Broadway Malady
How I got deathly ill on my first trip to New York City.
I was a big musical theater fan as a teenager, so when I found out that my high school had an annual theater trip to New York every December, I signed up right away. I’d seen many local productions as well as touring companies that came through Boston, but this was Broadway! It was my sophomore year (my first year, since we had a three-year high school) and my first ever trip anywhere without my family.
We had a packed schedule.
Friday night, we saw “A Chorus Line” with the original cast. As a special treat, the teacher who organized it arranged for one of the stars, Priscilla Lopez, to meet us in the lobby of our hotel to talk about the show.
Saturday morning we saw the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Afterwards, most of the group explored a bit. I was tired so I went back to the hotel. Big mistake. I slept through the first half hour of the matinee of “Candide.” Since I arrived so late I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Such a shame because in the ensuing years that Leonard Bernstein masterpiece has become one of my favorite shows.
Saturday evening we had dinner at Patricia Murphy’s Candlelight Restaurant on 49th Street, which I remember because of events that I’ll get to later. Then we saw “Shenandoah,” in which one of the cast members was an…
