Monday, March 31, 2008

Bloggeratti Convention

Yesterday, Dear Esther at Gratuitous Violins orchestrated a gathering of mostly like-minded theatre bloggers at Angus McIndoe's that would give any shriner's convention a run for its money. Present and accounted for were
Gratuitous Violins, Steve on Broadway, Third Row Mezzanine, Casual Heap, Everything I know I Learned from Musicals, Broadway and Me, Just Shows To Go You, Life on Thirteen, Things You'll Learn To Love About Me, Lunar Gemini, and That Sounds Cool. Did I get everybody? I think so. There was at least one significant other, the delightful heir apparent (and king of the irreverent) of Steve on Broadway (ask him about Cats!) and Broadway and Me's Theatre Going Partner Bill who is just full of the best stories (he saw Merman in her Gypsy tour!!). Well, it stopped just short of being a full blown shriner's convention - damn it, nobody wore a funny hat and unfortunately, Chita Rivera didn't show up for ballet, even though we practically willed her there as she came up in conversation quite a bit. There was much story telling, mostly irreverent, some of it nostalgic, a little bit of teaching, sharing of theories, and all kinds of acting out. Two and a half hours later, appetites sated, stories shared and promises made to meet again soon, some of us ran off to see Gypsy (shocking but not me!). A few of us went to Juno at City Center later in the evening, where lo and behold, one of my crew and quite a blogger himself, Kevin at Theatre Aficionado at Large just happened to sit next to Mondschein from Third Row Mezzanine. Providence! Kevin, Roxy, Mondschein and I deconstructed Juno and just about everything else as we continued the evening at Seppi's.

So, brava, Esther, for orchestrating and directing. I'm looking forward to many encores!

7 comments:

karigee said...

I had a lovely time meeting your friends -- thanks for letting me invite myself along...

Steve On Broadway (SOB) said...

Sarah, It was great meeting you in person, along with your friends. Looking forward to our first official joint venture in the pursuit of entertainment!

Esther said...

Awwww, thanks so much Sarah! It was fun being out with a big group of people and talking about shows we've seen and getting to know each other. Everyone's been so welcoming ever since I started my blog, even though I don't have nearly as much expertise. It's nice to know I have more theatergoing friends now, in New York and beyond!

Anonymous said...

Sarah, I'm sorry I missed you guys at Juno. I was actively looking for you, but I did meet up with Patrick Lee. We went out for dinner after at Rue 57.

Juno was great, but I loved the people watching just as much. Because it was Sunday night, a lot of the theater pros who couldn't make the other perfs were there, including Kelli O'Hara, Laura Benanti, Stephen Pasquale, and Daniel Evans.

Why don't I live in New York?!

Great to meet you!

Chris

Sarah B. Roberts said...

Chris, WHY don't you live in New York!?!? It was so great to meet you too! And damn, we were in the gallery where there are no people to watch except for smelly, cranky old people, although I did see my beloved Lois K. there!

Anonymous said...

There were smelly cranky old people in the orchestra too. One of them kept using a flashlight to read his program. And me without a sock full of manure.

BroadwayBaby said...

Thanks for letting me come along too, it was a great time!