OUR BLOG

Featuring marketing tips, tech news, digital wonders, some personal things and everything in between . . .

Category: waiting-for-godot

Waiting for Godot on Broadway and it was Quite the Adventure


Sunday July 19, 2009

Reading Time: 5 minutes
waiting for godot
Dan “Waiting for Godot”

Broadway has a life of its own and is a magical place to be! As you may already know, I saw Waiting for Godot on Broadway and it was quite the adventure. Waiting for Godot is not a play for everyone; it’s a drama where the actors drag you into a world where time is obscured. By the end of it you can not but feel mentally exhausted as you take a deep breath outside of the theater and you ask yourself, “what just happened?”

I had read Waiting for Godot several times as well as many other Beckett plays. It was hard to not go to the play with out certain expectations regarding how it would be. I will say that the play was marvelous and kept me entertained the whole way through. Godot is a “tragicomedy” in two acts which on the surface will make you laugh, but, underneath the surface is a world of despair that deals with deep philosophical questions that all people deal with whether they are cognizant of it or not. It was an amazing experience, perhaps once in a life time, the crowd we sat with was the who’s who; writers and actors, and such. I am convinced that my friend Josh and I had the best seats in the house, 8 rows back and dead center, we didn’t have to look up and we didn’t have to look down – we looked the actors right in the eye.

I do want to take a moment to thank everyone who helped me have such a great experience. Angela DeCicco and Matt Stern helped me get the great tickets which as I already stated were the best in the house. Beverly Brennan made it possible for Josh and me to go back stage and meet some of the actors and get a tour of the stage. I have been backstage before, but, something about this was very special and a memory I hold on to dearly. Most of all I would like to thank my folks, for without them these friends would not be a part of my life and I’m sure last week’s experience would not have been the same.

“Let us not waste our time in idle discourse! Let us do something, while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed. But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late!” – Beckett

P.S. Happy Birthday Dick Fay

Reading Time: 8 minutes

 

dan waiting for godot

Last night your Sunday blogger, Dan, was literally Waiting for Godot on Broadway. Since Dan is traveling today, sans laptop, he asked me to post a blog for him. You may remember reading Dan’s May 24, 2009 post Waiting for Godot is Back on Broadway. In that post Dan reported that he was able to get tickets to last night’s performance of Waiting for Godot and he was beside himself with anticipation. After all, Dan was going to see this Tony nominated production with Nathan Lane, Bill Irwin, John Goodman, and John Glover.

I am sure Dan will want to write his own review of this production, so I will take this opportunity to tell the sidebar story of how our Facebook friends played a “role” in Dan’s ultimate adventure last evening.

When Dan first discovered that Waiting for Godot was playing on Broadway he went on line to see if and when he could secure tickets. It appeared that the only seats available at Studio 54 for the time frame that Dan could be in New York City were in the back side aisles. So Dennis suggested that we call Angela DeCicco, our longtime friend since 1992 and Facebook friend. I called Angela and asked her if she was familiar with the seating at Studio 54. She asked us why we wanted to know and when we told her that Dan was trying to get tickets for Waiting for Godot, she said “Don’t worry. Tell me when you want to go and I will have Matt (her husband) order “house seats” for you.” For those of you not familiar with the term “house seats”, they are ‘not available through the box office. “House seats” are some of the best seats in the theater, set aside for use by cast members, producers, the creative team, and others directly involved in the production.’ Keep in mind, these seats are not free of charge, you pay regular price, but they are the best seats in the house and Matt Stern (Angela’s husband is a well respected Stage Manager on Broadway) secured these seats for Dan! Just for fun, here is a photo of Dan with Angela taken on Broadway April 1997, when Angela was starring in the Broadway production of Les Miz.

dan helfand

But back to Facebook…a couple of weeks ago I reconnected with a friend through Facebook, Beverly Brennan. She in fact is also a mutual friend with Angela. Beverly contacted me last week to say she had just read on Facebook that Dan was going to the city to see Waiting for Godot. She reminded me that she now works for ON Location Education and she tutored the two little boys who play the part of BOY in Waiting for Godot. I asked Beverly if there were anyway she could arrange for Dan to be able to go back stage after the performance. Beverly sent an email to the stage manager, but didn’t hear back. So last evening when the production ended, Daniel made his way to the stage door and waited. The door opened, a gentleman asked Daniel if he could be of help and Dan said something to this effect: “I am a friend of Beverly Brennan, the tutor for Matthew Schechter, and I am wondering if I can say hello to Matthew.” The gentleman asked for Dan’s name and said he would be back in a few minutes. The next thing Daniel knew he was backstage being introduced to Matthew Schechter and his parents. Matthew gave Dan a tour of the stage, introduced him to Bill Irwin and John Glover. All in all, quite a night for Dan and his friend, Josh.

Now if all this isn’t enough excitement…last evening I casually asked Daniel how were the “house seats”? He calmly replied, “They were perfect, Row H, dead center…and by the way I was seated right next to Harrison Ford!”

I have said it before, Broadway is filled with magic and the unexpected! Comments, anyone?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

In 2002 a professor of mine introduced me to a play that would forever have an impact on my life. A play that embodied the trials, tribulations, and monotony of life in a rather funny manner. After the first reading I sat there confused and to a certain degree drained, even though it is a short read. I read Waiting for Godot over and over, until I was sure that I was not missing something. Waiting for Godot sunk its teeth into me and still, to this day, has not let go!

Just the other day I found out something that made me very happy! After 50 years Waiting for Godot is back on Broadway. Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett which became renowned as a existential masterpiece. It never did well in the theaters but it became required reading at most colleges.

I never thought that I would have the opportunity to see Waiting for Godot on Broadway, which upset me very much. Now that it is back on Broadway I have the chance that I have been waiting for. On July 11th, my dream will come true! So let’s just say I am pretty excited and I am looking forward to this with great anticipation.

“Two-time Tony Award winner Nathan Lane, Tony Award winner Bill Irwin, Golden Globe winner John Goodman and Tony Award winner John Glover star in Samuel Beckett’s cryptic and comical play, Waiting for Godot, directed by Tony Award winner Anthony Page.”