Broadway on BROADWAY

I am not a big fan of New York City. What's to like? New York is polluted, crime-filled, loud, congested, and extremely expensive. It comes to no surprise then, that when the name of this metropolis is mentioned in conversation, I cringe. People say to me, "Steve, you live in New York. Don't you just love it? You have the world at your fingertips -- restaurants, museums, theater." "No," I answer, "I absolutely hate it." I then proceed to list off the aforementioned negative attributes of this so-called "capital of the world." "Sure I can go to a museum, if I can make it out of my dorm building without getting shot. Sure I can go to a restaurant, but who wants to risk being poisoned?. Yeah, there's theater, but who can afford the price of a ticket?" Basically, I tell people that New York is a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live here.

Unfortunately, I do live here. Fortunately, I learned to accept my tragic fate. Moreover, I figured that as long as I'm here, I might as well take advantage of the purported "world at my fingertips." And so, I journeyed forth to see numerous Broadway shows. I then went hungry for two months (and still put on weight...go figure). Dejected and depressed, I again regressed into my I-hate-New-York-self and, for months, stayed away from my one true love -- the theater. It was then that, since I had no money and was too afraid to leave my dorm, I was sitting in my room, flipping through The Guide to the Perplexed, and noticed an entire section all about ways to get the most out of Broadway for the least amount of money. This moment restored me, and again I was the happy theater-guy everybody knows and loves.

So there I was, skipping my bio-for-poets class, standing in line at TKTS. I looked up and noticed a banner that read "Broadway on Broadway". I asked the lady at the TKTS booth what exactly "Broadway on Broadway" was. She told me, "It's a free concert featuring songs from the this season's Broadway musicals. It's going on this Sunday in the middle of Times Square." So I went.

"Broadway on Broadway" was more than a free concert in the middle of Times Square -- it was amazing. Fifty thousand people showed up for the event (okay, so maybe New York being congested is not such a bad thing). Since not everybody would be able to have a clear view of the stage, the event was broadcast live on the NBC Astrovision by Panasonic. The concert began with the overture from Girl Crazy. This was done in celebration of George Gershwin's 100th birthday. Following the opening number, the audience was treated to numbers from Chicago, The Lion King, The Sound of Music, Jekyll & Hyde, Cats, Cabaret, Ragtime, Rent, Smokey Joe's Cafe, Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk, Les Misérables, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, and Titanic (to name a few). Each number was performed by the musical's cast. After the body of the show, the cast of the soon-to-be-released On The Town, previewed a number called "New York, New York." The finale had the casts of all the shows join together to sing "Give My Regards to Broadway" as confetti fell from the rooftops surrounding Times Square. Paul Gemignani then led the orchestra in "Dance at the Gym Suite" from West Side Story. This was done as a tribute to the late choreographer, Jerome Robbins, who passed away this past month.

"Broadway on Broadway" is currently in its seventh year. It is an excellent way for the poor college student to get a taste of Broadway for free. Though you now have to wait another three hundred and some odd days to see it, I still suggest you see the show. I loved it (but I still hate New York).