#22: Early Theater Going

A few weeks ago I received a questionnaire from Broadway Across America, the organization that brings national touring companies of Broadway shows to our fair city. From their questions I learned, unsurprisingly, that I am in their top age category, the dreaded “65 and older.” And I learned that I am near the bottom of their income categories. Evidently I am not what they are expecting—or at least hoping for—in their audiences.

But the question that interested me most was, “At what age were you when you saw your first Broadway show, either in New York or a touring show?” I think I was 15 when we saw the touring production of 1776, and it made me start thinking about all the plays and musicals I had seen as a young person.

I believe the first show I saw was Hansel and Gretel with my mother playing the witch. The family joke was that this was typecasting. (At least I think it was a joke.) They brought her out before the show, before she had put on her makeup, so that the little kids in the audience could see that she was just an ordinary mom and not be so scared. They were still scared. I suppose I must have been about eight at the time, and I actually remember nothing of the show, just the stories that were retold in the family about it. Years later, looking at a newspaper clipping, I learned that the show was put on by the Ladies’ Auxiliary of some men’s organization. This was the mid 60s, so ladies’ auxiliaries were a big deal. The women were always identified by their husbands’ names, such as: “Mrs Charles Whatzit plays Gretel, and Mrs Frederick Whozit plays Hansel.” I can only guess that at least some of the women would have preferred to be known as more than mere appendages of their husbands.

My older sister got interested in theater in high school, and I remember going to see a production of Inherit the Wind, probably in the early 70s, in which she played the court stenographer. I remember nothing about the show except for wondering how the stenograph machine worked.

In 1970 a regional production of Hair: the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical was staged in Seattle and our family saw it while there visiting friends. Hair, of course, was famous for having the actors disrobe on stage, and I thought that my social standing at school would surely improve by my having seen actual naked ladies. It didn’t. I have to admit that Hair didn’t make a lot of sense to me. The music was fun, though—we had long since memorized the Broadway cast album—and on the drive back to Portland we kids in the back seat were singing at the top of our lungs: “Sodomy, fellatio, cunnilingus, pederasty...”. After a whispered consultation, our parents advised us that it might be best not to sing that particular song in public, as some might find it offensive. I am pretty sure that I didn’t know what any of those words meant.

Not too long after that the national tour of 1776 came through Portland and our parents took us to see it. The only thing I remember about the show is John Adams telling his wife they needed saltpeter, a word I didn’t know and which sounded funny. As we came out of the show my mother commented that this was probably the first musical in which the story is more memorable than the music. Still, we bought the cast album, although I don’t remember listening to it.

Those are the only shows I remember seeing before graduating from high school. I probably saw other plays, maybe even musicals, but I don’t recall them. But then my memory of my childhood is sketchy at best. And perhaps that is for the best.

I did perform in some productions, but that is a subject for another time.

What were the first theater productions you saw? Let me know in the comments!

Phil