i remember two years ago, going to see the nutcracker with my 6 year old daughter. we dressed up in fancy dresses and had hot chocolate. she was so excited and so was i. this was our first "grown-up" thing to do together. i thought it was going to make her feel like a big girl. the show started and as soon as she saw the men in tights turn around. she started laughing and said, "momma, this should be called the butt-cracker, not the nutcracker". i almost died. she said it soooo loud. but it was one of those memories that i wouldn't trade for anything. now, she's almost nine and i've been telling her about cats. i promised her i would try to get tickets this year. she loves the song memory. i'm hoping this will be another good memory for us both.
thanks orpheum!
 

One of my favorite Orpheum memories is when my family and I went to go see The Lion King. As soon as the curtain went up and Rafiki started singing, I got chills running down my back because I knew that this was going to be an AMAZING show. The amazing sets and costumes really make you feel as if you are in the African savannas.
The actors and actresses really make the show come alive with the beautiful harmonies and the authentic choreography! BUT the one thing I will always remember is at the beginning of act 2 is when they had those exotic birds flying around! I was on the aisle so i was sitting right next to a preformer with the HUGE puppets! She smiled at us while she was singing along with the cast, and then i realized: I want to be an actor someday so I can share these amazing stories that only the theater can give :]
 

To sort of celebrate our engagement, my hubby & I went to see CATS at the Orpheum (I believe this was 1993). Neither of us had been to the Orpheum before and we were both so impressed with the Theatre. The show was amazing, our seats were great, and the theatre was gorgeous. Since then we try to see most of our favorite shows there (we live between Memphis & Nashville).


Recently, we took a group of teenaged girls there to see RENT. My hubby and I have seen it twice at the Orpheum (the very first time I saw, and fell in love with Rent, was at the Orpheum). In my opinion, it's the BEST place to see Rent- even better than seeing it on Broadway- which I have.

 

When I was 17, I experienced a major shock when I was reading the birthday section of a Time magazine and discovered that my favorite actress, Hayley Mills, wasn't MY age but actually FOURTEEN years older than me! For some reason I didn't realize all those Disney features I watched as a kid were actually re-runs from several years earlier. I was in shock for awhile.
My goodness, she was soooooo gorgeous and that sexy British accent was "to die for"! WHEW!!!

Fast forward twenty years later, and I see in the paper that The King And I is appearing at the Orpheum, and who was in the leading female role but the one and only HAYLEY MILLS!!! I was on the phone quicker than a duck on a junebug, and managed to get a seat in the middle of the fifth row for one of the performances. I sat mesmerized through the entire show as my beloved Hayley, now 51, was just as beautiful and talented as ever (and she still had that sexy accent!). I still have the ticket stub from that evening, and I find it hard to believe that was almost ten years ago.
The time continues to fly by, but I still have my memories! :-)
 

The very fist concert I attened was Tori Amos at the Orpheum Theatre. It was an amazing concert. I never thought that so many people could be in the same room and yet have it feel like we all were so very close to the stage.

 

The first time I saw CATS was when I took my 6 year old daughter to the Orpheum. We were lucky to get an aisle seat and when one of the CATS cast entered the theatre he came down the aisle where my daughter & I were seated and he took her hand to give her a handshake.
What a surprise to the CATS character when she wouldn't let go! It took him a few seconds to wriggle his hand loose from hers and scamper up to the stage; we all got a good laugh out of it afterwards, but I was a little worried she was going to pull his paw off! Since that show, my daughter has always been a fan of CATS and she is now a mom with a 6 year old daughter -- so of course, we would love tickets once again! And she has already mentioned that she would love to get lucky and get aisle seats once again!!
 

My mother had raved and raved about Lion King. She had seen it a couple of times already and was certain my eight-year-old son would fall in love with it. Naturally, as we got seated, my son looked at me, and, being the "manly-man" he believed himself to be, he grimaced... "This is NOT going to be any fun!" he informed me. When the music started, I began to cry. I LOVE experiences such as those, and I was already blown away. We were fortunate enough to have floor seats, and the animals were walking right next to my son. By the time the show was over, he was grinning from ear to ear and said, "I want to watch that again! That was amazing!" While I hold no illusions he will be anywhere near as excited about musicals in years to come, those five seconds were the proudest I had been in quite some time. To share something so wonderful and magical with a boy who is more interested in being the "Karate Kid" than ever listening to or watching anyone sing or dance, it brought me closer to him in a way he may never understand. As much as he loves cats, I would love to share this experience with him, also.
Even if I don't win, thank you for the opportunity!
 

I feel like, since High School, The Orpheum has been a meaningful part of my life. Some of the performances that I've seen there have brought tears to my eyes. The one that I enjoyed the most was Beauty and the Beast. When it came, I was involved with a workshop and got to see some of the backstage "magic" and how it happened. It was amazing being able to feel like a bigger part of the performance because I knew what was going on behind the scenes. I hope that you guys still do those workshops for students, I thought it was amazing. Thanks for that.

 

My very first date was to see Cats at the orpheum in 1988!!!!
 

My 1st and only Orpheum experience was last year's Lion King. It was absolutely amazing!! The entrance at the start of the performance was so powerful that it put chills on my arms and tears in my eyes. The theatre was beautiful.
I can't wait for another experience!
 

Thank you to everyone who entered our contest for CATS tickets! The stories are amazing, and we would love to be able to contact some of you throughout the year as a follow up during this 80th anniversary year.

Congratulations to Erin for winning the drawing for tickets!

For everyone else, please check out our site for information on tickets. And, especially for those of you with children, please keep in mind that the performance at 7:00 pm on Sunday, June 22 will be Kid's Night on Broadway. There will be activities before the show, like coloring stations and face painting. And children receive one free ticket when an adult ticket is purchased at regular price. Certain restrictions apply, so please contact our box office at 901.525.3000 for information.

Thanks again for your wonderful nostalgia and ongoing support!
 

Since the third grade (I'm 25 now - so a while back!) my Dad bought the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack for my Mom, but I fell in love with it the first time he played it on his huge stereo. I followed the story and read all of the books and knew everything I could know about it. When I was in High School, the Orpheum did their huge renovation to prepare for their new season - which included the Phantom of the Opera! I was so excited I was almost in tears - I HAD to go see it! My Dad bought us tickets in the upper mezzanine and it was a beautiful show, I could see it all! A few days later my Mom secretly surprised me with Orchestra seats and I got to see it again! At that performance, I stayed by the Performers exit to see if I could get Brian Little (Phantom of the Opera), but after a while, one of the other performers asked who I was waiting for and said that since he had a lot of make up on that it would be a long time.
So she took it in for me and had him sign it! I was SO happy! Little did I know, my Dad has also bought one of the posters signed by the entire cast as a surprise! I still have it in my room to this day =0) It was such an amazing memory and I'll never forget it!
 

I remember in elementary school...I went the Orpheum Theatre for the first time. My class went on a field trip to see the Nutcracker. I didnt know much about it at the time. I enjoyed every moment. It was like actually being there with them. At that time I realized how much dancing, laughing, tears, and music can move you in so many ways. I remember going home and tellling my parents about this giant place I went too and they had all these pretty lights and interesting things on the stage. Thank you Orpheum Theatre for introducing me to a live stage play for the very first time.