BWW Blog: Christopher Vo of ON THE TOWN - Opening Night!

It's been a little over a week since our big Broadway opening for On The Town on October 16, and I'm still aglow from the sheer magnitude of opening night. So many loved ones and proud supporters of our show were in the audience, which included celebrities that run the gamut of film, TV, and theater.

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge did a wonderful red carpet session for our opening night. His reporting is FANTASTIC and captures the excitement and reverence for our production of On The Town! Take 15 minutes to check it out and get an idea of what our VIP guests were feeling and thinking on their way in to The Lyric Theatre to see the show.

For opening night, we were called in at 5pm for the 6pm performance. Right at 5pm, the entire OTT family gathered on the stage for the Gypsy Robe Ceremony. We were joined by several representatives from our union, The Actors' Equity Association. The Gypsy Robe is a tradition in which a chorus member with the most Broadway credits receives a robe on opening night. The most recently honored gypsy presents the newest gypsy with a robe, which is decorated with mementos and drawings from past shows. Though OTT marks my Broadway debut, I participated in my first Gypsy Robe Ceremony during my time on SMASH. But this time, Jess LeProtto (with past Broadway credits including Newsies, Bye Bye Birdie, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas) was honored. We all cheered him on as he ran 3 counter-clockwise circles to bless our stage.

Our dressing rooms were piled high with flowers, cards, and opening night gifts. I've never seen anything like it. Well, maybe it was like Christmas had come a few months early! Negotiating our space for costume changes was tricky, but it was oh so fun to have had all of those things around.

The curtain didn't rise until close to 6:30. The love that we received from our amazing audience nearly stopped my heart from beating. Plus, those who couldn't make it to our opening night show definitely were there in spirit. As the curtain rose, the hair on the back of my neck followed suit (but the microphone wire's tape held it down). In what seemed to be a blink of an eye, the performance was over. Thunderous applause! John Rando, Josh Bergasse, and James Moore joined us onstage for a curtain call that could've gone on for forever. We had a wonderful show! Next stop was New York's Lower East Side for our opening night party.

The entire cast, orchestra, staff, crew and creatives were shuttled on two big tour buses, and we arrived at the most elaborate and swanky opening night party ever. A huge shout-out to our producers and all who arranged the amazing party at Capitale in the Bowery. We had live entertainment, a HUGE dance floor, a dangerously open bar, and a ton of gorgeous, fun people to party hard with. We all deserved a night of partying after all of the work we had put in on our path to opening night.

And then we had a show the day after. Good thing it was an evening performance; a matinee might have been disastrous after the opening night celebration. Our dressing rooms were still filled with all the flowers, cards and gifts from the opening. It was like the day after Christmas. Most of us arrived at the theater early to read through the cards, open the gifts and make room for the wardrobe staff to do presets of the costumes. The buzz from opening night carried through the entire following week.

Starting with online postings on opening night and in the days that followed, On The Town was honored with rapturous reviews. I am so happy and proud of our OTT family. If you've yet to come to the Lyric Theatre to see us, what are you waiting for?! Ticket sales have been extended through May 2015. Hurry!

Chris Vo, Sara Mearns, Josh Bergasse, and Jasper Grant

Chris Vo and Jess Leprotto

ON THE TOWN Ensemble

Chris Vo and Brandon Leffler

Jasper Grant, Chris Vo, and Kiira Schmidt