bumping this thread
I grew up in NYC and have in my collection a little over 200 playbills. That's one thing I miss since moving from my native land.

Soooo, just bumping this conversation so I can live vicariously through you all again :)

For anyone that loves "Broadway" one of the best experiences, next to actually going to the theatre, is to visit Maria's Crisis, a tiny little piano bar on Grove St in the West Village.

You'll get to sing-a-long with any ( and I do mean ANY) show tune you can come up with. I don't think anyone has ever stumped the piano player. The place is super friendly and unpretentious.

As one review says:
“But, oh, it's heaven on earth in a dingy basement piano bar.”

Next to taking in the "East Side Tenement Tour" this is the best thing to do in NYC (after going to the theatre , of course)

I recently read an excellent review of the re-vamped version of The Color Purple in the New Yorker Magazine! They couldn't say enough good things about it AND if that wasn't enough, yesterday on the View even Whoopie gave it a rave!

I recently saw both Motown, The Musical, and Matilda. Both were the Broadway cast who had traveled to a theater closer to me. Both were phenomenal. During Matilda, at one point, I felt like I was in a scene from The Wall. The lighting made everything grey and the kids were standing up on their desks on stage, fists raised in protest. I was sitting near a group of school kids in the audience who all put their fists up in air and loudly raged with them. It was *awesome*.