I was at BroadwayCon, where it happened! | Page 3 of 3

Day 3 – A Dream is a Soft Place to Land

Day 3 was a little bittersweet. The last day of a con is always a little sad. You don’t quite realize it’s the end, and yet you know it’s almost over.

It was a little slower than the two others, but that’s a good thing. There were less people, it’s less stressful and usually calmer. Just like the first day, most of the big panels were in the Main Stage room. And what a program we were offered! The Disaster the Musical, Something Rotten, and Waitress panels, all in a row.

First up, an introduction to the upcoming musical Disaster, created by Seth Rudetsky. For those who don’t know who Seth Rudetsky is, he created a web series called Obsessed, in which he invites a Broadway star, ask them for an anecdote from their career, and makes them sing a song. Disaster is basically a musical theater fanboy dream!

Most of the cast were there. My personal highlight was when legend Faith Price gave us an incredible piece of information. She was supposed to be Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors but things didn’t work out and Ellen Green got the part. As a result, she got Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, and the rest is history (meaning she won a Tony Award for the role)!

The Something Rotten panel was the most disappointing of the con. It rapidly turned into an ask Brian D’Arcy James about his experience on Spotlight and What it feels like to not be King George III in Hamilton anymore. Nothing we haven’t heard before. I still enjoyed seeing Brian, Christian Borle, and John Cariani, three performers I greatly admire.

Let me tell you about the following panel. I got weirdly very emotional at the end of the Something Rotten panel. I knew it was time for Waitress and this musical gives me all kinds of emotions. This panel probably took home the ”Best Panel of BroadwayCon” award in my book.

Sara Bareilles, Diane Paulus, and Jessie Nelson were here to talk about the creative process behind Waitress. They are the first all-female team to make a Broadway-bound musical. What a time to be alive! All three of them are women that inspire me creatively speaking. They give hope and opportunities for young women to create their own musicals.

I completely lost the little cool I had left when Sara made her way to the piano to sing She Used to Be Mine. Do yourself a favor, and while waiting for the actual cast recording, listen to the demo album Sara made, called What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress. You won’t regret it!

After all these emotions, we were allowed a little glimpse at 4 upcoming Broadway musicals. I’m so happy for Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, a beautiful off-Broadway musical making its way to this season’s lineup, starring Josh Groban. There was also Found the Musical based on found notes; Tuck Everlasting adapted from the 2002 movie of the same name; and Nerds the Bill Gates vs Steve Jobs musical. (Editor’s Note: What?! Must see.)

Then that was it, the Closing Ceremony was upon us. I have to say I was a bit disappointed by this closing. It seemed very rushed. My mood may have been rather negative at that moment because I had just learned that my flight was delayed, and that’s never the best. All in all, after a bit of crying and a lot of stress, I got to stay one day more in New York so, everything wasn’t bad after all!

CONCLUSION :

Overall, I had a great time. Being surrounded by people just like me, who are obsessed with musical theater, it’s a great feeling that I’m not used to experiencing. I mean picture this, I had a First Date t-shirt on day 1 and it was the first time people would come up to me to say that they loved the show and were sad it was canceled so fast. In what wonderful world does that happen?

I’m a bit sad I missed out on so many great technical panels because of the amount of time spent queuing, but that’s probably due to poor time management.

If I had a couple of suggestion to make to them it would be the following:

Be a little more organised with their queues and VIP areas. And invite more Ensemble members, swings etc… They are just as important as the lead. I would have loved to meet the hilarious Andrew Chappelle from Hamilton or Jason Forbach from Les Misérables.

I would definitely recommend going to BroadwayCon if you’re a huge Broadway fanatic. It’s great fun and you’ll meet wonderful people!

See you next year hopefully!