Accompanist t shirt plus#

Michael Rupert owns a shirt from the show he starred in, The Happy Time, playwright Arthur Bicknell has one for his legendary flop Moose Murders, and composer Walter Marks wears his Golden Rainbow merchandise with pride. I’ve had strangers stop me in the subway and gasp, ‘Where did you get THAT? House of Flowers is my all-time favorite show!!’ It’s a bonding thing, like a team uniform.” Tony Sheldon ( Amelie) loves connecting with other fans of rare musicals: “Tom Judson's brilliant idea of adorning t-shirts with often obscure cult musicals has made it that much easier to recognize members of our tribe.

Accompanist t shirt plus#

I’ve spent so much money on my own t-shirts it’s ridiculous.” He currently charges $26.99 per shirt, plus handling.įans of Broadway are by no means alone in their love of Judson’s products-many of theatre’s brightest stars are proud owners, too. When asked how many are in his personal collection, he responds “Far too many. So, I know the mindset, and people have been so nice when they stumble on the shop and are just so thrilled about it.”Įven Judson can’t own all of the shirts, though. Why does he put in the extra effort? “I would be one of my customers if it were not my job. “She and I have become pen pals,” he said. Striking up a conversation with a woman who bought Ben Franklin in Paris, he found out about her life and interest in theatre. He is always curious to see who else in the world loves the same shows he does.

The thing that makes Judson’s online store more than just a center for theatre memorabilia is the relationship he develops with each of his customers. More than half though, he says, have never sold at all. With the exception of Moose, plays were taboo-after all, how many shirts can you fit on Etsy? Carrie and Merrily We Roll Along proved to be among the most popular designs. What started with Moose Murders and Breakfast at Tiffany’s soon turned into a desire to have a near-complete collection leaving out no logo of a Broadway musical flop. But he longed for the shirts of the shows of yore: “God, wouldn’t it be so cool to wear a t-shirt from Bubbling Brown Sugar?” Soon, he realized he could design his own-and the floodgates opened. (Now? “I can’t afford them!” he remarks.) On returning to his childhood home, he found that his collection had been thrown out. So, how did this latest adventure of Golden Age logo t-shirts begin? It started back in 1970, since Judson collected t-shirts from all the shows he saw. He approaches each adventure with style, intelligence and skill. Unlike Candide, Judson is the master of his fate and thus, the king of reinvention. Busch said of him, “He is like Candide in the wildly different chapters of his life.

Judson also appeared as an actor on Broadway in the 1998 revival of Cabaret and composed music for several films and off-Broadway shows (such as The Confession of Lily Dare for Busch, Brides of the Moon and others). I actually saw quite a bunch of things back then because I lived close enough to…the city.” Shows he saw included future shirt-fodder King of Hearts and Ballroom. “I was just old enough to start taking the bus down to the city on my own…. When he saw his first Broadway show, Hello, Dolly! with Pearl Bailey, he was 14 years old. As an author of several Off-Broadway shows and a long-time accompanist for legendary performer and playwright Charles Busch, Judson has been steeped in theatre his whole life. In fact, the legendary one-performance calamity Moose appeared on shop owner Tom Judson’s first shirt, way back when the idea first came to him. Tom’s Trendy Tees is a five-year-old Etsy shop featuring t-shirts with logos of classic Broadway flops. For many theatregoers, their merch of choice is a t-shirt.īut this presents the question, “what if you didn’t get to see the show?” Well, if Carrie, Moose Murders or Pacific Overtures cannot be added to your theatregoing résumé, look no further. There are only so many ways you can remember it, and one of the most popular options is through a souvenir of some kind.