I was staying in Frisco for a ski trip this February and while I'm not one to go into an antique store (first time in my 55 years), this place looked interesting.
Wow! The owners are recovering Broadway professionals - Peter was the prop master for a ton of shows and half their shop are props used in actual Broadway shows. Looking at the items in their store came with the most fascinating stories.
For instance, his store has a typewriter used in a former show and the actor would pound it so hard that he kept breaking them. A little stressed about keeping it in working order, a peer said that Tom Hanks is a typewriter fan and was starring across the street in another musical. Peter said, "I can't ask Tom Hanks for help." His friend said, "Trust me, he' will want to talk to you." So Peter went across the street and told the stage manager that he had a typewriter question and Tom took the meeting. Tom said, "I would LOVE to fix these - but there's no way I could walk across the street without getting mugged. However, if you bring them here, I'd be happy to fix them." So this is what he did. And, interestingly enough, when the actor heard that Tom Hanks was fixing the typewriters he was breaking, he stopped pounding on them so hard.
Anyway, he had the Crest of Arendelle from the Frozen musical. My niece is a Disney fanatic and has seen this on stage. It's the most expensive thing I've ever bought for her, but how could I turn this down? But what really put this over the top is that a week later, Peter sent me an e-mail explaining the history of the piece, how it was used on set, etc., and then send a few photos of it on stage during a performance.
Anyway, even if you go to browse, if you like theater, it's worth listening to their stories. But beware that you may find something that you just have to have!
The next time I'm in Frisco, I'm 100% stopping back. read more