Bitten By The Love Bug: The Broadway Love Bug

I was about 10 or 11 years old when I saw my first Broadway show. My mom and aunt took my brother, cousins and I into the city for the day. Us kids thought we were so cool; it was our first train ride ever. Riding the train we thought we were all that and a bag of chips. We finally reached our destination: New York Penn Station. We got off the train and started trying to navigate through the crowded, smelly train station. (Riding the train didn't seem so glamorous anymore) We finally made our way out of the train station and were standing on 34th and 8th. It was a gorgeous Spring day; perfect weather for walking around the city.

We didn't have any specific plans for the day. My mom and aunt were just going to wing it and try to have a great day. They finally decided that since we were in the city, we should go see a play. Needless to say, my brother, cousin's and I weren't too thrilled about this decision. What kid wants to spend a beautiful day inside? And in a play no less! They decided that we were going to see The Sound of Music. Cue the dreadful music. All at once you heard moaning, whining and complaining. Of all the plays to see, that was probably the last play we'd ever think of going to see. So they dragged us to the TKTS booth in Times Square. It was the quickest and cheapest way to get tickets for the same day of the show. God must have been on our side that day, because when we got there there were no more tickets! Thank the Lord! Needless to say, we were super excited we didn't have to go see that play. But they still thought we should see something, so the next best thing was Cats.

Cats was playing at the Winter Garden Theatre. (Located between 50th and 51st street; now currently showing Mama Mia!) Cats had been on Broadway for years and my mom and aunt figured it would be more entertaining for us. So they bought 6 tickets and off we went. We got into the theatre, found our seats, and waited for the lights to dim. By this point, I personally was getting really excited to see what this was all about. I mean, I knew it was a show about people dressed up as cats and singing, but that was the extent of it. All of a sudden the lights went down and cats started popping out behind people! They were hidden in the audience and were interacting with everyone. I thought that was the coolest thing. So for the next few hours I sat in the theatre in amazement. When it was finished the lights came up and everyone on stage came and took a bow. From that moment on, I was hooked. All it takes is just one show to get you hooked. Sometimes I wonder if we had gone to see Sound of Music if I would have felt the same way. Regardless, from that day forward I became a lover of Broadway.

Follow me on Twitter: @AllThingsBway