Marriage proposal during or after a Broadway show

[RodneythePiper]

Posted: 12/14/13 at 11:35am

Hi,

I know it's not popular with everyone and a bit clichéd but I'm visiting from the UK for the first time and wanted to make a marriage proposal to my girlfriend during a Broadway show.

We haven't booked any show tickets and are visiting from 1st to 7th January and I've emailed a couple of theatres but had no reply.

Are there any shows more likely to accommodate this? I'm not sure what the best way to arrange it all is but email is preferred due to the different time zones and countries.

Can anyone offer any advice? I'll buy the show tickets one I know it can be done :)

Thanks!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/14/13 at 11:39am

Most shows are willing to accomodate this kind of thing. I would htink this would need to go through the company stage manager, since it involves the actors and their time. And I don't think they will do it BEFORE a show, but after curtain calls.

[RodneythePiper]

Posted: 12/14/13 at 12:55pm

Thanks! So how would you recommend I contact the stage manager? I'm not sure where to get contact details like this and I'd prefer to arrange it before going. Once I'm there it will be hard to keep it a secret!

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 12/14/13 at 1:07pm

CINDERELLA!! They have had several proposals, which fit perfectly with the last scene of the show. There is something on the show's website about the procedure.

[RodneythePiper]

Posted: 12/14/13 at 2:01pm

That would be great! I can't see it on the site though - do you have a link?

[The Glenbuck Laird]

Posted: 12/14/13 at 2:17pm

Really proposing in the middle of a performance?? Wow and amazed.

Do it at the top of the ESB.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 12/14/13 at 5:40pm

Rodney, send an email to: [e-mail].

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/14/13 at 5:48pm

To contact the stage manager you can send mail directly to the theatre with their name on it (I believe Ira Mont is still the Production Stage Manager), or simply "Cinderella Stage Management" or something to that effect. The person who gets the mail for the theatre, I would assume it's who ever is on duty at the stage door or the box office, will pass it along to the proper person.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 12/15/13 at 2:22am

You'd want to address it to the Company Manager, not Stage Manager. Stage managers deal with actors and the stage during a performance, Company Management oversees all logistical and financial aspects of the production.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 12/15/13 at 7:34am

That is correct. That is why I gave the email address I did a few posts up.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/15/13 at 12:39pm

THE FANTASTICKS is always hosting marriage proposals after the show.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 12/15/13 at 2:07pm

If someone proposed to me at THE FANTASTICKS I would automatically say no.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 12/15/13 at 3:07pm

I really don't get the mentality of people who want to force an entire audience of people, whom they don't know, to watch something so personal.


Besides, paying top ticket prices for the show is enough, but to have the whole evening ended by strangers proposing to one another on stage, is just strange, and has nothing to do with the show I paid to see.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/15/13 at 3:29pm

I don't get it either, but lots of folks do it -- and public engagements are here to stay. Now if folks put as much into the relationship as they do into popping the question.

Heck, now even asking someone to the PROM is an event.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/15/13 at 4:34pm

Well, if it's after the show, at least you can walk out and not watch it. And that prospect doesn't sound very heartwarming with groups of people standing and walking out during your proposal. yck.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 12/15/13 at 5:20pm

Propose in the restroom by Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, far more romantic.

[DWalk]

Posted: 12/15/13 at 8:50pm

I'm going to add my unsolicited opinion here. Unless she's indicated that she's always dreamt of receiving a proposal in front of a bunch of strangers at a Broadway show then just don't do it. There is absolutely nothing romantic about taking what, in my opinion, should be an intimate moment and turning it into this kind of spectacle. If you wanted to propose in front of your friends and family I could possibly get on board (although I'm not a fan of this either.)

As someone who has sat in many audiences and witnessed many proposals, I can tell you that many people will applaud but many in the audience (including me if I'm there) will be making fun of you and I hope your fiance-to-be deserves better than that.

[GoshGeeGolly]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 1:37pm

I don't want to see these public proposals here or on the Today Show etc etc.
Keep your private life private.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 1:52pm

I can see the proposal being really romantic if you were able to do it before they start letting everyone in for the show and you have the stage and basically the whole theatre to yourself. And if you both loved theatre that much then asking for a tour afterwards or something, or pictures with the cast/stage afterwards. Just to make things more personal, yeah?

[RodneythePiper]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 7:14am

Thanks for all the replies everyone - I know it's not for everybody but she is the type of person who would love this kind of proposal!

Anyway, Cinderella said they don't do them anymore and she would know something was up if we went to the Fantasticks as it's really not the sort of show we would go and see!

Any other advice appreciated and I understand and respect the opinions of those who said they wouldn't like or do it :)

[Ex-Siny]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 9:48am

If you want to propose in front of a bunch of strangers who could not care less about either one of you, why not just do it in the middle of Times Square ? Bigger stage and it's free. You can do it on top of the TKTS steps.

Updated On: 12/17/13 at 09:48 AM

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 12:48pm

I have to agree that it seems kind of mean-spirited to trap total strangers into watching your engagement because they happened to be seated near the middle of a row when they went to see a musical or play and people on both sides of them decided to stay and watch the proposal afterward rather than leaving. The steps in Times Square does seem like a much kinder suggestion for those around you (who can then watch or not), while still maintaining the proposal-in-public angle and excitement-of-New-York angle that would be there in a theater.

To add even more public display to a proposal in times square, you could go into that store that is next to the steps (not sure of the name - maybe American Outfitters?) that lets people have their pictures taken and then add a message and display it on their large billboard outside the store that is visible from the TKTS steps. You could go in there separately from your partner, have them make a proposal message to her from you for the billboard, and then sit on the steps together, people-watching, and she could see the proposal message pop up on the giant billboard, at which point when she turns to you in shock, you can propose in person however you want to add to it (e.g. ring or knees or speech or whatever). That would be a very romantic gesture for someone who likes public proposals, but it is still non-intrusive to those around, and it might even result in some nearby strangers cheering for you both when they realize what is happening, if that is the kind of thing you are going for. It could be fun.

Updated On: 12/17/13 at 12:48 PM

[secondpigeon]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 1:19pm

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 isn't quite Broadway, but its immersive nature makes a public proposal less irksome to the humbugs. I know they've had one proposal--if interested you might try the company manager Jeff Feola: [e-mail]

[Alioschmitz]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 4:16pm

Doesn't First Date do proposals?

I have an acquaintance who proposed to his girlfriend on stage after Once. The audience had already left, so it was intimate. He was kind of a jerk, so the engagement was broken.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=341174712625441&set=a.196534483756132.48189.168505536559027&type=3&theater


Sidenote: I once witnessed a proposal during my small hometown's production of Rocky Horror. The cast and director set it up during The Virgin Games. It was so tacky that it was DELIGHTFUL.

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 12/18/13 at 1:02am

I've always wondered about these public proposals; what if the one being proposed to wants to say no? Wouldn't that be hugely embarrassing? Couldn't this kind of public proposal be a form of bullying?