Shows/Theatrical Experiences That Changed You as a Theatregoer

It goes without saying a certain British import's first Los Angeles engagement in 1988, which I attended at age 11 in 1989, was what did it for me. It was a delayed reaction, though. I sat there, watching this incredible thing unfold in front of me, and aside from being unusually quiet and pensive on the way home, I exhibited no sign of someone who had just been overwhelmingly moved...and intrigued.

I realize now that the initial intrigue and fascination led me to seek answers in other shows as well as in finding out more and researching the creative teams. I gained a real appreciation for theatrical approaches in storytelling and all its myriad, uniquely crafted elements in writing and design work that are specific to the art form. I eventually realized that theatre's way of presenting things was more real than reality in how it impacted me, even in its shameless fakery. So, I'm happily hooked.

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Orchestrations!!!!

There.

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I was an actor long before I was an audience member: both in school as an elementary student being chosen for the Jr High's musical production (they always used little kids in one number) as well as in my living room.

My parents had a strange collection of OBC Recordings that I would listen to and act out in the living room. The two that stick out in my head: The Rothchilds and Two by Two. (Sure, they were predominantly men, but that didn't seem to deter me!)

I never stopped performing in musicals. And I got more knowledge from movies -- West Side Story was the one that we (as teenagers) watched religiously.

I actually HATED my first ACTUAL Broadway show. The original run of Grease. (Near the end of its run.) I just hated it. (I still can't stand the show.)

Other than those begining experiences, however, I can't any shsow has actully CHANGED me. Made me think and feel, sure -- but not actually changed me in any recognizable tangible way. I'm sure intrinsically there are changes -- just like every experience we have makes us who we are.

Are there shows that I can point to and think, "THAT'S why I love theater?" Yes, many -- and I truly feel that theater is closest thing to a religious experince as I've ever had.

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Updated On: 8/2/12 at 07:54 AM

PETER PAN with Cathy Rigby. This was the first musical, professional or amateur, that I ever saw. I was 9 years old. Before then, I was like any other 3rd grader, who only cared about candy and other stupid things. After that night, I was hooked on musical theater. Those tickets were a birthday present from my Nana because I loved the Peter Pan movie, and that one present changed my entire life.

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A Chorus Line

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

Sleep No More

The first musical I ever saw was a touring production of Anne Of Green Gables at Hamilton Place. I was seven, and my mom, grandma and I went. I sat there enthralled at the house lifted in and out, and they danced with ice cream. I was hooked. However the most moving moment I remember is one I had the opportunity to work on... a local production of Cabaret, and being on stage to help move a set piece as each night we rolled like a steam train from the song Cabaret on through to the heartbreaking conclusion. It changed me, and was the realist theatre moment I have ever experienced.

Even though I had seen many before it, the show that changed me as a theatregoer had to be the recent revival of WIT.

I felt smacked across the face by that show because A) it gave me a perspective into the thoughts of the cancer patient and the scenes at the very end showing Dr. Bearing's decline painfully reminded me of my grandmother's own death from colon cancer two years before. The tears in the rear mezzanine were audible, including those of my own parents.

Also, on a personal level, it told me that human connection is a wonderful and universal thing. Being intelligent, cold, and calculated in my own way led me down a very lonely road and this shook me and told me that I should warm up to others a bit more.

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