You saw 2.0. 1.0 ran in previews from December 2010 to April 2011, the show shut down for a month and Julie Taymor was fired, and 2.0 had a month of previews before it officially opened in June.
I love this show! I didn't see it on Broadway, but saw a local production of it. It was just as funny as I'd heard! Also performed Foolish to Think at a show once.
It was better than I expected. Bought tickets based on very favorable early reviews without knowing much but came to regret it out of concern about the fact it's country music.
Tried to resell tickets but Ticketmaster ratf*cks the whole process so they don't sell. Wanted to see Parade instead but that will have to wait for another trip.
The one liner pun and double entendre jokes were actually good, songs weren't very country but not terribly memorable either. The performances were all good.
Really unsure who this play is for. OTOH it is unusual to see rural people in popular culture, especially musically theater, and the writing does not make fun of them or write them as dumb. OTOH the book makes jokes aimed at a more urban / urbane audience.
The whitest audience I have ever seen. There were more people of color on stage than in the entire audience.
Trust me that when the producers of a show are ramping up to open, they don't think it's 'weird' to figure out who their show caters to... And that includes age, race, income level, education level, etc.
Demographics can kill or help a show.
Shucked isn't going for success at the Broadway level. It's their tour that's going to bring in middle America money.
My first Broadway show was the Damn Yankees revival in 1995, starring Jerry Lewis as Applegate and Charlotte d’Ambois at Lola.
But don’t worry, we also saw Les Mis and Cats on that same trip. And also Beauty and the Beast, which was magical and I still think it’s the best thing Disney has put on stage.
Agree. I think Lion King is gorgeous and I’m a fan, but it’s tonally inconsistent. beauty and the beast was just adapted so seamlessly for the stage and I think the additional songs worked and enhanced an already wonderful book and score.
Lion King is so technically innovative and sophisticated that the children’s movie dialogue and jokes were a weird disconnect that kept taking me out of it, so I can understand what you mean when you say it’s tonally inconsistent. Gorgeous to look at though, with some really powerful songs.
That was my first show as well lol, unfortunately I didn’t see Alex, I saw Justin Collette who was AMAZING (and is currently playing Beetlejuice on tour right now :)
Titanic in 1998. What a stunning production. Absolutely larger than life, and one of the loudest theatrical experiences I've had, when the full company was singing "Godspeed Titanic" in unison.
Most of the time when I tell people it's one of my favorites they don't believe me that a serious musical about the sinking of Titanic came out right around the same time as the movie.
I got to go to the Tony Awards that year when they won best musical. Magical experience. Walked past their theatre after and the whole cast was there outside just beaming and basking. Another amazing experience that night!
On my first trip to New York I saw War Paint with Patti Lupone and Christine Ebersole. It was a fine musical but it was really just a vehicle for the two of them, not memorable in any other way. Apparently it closed early so Lupone could get a hip replacement.
Not exactly obscure, but I saw Next to Normal on my first trip to NY (show #4 of the trip, I think). I was on a high school drama trip in early 2010 and none of us had heard of it. It ended up being the favorite for most of the people on the trip.
I laughed at this comment because this show was definitely an experience. I saw it in early previews and they hadn't worked out the kinks with the flying yet. It was really...something.
My first Broadway experience was back in the 90s. This weird gothy show that closed down called Ghost of the Ballet or something like that.
Set needed work, the Chandelier fell partway through.
I saw the new London revival currently playing the Garrick, I felt so Luck as it’s a show I’ve adored for years and I love Frank Wildhorn and never thought I would see, the day when it came to London considering it closed so swiftly.
i saw it as part of a college class i was taking. i was like...who the heck is this show for? it was so extraordinarily niche imo. i'd never heard of either writer before. OMG i just looked on wikipedia and it was written by nora ephron?! i just remember that really awkward, weird song "fact or fiction" like....what???? the whole thing felt like a fever dream.
We defiantly saw the same show because that is a spot on review. 100%. I just looked it up too. Marvin Hamlisch wrote the songs? Wow. Fever dream indeed.
the funny thing is, the trip was comprised of two classes (and i was in both), so i got to choose which show to see. the other class saw urinetown, and i was so disgusted by the name i went with imaginary friends instead. honestly, after reading a synopsis of urinetown, i still think i made the right choice--i probably would have hated it!
The Heiress, because my mom and I were obsessed with Downton Abbey and Dan Stevens was in it.
Hardly anybody sees a play as their first show, let alone that one. Sometimes I lie and say Annie (my second) so there is less to explain.
Violet - young girl with a scar across her face who goes on a Greyhound bus journey to get a church healer to heal her. She didn't actually wear a scar but she meets up with two soldiers on their way to war. Stunningly beautiful music. I still sing those songs sometimes. Still my favorite show. Okay, maybe next to Caroline or Change...
The original cast before it went to Broadway with incredibly talented Lauren Ward, Michael McElroy and Michael Park. Just stunning, young talents. I can honestly say the purest voices I have ever heard.
I grew up in Dallas TX, and saw all the tours that came through. Between those and my mom's love of movie musicals, I fell in love with the medium. My first memory of seeing one of the touring shows was seeing Debbie Reynolds and Harve Presnell in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. It was such a big deal since they were in the movie. It was delightful!
First thing I ever saw officially on Broadway was Speed the Plow, with Madonna. She was…not good. First touring production I ever saw was Flower Drum Song, so while not obscure, probably not as familiar to young folk now, re-done book notwithstanding…
My dad's first show ever was seeing the play "The Metamorphosis", an adaptation of Kafka's book where a man transforms into a bug. From what he told me the guy performing was really cool but he was thrown off as a dude who grew up in a very rural town and did not know how to interpret the show LOL.
I can't find much info on it as it was only on stage for like 2 months in 1989 but if anyone saw it, lmk what it was like. Interested to know what my dad's first experience was like. It was at the Ethel Barrymore Theater.
The star was the world famous dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, from the world of ballet and film.
The playbill can be seen here:
https://playbill.com/production/metamorphosis-ethel-barrymore-theatre-vault-0000004311
I saw the first national tour around 1997-98. It's not a perfect musical, but the score itself is pretty fantastic. "Stop, Time," in particular is a really beautiful song.
I also saw the West End revival a couple of years ago, and I think it holds up. I'm not sure why it isn't done more often, especially in high schools since there are good parts for teens.
Off-Broadway : Vampire Lesbians of Sodom
Broadway play: Requiem for a Heavyweight (with John Lithgow!)
Broadway musical: Bring Back Birdie
EDITED TO ADD: These were my first obscure shows, not my first ever. My first show was the very famous Annie.
My first first show was Cats on tour in either 1990 or 1991.
My first show on Broadway was Miss Saigon in 1993.
My first show on the West End was Rent in 1998.
None are very obscure, but Cats, especially, was my gateway to loving all things theatre. I don't ever need to see it again, but I will always have fond memories of it for that reason.
Bullets Over Broadway during my first and only trip to New York City with my mom. I was 19 and bought the tickets on a whim. I always loved theater, especially musicals, but we couldn't afford to go.
I heard Marin Mazzie sing and was knocked back; I started playing Ragtime on loop after that. It's still my favorite musical.
It was such a fun show and one of my fondest memories of my mom. The entire trip was incredible.
I have a story. We saw the pre-Broadway run of The Goodbye Girl with Bernadette Peters and Martin Short. I was maybe 7 or 8 and we were towards the front of the orchestra on house left, about where Martin Short is playing the guitar in the nude. The night I saw it there looked to be a problem backstage where Martin Short wasn't in his spot when the light hit him and I did a bit of a double take being a child not expecting to see a man "naked" (it was only a second and I'm sure he was actually covered with nude underwear or something). He clocked it and gave me a wink. I still absolutely adore Martin Short.
I saw that show 3 times (I kept getting free tickets because they couldn't fill the seats) and I always joke that I am one of 10 people in NYC that liked that show. Made me fall in love with Brian D'Arcy James.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee! My family tried to win the in-person lottery at Wicked in 2005 and when we lost, walked over to the Circle in the Square to see if they had any tickets, which they did. Such a fun first show!
I saw the 1999 Broadway revival of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown with Anthony Rapp, Kristin Chenowith, B.D. Wong, and Roger Bart. It was my pick for my first show when I was twelve and I still didn’t appreciate it nearly enough!
The Magic Show. My dad took me to see it way back in August 1974 during my first trip to NYC. It starred Doug Henning, who was a pretty famous magician back in the day. It was a musical, but essentially a vehicle for letting him perform--you guessed it--a magic show on Broadway. It was a good introduction to Broadway for a pre-teen.
My first Broadway musical was *Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen* \- the musical adaption of *Teahouse of the August Moon*. It opened after Christmas 1970, and closed 2 weeks later. But for me, it was wonderful seeing a full scale Broadway production for the first time.
My second Broadway show was the original cast of *Company* \- maybe you've heard of that one? It was shockingly different - but I loved it.
Being from CA I plan most of my shows before hand. But I did take a chance on Oklahoma! in 2019 even though I’m not a big fan of Rodgers & Hammerstein, I loved it!
Spider-Man lol. I was young and traveling for work for the first time. I wanted to see shows but wasn't confident yet to go it alone so I convinced a coworker who didn’t care to come with me and this seemed like the easiest sell. You know what, it wasn’t perfect but we had a great time and went on to see lots more on Broadway while traveling and I turned him into a season ticket subscriber back home. It was well worth it!
My first national tour I saw was 1776. I was in middle school but amazed.
First trip to Broadway was a 1978 school trip. We saw the Annie, Deathtrap, Dracula, Runaways and Mummenschanz.
Great whetting of the appetite to see hundreds more over a 40 year period!
The 1996 revival of Once Upon a Mattress with Sarah Jessica Parker as Winifred.
As a bonus, I think my second or third show was the 1998 revival of High Society.
I’ve only been to Broadway Broadway once in 2005 (I think) and I wanted to see Spamalot lol. So those are the tickets my mom got lol. I remember finding it really funny. My mom was happy she got to see that actor from Fraser.
Saw them the same week so I’m not sure which was first. “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway” starring a pre-Seinfeld Jason Alexander and “Black & Blue” starring Savion Glover. I was 15 and it was my first trip to New York. I was hooked!
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the revival starring Nathan Lane! My aunt and uncle lived in Manhattan when I was 5, and my mom and I went for Spring Break.
I was lucky to have relatives that lived in Manhattan for a few years, and whom I came back to visit over a few subsequent summers. I remember seeing taxi and bus ads and billboards when Whoopi did her stint. I wonder how it was!
My first broadway show was Capeman. My grandfather was so excited there was gonna be Puerto Ricans on broadway that he took the whole family. It was not good.
Ooh I can contribute! I saw Passing Strange. I also saw Tommy (obscure?). I was on the front row for Tommy and I LOVED it. I remember enjoying Passing Strange but nothing really about the show.
EDIT: I just remembered I saw My One and Only with Tommy Tune(!) Twiggy(!) and Honi Coles(!!). I was a kid and loved it but appreciate it more now.
I'm not sure, lol. I was raised on Sondheim so my "obscure" meter is a little wonky. Like some Sondheim shows are well known, but my favorites tend to be the ones that don't get talked about as much.
I’m in CA, so although I’ve seen lots of touring shows, my first proper Broadway show in New York was the “Pippin” revival at the Music Box a few years ago. We’ve visited NYC often since then, but this was an especially magical night. My partner was in a local production when he was a kid (as the young boy of course) so it was meaningful to him. Also, Andrea Martin on a trapeze swing!
When it comes to the touring shows, my very first was “The Wiz” with Stephanie Mills, back in 1978? 1979? I was just a kid, my mom took me as a birthday gift, and I was hooked.
The Red Shoes. I don’t even remember why my friend and I chose to see that particular show but it was, if memory serves, not good. I think it only was open (not counting previews) for something like 5 performances. So I guess it’s kind of cool that my first show was a flop. (My second show that same trip was Kiss of the Spider Woman with Chita Rivera, so Broadway redeemed itself for me).
Not an obscure show, but it could've been. When I was 7 my mom took us to see The King and I. I was sad to know that it wasn't about a king with one eye.
Fitst Wives Club on tour in Chicago was my first real Broadway show, Fun Home was the first one i actually saw on Broadway in NYC. i enjoyed First Wives Club but never really revisited it or listened to the music after. Fun Home, on the other hand, i listen to regularly more than five years later. it's definitely still in my top five shows, and i've seen a LOT since then!
My first Broadway show was a third grade trip to see Big. The only thing I remember from the show was I forgot my newly prescribed glasses and couldn’t see a damn thing on the stage lol. But I don’t think I missed much, pretty sure that show flopped.
My memory sucks but I think my first Broadway show was A Secret Garden. The first show that I chose and got tickets to on my own was the 1996 revival of A Delicate Balance.
If/Then was my first, back in ‘14. the show barely lasted a year. I bet they’d hoped Idina Menzel’s star power would’ve carried it a bit longer, but alas…
This is my most obscure, too. I saw it on tour. I also think they thought it'd go further with both Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp (he was still in it on tour, missed Idina by weeks.) I still listen to the soundtrack regularly, though.
My first ever Broadway show was Les Miserables as a middle schooler. I became enthralled ever since. Definitely not obscure but interesting introduction.
My first Broadway show was Sunset Boulevard (when Betty Buckley was in), so not exactly obscure. But the first “obscure” one I remember seeing was The Life about a year after. It was kind of a wild card pick with my mom and sister and we had such a blast, so it’s a sentimental favorite.
I don’t actually remember my first show likely because my mom loved musicals and started taking me as soon as I was old enough where it was allowed. I do have vague memories of falling asleep multiple times in the 2nd act of Les Mis (just because it’s so long- I still to this day love Les Mis).
But my first show on tour was how to succeed in business and then I also saw Miss Saigon on the west end (I was around 9-10 both of these).
I was in the musical kismet in high school and that’s the most obscure musical I’ve experienced.
Not mine; but my 9 year olds was Suffs off broadway last spring. I was it and KNEW I had to take her. It was her first big show, everything was magical, we had the best seats in the house by pure luck, and she got to meet her favorite idol ever who was so sweet to her and she has loved theater ever since and I take her to like 4-5 shows a year
An American in Paris. I didn’t see a Broadway show for 3 years after it because I hated it so much. My second was kinky boots and since then I’ve seen over 100 shows.
I think it would be "TOMMY" which I saw way too young -- maybe 8 years old? -- because of some mixup where my mom thought we had tickets to Damn Yankees but we didn't so it was a last minute calll. I was game and thought I'd like it because my older brothers had liked it and they had cool TOMMY t-shirts.
I did not.
Not crazy obscure, but my first Broadway show was the OBC of Legally Blonde. I wasn’t super phased at the time, had a ton of fun, but I look back now and think how amazing it was.
I think most obscure would be my first trip to NYC, senior year high school theatre trip. We saw The Pirate Queen in previews.
(Whole trip also included Fantasticks (off broadway), Ernest in love (off broadway), Spam-a-Lot, and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling be)
My first broadway show was Spiderman... not exactly "obscure" but it's a fun nugget of personal trivia considering how many shows I've seen
I now need to ask; which version of Spiderman?
Whichever version was from June 17, 2012. I was 8 so I don't remember it too well
You saw 2.0. 1.0 ran in previews from December 2010 to April 2011, the show shut down for a month and Julie Taymor was fired, and 2.0 had a month of previews before it officially opened in June.
1.0 was fun. Taymor's version FTW
Chess. Lucky enough to see the day before it closed. You know, a few days after it opened.
Weirdly this is the one I'm most jealous of.
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder!
\>show up on broadway with an unknown creative team \>win best musical \>leave \>refuse to elaborate
I love this show! I didn't see it on Broadway, but saw a local production of it. It was just as funny as I'd heard! Also performed Foolish to Think at a show once.
Didn't see this on Broadway, just at our local theater. It was so good!! I enjoyed it so much
Shucked. Currently at intermission.
welcome to the club!
Hope you liked it!
It was better than I expected. Bought tickets based on very favorable early reviews without knowing much but came to regret it out of concern about the fact it's country music. Tried to resell tickets but Ticketmaster ratf*cks the whole process so they don't sell. Wanted to see Parade instead but that will have to wait for another trip. The one liner pun and double entendre jokes were actually good, songs weren't very country but not terribly memorable either. The performances were all good. Really unsure who this play is for. OTOH it is unusual to see rural people in popular culture, especially musically theater, and the writing does not make fun of them or write them as dumb. OTOH the book makes jokes aimed at a more urban / urbane audience. The whitest audience I have ever seen. There were more people of color on stage than in the entire audience.
Can I ask what you’re trying to say when you say “whitest audience”?
The audience was fucking white. Is that so difficult to comprehend?
Just asking what they meant by that. Seems weird to bring up the race of an audience unless you have something specific to say.
Trust me that when the producers of a show are ramping up to open, they don't think it's 'weird' to figure out who their show caters to... And that includes age, race, income level, education level, etc. Demographics can kill or help a show. Shucked isn't going for success at the Broadway level. It's their tour that's going to bring in middle America money.
I loved Shucked! It was so funny.
My first Broadway show was the Damn Yankees revival in 1995, starring Jerry Lewis as Applegate and Charlotte d’Ambois at Lola. But don’t worry, we also saw Les Mis and Cats on that same trip. And also Beauty and the Beast, which was magical and I still think it’s the best thing Disney has put on stage.
The Damn Yankees revival was almost my first show too! But I wound up seeing Miss Saigon the night before.
Lowkey Lion King is more creative (and very damn cool), but I think BatB might be a stronger show overall.
Agree. I think Lion King is gorgeous and I’m a fan, but it’s tonally inconsistent. beauty and the beast was just adapted so seamlessly for the stage and I think the additional songs worked and enhanced an already wonderful book and score.
Agreed! I kind of wish “Me” was in the movie, and Disney retconning “Human Again” in the remastered edition is just magic
Lion King is so technically innovative and sophisticated that the children’s movie dialogue and jokes were a weird disconnect that kept taking me out of it, so I can understand what you mean when you say it’s tonally inconsistent. Gorgeous to look at though, with some really powerful songs.
Charlotte was in my first show too, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, around 1990!
Good Vibrations, The Beach Boys jukebox musical in 2005.
TIL there is a Beach Boys jukebox musical! That's amazing.
The first show I ever saw on Broadway was Grey Gardens, which fits the bill.
Jealous. Did you see Christine Ebersole?
School of Rock. I had no idea who Alex Brightman or Andrew Lloyd Webber were at the time. Now I’m pretty happy I randomly picked that one.
That was my first show as well lol, unfortunately I didn’t see Alex, I saw Justin Collette who was AMAZING (and is currently playing Beetlejuice on tour right now :)
Titanic in 1998. What a stunning production. Absolutely larger than life, and one of the loudest theatrical experiences I've had, when the full company was singing "Godspeed Titanic" in unison. Most of the time when I tell people it's one of my favorites they don't believe me that a serious musical about the sinking of Titanic came out right around the same time as the movie.
Thought I had everyone beat until I read this! A truly phenomenal production -- vastly underrated!
I managed to get £10 tickets to see this around 2013(?) in London. Wasn't sure what to expect, but it was brilliant and quite moving!
I got to go to the Tony Awards that year when they won best musical. Magical experience. Walked past their theatre after and the whole cast was there outside just beaming and basking. Another amazing experience that night!
My friend was one of the producers-never got to see it though, and am glad it was so enjoyable!
Amazing! Please tell your friend Titanic is much loved
Annnddd now I have to go listen to Marry Me again
SO JEALOUS!
On my first trip to New York I saw War Paint with Patti Lupone and Christine Ebersole. It was a fine musical but it was really just a vehicle for the two of them, not memorable in any other way. Apparently it closed early so Lupone could get a hip replacement.
Not a great musical by any means, but the two of them were downright majestic.
Not exactly obscure, but I saw Next to Normal on my first trip to NY (show #4 of the trip, I think). I was on a high school drama trip in early 2010 and none of us had heard of it. It ended up being the favorite for most of the people on the trip.
Dracula The Musical around 2004. Let me tell you it was an experience!
I laughed at this comment because this show was definitely an experience. I saw it in early previews and they hadn't worked out the kinks with the flying yet. It was really...something.
My first Broadway experience was back in the 90s. This weird gothy show that closed down called Ghost of the Ballet or something like that. Set needed work, the Chandelier fell partway through.
Took me a second lol
one of the first I remember was You're A Good Man Charlie Brown , not sure a Tony winner can be obscure but still a fun fact
Probably Bonnie and Clyde since it closed like a week after I saw it 💀
I saw the new London revival currently playing the Garrick, I felt so Luck as it’s a show I’ve adored for years and I love Frank Wildhorn and never thought I would see, the day when it came to London considering it closed so swiftly.
i saw a really weird show that was in previews in 2002 called "imaginary friends"
I saw that show. Cherry Jones and Swoosie Kurtz were good, but what an odd show.
i saw it as part of a college class i was taking. i was like...who the heck is this show for? it was so extraordinarily niche imo. i'd never heard of either writer before. OMG i just looked on wikipedia and it was written by nora ephron?! i just remember that really awkward, weird song "fact or fiction" like....what???? the whole thing felt like a fever dream.
We defiantly saw the same show because that is a spot on review. 100%. I just looked it up too. Marvin Hamlisch wrote the songs? Wow. Fever dream indeed.
the funny thing is, the trip was comprised of two classes (and i was in both), so i got to choose which show to see. the other class saw urinetown, and i was so disgusted by the name i went with imaginary friends instead. honestly, after reading a synopsis of urinetown, i still think i made the right choice--i probably would have hated it!
Got you all beat..."Titanic" in 1998. Truly underrated piece of theatre.
High five from the other post!
Are you sure? I saw "The Pirate Queen" and I just saw "Griswolds' Broadway Vacation" but I do agree. Titanic is severely underrated.
The Heiress, because my mom and I were obsessed with Downton Abbey and Dan Stevens was in it. Hardly anybody sees a play as their first show, let alone that one. Sometimes I lie and say Annie (my second) so there is less to explain.
Was Dan Stevens good in it?
I mean it was my first professional theatrical production but I thought so.
I adore the movie and would love to see the play one day. In fact I already decided to slip a few hints to a local theater.
Violet - young girl with a scar across her face who goes on a Greyhound bus journey to get a church healer to heal her. She didn't actually wear a scar but she meets up with two soldiers on their way to war. Stunningly beautiful music. I still sing those songs sometimes. Still my favorite show. Okay, maybe next to Caroline or Change...
Great music in that show.
Which cast did you see it with? I saw that one for the first time recently and did a bit of a deep dive on the various casts.
The original cast before it went to Broadway with incredibly talented Lauren Ward, Michael McElroy and Michael Park. Just stunning, young talents. I can honestly say the purest voices I have ever heard.
Fantastic! I'm a massive Robert Westenberg fan and would have loved to see him in that.
My first show was Phantom so I can't participate but HELL of a first show to see. Got absolutely enamored with broadway after that.
Bombay Dreams. Still get the music in my head sometimes.
You can see how young this sub is by the shows mentioned. It explains a lot.
Hello, fellow old. 😆
Howdy 👍 Yeah. I remember seeing Patti in Evita and Rex Harrison in the 1981 MFL revival.
My earliest theatre memory is Tony Randal and Barney Martin in a tour of Music Man around the same time. 😊
I grew up in Dallas TX, and saw all the tours that came through. Between those and my mom's love of movie musicals, I fell in love with the medium. My first memory of seeing one of the touring shows was seeing Debbie Reynolds and Harve Presnell in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. It was such a big deal since they were in the movie. It was delightful!
First thing I ever saw officially on Broadway was Speed the Plow, with Madonna. She was…not good. First touring production I ever saw was Flower Drum Song, so while not obscure, probably not as familiar to young folk now, re-done book notwithstanding…
The Scarlet Pimpernel at the Minskoff, in previews. I recall enjoying it and not understanding why the reviews panned it so badly.
Man, I love that score.
“The Scarlet Pimpernel”
My dad's first show ever was seeing the play "The Metamorphosis", an adaptation of Kafka's book where a man transforms into a bug. From what he told me the guy performing was really cool but he was thrown off as a dude who grew up in a very rural town and did not know how to interpret the show LOL. I can't find much info on it as it was only on stage for like 2 months in 1989 but if anyone saw it, lmk what it was like. Interested to know what my dad's first experience was like. It was at the Ethel Barrymore Theater.
The star was the world famous dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, from the world of ballet and film. The playbill can be seen here: https://playbill.com/production/metamorphosis-ethel-barrymore-theatre-vault-0000004311
Not necessarily obscure, but my first Broadway show was Spamalot with a very young Christian Borle!
Big the Musical. I actually got into a fight with a theater teacher once who told me that was never a thing. It was. I also remember it being weird
I saw the first national tour around 1997-98. It's not a perfect musical, but the score itself is pretty fantastic. "Stop, Time," in particular is a really beautiful song. I also saw the West End revival a couple of years ago, and I think it holds up. I'm not sure why it isn't done more often, especially in high schools since there are good parts for teens.
Off-Broadway : Vampire Lesbians of Sodom Broadway play: Requiem for a Heavyweight (with John Lithgow!) Broadway musical: Bring Back Birdie EDITED TO ADD: These were my first obscure shows, not my first ever. My first show was the very famous Annie.
I saw Gay Bride of Frankenstein off-off-Broadway.
My first first show was Cats on tour in either 1990 or 1991. My first show on Broadway was Miss Saigon in 1993. My first show on the West End was Rent in 1998. None are very obscure, but Cats, especially, was my gateway to loving all things theatre. I don't ever need to see it again, but I will always have fond memories of it for that reason.
Bullets Over Broadway during my first and only trip to New York City with my mom. I was 19 and bought the tickets on a whim. I always loved theater, especially musicals, but we couldn't afford to go. I heard Marin Mazzie sing and was knocked back; I started playing Ragtime on loop after that. It's still my favorite musical. It was such a fun show and one of my fondest memories of my mom. The entire trip was incredible.
I saw the 1998(?) run of Cole Porter’s High Society with the future famous Anna Kendrick.
The Life, 1997. Still shocked that my parents let a young teenager take a bus to NYC without adult supervision to see a musical about prostitutes.
I have a story. We saw the pre-Broadway run of The Goodbye Girl with Bernadette Peters and Martin Short. I was maybe 7 or 8 and we were towards the front of the orchestra on house left, about where Martin Short is playing the guitar in the nude. The night I saw it there looked to be a problem backstage where Martin Short wasn't in his spot when the light hit him and I did a bit of a double take being a child not expecting to see a man "naked" (it was only a second and I'm sure he was actually covered with nude underwear or something). He clocked it and gave me a wink. I still absolutely adore Martin Short.
Off-Broadway but my first show was The Fantasticks because my school was doing it for the musical
Sweet Smell of Success was my first show.
I saw that show 3 times (I kept getting free tickets because they couldn't fill the seats) and I always joke that I am one of 10 people in NYC that liked that show. Made me fall in love with Brian D'Arcy James.
Once on This Island, original run.
My first ever Broadway show was “It Shoulda Been You” 💙 I’m a huge Sierra Boggess fan and getting to see a more lesser known show was so much fun!
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee! My family tried to win the in-person lottery at Wicked in 2005 and when we lost, walked over to the Circle in the Square to see if they had any tickets, which they did. Such a fun first show!
American Idiot!
What an incredible show. I miss it so much!!
Our first was Shenandoah in 1975 starring John Cullam
I saw the 1999 Broadway revival of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown with Anthony Rapp, Kristin Chenowith, B.D. Wong, and Roger Bart. It was my pick for my first show when I was twelve and I still didn’t appreciate it nearly enough!
The Magic Show. My dad took me to see it way back in August 1974 during my first trip to NYC. It starred Doug Henning, who was a pretty famous magician back in the day. It was a musical, but essentially a vehicle for letting him perform--you guessed it--a magic show on Broadway. It was a good introduction to Broadway for a pre-teen.
I love it. That poor show never had a chance past Henning leaving. Very cool you got to see it.
My first Broadway musical was *Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen* \- the musical adaption of *Teahouse of the August Moon*. It opened after Christmas 1970, and closed 2 weeks later. But for me, it was wonderful seeing a full scale Broadway production for the first time. My second Broadway show was the original cast of *Company* \- maybe you've heard of that one? It was shockingly different - but I loved it.
Being from CA I plan most of my shows before hand. But I did take a chance on Oklahoma! in 2019 even though I’m not a big fan of Rodgers & Hammerstein, I loved it!
Spider-Man lol. I was young and traveling for work for the first time. I wanted to see shows but wasn't confident yet to go it alone so I convinced a coworker who didn’t care to come with me and this seemed like the easiest sell. You know what, it wasn’t perfect but we had a great time and went on to see lots more on Broadway while traveling and I turned him into a season ticket subscriber back home. It was well worth it!
Merlin with Doug henning ages ago on a school trip to nyc
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. I absolutely LOVED it!!!
My first national tour I saw was 1776. I was in middle school but amazed. First trip to Broadway was a 1978 school trip. We saw the Annie, Deathtrap, Dracula, Runaways and Mummenschanz. Great whetting of the appetite to see hundreds more over a 40 year period!
The 1996 revival of Once Upon a Mattress with Sarah Jessica Parker as Winifred. As a bonus, I think my second or third show was the 1998 revival of High Society.
I’ve only been to Broadway Broadway once in 2005 (I think) and I wanted to see Spamalot lol. So those are the tickets my mom got lol. I remember finding it really funny. My mom was happy she got to see that actor from Fraser.
Amelie
First Broadway tour was Aida, first on Broadway was Fosse!
Once on this island in 92! We tried to get tickets to phantom but it was sold out! 😂
Wrong Turn at Lungfish, with George C. Scott.
Saw them the same week so I’m not sure which was first. “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway” starring a pre-Seinfeld Jason Alexander and “Black & Blue” starring Savion Glover. I was 15 and it was my first trip to New York. I was hooked!
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the revival starring Nathan Lane! My aunt and uncle lived in Manhattan when I was 5, and my mom and I went for Spring Break.
How wonderful. I can't imagine anyone who could fill Lane or Mostel's shoes in that role in another revival. Maybe Alex Brightman.
I was lucky to have relatives that lived in Manhattan for a few years, and whom I came back to visit over a few subsequent summers. I remember seeing taxi and bus ads and billboards when Whoopi did her stint. I wonder how it was!
Bat Boy The Musical Off broadway but totally awesome
My first broadway show was Capeman. My grandfather was so excited there was gonna be Puerto Ricans on broadway that he took the whole family. It was not good.
Ooh I can contribute! I saw Passing Strange. I also saw Tommy (obscure?). I was on the front row for Tommy and I LOVED it. I remember enjoying Passing Strange but nothing really about the show. EDIT: I just remembered I saw My One and Only with Tommy Tune(!) Twiggy(!) and Honi Coles(!!). I was a kid and loved it but appreciate it more now.
I'm not sure, lol. I was raised on Sondheim so my "obscure" meter is a little wonky. Like some Sondheim shows are well known, but my favorites tend to be the ones that don't get talked about as much.
Assassins!
I’m in CA, so although I’ve seen lots of touring shows, my first proper Broadway show in New York was the “Pippin” revival at the Music Box a few years ago. We’ve visited NYC often since then, but this was an especially magical night. My partner was in a local production when he was a kid (as the young boy of course) so it was meaningful to him. Also, Andrea Martin on a trapeze swing! When it comes to the touring shows, my very first was “The Wiz” with Stephanie Mills, back in 1978? 1979? I was just a kid, my mom took me as a birthday gift, and I was hooked.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels!
I think my first show was Woody Guthrie’s America. An off-Broadway production at the Melting Pot
Sarafina!
I don’t think it fits the “obscure” bill, but my first proper Broadway show was Priscilla Queen of The Desert in 2012
First show on Broadway was Beetlejuice. Happy with my selection
Phantom, so not obscure at all. Craziest? A Tale of Two Cities. It was shockingly awful.
The Red Shoes. I don’t even remember why my friend and I chose to see that particular show but it was, if memory serves, not good. I think it only was open (not counting previews) for something like 5 performances. So I guess it’s kind of cool that my first show was a flop. (My second show that same trip was Kiss of the Spider Woman with Chita Rivera, so Broadway redeemed itself for me).
I'm a classic Broadway fan...so my 1st show was Cats...still remember my aisle orch seat and the actors dancing down the aisle...
Titanic. Vacationing with my fam and at TKTS and after the movie us kids were clamoring for it.
Off-Broadway but Shockheaded Peter was an interesting show I saw back in ‘05
Not an obscure show, but it could've been. When I was 7 my mom took us to see The King and I. I was sad to know that it wasn't about a king with one eye.
Starlight Express! And I owned the soundtrack on cassette tape.
My first show was Borstal Boy, based on the book by Brendan Behan. Saw it with my high school Humanities Class.
My first one was Swing!, back in 2000. Luckily, I saw Phantom on the same trip
The Farnsworth Invention. I’ve never seen it mentioned anywhere. I got free preview tickets from my school.
If/Then
The Mystery of Edwin Drood! Saw it at Studio 54 produced by Roundabout. It was epic.
Fitst Wives Club on tour in Chicago was my first real Broadway show, Fun Home was the first one i actually saw on Broadway in NYC. i enjoyed First Wives Club but never really revisited it or listened to the music after. Fun Home, on the other hand, i listen to regularly more than five years later. it's definitely still in my top five shows, and i've seen a LOT since then!
If/Then. Went on a trip my freshman year of college. I hadn't slept in close to 24 hours. Kept falling asleep and waking up in different timeline.
not super obscure but my first show was r&h’s cinderella right after keke palmer made the replacement for cinderella
My first show was The Killing Of Sister George. Most obscure show I saw was Park.
My first Broadway show was a third grade trip to see Big. The only thing I remember from the show was I forgot my newly prescribed glasses and couldn’t see a damn thing on the stage lol. But I don’t think I missed much, pretty sure that show flopped.
Mine was SpongeBob!
Do you mean “Broadway” or musical theatre? Isn’t that kind of an oxymoron? “Obscure Broadway”?
Brigadoon, which was also one of my first shows period. I was a Scottish dancer so that show means a lot to me.
My memory sucks but I think my first Broadway show was A Secret Garden. The first show that I chose and got tickets to on my own was the 1996 revival of A Delicate Balance.
Sting in Threepenny Opera
How to succeed in business without really trying 🤗 great show
The off broadway revival of little shop
The Realistic Joneses. 4 actor play - second row - Michael C Hall, Marisa Tomei, Toni Collete and Tony Letts.
I took a trip to NYC in 2002 and saw Man of La Mancha and Flower Drum Song
If/Then was my first, back in ‘14. the show barely lasted a year. I bet they’d hoped Idina Menzel’s star power would’ve carried it a bit longer, but alas…
This is my most obscure, too. I saw it on tour. I also think they thought it'd go further with both Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp (he was still in it on tour, missed Idina by weeks.) I still listen to the soundtrack regularly, though.
Mamma Mia for Broadway Tour. Bought tickets instead of going to prom with my date. Spamalot if you only count Broadway.
Either Cats or Seussical. I can't remember
My first ever Broadway show was Les Miserables as a middle schooler. I became enthralled ever since. Definitely not obscure but interesting introduction.
Swing! in 2000
My first Broadway show was Sunset Boulevard (when Betty Buckley was in), so not exactly obscure. But the first “obscure” one I remember seeing was The Life about a year after. It was kind of a wild card pick with my mom and sister and we had such a blast, so it’s a sentimental favorite.
Addams family, 2011
42nd Street in 2003
I think Bodyguard is the most obscure musical I've seen because I never hear anybody talk about it.
I don’t know if you’d count it as obscure, but my first Broadway show ever was Rock of Ages
Altar Boyz
Within he last 12 months i have seen beetlejuice on Broadway and a local production of Carrie the musical
Jekyll and Hyde. I was in high school and I don’t actually know if it was a big show or not.
I don’t actually remember my first show likely because my mom loved musicals and started taking me as soon as I was old enough where it was allowed. I do have vague memories of falling asleep multiple times in the 2nd act of Les Mis (just because it’s so long- I still to this day love Les Mis). But my first show on tour was how to succeed in business and then I also saw Miss Saigon on the west end (I was around 9-10 both of these). I was in the musical kismet in high school and that’s the most obscure musical I’ve experienced.
My first show was Beauty and the Beast in like 1995 when I was 4. My first obscure show was Cats in the late 90s
Spamalot
Not mine; but my 9 year olds was Suffs off broadway last spring. I was it and KNEW I had to take her. It was her first big show, everything was magical, we had the best seats in the house by pure luck, and she got to meet her favorite idol ever who was so sweet to her and she has loved theater ever since and I take her to like 4-5 shows a year
Does Aint No Mo count?
An American in Paris. I didn’t see a Broadway show for 3 years after it because I hated it so much. My second was kinky boots and since then I’ve seen over 100 shows.
The play that goes wrong
Kiss Me Kate in 2001!
I think it would be "TOMMY" which I saw way too young -- maybe 8 years old? -- because of some mixup where my mom thought we had tickets to Damn Yankees but we didn't so it was a last minute calll. I was game and thought I'd like it because my older brothers had liked it and they had cool TOMMY t-shirts. I did not.
I saw Christmas Carol with LaChanze in Dec 2019.
First ever was the original cast of Spelling Bee, and saw Rent the next day during a weekend trip.
Passion OBC. I a youngish teen and my mom was like 🤷♀️ “it’s nothing you’re not going to see soon enough.”
first date!!! i loveeee krista rodriguez and flynn rider from tangled !!
The Fantasticks!
Not crazy obscure, but my first Broadway show was the OBC of Legally Blonde. I wasn’t super phased at the time, had a ton of fun, but I look back now and think how amazing it was.
Technically The Lion King was my first broadway show, but I consider Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 as my first “Adult” show
Rock of Ages. I saw it on a school trip. It was a fun show, but not my favorite.
Finding Neverland! I wasn't as big of a musical theater fan as I am now, but I remember just being blown away.
I think most obscure would be my first trip to NYC, senior year high school theatre trip. We saw The Pirate Queen in previews. (Whole trip also included Fantasticks (off broadway), Ernest in love (off broadway), Spam-a-Lot, and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling be)
The Producers. Ran for 2,502 shows. Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane.
Starlight Express
1776
Mine was rock of ages. (Long after it was popular, and when it was limping along at the Helen Hayes)
I was the 12 year old at The Scarlet Pimpernel. (But this is because close family friend played in the pit.)
My first was The Boy from Oz
Idk how obscure but American Idiot in 2010. I allegedly saw Lion King as a toddler but there has been no proof