How broadway made me smarter!!

[Popular]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:51am

Today I saw someone spell Oklahoma as "oaklahoma". After rolling my eyes I thought to myself, any idiot would know how to spell that if they were into broadway! I must admit, Ragtime taught me a bit of history, and that's just one example....anyone else get smarter thanks to musicals? Updated On: 3/10/05 at 01:51 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:54am

Every time I need to spell Oklahoma, I sing the song in my head. Yes, I'm a loser. Thanks.

[LaeloftheLakes]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:58am

Not gonna lie: Was Aunt Eller my junior year, and it took me FOREVER to learn to do it right.

[Popular]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 2:02am

luvtheemcee - no, no! See that's what I mean! Knowing the song makes you smarter :)

[shira467]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 2:06am

Les Miserables - inspired an obsession with the French Revolution

Evita - I understand a bit more about Argentina now

Scarlet Pimpernel - Well, I learned about the Scarlet Pimpernel

Jane Eyre (by cast recording, but still) - Because I was too lazy to finish the book

Assassins - I learned about, well, many assassinations...

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 2:10am

Because I am a Joseph fan, I can name all of Jacob's sons in Bible class

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 2:48am

Assassins.
Hair.
1776.
Godspell.
Miss Saigon.
Les Mis.
Shenandoah.
Ragtime.
The King and I.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 2:49am

now i can predict with alaming accuracy the exact date idina menzel will get her period.

[IMsooHyprToday]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 4:05am

every time i get a new cast recording i learn a couple new words. RENT affected my vocabulary forever. and with urinetown i learned the words "defication" and "throng" (among others...)

[ScottInLA]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 6:57am

> ...period

Oh god, I actually snorted at that one.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 12:39pm

Thanks to "The Last 5 Years", I now use words such as 'tsuris' and 'exacerbates' on a regular basis.

[Jon]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 2:12pm

I know how many minutes there are in a year. I know how to pronounce the name of the guy who killed President McKinley.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 2:28pm

Watching "Annie" obsessively as a kid taught me how to spell Mississippi. "M-I-double S-I-double S-I-double P-I."

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 2:31pm

I know all about things now, like how not to get a man (with a gun), how it's hard to say no (and I cain't) and such like.

[The Grovers Corners Yenta]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 7:43pm

I also played Aunt Eller in a production. I am a very good speller and even I had trouble with this one.

[CatieElphie1]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 7:54pm

--Learned how many minutes there were in a year
--Learned how to spell Oklahoma
--Learned the story of Joseph..and his brothers, ect.
--Learned about the French revolution
--Learned enough about Hitler and WWII to pass an honors history essay about Hitler's rise to power

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 8:10pm

everything I know about American history is due to Ragtime...

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 8:16pm

in history class we made up a song: Massachusetts sung to the tune of oklahoma, now we know how to spell

[zippyjen]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 8:20pm

bway can teach you a lot! 1776 anyone? who know ben wanted the turky as our national bird? lol.

[bwayballerina]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 8:37pm

Oh man, I can name about a zillion musicals...
1776
The King and I
Oklahoma
Ragtime (CD, synopsis and part of script only, but still...)
The Sound of Music
Rent
Les Miserables
Evita
Miss Saigon
Showboat (what little I know of it)
Anything Goes (think of the song "Anything Goes"... it talks about the changing ways of society/culture in the 1920s)

I was also in a "politically correct" minstrel show and a melodrama one summer, so musical theatre has taught me about entertainment in the late 1800s/early 1900s... enough so I could write an extra credit report in eighth grade social studies that got me an A+ and a special award :)

Hooray for Broadway's Educational-ness!

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 9:13pm

Thoroughly Modern Millie taught me a lot about flappers, so I was the only one in the class who knew about stuff like speakeasies.
Little Women sorta taught me history...
Assassins taught me about assassinations.
Pal Joey taught me vocabulary.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 9:16pm

Cats taught me that my cat is actually a person.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 9:57pm

I think I've learned a little too much from musical theatre, actually.

I distinctly remember a conversation in a literature class (freshman year of college, I believe) in which I said, "So this is after 'Hello, Dolly!', but before 'Thoroughly Modern Millie'... What is that? Like, 'Ragtime'?" I have never gotten stranger looks...

[MatureDignity]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 10:09pm

I got more sex education from listening to RENT than anything they were teaching me in middle school.

[BroadwayDiva]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 10:11pm

I agree completely with MatureDignity. I learned WAY more from RENT than I did in school.