Tag: Musical Theater

What Was Your First Broadway Show?

JoAnne Tucker / / Musical Theater, Personal Life

I am a regular listener to Sirius, Channel 72, playing Broadway music, and while I have never recorded and sent in an answer to this question that they regularly ask, I often smile when I think of my first experience.  I was about five years old and my grandmother took me to see Peter Pan with Veronica Lake.  When I recently mentioned that to Murray, he joyfully shared that was also the first Broadway show he saw.  We both remember sitting in very good seats at the Old Nixon Theater in Pittsburgh when the production toured back in the late 40’s.  It was a glorious experience for me and started my love of live theater.  Of course, it was not the musical we are all familiar with but rather the original drama of 1904, written by J.M. Barrie.

Veronica Lake in Peter Pan.  Found on the Internet.
Photographer unknown.

In 1954 the musical version of Peter Pan premiered on Broadway with Mary Martin and Cyril Richards, featuring the wonderful music of Mark Charlap with some additional music by Jules Styne.  Lyrics were by Carolyn Leigh with additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.  And of course there was the wonderful direction and choreography of Jerome Robbins.  The television audience was first introduced to Mary Martin and Cyril Richards recreating their roles in 1955 on NBC and again in 1956, live in color.  The 1955 TV program had the largest TV audience ever, with 65 million viewers. 

In 1960 they videotaped a slightly longer version in color and this was rebroadcast often, first by NBC and then by the Disney Channel.  I saw the TV version many times and at some point, probably in the 80’s, we videotaped it.  When our first grandchild, Jessica, was about 2 we introduced her to the taped version of Peter Pan and it was one of her favorites when she came to visit.

Mary Martin as Peter Pan. Photograph found on the Internet.
Photographer unknown.

Then in 1999 when the production with Cathy Rigby was playing on Broadway, three generations went together. Jessica, her Aunt Julie, and I (Grandma) were caught up in the magic created on Broadway.  Since Aunt Julie (our daughter) is a casting director we had perfect seats and she had arranged a backstage tour for us.

The Broadway cast was used to children coming backstage and had designed a perfect way to introduce the new theatergoers to the magic of Broadway.  Jessica was given a small cup with fairy dust in it and cautioned in its use.  We then met the actor who had played Captain Hook.  When Jessica took a step away from him, he reassured her that in real life he was really a very nice person.  I am sure that I had as much fun as Jessica. 

Many times since then Jessica has attended Broadway shows and the last show that we attended together, along with her Mom and Aunt Julie was Finding Neverland with Matthew Morrison.  When I knew we would be in New York City at the same time, I asked what Broadway show Jessica wanted to see.  With no hesitation she suggested Finding Neverland with Matthew Morrison, as she was a big fan of his from the television show Glee.  I hadn’t even heard of the show, or of Morrison.  We got tickets and I loved the show.  Of course, Julie arranged for us to go backstage and meet Morrison.  Here’s a fun picture of us all together with Morrison.

From l. to r, Rachel, me, Matthew Morrison, Jessica and Julie after seeing
Finding Neverland in 2015.

I end by asking if you remember your first Broadway show or musical and whether it made you a fan of later Broadway productions?

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A Half Parachute and a Large Living Room

JoAnne Tucker / / Childhood, Healing Voices - Personal Stories, Musical Theater, Personal Life

In an earlier blog I wrote about an intensive discussion I had at about the age of 8 with Regina, a very good friend who lived down the street from me, about who was the better ballerina, Moira Shearer or Margot Fonteyn.  In this blog I want to share the great fun I had dancing in Regina’s very large living room.

I am not sure where Regina got the half parachute that we played with, but what a joy it was to wave it, dance under it and use our imagination to turn it into whatever we wanted.

We lived on the same street about a half a block from each other. Regina is only about two months older than I am, but because her birthday is at the end of November and mine isn’t until January and the cut off date for kindergarten was December 31, we weren’t in the same grade.  She was a half year ahead, having started kindergarten in September while I began in February.  (The Pittsburgh School district had admissions to start in both September and February, and one could even graduate in February from High School.  I doubt this still exists.)

Anyway, back to the living room.  It was very large, reminding me of the living room in my grandmother’s house that I use to dance in as a toddler.  There was lots of open space for us to move in. I remember in one part of this magical space, close to where you entered, was a record player along with lots of musical theatre records.  During our grade school years and into the beginning of middle school I remember spending so many afternoons listening to musicals of that period such as The King and I,  Oklahoma, and Kiss Me Kate.  Regina had a lovely singing voice and she would sing along.  I did not, so I was strictly about dancing. We talked about a favorite actress, Gertrude Lawrence, who was the original Anna in The King and I and was on the recording we regularly listened to.  Her biography, Gertrude Lawrence as Mrs. A, became a favorite of mine. I saved that book for many years, occasionally returning to re-read it.  That book and Agnes de Mille’s Dance to the Piper were major sources of inspiration during my pre-teen and early teen years.

Another favorite actress that I remember liking during this time was Celeste Holm, who was the original Ado Annie in Oklahoma. With my awful, out of tune voice, I sometimes tried to sing I’m Just a Girl Who Can’t Say No. Alas… even this kind of song did not work for me.  It was a good thing I liked to dance, ‘cause a triple threat (singer, dancer, actress) I would never be.

l. to r. JoAnne, JoAnne’s sister Peggy, Regina at Peggy’s birthday party.  The only photo I could find of us at the age when we were having fun in Regina’s living room.

Those early after-school/weekend times influenced me in several specific ways.

Many years later, when I built the Creative Dance Center in Tallahassee, Florida (See https://mostlydance.com/2018/11/09/feminism-meets-the-bank-building-a-dance-studio/) one of the first things that I made sure to have was a parachute as a prop to use both with children and adults. This time it was a full parachute that I was able to purchase from an Army Surplus Store.  It was an all-time favorite of all ages.  Sometimes we just made a large circle and watched the wonderful waves it made.  Other times we lifted it as high as we could, making the shape it would be in when it floated down from the sky and then brought it back to the ground. Sometimes I would invite a child to be in charge of how she wanted the rest of the class to hold the parachute so she could dance under or around or what she was imagining it to be, such as a roaring ocean waves.  

When I do a search for creative movement with a parachute, the results are usually focused on pre-schoolers or young school-age children, and there are lots of fun ways the parachute has been used. However, nothing comes up for use with adults, and I found that use equally  satisfying. Leading adult workshops, particularly in Tallahassee when I was doing “permission” workshops as part of Transactional Analysis Training (that’s another later blog), I used it with great success especially with encouraging adults to find or rediscover their inner child.

Clearly those afternoons fostered and reinforced my love for musical theatre, which led not only to attending theater but also choreographing and directing some musical theater.

Regina and I continue our friendship and creative journey to today.  Over the years we have led workshops together, and sometimes as we are dancing around a room with 20 or so participants, we pass each other and smile remembering those times so many years ago when we were doing something similar in her living room. 

Regina and JoAnne attending a film festival, September 2014.  JoAnne and Regina are Board Members and filmmakers with Healing Voices – Personal Stories. The organization was honored that its film “Jessica’s Story” was selected for the Festival and won best LGBT film in the Festival. Photography by Murray Tucker.
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