CORY'S BROADWAY DEBUT: A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

There are no words. Of all the blog posts I have written, I have the most to say and yet can't find adequate words to describe what tonight was like. It was a once in a lifetime experience, even more rare than that. Our son, not yet 10 years old, took the stage at the Winter Garden theater, in the Broadway Musical School of Rock, and NAILED IT! HE ROCKED THE HOUSE! We had no idea Cory could do half of what he did on that stage tonight.

At about 1:00pm Cory was ready to get going. We still had a few hours, but he started getting ready. He showered and got dressed, putting on jeans and a button down shirt willingly. I guess he wanted to look good for his fans. Ryan came home early from camp and by 4:15pm we were on the road to NYC. Cory chose Chipotle for dinner (although Uncle Adam was pushing Dos Toros! Next time!). We had a quiet dinner, just the three of us, while Beca headed over to Rosie O'Grady's with Ryan to meet up with about 40 of our family and friends. 

At 5:45pm we walked over to the stage door, Cory didn't seem nervous, mostly giddy with excitement! And at 5:50pm in he went. And that was it. We had just dropped him off for his first official Broadway show and the next time we would see Cory was when the curtain came up and he was on stage.

Cory being greeted before the show at the stage
door by Jersey Sullivan. Jersey completed
his last show as James on Sunday and
tonight passedthe baton to Cory!

Sophie, a member of the cast, embracing
Cory on the way into his first show.

Cory with Rachel (plays Katie)

We headed over to Rosie O'Grady's to meet up with the group and were greeted with loud applause and cheers. Absent of Cory, Josh and I were the celebrities to our family and friends. And let's face it, there was enough nervous energy and excitement, people had to let it out somehow!

6:30pm it was time to go to the theater. From this point forward it is really hard to describe what the
feelings were. Seeing Cory's name on the billing poster outside the theater, on the company board inside the theater lobby and then .....then.....seeing his photo and bio in the playbill, well it was simply surreal and amazing. We all settled into seats. I must have read his bio 100 times, even though I wrote it. Josh and I kept looking at each other saying, "is this really happening right now?" The bells rang, the lights dimmed and we were off.

The first scene that takes place with the students of Horace Green Prep comes about 15 minutes into the show. And there he was! Cory....our Cory....Cory Logan was on the Winter Garden stage, in costume, makeup, and character and he looked AWESOME! "Holy Cow", "Oh My God", "Look at Him, LOOK AT HIM!!!". That's pretty much how the next 2.5 hours went. With some tears of joy, and general
astonishment and amazement, we watched Cory and the entire cast give an unbelievable performance to a packed house. To say we were proud is an understatement. Josh and I both are bursting and beaming with joy and pride. We also feel an incredible sense of humility to be afforded this opportunity and to have such wonderful family and friends, both life long friends and new friends, to share this with. We are very blessed.

I won't give away too many details about the show because we'd love for you all to come see it! (Reminder, Cory does 8 shows a week!)

After the show, we went out to the stage door where Cory and his cast mates came out to loads of screams and cheers and Cory went right to work on the autograph line. He was diligent to make sure he signed each and every playbill, talking to and interacting with all of his fans. He seemed so grown up and like such a natural as if he had been doing this forever. Josh and I were clearly newbies as we continued to freak out in disbelief and excitement!

From left to right:
Amadai (Tamika), Troy (Mason), Cory (James), Levi (Freddy)

Following the stage door madness, which lasted about 40 minutes, we all headed to the Playwright Tavern for the after party. With about 150 people in attendance, there was no shortage of congratulations and good wishes. All of the kids came to celebrate the debut of the new kids in the cast and many of the adult cast and crew were there as well! It was a great party and a great way to cap off the evening. At about 11:15pm it was time to call it a night because.....Cory will be doing this all over again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day. Tomorrow he has rehearsal followed by a 7:00pm show and then a matinee on Wednesday before he gets a day off.

Eric Peterson, who plays Dewey, with kids from the cast.

This is our new normal, although I don't know that it will ever quite feel normal to have our son performing on Broadway. We're going to try and settle in to whatever the new schedule is (which we still will only get on Sundays!) and take it one day at a time. I'm headed back to the show tomorrow and then I'll take a break for a while. Thank you all for supporting us during this crazy and exciting time! More to come.