Despite having five season subscriptions, Evans only recently became a Season Ticket Holder last year. “Even though we’ve attended (National Touring Broadway) performances before, this was the first time we’d gotten season tickets,” Evans said.

She was certainly surprised to learn that she had been randomly selected as the sweepstakes winner. “Well, first of all, I didn’t believe that I actually won something. I was kind of in shock when I got the email,” Evans said. After she confirmed that she did indeed win, Broadway Across America helped coordinate her travel arrangements and secure an additional ticket for her son to attend. She knew he would enjoy watching the show’s finale because he is already developing a love for the theatre. The family added a couple of days to their trip to take him to Disneyland for the first time.

They arrived at the finale taping in the early afternoon of Sunday, March 25, and watched as they pre-taped segments of the show in preparation for the live finale. During breaks, the staff played games with the audience to keep them entertained. “We’d never been to a live taping or any taping of a nationally broadcast show and that was really neat to see everything that goes on behind the scenes,” Evans said. Their seats were behind the area where the finalists were interviewed. Upon watching a recording of the finale when they returned home, Evans realized that Jackson had gotten his fifteen seconds of fame; “As they were interviewing Ashley (one of the finalists) you could see his little head bobbing behind her,” Evans said.

All of Evans’ friends and acquaintances could not believe that she’d won the Broadway Across America sweepstakes. Even though the winners, Laura Osnes and Max Crumm, had been determined the week before the finale, “Everyone kept saying ‘vote for Laura and Max’ and they won so I figured they had the pulse of the nation and picked the winners,” she explained.

In addition to seeing the “GREASE: You’re the One That I Want” finale, the Evans family will also receive tickets to see the show when it opens in New York. Not only will GREASE officially arrive on Broadway on August 16, but the Evans are also expecting their own arrival around the same date – another son. So their trip to see Laura and Max in action as Danny and Sandy in New York will have to be postponed for a bit. But in the meantime, Evans is beyond thrilled that she was the winner of the sweepstakes. “It was just a fantastic experience. We had a blast,” she reminisced. “It’s something we would have never done or been able to do without you guys.”

By: Beth Cox