Our local university is known for it’s historical music program, and they put on a production of the opera Alcina by Handel. It was sublime, and a treat to see a baroque opera performed in a smaller theater.
Do you ever go to see live theater? What was the last thing that you went to? Or, alternatively, what was your favorite?
Mine was Rocky Horror… Unless you want to count a Steve Martin + Martin a short comedy show. That’s kind of like theater, right?
If you twst the definition a bit: 2022, I saw Dream Theater live
Oh, that’s not what you meant? Color me shocked…
In that case, 2003, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera
Not counting a recent shadow cast Rocky Horror Picture Show, last would be the university production of Antigone my buddy was in like 12 years ago.
My mom was a huge Broadway fan, so I’ve seen Chicago and Les Mis on Broadway, and Les Mis and Wicked a couple of times locally. My wife and I are going to NYC this fall and we’re gonna do a Broadway show since she’s never been to one. Haven’t decided which one yet, leaning towards Book of Mormon but we’ll have to see what’s playing while we’re there.
Gosh its been a while since finances have been shit the past few years… I dont think I’ve seen anything since before the pandemic… I think it was 2018 we saw Book of Mormon on Broadway when we were staying overnight before going on a cruise. I miss vscations…
The idiot by Dostoyevskiy at whatever the theater in Aarhus is called
Three Times Left is Right by Julian Hetzel, in Amsterdam. Naked people, Hitler salute jokes that last 10 minutes too long and auto-cannibalism. Do not recommend.
I work in live theatre, so my perspective is a little skewed. The last one I went to see (instead of working) was The Drowsy Chaperone, a musical within a play.
The concept is that an old (slightly odd, but very welcoming) man is inviting the audience into his house, to listen to an old vinyl broadway recording in his living room. Sort of like a Mr. Rogers Neighborhood episode. As he (and the audience) listens to the record, his imagination blooms and his house transforms into the set for the musical. So the characters in the musical are dancing and singing around his house, while he sits in his armchair (or putters around his room, making tea, serving finger sandwiches, etc) and breaks the fourth wall to add commentary.
It’s a comedy wrapped around a tragedy. The musical is very bright and cheery, but the old man clearly has some eccentricities that begin to show through the cracks as the show progresses. It’s an interesting commentary on the “circus” part of bread and circus, as it explores things like escapism, agoraphobia, and OCD as the man’s happy facade slowly crumbles while the musical progresses (and gets interrupted a few times, which is extremely triggering for him). It becomes clear that he’s only able to maintain his happy public persona for a little while.
As for the last show I actually saw, it was a traditional Indian dance show. I work a lot of those, because traditional Indian dance has a sort of test for their dancers. It’s not a perfect comparison, but many people compare it to a black belt test in karate. Since every dancer has to go through it, there are a lot of them.
Come from Away in Toronto. Very uplifting.
Coincidentally, I was taken as a plus-1 to a Broadway musical, “Ragtime”, this month. I normally don’t go out much for theater, but it was free so I went.
It wasn’t bad. The style of music isn’t my jam, but it had some fun parts.
Also interesting is the play’s message seems to be “the only way you’ll get something approaching justice is violence” and I’m not sure if that’s the author’s intent.
“Oh, Mary!” on Broadway in NYC a couple weekends ago.
Besides impro which we go see every now and then it was a rendition of the musical Pippin in Dutch.
Marty’s one man show.
A local rendition of “Tratsch im Treppenhaus” in our local dialect in 2009.
I couldn’t really concentrate on the wider play though, everybody kept looking at me when I entered the stage and said my lines.
If you count high-school performances, I saw a cousin-in-law’s performance of West Side story.
If you don’t count that, it was a theater rendition of Evil Dead.
The people in the front 3 rows were provided ponchos and advised to wear washable clothes. I was in the back row and still got a bit of gore on me.
If watching a recorded theatre performance from the comfort of my own sofa counts, then The National Theatre’s presentation of The Importance of Being Earnest, which is wonderful.
In terms of seeing a live performance while in the actual theatre then it would be Rocky Horror back in 2019.
Edit: Just remembered that we saw Wicked in London in December 2025, before we saw the movie. That was fun.
