has a BA in Communications from Brigham Young University (BYU) with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Theatre Studies. In the past, he has written for the BYU Daily Universe and the Connersville (Ind.) News-Examiner. He has also written and directed a handful of shows.

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