I am super excited to share another Backstage Sessions interview with all of you featuring one of my favorite Broadway dresser babes, Ashley Timm! I thought December was an appropriate month to post this interview, because the classic show Ashley is currently working on, Cats, closes at the end of the month. We met years ago through my bestie LJ and really bonded when she started working with me as a swing dresser at the musical Aladdin. I adore Ashley because she is hilarious, incredibly kind, inspires me to live my best life and gives the best bear hugs. I hope you all enjoy Ashley's interview and taking a little peek backstage at the Neil Simon Theatre!

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.