Friday, September 2, 2011

Photo of the Day: “Chicago,” Her Kind of Town (and Musical)

Visitors to the TKTS booth on Duffy Square in midtown Manhattan know that they should expect to meet representatives (overwhelmingly young) from all kinds of shows, looking to promote their productions.

A few months ago, however, I realized that some of these salespeople were doing so in costumes associated with their shows. First, for those interested in Catch Me If You Can, the square at one point featured a flight attendant (or, as those who remember their heyday in the Seventies might say, with either a male chauvinist pig’s sigh of nostalgic regret or a feminist’s smile of triumph over the end of the term and the type, “stewardess”).

More recently, I became aware of unusual promoters for Chicago, dressed much like the young lady who consented to have her picture taken for this blog. She was handing out brochures for the 1975 musical that has been successfully revived for over a decade now.

“Fosse, Fosse, Fosse!” Robin Williams exhorted in The Bird-Cage. In truth, however, with the bowler hats worn by this young woman and her fellow musical promoters, they didn’t have to push as hard as Williams to remind Broadway theatergoers of the dancing master in all his sassy, wayward glory.

No comments: