Some people can go into a big city and completely skip over the theatre district, but there are some of us out there who make it a point to go to theatre meccas like Broadway, for example. Thespians don’t always know that they’re thespians, or they try to hide their love for the stage. Below are ten indicators that you just might be a theatre junkie.
1. You find the stage alluring.
This doesn’t have to mean that you crave the spotlight all the time, but rather that you have a fascination and interest in either performing onstage or helping with lighting, set, costume, or sound designs.
2. You occasionally and randomly break out into song, and sometimes dance.
To some, this may be the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard (Something Rotten! pun intended), but if you find yourself dancing to your own life story and/or singing about your feelings, you can either be channeling your inner “High School Musical” character or preparing yourself for your next big musical number.
3. You were in one or more school drama productions.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to pursue a career of becoming a big Broadway star, but this definitely opened the door to all that theatre has to offer. And who knows, maybe it did actually inspire you to become an actor/actress.
4. You have to walk through Broadway whenever you go to New York City. 
Now, I know that there are many other theatre hotspots all over the world, such as Chicago and Athens for example, but for most of us Northeasterners and New Englanders, Manhattan’s Broadway is the place to be in terms of acting and is probably one of the most well-known theatre hotspots. Home to amazing shows such as Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Chicago, Les Miserables (which sadly gave its final Broadway performance in the beginning of September this year), and most recent Tony-award-winning Hamilton, there is always a new and intriguing show to see, as well as a longstanding favorite.
5. You have many Playbills stashed away somewhere in your home or room.
If you’ve ever been to a bigshot production, you’ve likely gotten a program for the show with a big banner on top that reads, “PLAYBILL.” These also have the show’s poster on the cover, so you know which show it was that you saw. It’s easy to lose them, but it’s probably a good idea to keep them; who knows, maybe they’ll be worth something someday!
6. You have at least a few of these Playbills signed by the actors from the show.
It’s every thespian’s dream to get their Playbill signed by the actors that they’ve seen. The only way to do this is by stage-dooring, which I’ll explain later. I myself have successfully gotten two Playbills signed, one of which was signed by none other than Corbin Bleu – who, might I add, is a total sweetheart, and even more talented than when he was in High School Musical. (Picture is of my Holiday Inn Playbill).
7. You try to stage-door at nearly every show you see and meet as many actors as you can.
Remember that funny phrase I used in my last point? Well, allow me to explain it. Stage-dooring is when members of the audience gather around the stage door, which is what the actors and tech crews use to enter and exit the theater instead of using the public’s doors. Usually there’s a railing or barricade manned by one or more security guards, and the actors come out, meet, and sign their fans’ Playbills, and likely take pictures. Like I said before, I was able to meet Corbin Bleu after a performance of Holiday Inn, the New Irving Berlin Musical. I also met Bryce Pinkham after Holiday Inn and John Cariani of Something Rotten! and almost met Brad Oscar of Something Rotten! However, not all actors stage-door, and some have very legitimate reasons. Christian Borle, who played William Shakespeare in Something Rotten! and will be playing Willy Wonka in the Broadway adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2017, doesn’t stage-door, for reasons that I personally don’t know. Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda also stated during the end of his run this past year that for his fans’ safety, he wouldn’t be stage-dooring anymore.
8. You’ve spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on tickets.
If you’re a thespian, or even just a Hamilton fan, you know that big-production shows aren’t cheap. One ticket in the orchestra section can be at least $175, and mezzanine seats cost about $150. Luckily, for those of us who don’t have a whole lot of cash to burn, second mezzanine, or ‘nosebleed’ seats, cost around a more reasonable $60 minimum. However, not all shows are like this. Take Hamilton, for example. Tickets this past year were nearly impossible to ascertain, as they were upwards of $1,000 on resale sites like Ticketmaster and Stubhub, if you were lucky enough to even find a ticket for sale, that is, as they were all sold out. The only way a regular ol’ Joe could get a ticket was if they won the lottery (literally, lottery.broadwaydirect.com has lotteries for specific shows each day, check it out) or if they were the lucky winner of the Ham4Ham lottery that used to happen every Wednesday outside of the Richard Rodgers Theater.
9. You tune in every June for the annual Tony Awards.
The Tony’s are the Broadway equivalent of the Emmy’s or the Golden Globes, except instead of big celebrity performances, they have performances of songs from the year’s musical nominees. This past year, the performances included School of Rock, Spring Awakening, and of course, Hamilton. For some of us theatre junkies, this is the only way we can see some of our favorite shows, or at least parts of them for that matter.
10. Lastly, you have soundtracks of musicals on your phone, laptop, or other music playing device – or even the physical CD itself.
Saw a show and loved the music? Want to listen to it all over again later? Not a problem! Most shows have a little gift shop in the theater that carry the soundtrack on CDs and other show merchandise. Don’t want to carry around a physical CD? Go to GooglePlay or iTunes and download the soundtrack immediately for your own digital copy! Sometimes you get lucky and the entire show is on the soundtrack, like with Les Miserables, which is entirely song.
If any or all of these things apply to you, welcome to the thespian club. I promise, we aren’t as crazy as people make us out to be!
