Theatre Development Fund – TDF: It's been a year of celebrations at TDF: Our not-for-profit organization turned 50, our Times Square TKTS Booth turned 45 and October 16 is the 10th anniversary of our iconic "red steps." (They don't look a day over nine.) To mark these milestones, we asked the most devoted theatre lovers in town, our TDF Stages readers, to share their favorite TKTS moments and they did not disappoint. We've compiled 10 amazing memories that will spark nostalgia or envy, depending on which legendary productions you were lucky (or old) enough to have seen. A few poignant recollections may even make you teary-eyed and serve as potent reminders that sometimes, seeing a show can be a life-changing experience.
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This article contains quotes from people recounting some of their favorite moments involving the theater. What I really appreciated was the diversity of accounts, in terms of the kinds of people that were speaking. I think theater is unique in the sense that it attracts everyone no matter what; I think I have met only one person who says that they do not enjoy theater. For the most part, everyone I know loves theater, even if they rarely see shows and do not work in that area. For many people, theater is an escape but it does not only have to be that; theater can also connect with people’s lives in a way where they can sort out how they feel about something and it can teach them how to deal with certain things. The ability of one show to mean so many different things to so many different people is something that always has inspired me and I hope it continues to inspire everyone.
Theatre touches everyone who becomes part of it, audience member, designer, performer, musician, and technician alike. We all appreciate theatre for our own reasons, and this diversity in reasoning is what makes us such a strong community. What we love about theatre is what we want to bring to the table. We want to share our love for this craft with others, and invite them to love it too. The memories described in this article are so touching and personal, and I have some of my own, too. On my 13th birthday, I stood in the TKTS line for two hours with my mom for tickets to Phantom of the Opera: a production I had been watching videos and movies of since I was seven. Those tickets and that show solidified my bond with theatre and the details within it. Everyone remembers different things about their experiences with theatre (and the famous TKTS line), but each story has some personal significance significance that draws them to the craft.
Theater is a wonderful thing to be a part of either as an artist or as an audience member. It is one of the only things that I know can cause people to have different experiences while working on or watching the same show/production. As artists, we bring different parts of us into the production of a show consciously or sub-consciously which causes our ideas and experiences to merge into one beautiful piece of art that is being presented to an audience. Each audience member has a different experience with theater because each one come in with a different way/idea of experiencing the show. It is amazing how theater as an art can cut across so many people and have give out a different connection for each person. Reading this article about people favorite memories of theater is kind of a reward for the work that we as artists do. It reminds us of the importance of creating good and exceptional work.
This article was pretty much a collection of many people's favorite memories of being able to see theatre (for cheap). Theatre impacts so many people, from all walks of life, in so many different ways. A lot of time theatre is written "for the people" and then the tickets are hundreds of dollars meaning "the people" can usually not even afford a seat. Places like TKTS provide normal people the ability to afford to see theatre that can change their life. I saw my first (and only so far) Broadway show a few years ago, and at the time Matilda was one of the cheapest options, so that's what we saw. It was AMAZING and one of the reasons I began to have such a strong passion for the theatre. Every person that walks into a theatre has a different set of ideas and values in their mind before the show starts. By the end of the show, each audience member is feeling so many different emotions, that it is amazing to think about how many different ways one story can affect different people.
I’m sure this article hit home to a lot of readers and responders on the blog page. Hearing about someone’s first encounter with theater is very special conversation. Seeing how this art form can create a near milestone in someone’s life is truly spectacular. This article included quotes from spectators that had seen their first Broadway show, taken their kids to see their first show, seeing shows over and over again, it is amazing to see the impact. Being at CMU and studying to help create more experiences like this is very inspiring. I saw my first two Broadway shows at 14 while on a school trip to New York City. We saw ‘Matilda’ and ‘Phantom of the Opera’. Those are two experiences I will never forget throughout my lifetime. Thinking back on my reaction to these two shows just solidifies my desire to help create shows and experiences for anyone and everyone that has the interest of seeing it.
This article brings back so many memories. Every person reading this probably has their own TKTS or First Broadway show story and they are all heartwarming and lovely. My first broadway show was a girls trip to the city with my grandma, two youngest cousins and mom to see Mary Poppins. We still have all the pictures my mom took on her little digital camera, and you can truly see the pure joy on our faces as we took the train back to my grandma’s house once the show was over. My other favorite experience was when I went to NYC at 6 am on January 21th 2017 My plan was to meet my cousins in NYC to see School of Rock and We ended up marching for hours in the women's march adding to the 500,000 people doing the same in the city. To me, the Broadway experience is way more than a professional show, it the experience of putting on your sunday best, exploring NYC and visiting the TKTS stairs.
While I think that this is a bit of an ad for TKTS, the memories and the feelings within these stories are truly beautiful and worth hearing. As a theatre production member, I think that sometimes we get so caught up in making everything perfect, getting it done on time, satisfying the audience, the producers, the actors, etc. that we forget what we’re really here to do. We make theatre and we bring people joy, challenge their assumptions, encourage them to see new perspectives, and entertain them for about 3 hours at a time. Theatre is not all of the difficult work that goes on behind the scenes, or the name of the star in your production. Rather, what theatre should be is the effect it leaves on your audience and what they take away from it. I had a similar conversation with another Manager recently, and we discussed how when we complain about the latest frustration behind a show, or how x, y, and z isn’t going right, or the Director is being difficult, it affects the loved ones we’re complaining to. My family doesn’t see any of that happening, they only hear me complaining. And my snide comments color what they expect of a show, which is not my intention and shouldn’t be the case. Because it is where we work, sometimes it hard to remember, but necessary to do so: this is still magic to everyone else. And sometimes, it’s really nice to have a compilation of stories that help us remember when that magic touched us and how it’s carried us all this way.
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