I had been interested in acting, and my first favorite movies were The Wiz and Bye Bye Birdie.
I actually watched them both recently, and they're really not that good.
Anywho, when I was about 13, maybe? Around 2000, I think, I was helping to cook dinner, and the Ragtime special on PBS came on, and I was HOOKED. I then began to, uh, acquire... the rest of the soundtrack, and eventually bought the two-CD OBCR. It was all I listened to for about 2 months. That special did me in, actually. Because, I was so intrigued at seeing black people singing GORGEOUSLY. Perhaps subconciously I thought that black people didn't work on Broadway, and this was like an awakening for me. Well... don't get me started on black people and Broadway...
Anywho, I thank RAGTIME for starting it all. And starting it off with taste, I might say. By the time I got to Rent and Les Mis, I could tell you their faults, and knew there was MUCH better out there.
My first Broadway show was Music Man with Eric McCormack, and I don't remember much, except that it was MAGICAL. I sat there with the biggest smile on my face. It's a shame I'm such snob these days.
Personally, I think I have too much bloom.