I am absolutely thrilled to introduce you all to Catherine Charlebois for the inaugural On The Road interview! I first met Catherine backstage at Wicked on Broadway almost four years ago. At the time I had just started working as a swing dresser at Wicked and she was my very first Nessarose. (Elphaba's little sister AKA the Wicked Witch of the West) Catherine is as gracious as she is gorgeous and has a fabulous fashion blog called Charlebois Chic. 

The idea for this new blog series struck my like a blot of lightning one afternoon and I have been obsessed with working on it ever since. I was inspired to start On The Road because I first fell in love with theater thanks to my parents and grandparents taking me to see touring productions of Broadway musicals in my hometown.

The Lunt Fontanne Theatre opened on January 10, 1910, and was originally named the Globe Theatre to honor Shakespeare's famous playhouse in London. Charles Dillingham, a legendary American producer, had the theatre built. Dillingham was an extremely lavish man and wanted the theatre to be a representation of himself. He hired the architects Carrere and Hastings to create what most consider to be one of the most amazing theaters architecturally on Broadway. The architects got creative with this project and built in cooling and heating vents under each seat. My favorite fun fact about this theatre is that it is the only theatre in the history of Broadway to be built with a retractable roof. Insane right!? Theater historians have never found any evidence that the roof was ever opened, and during its restoration, the opening was sealed shut, but I still love knowing that it's there.

The other day I was wondering which Broadway theatre still standing now was the oldest… So I did some serious research and made a list! Granted, over the decades many of these theatre's names have changed several times and all of the really old buildings have undergone major reconstruction and restoration, but they are in the same spots their original structures stood on.I hope some of you enjoy this list and sorry I’m not sorry for being a mega nerd. If you're as interested in this stuff as I am, then I highly recommend checking out the website Spotlight on Broadway. I just love theater history, am obsessed with New York, and feel inspired whenever I walk into one of these beautiful theatres. 

I am super pumped about this installment of Backstage Sessions featuring my dear friend Bonnie! We first met backstage at Aladdin in 2015 when I started working there at a swing dresser. She has been a faithful friend through my many emotional highs and lows. The summer LJ and I spent dressing the Female Ensemble along side her in the Bunker of Love at the New Amsterdam Theatre was one of the best times of my life. Bonnie inspires me because of how passionate she is about her job and how deeply she loves others. She happily took me on the coolest backstage tour at Anastasia and completely blew her interview questions out of the water. This post is honestly my favorite post to date and I just know you guys are all going to love her!!