The Show Must Go On Again

 

TigerBlog has always been a sports fan. 

Some of his earliest memories are from sporting events of the late 1960's. What else has he also always been a fan of in addition to sports? 

Theater. Specifically musical theater. Some of his earliest memories are attending Broadway shows with his brother and parents. He definitely remembers all of the hours spent in the car with his family when his parents would listen to show tunes. "Fiddler on the Roof." "Oklahoma." "South Pacific." "West Side Story." He heard so many of the great classics so many times, and they're still to this day committed to his memory.

TB has written about the connection before, often in fact. Putting a show on the stage and a team on the field have a great deal in common.

They both require lots of practice. They require teamwork. They require a cast, or a lineup, where everyone knows his or her role and executes that role to the betterment of the whole. They both put their finished product out front for an audience to observe and offer positive or negative response.

The major difference, of course, is that in sports, somebody wins and somebody loses. Score is kept. In theater, the goal is simply entertainment, but hey, other than that they're both very similar. 

There are really only three musicals that TB has seen since his childhood that he's really liked. Loved, actually.

Two of them are easy to guess - "Les Miserables" and "Phantom of the Opera." Those are among the absolute greatest musicals ever put on the stage, and TB loved both from the first time he saw them.

The other one? "Wicked." If you've never seen it, then you should definitely go, for more than one reason.

First, the story is pure genius. It's "The Wizard Of Oz," only it's told from the idea that maybe the Wicked Witch Of The West was just a misunderstood woman who had a really, really rough life. Second, the music is incredible. 

And lastly, and most importantly, there's the guy who's currently playing the male lead in the Broadway production. That would be Sam Gravitte, Princeton Class of 2017.

Gravitte was a four-year letterwinner for the men's lacrosse team. He played at various times every longstick and shortstick defensive position, and he played them all very well, in a very unsung way. 

He finished his career with 28 caused turnovers and 100 ground balls, as well as three goals and an assist. He is very much one of Princeton head coach Matt Madalon's favorite kind of players - big, fast, strong, fearless.

Gravitte was a record-setting running back at Ridgefield High School in Connecticut who scored 23 touchdowns as a senior and had more than 400 career points in football. He also comes from a big-time theater family, as both his father Beau and mother Debbie have both had huge careers in show biz. Debbie Gravitte is in fact a Tony Award winner for Best Actress in a Musical. They don't just give those away.

Sam has a rare combination of exceptional athletic talent and exceptional theatrical talent. As such, he starred on the McCarter stage while at Princeton, including playing the male lead in "Once." After graduation he toured with the national company of "Wicked" before landing on Broadway for the first time in late 2019.

By the spring of 2020, he was playing Fiyero (the lead) on Broadway. And then the pandemic hit, and Broadway was shut down.

Before it was, TB had a chance to see Sam, and he can say that he was flat-out incredible. It was one of the most impressive things TB has ever seen, a Princeton lacrosse alum playing the lead in a Broadway musical. For all of the impressive accomplishments of Princeton athletes through their post-graduate careers, Gravitte's work as a Broadway star is up there with anything.

It doesn't hurt that Gravitte is also one of the most likeable athletes TB has met at Princeton. He's just a superb all-around young man, someone who is the perfect teammate, first in lacrosse, where he played whatever position the team needed, and now in theater, where he worked his way from the chorus to the lead.

And now you can see him again on Broadway. Gravitte is back as Fiyero, as the theaters reopened yesterday. 

TB couldn't find any video of Gravitte on Broadway, but he did find this from when he was with the touring company. It's not the greatest quality video, but it gives you a sense of what he is capable of on the stage (and should make you want to go watch him if you're in the New York area):