50 shows 4 my 50th birthday

13th October 2021, I set myself a goal, the year I was 50 I would see 50 shows! It could be a musical, theatre, concert, stand-up comedy, circus… it would all be good. So I had time untill 12/10/22 to reach my goal. Some people give a party for their 50th, I prefered to spoil myself with what I like best, all kind of live performances.

During the first half year, it seemed I wouldn’t reach my goal. Theatres in Belgium and The Netherlands had to close down again due to the pandemic, and lots of shows were postponed. Some as far as 2023. Trips to London became difficult due travelling in a storm, or during a train strike, but both these times I managed to get there somehow. And I got sick myself a few times, one time I had to travel back from London due to a bad infection and one time I got Covid.

But the second half of that year I managed to see a lot of shows, and things started to go lovely and smooth. Even ‘stage dooring’ came back to life after the pandamic.

Did I manage to see 50 shows? Yes, I did! I even managed to see 55!

To put it in numbers, I have seen:

55 shows in total, 8 in Belgium, 1 in The Netherlands and 46 in London.

34 musicals, 12 plays, 7 concerts, 1 stand-up comedy show and 1 interactive experience.

I did see some show multiple times, I’ve see & Juliet and Dear Evan Hansen 6 times each. I’ve been to back to the future 3 times. And I visited both Cinderella and Oklahoma twice.

I’ve seen 6 of my favorite actors (and some of them multiple times): Carrie Hope Fletcher, Eddie Redmayne, Bill Pullman, Marisha Wallace, Sam Tutty, and Willemijn Verkaik.

I’ve seen 3 shows I really didn’t like: The Seagull, Moulin Rouge and Dirty Dancing.

I absolutely fell in love with one musical, Dear Evan Hansen.

I’ve see two shows that were exceptionally good, like almost out of this world good: Cabaret and Mad House. Those two end up on my ‘the best of the best list’ and they join Amadeus and Cyrano, so that makes 4 of the best of the best shows I have ever seen, and two of them I saw during this last year. That alone makes this year a total succes for me!

So here’s the total list of shows I’ve seen:

Cinderella, & Juliet, Leopoldstadt, The last 5 years, The Mousetrap, Back to the future, Frozen, Les Miserables, Dear Evan Hansen, Luka Bloom, Moulin Rouge, Cabaret, Doctor Who Time Fracture, Henry V, The ocean at the end of the lane, Dirty Dancing, Come from away, Dadi Freyr, Cock, Bonnie & Clyde, Get up stand up, Oklahoma, Sarah Millican, Cristina Branco, Post Modern Jukebox, Soulsister, The glass menagerie, Harry Potter and the cursed child, Mamma Mia, The Seagull, Hamilton, Six, Heathers, Sister Act, The trials, Abba Voyage, Mad House, 2:22 a ghost story, The lion the with and the wardrobe, Pirates of the carribean concert, and Josephine B

It has been an amazing year! I know I am very fortunate to be able to see them all. After lockdown, I still had a difficult time when theatres reopend in London, but I wasn’t allowed to travel there. Things we took for granted were taken form us. Life has become uncertain and we have to learn to live with these uncertainties. It now seems it is even more special to meet like-minded people in a theatre or at stage door, and to be able to talk face to face to people about our mutual interests. It’s so much fun to meet people and find them the day afterwards on facebook, or vice-versa, sitting next to someone who recognises me from a facebook group.

What have I learned form going to the theatre that much. Well, a few things.

I really love it to see my favorite shows multiple times, and it is very interesting to see other actors in some roles, and different interpretations, or interactions within the same role. It also made it very clear to me that I do have ‘favorite actors’ and the feeling of being dissapointed when they aren’t ‘on’ for that performance left me with mixed feelings. I really want to give understudies a chance, and some are amazing performers. But when a certain performer blew me away, I really want to see that performance again. And I become very ‘faithful’ with my following of their carreer and wanting to see everything they are in.

Even if I have seen a lot of performances, they still remain special for me. I will never take theatre for granted. It is a magical space where for a few hours it becomes a world of it’s own. Storytelling is so important for us, some stories as escapism, so stories as therapy, some stories to reflect about life, some stories to shock us and face reality,… Every performance is unique, every audience is unique. I will always feel grateful to have been a part of it.

And it fills my heart with joy that we can, once again, meet actors at stage door. It just gives it a little bit of extra sparkle. Just to be totally clear, actors don’t ‘have’ to do stage door, it’s not part of their job. So I really, really appreciate the time they give when they do. I cherish my signed theatre programs!

The thing I also learned is that I love West-End theatre… like, I already knew for for quite some time, but this year it became clear, once again, that Belgium isn’t a country with a high quality of musical theatre. I do my best to try sometimes, but it just leaves me feeling very frustrated. I’d rather watch shows in the Netherlands, where the quality of their ‘Come from Away’ was as good as in London, even translated in Dutch.

So, have I ‘recovered’ from the shock of turning 50? Yes, I have. I hope I can see lots more amazing plays and musicals in the second half of my life, I know theatre is a love in my life who will remain with me till the end. I can’t wait for all that’s to come! With every new announcement of a show I get excited, I know I can’t see them all, and that I live too far away to see them all, but I love the diversity of shows to come! Thank you threatre Gods ;-)