My life as a Broadway beat reporter

If movie reviewers have to make their peace with popcorn, those who cover Broadway learn to live with confetti. I was picking tissue-paper dots and metallic rectangles out of my belongings weeks after seeing two of this year's Tony-nominated musicals - "Monty Python's Spamalot" (14 nominations) and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (5).

With the award ceremony airing on Sunday, it seemed like a good time to look at the past season as a newcomer to the Broadway beat, with tales of backstage visits and forgotten notebooks.

Few behind-the-scenes details made it into my regular coverage during the year, which included pieces about religion in off-Broadway plays, the unexpected laughs in a revival of "On Golden Pond" (two nominations), and the spectacle of "Spamalot," a musical staging of the 1975 movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

When my foot fell asleep during an interview with two "Spamalot" cast members, for example, they entertained me backstage until I could walk again. They let me hold the Holy Grail prop (a big goblet that is surprisingly lightweight) and encouraged me to smell the curtains, which they said reeked of "vinegar and death" (an accurate description, as it turned out).

Sidestepping props to get to dressing rooms is a normal part of my job. But so is attending shows, where often the biggest surprise is not what's happening on stage, but how little leg room is available in the theater. Even with your knees touching your chin, though, it's possible to make observations about the progress - or lack thereof - in Broadway theater.

Set design, for example, is fast approaching the George Lucas level: The car actually flies in "Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang." The crew won't say how it's done, of course. Which is why they have to distract you with the shower of confetti - very "Wizard of Oz" of them. But even advanced technology can't prevent every mishap. A performance of the musical "Hairspray" I attended had to be stopped and started over about 10 minutes in when the movable set malfunctioned. But that show, a previous Tony winner, is worth the wait.

During many shows I found myself looking around to see how the audience was reacting to racial and ethnic jokes - or adult content in productions that otherwise would appeal to families.

I might have missed such a moment in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" (six nominations, including Best Musical). So preoccupied was I with the fact that I had forgotten to bring a notebook, I was half listening to the show, half thinking about how many notes I could squeeze onto the few pieces of paper I had in my purse - a friend's wedding registry, an e-mail printout. As if sensing my concern, the actors threw cards with spelling words on them into the audience (a regular part of the show). Where other people saw souvenirs, I saw office supplies.

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