Broadway By 30: If You Can't Join 'Em, Volunteer For 'Em

Even though I wasn't selected to take part in the Next Broadway Sensation competition, I still wanted to be involved with NYMF on some level. They had advertised volunteer opportunities in the newsletter I had received the week before, so I sent an email declaring my interest.

On Friday, just as I was getting ready to leave my office AND nervously awaiting a call from the NYMF Casting Department regarding a callback, my phone rang...

"Hello?" (Are you calling me with a callback???)

Close, but no cigar! It was the Operations Department calling about volunteer opportunities this weekend. Sure, I'll suck it up and volunteer. I'm still gonna keep my fingers crossed that Casting calls me before the day is out, though!

When I didn't get THE phone call I was waiting for, I accepted my fate and my volunteer assignment which was a reasonable consolation prize, even if it did add a little salt to the wound.
I was to report to the NYMF offices at 10am this morning to stuff red NYMF tote bags with season programs, postcards and free copies of Backstage which were to be handed out at the Broadway on Broadway concert in Times Square.

The Broadway on Broadway concert series is one of those free New York events that most New Yorkers rarely take advantage of. I had been meaning to go to it for years, but never made it out there. This year, I've got my Broadway By 30 blog to think about! What better way to ring in a year of Broadway than immersing myself in an afternoon of Broadway Musicals from every big name in town?

I was the first of the volunteers to arrive bright eyed and bushy tailed to the NYMF offices. Shortly thereafter, I was joined by three more volunteers who were Broadway star wannabes like myself, one of whom was also 29! Yay! I'm not the only one!

When we were all finished filling bags, we loaded our goodies into cardboard boxes and carted them from 38th and 8th Avenue up to 45th and Broadway. This was the most challenging bit of the day, but with a little bit of muscle and the use of our "theater voices" the three of us made our way through the crowds up 8th Avenue with our metal cart and cardboard box stacked full of NYMF totes.

We almost didn't make it all the way to the concert site. Once people catch a wiff of free stuff, they want it! They don't care if it's poo or potpourri. We had a limited amount of bags that we were trying to distribute to our target theater-going audience, so when Joe Blow came up to us requesting a bag for every member of his family, I had to turn him away.

Once inside the area that had been cordoned off for those wishing to watch the concert, I began distributing bags to people and talking to them about the festival. I tried to make sure that I was giving my wares away to folks who were either New York locals or tourists who would be in town for the week. It was only a matter of minutes until I was bare of bags, but now I was free to enjoy the show!

To my surprise, the concert which was MCed by 98 Degrees dreamboat Drew Lachey, went on for a full two hours and featured songs from A Tale of Two Cities, Billy Elliot and 13, Avenue Q, Chicago, Disney's The Little Mermaid, Grease, Gypsy, Hairspray, In The Heights, Jersey Boys, The Lion King, Legally Blonde, Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins, The Phantom of the Opera, Spring Awakening, [title of show], Wicked, Young Frankenstein, and Mr. Lachey's show, Monty Python's Spamalot. Whew! What a day it was!

Even though I think the temperature came close to 8 Degrees, I still had a great time.Here are some pictures I snagged with my camera phone...

Broadway Bombshell Bebe Neuwirth sings a little ditty
about the Great White Way