Broadway Fred: The list
In recent years I have developed a small obsession. With the help of the Internet Broadway Database, I have compiled a list of Broadway shows I have seen.
I don’t mean road companies. I don’t mean local productions of shows that appeared on Broadway.
As I type this I realize I must sound like something akin to a bagel snob. They’re the ones who argue, with a surprising mixture of passion, certainty, and world weariness, that the only bagels are in New York and the further you get from New York the less “real” are the bagels. Now, I live in Philadelphia, about a hundred miles from New York, and I know a few places where you can get a good bagel. I have also seen some marvelous theater here. Still, there is an excitement to a Broadway show that I never experience in Philadelphia or anywhere else.
And, yes, I’ve been to the West End in London a few times. As I type this, I realize that people in England feel with a mixture of passion, certainty, and world weariness, that the theater on the West End is superior to the theater on Broadway. It is pointless to argue with them. But their bagels definitely suck.
As best I can calculate, I have seen 99 Broadway shows-my goal is to see 100 by the time I turn 50 in December. I already have plans to meet this goal (see Broadway Fred Quiz #1 at end of this column).
Here is my list. How many of these shows have you seen?
Fred’s list
(Note that the number after the title is the approximate year in which I saw the show.)
1. Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope 74
2. The Magic Show 74
3. Same Time, Next Year 75
4. Guys and Dolls 76
5. Gemini 77
6. Dracula 77
7. Whose Life is it Anyway? 78
8. Sugar Babies 79
9. Barnum 80
10. A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine 80
11. Agnes of God 82
12. Merlin 83
13. My One And Only 83
14. Doonesbury 84
15. The Tap Dance Kid 84
16. Requiem for a Heavyweight 85
17. Biloxi Blues 85
18. The Mystery of Edwin Drood 86
19. Corpse! 86
20. Loot 86
21. The House of Blue Leaves 86
22. Me and My Girl 87
23. Broadway Bound 87
24. The Nerd 87
25. Burn This 88
26. Penn & Teller 87
27. The Phantom of the Opera 87
28. Speed-the-Plow 88
29. Ah, Wilderness! 88
30. Our Town 88
31. Jerome Robbins’ Broadway 88
32. Lend Me a Tenor 88
33. The Heidi Chronicles 88
34. Largely New York 89
35. Grand Hotel 89
36. Tru 89
37. Six Degrees of Separation 90
38. Lost in Yonkers 91
39. Penn & Teller: The Refrigerator Tour 92
40. Falsettos 93
41. Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect 94
42. Master Class 96
43. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum 96
44. The Last Night of Ballyhoo 97
45. The Life 97
46. The Beauty Queen of Leenane 98
47. The Weir 99
48. The Ride Down Mt. Morgan 00
49. Dirty Blonde 00
50. Proof 00
51. The Full Monty 00
52. The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife 00
53. Urinetown 01
54. Cabaret 03
55. Man of La Mancha 03
56. Wonderful Town 03
57. Fiddler on the Roof 04
58. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels 05
59. The Pillowman 05
60. Glengarry Glen Ross 05
61. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee 06
62. The Drowsy Chaperone 06
63. The Lieutenant of Inishmore 06
64. Faith Healer 06
65. The Producers 06
66. Grey Gardens 07
67. The Little Dog Laughed 07
68. Company 07
69. The Pirate Queen 07
70. Spring Awakening 07
71. Curtains 07
72. 110 in the Shade 07
73. The Color Purple 07
74. The Homecoming 07
75. August Osage County 08
76. Xanadu 08
77. Sunday in the Park with George 08
78. Is He Dead? 08
79. Young Frankenstein 08
80. The 39 Steps 08
81. Gypsy 08
82. A Catered Affair 08
83. [Title of Show] 08
84. 33 Variations 09
85. Pal Joey 09
86. West Side Story 09
87. South Pacific 09
88. 9 to 5 09
89. Next to Normal 09
90. God of Carnage 09
91. Ragtime 09
92. Finian’s Rainbow 09
93. A Little Night Music 09
94. Race 10
95. A View from the Bridge 10
96. In the Heights 10
97. Promises, Promises 10
98. Lend Me a Tenor 10
99. Fela! 10
Broadway Fred Quiz #1
Fred already has tickets for his 100th Broadway show, which he will see later this month. This limited run features an internationally known star whose name rhymes with a garnish commonly used in cocktails. What is the garnish, who is the star, and what show does Fred have tickets to see?
If you wish to answer, use the comment function. Correct answer will be announced in next week’s column.
Broadway Fred appears every Wednesday.
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Peter Palmolive? Paul Bunion?
Fred. I know this throws off your momentous 100th Broadway show milestone, but I think you should admit to seeing Hairspray.
Alex, you’re almost right. But it’s someone bigger than Paul Bunion.
And MJC, you’re absolutely right. I’ll have to revise my list. What was it, about 2007? 2008? It was on its last legs, but Marissa Janet Winokur had come back for a spell and it was great to see her. Very perky.
Harry Potter does J. Pierpont?
It amuses me that J. Pierpont is now on Mad Men. That makes me chuckle every time I see him.