Broadway Remains The Greatest Show On Earth
Nothing beats seeing actors perform live, up close and personal, without second takes or stunt doubles
Nothing quite matches the thrill of attending a Broadway show, and I’m not just saying that because I have a theater on the Great White Way “named” after me. (More on that later.) A buzz of anticipation surges through the audience as ushers escort everyone to their seats. People peruse their Playbills to see whether they recognize any of the actors from earlier stage, screen, or TV performances. With musicals, we’re entranced by the lush overture played by a live orchestra. Our hearts beat a little faster when the lights dim. A hush falls over the crowd as the curtain rises.
Unlike with movies or TV, there are no second takes or stunt doubles on Broadway. The actors perform a nightly high-wire act, embodying their characters in front of a crowd of real people, while memorizing an astounding number of lines, song lyrics, and dance steps to deliver a magical experience eight times a week.
Or course, there are those who do their best to spoil the mood, talking as if they’re in their living room, singing along (always out of tune), unwrapping candies during dramatic moments, forgetting (or selfishly refusing) to turn off their mobile phones so obnoxious ringtones won’t drown out crucial lines, oblivious to the death stares cast their way.
But for the most part people behave themselves, as together we the audience are swept away by the narrative, the acting, the drama, the music, the singing, the dancing. For a few all-too-short hours we collectively suspend our disbelief and let our imaginations run free, carrying us far away from our mundane (and often distressing) lives. At its best, live theater creates the fondest of memories that last a lifetime. It certainly has for me.
I was a relative latecomer to Broadway, taking in my first show at 19. Yet that night was so memorable it’s no wonder I was hooked for life.
I had tickets through Brooklyn College for “Equus,” the gripping psychodrama about an unstable stableboy who inexplicably blinds six horses under his care. I was drawn to the show as a Trekker because Leonard Nimoy, better known as “Mr. Spock,” had taken over the part of a psychiatrist attempting to analyze and treat the troubled teen.
The show packs quite a punch emotionally—in part due to its shocking premise and full-frontal nudity, but mostly because the horses are portrayed by actors in wire masks, while wearing metallic hooves to bolster their height and sound as the vicious crime is recreated during increasingly deranged therapy sessions. Students like me were privileged to be seated on the stage, making the action much more visceral as the story unfolded just a few feet away.
If that wasn’t enough to seal the deal and instill in me a lifelong love of Broadway, the clincher came afterwards when I went across the street for dessert at Howard Johnson’s. After settling in at the counter, Leonard Nimoy quietly slipped into the seat next to me. My companion gave me a sharp elbow to the ribs and whispered frantically, but I shushed her, insisting that Nimoy had just finished an exhausting performance and likely wanted nothing more than to be left alone with his ice cream sundae.
Yet a few minutes later, spotting our Playbills, Nimoy gently nudged me and said, “Well? Did you enjoy the show?” We went on to have a nice chat (about anything except “Star Trek” with the man who published “I Am Not Spock” just two years earlier) and had our programs autographed! (Too bad this was before the age of the obligatory selfies and social media post!)
Theater is designed to provide magical moments
Since that electrifying introduction to live theater, I’ve experienced so many magical moments at Broadway shows that it’s impossible to list them all in this relatively brief space. Many of them came with my darling wife, Cheryl, herself a Broadway baby who ushered at shows across the theater district for several years.
In no particular order, there was the mesmerizing opening of “The Lion King,” when director and puppet master Julie Taymor summoned a parade of simulated yet majestic jungle animals to stroll down the aisles through the audience before taking the stage to celebrate Simba’s birth, during an exhilarating rendition of “The Circle of Life.” On the other extreme of animal antics, there was the overwhelming sight of King Kong coming alive in an otherwise underwhelming musical, yet worth the price of admission to hear gasps in the audience as Kong extended his enormous paw over the first few rows. I was also wowed at the Wintergarden Theater when those in the first eight rows were relocated to make room for a boxing ring to stage the epic clash between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed in the musical version of Sylvester Stallone’s classic film.
Going airborne always makes for great live theater. I stared upward with my mouth wide open in awe as Cathy Rigby and a few child actors soared over the stage and audience while singing, “I’m Flying,” in “Peter Pan.” Meanwhile, despite “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark” being Broadway’s greatest financial flop, I’ll never forget having one of the show’s many death-defying Spider-Men land right in front of me on the mezzanine’s ledge. I felt the same jolt of adrenaline as gusts of air blew over me when a helicopter lifted off from the roof of the U.S. Embassy in “Miss Saigon.” And I cheered Marty McFly and Doc Brown as they flew upside down in their DeLorean to close the highly entertaining “Back To The Future: The Musical.”
But my most precious memory came as the Editor in Chief of National Underwriter, when I attended a presentation by the producers of “Phantom of the Opera” to convince skeptical insurers to cover the show’s one-ton chandelier, which “dropped” from the theater’s ceiling each night to close Act One. About 50 insurance brokers and underwriters gathered at the Majestic Theater while “Phantom” was in rehearsals, watching technicians patiently demonstrate the many safety precautions in place to assure no one in the audience or cast was ever at risk.
In the middle of the demo, we heard the melodious tones of a tenor warming up offstage, then broke into applause as Broadway’s original Phantom, Michael Crawford, strolled into the spotlight, wearing a gold, satin robe and donning his signature mask to regale us with an a cappella rendition of “The Music of the Night.”
This dramatic display was brilliantly staged by Robert Boyar, the only insurance broker to have a caricature hanging on the hallowed walls of Sardi’s. Bob and Margery (his elegant wife and business partner) were mainstays on Broadway for over 50 years, pioneering show cancellation coverage and non-appearance policies if stars couldn’t perform. Bob was a great showman in his own right, insisting insurers were obviously big fans of Broadway because the theater’s credo—“The show must go on!”—is music to the ears of claims managers (while conceding that workers’ compensation carriers cringe every time one actor urges another to “break a leg”).
Broadway is driven by star power
Part of the delight of Broadway is seeing actors perform in the flesh as living, breathing beings, rather than two-dimensional projections off a movie, TV, or mobile device screen. The feeling is mutual, since one reason so many movie and TV stars gravitate to the Great White Way, and why those who make their mark on stage often return to Broadway in between screen gigs, is to engage with an audience face to face in real time. Actors are also eager to perform live without a net to validate their credentials as the best at their craft.
Among the movie stars I’ve seen “check the Broadway box” are Tom Hanks (in “Lucky Guy”), Julia Roberts (“Three Days of Rain”), Daniel Craig (“Steady Rain”), and Paul Newman (in “Our Town,” in which he strolled on stage before the curtain went up to warn the audience that although he was 78 years old, “I’m still young enough to come down there and kick the butt of anyone whose phone goes off while we’re up here working,” prompting a standing ovation).
Among the greatest performances I’ve seen in dramas were Denzel Washington and Audra McDonald (in separate productions of “A Raisin In The Sun”), Al Pacino (“The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel” and “The Merchant of Venice), Marisa Tomei and Pacino together (in a sexy yet bizarre “Salome”), Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy (“Inherit The Wind”), Dennehy again as Willy Loman (in “Death Of A Salesman”), as well as Daniel Radcliffe (proving he’s more than merely Harry Potter in a revival of “Equus”).
But the Broadway shows I enjoy most are musicals. My favorite performances include the hilarious combo of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in “The Producers,” as well as Hugh Jackman’s charismatic tour de force in “The Boy From Oz.” Other standouts were Tony winner Billy Porter as sassy Lola in “Kinky Boots,” the gravelly voiced Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnblad in “Hairspray,” Tyne Daly as Mama Rose in “Gypsy,” Bebe Neuwirth in both “Chicago” and “Damn Yankees,” Jeremy Jordan (“Newsies”), tap-dancing sensation Savion Glover (in “Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk”), as well as both Fantasia and Cynthia Erivo (starring in separate but equally stellar Broadway stagings of “The Color Purple”).
I’ll also never forget sitting a few rows from the stage to witness a true comic genius, Jerry Lewis, chew the scenery playing the Devil in “Damn Yankees,” or Andrea Martin at age 66 singing “No Time At All” while hanging upside down from a trapeze in “Pippin.”
More recently, we caught up with Broadway’s last Lola in “Kinky Boots,” J. Harrison Ghee, at the Paper Mill Playhouse, a Tony-winning regional theater in Millburn, N.J., where he co-starred with Harry Connick Jr. in a promising musical version of “The Sting.” We told Ghee he would soon be a big star—and sure enough, he won the Tony for his bravura performance in the reimagined musical, “Some Like It Hot.” I also cheered Lea Michele for saving the failing revival of “Funny Girl” and fulfilling her lifelong dream by taking over as Fanny Brice in a case of life imitating art (since Michele’s TV character on “Glee” had already fictionally followed in the footsteps of her hero, Barbra Streisand, in the show).
It was also incredibly chic attending the Tony Awards (twice!) at Radio City Music Hall, hosted by Broadway’s greatest showman, Hugh Jackman. A decade ago, we saw the iconic Carole King perform live along with her stage doppelganger, Tony winner Jesse Mueller, in celebration of my favorite catalogue musical, “Beautiful” (which blew me away for the third time at Paper Mill earlier this month).
Stagedoor Sammy enjoyed some close encounters
Another major benefit of Broadway compared to movies and TV is not just the opportunity to see actors work live, but to have a chance to meet your favorites at the stage door or in more unlikely locations. Some are more fan-friendly than others, but three stand out for being among the most open to personal contact and generous with their time.
First and foremost is Hugh Jackman, a triple threat who captivates audiences of all ages and practically guarantees producers a sold-out hit. Hugh has developed a huge following among theatergoers well beyond his fame and fortune as Wolverine in the X-Men movies. In the past 20 years, I have never seen him have a bad day as he unfailingly treats his legion of fans (known as “Ozalots,” meaning those who saw him a lot in “Boy From Oz”!) with respect, dignity, and genuine affection.
Cheryl and I have encountered Hugh dozens of times across the nation and halfway around the world after performances of “The Boy From Oz,” “Steady Rain,” “The River,” his one-man Broadway show, as well as his most recent Broadway triumph in “Music Man.” He is the epitome of graciousness with fans, enthusiastically signing autographs, posing for pictures, and conversing in more than small talk. He’s also a mensch in a more important sense, raising millions for Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS whenever he’s on Broadway by auctioning off his costumes and props.
Our most memorable meet and greet with Hugh came while attending a charity dinner in his honor. I not only took a terrific picture of Hugh with Cheryl, but also met his co-star from “Les Misérables,” the adorable Jersey girl, Paper Mill trained, and Oscar-winning Anne Hathaway. We thanked her for praising our godson, Jared Gilman, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly for his starring role in “Moonrise Kingdom,” then took a terrific picture together with my mouth agape! Hugh was also very kind to his fellow actor, Jared, during several stage door encounters with us.
Corbin Bleu is a close second in terms of fan engagement. After making his mark in Disney TV’s “High School Musical” productions, he has dazzled us with his quick feet, vocal power, and acting skills on stage in “Godspell,” “Holiday Inn,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” and “Kiss Me Kate” (in which he danced like crazy, including while upside down on a fire escape). Corbin is always a doll at the stage door, patiently signing Playbills, taking pictures, and chatting amiably. He projects joy on stage and off.
Last but not least is Scott Bakula, who we recently saw at an Off-Broadway show called, “The Connector,” playing a grizzled editor of an investigative magazine hoodwinked by a clever writer who makes up stories. We first saw Scott in Greenwich Village back in 1985 at the tiny Minetta Lane Theater, co-starring in “Three Guys Naked From the Waist Down,” about a trio of standup comics. Since then, we’ve loved him on TV in “Quantum Leap,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” “Men Of A Certain Age,” and “NCIS: New Orleans,” so naturally we leaped at the chance to see him back on stage in a musical. Besides retaining his boyish charm and great singing voice, he is a prince with fans, reminiscing with us about “Three Guys” and “Elsa and Fred,” a senior romcom he shot in 2014 with godson Jared.
Other memorable meets and greets included Amanda Seyfried after her stage debut in the Off-Broadway romantic comedy, "The Way We Get By," in which she agreed to pose for a picture with me if I would mind her dog while she signed autographs. After “Spamalot,” David Hyde Pierce gave us a personalized autograph for his biggest fan, a friend of ours in Cairo, when we told him about how we were videotaping episodes of “Frasier” and mailing them to her in Egypt. In another “Frasier” moment, my friend Milton and I met Kelsey Grammer after a performance of “MacBeth,” insisting we thought he was terrific despite vicious reviews—to which he raised his bottle of water and shouted out a toast, “To hell with the critics!”
Godson Jared helped arrange a private audience with Nathan Lane after his moving performance in “The Nance,” which captures the raucous world of burlesque and the challenges facing gay men hiding in plain sight playing caricatures of themselves on stage for cheap laughs. Jared told Nathan that he had seen him earlier as Gomez in “The Addams Family” on Broadway. “I’m so very sorry,” Nathan frowned, genuinely yet humorously apologetic about perhaps his only poorly reviewed show. I also had a chance that day to talk about my mother’s career in vaudeville with Cady Huffman, Nathan’s co-star in both “The Nance” and “The Producers.”
And while I wasn’t fortunate enough to catch Lin-Manuel Miranda in a matinee of “Hamilton,” when I ran into him on line for the men’s room at “Allegiance” I told him his brilliant production was a worthy sequel to “1776” (another of my favorite musicals), as well as one of the most innovative and exciting shows I’d ever seen on stage. I also praised the understudy I saw in the title role, Javier Munoz. “He’s not my understudy!” Miranda insisted, with some irritation. “He’s my partner on the role. We share it.” I stood corrected, yet after finally seeing Miranda in the part years later in a filmed version of the stage show, I must say I found Munoz to be not only Miranda’s equal as an actor, but actually a far better singer!
Last but not least, I got a laugh out of Jonny Lee Miller of TV’s “Elementary” at the stage door after his stellar work in “Ink,” playing an editor locking horns with Rupert Murdoch at the launch of his UK journalism empire. I told Jonny how honored I was to see him perform at “my” theater, the Samuel J. Friedman, which opened as the Biltmore in 1925 but had since been renamed (not actually for yours truly, I explained, but for the Samuel J. Friedman who was “a pioneer publicist bringing the excitement of the theater to the general public and helping communicate the importance of Broadway as a valued American institution”). A generous contribution by my namesake’s children to the Biltmore’s renovation sealed the deal.
Still, it never gets old strolling down West 47th Street and seeing my name up in lights on Broadway!!!
Sammy puts his money where his heart is
Besides being a devoted fan, for several years my wife and I were small-fry investors in Broadway shows, which provided a fascinating look behind the scenes and educated us about the business of show—including detailed looks at budgets, weekly accounting statements, and advertising plans. We hitched our wagon to trailblazing producer Ken Davenport, who opened Broadway investing to average people by crowdsourcing his Circle In The Square revival of “Godspell” (where we first met Corbin Bleu).
Our most successful investment was in Broadway’s “Kinky Boots,” which won multiple Tony Awards and played for six years. We reinvested in a U.S. touring company as well as productions in Toronto, Sydney, and London. We were attracted not only to the brilliant book by Harvey Fierstein and beautiful score of Cindy Lauper, but by its inspiring, joyful message of tolerance and acceptance, as personified by the lyric: “You can change the world if you change your mind.” It’s also one of the most flat-out fun shows I’ve ever seen, never failing to leave the audience dancing in the aisles.
We called it a day after investing in the brilliantly staged “Once On This Island” (including a live goat), which won the Tony for Best Musical Revival but failed financially. As I approached retirement age, I sadly concluded it wasn’t wise to keep putting money into Broadway shows when only 20% of them repaid their investment let alone made a profit. We were luckier than most, nearly breaking even overall on our Broadway portfolio. But the non-monetary payback was priceless—the excitement of being a small part of a Broadway show, getting an inside look at how productions are mounted and marketed, sharing in the triumphs of award season, as well as attending gala Opening Night performances as well as afterparties with the cast and creative team.
After opening this blog with a “Star Trek”-related story, I’ll finish with another one.
We’re most proud of our investment in “Allegiance,” the largely forgotten true story of how Japanese-Americans were summarily rounded up and forced into internment camps after Pearl Harbor was bombed, for no other reason than their ethnicity. Most lost their homes and businesses yet were neither recognized nor compensated in any way until decades later. Some went to jail for refusing to sign a loyalty oath to a country that was treating them like criminals without charge or trial, but many others volunteered for the military and served with distinction—including too many who sacrificed their lives to defend our flawed nation.
This heart-wrenching yet inspiring and entertaining musical was conceived by George Takei—Star Trek’s “Mr. Sulu”—who also starred in the show, based on his personal experience in the camps. “Allegiance” closed way too early, likely because most Americans don’t want to be reminded of this shameful episode, but at least it was filmed for posterity and is available on Broadway HD. We’re happy to have helped George bring this important story to the stage and told him so when we met him and his charming spouse, Brad, after a performance.
The future remains bright for Broadway
Digital media may have largely eliminated print newspapers and magazines from any significant place in our culture. Streaming may be drawing viewers away from the communal delight of seeing a film on a big screen in a movie theater with lots of people. Kindles and audio services may be replacing the comfort of holding a real book in your hands and the pride of displaying your favorites on shelves in your private library. Artificial intelligence may one day replace actors entirely with a whole new genre of non-human entertainment.
But no one will ever be able to replicate let alone replace the personal engagement and lifelong memories of sitting in a Broadway theater or its equivalent, where actors go to be free of the tyranny of the camera and isolation of the set, and where audiences gather to experience drama, comedy, and musicals in real time, performed by real people.
This ultimate show of shows will ALWAYS go on!
Cue “On Broadway,” and note the pictures below:
From top to bottom: In front of “my” theater, with my wife Cheryl on opening night of “Kinky Boots,” at The Tony Awards, first picture with Hugh Jackman, with Hugh at a charity benefit, with Anne Hathaway at the same benefit, with Scott Bakula (and friends Leslie and Rick Gilman), George Takei, Billy Porter, Amanda Seyfried, Annaleigh Ashford, J. Harrison Ghee, Savion Glover, Andrea Martin, and Nathan Lane.
I will never forget being introduced to Hugh Jackman (3 times!) by you. There is no other human experience like live theater. Great post Broadway Sammy Rose!
Great post. Are you also a fan of Off- and Off Off Broadway? There you sometimes see future stars, as I once did. It was a one person play at Circle in The Square when it was on Bleeker Street, called "Eh", starring Dustin Hoffman before he had his big breakthrough in The Graduate. All I remember besides that "I discovered" him is that I enjoyed the show.
I saw The Fantastics in the itsy bitsy theater where it played for decades. That was special.
I also sat on the stage when I saw Equus. Yes, it was very memorable.
Thanks for sharing your stories and those photographs.