I have never been one to be compelled by the numbers. How might one measure a year, Jonathan Larson? In minutes or cups of coffee? I guess I have found in general quality outweighs quantity. But, what happens when quality and quantity collide? I have found they often do here in New York City.

Over the last seven months, I have seen 4 Pulitzer Prize winning pieces of drama. I have been stunned by 2 Broadway legends (Patti LuPone & Audra McDonald). I have sat through countless fidgeting audience members because we still don’t know how to be together. And I still haven’t found the minutes to write down all my feelings (now writing on my commutes on the subway or any space that I can find), all my learnings or my opinions on all the art that my body has experienced. It’s all in me, trust me, I know what greatness I am taking in. To be a witness is almost as important as being a creator. Often people are asking me, how is the book? How is the musical? I do appreciate these sentiments greatly. The process is not linear or easy to push creative endeavors forward. But, this witnessing was my goal for my first year of New York - take it all in. Surround myself with magic. Longtime New Yorkers have heard my list and the sentiment they generally share is one of exhaustion. One said, “kid it sounds like you are seeing Broadway like you are running out of time.” Aren’t we all? And yes, I am running out of time. Similar to Jonathan Larson, he never had enough time and struggled much more to make an income and get his work out there. A pandemic, a childhood fascination, and now my own dream awaits on the stage. What am I waiting for? I have waited since my six year old self learned about Broadway to be able to go to a show on, let’s say, a Tuesday. (I played the Jesus Christ Superstar vinyl all the way to Resurrection and beyond) So much has happened on Broadway this year, while so much is happening off stage. I finally know what it feels like to be angry at The New York Times and mean it. The push and pull of what is “real” life is constant. And yet, here I am counting the minutes, the hours of drama witnessed, the art exhibits come and go, and the shows I saw multiple times and those that I undoubtedly missed. For many, I was able to make that Broadway experience happen for them, friends and family alike, a ticket whisperer if you will. In so many ways, the last couple of months has been walking inside a dream full of energy, large orchestral sound, operatic arias, and old theaters murmuring their tales of past great performances. And what was the best of the best? It is difficult to pin down. And thank goodness I am not a critic. I thought I would create my own Freshman superlatives from my imaginary New York Public City School 2022 to spread the love across the last seven months, of the one and only, Broadway: 

Overall Favorite Fat Ham *Coming to Broadway in April 2023 🍔🧺✨ *Pulitzer

Most important A Strange Loop➿💜➿ *Pulitzer & Tony

Best Musical performanceParade at NY City Center [ensemble cast]⚖️👨🏼‍⚖️

Favorite Off Broadway Little Shop of Horrors 🪴🩸👽

MVP ArtistMeret Oppenheim at MoMA 🟩⚪️☕️

Best Friend AwardWolfgang Tillmans at MoMA🔎🍃🍑

Most intellectual  Baldwin & Buckley at Cambridge 📣🇬🇧🙎🏿‍♂️🙍🏼‍♂️

Most disappointing…by far &Juliet🍿💁🏼‍♂️😕

Most likely to succeed after graduation KPOP👯👯‍♀️💃🏽🕺🏽

Class Clown The Old man and the Pool by Mike Birbiglia 💦👴🏼🪧

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gregorymeander.substack.com