My First Broadway Show

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY

In August 1962, I made my first trip to New York. I was 15 and had a long list of things I wanted to see and do, including B. Altman's and Broadway. My long-suffering aunt, a choral singer who had a rent-controlled studio on West 105th Street, did not meet my train at old Penn Station, but she did get me a $5 ticket to my first Broadway show, the long-running "Mary, Mary," at the old Helen Hayes Theatre, a jewel box on West 44th Street, one of three demolished in 1982 to build the Marriott Marquis.

The play had actual recognizable actors in it! Michael Rennie was the glamorous "other man" I am sure, because he was then in a syndicated TV series called "The Third Man." The female lead may have been Julia Meade. I always thought it was Barbara Barrie, but I don't see her on the IBDB list of replacements. 

I really didn't care who was in it. It was an actual drawing room comedy, just like the movies, and I had an orchestra seat! Those were the days. 

I don't remember much of the plot, but everyone was beautifully dressed and sophisticated. I was hooked. Still am. 

With inflation, $5 would be $53.48 now, but an orchestra seat would be a lot more expensive. I think my aunt's rent was about $100.

At the time, all you could get in the way of refreshments was an overpriced carton of something weaker than Kool Aid, either orange or lemon flavor. I decided that was a waste of money. (Bars were far in the future, and of course I wasn't 18 yet.) The line for the ladies' room was too long. There were big, disorganized crowds fighting for cabs after the show; I think we took the 1 train. 

Some things don't change. 

C. Claiborne Ray

C. Claiborne Ray retired in 2008 as deputy obituary editor at the New York Times and wrote the Science Q&A column for Science Times until 2019. She has used The Players as her drawing room since 2014.