Posted: 3/27/25 at 11:37am
For me, it was getting to see the original production of A CHORUS LINE when I finally felt like I was in the right audience, and then a million shows since then. I think I'll always look fondly back on the 1980s though, and getting to see the original casts of LES MIS, PHANTOM and so many others.
Posted: 3/27/25 at 11:44am
Being taken to see films, the circus and other types of live performances as a toddler seasoned me early on. My love of Broadway and live theater emerged when I saw my very first show on Broadway - the original 1972 Broadway production of Bob Fosse’s PIPPIN. Watching those visual scene transitions and a full on story being told live just sucked me in forever and I was blessed to have folks that frequently went to NYC every year (I grew up in South Florida) and who indulged me allowed me to see countless now-famous original Broadway casts in now classic shows throughout the 1970s and on.
Posted: 3/27/25 at 11:56am
I've been involved in theatre and choir off and on since I was a kid, but I got involved with community theatre after I moved back to my home town when I was looking for something to occupy myself in between looking a decent job after college, and eventually watching or participating in theatre around my area developed into my main pastime.
Posted: 3/27/25 at 12:50pm
…
Updated On: 3/27/25 at 12:50 PM
Posted: 3/27/25 at 1:03pm
My love for Theatre started with my Parents. I grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY, and my mom is from Yonkers and Dad was from Poughkeepsie, so as kids they went into the city to see shows. When they got together and married, they would go down to the city and saw some very famous producitons, like the original cast of La Cage, Dreamgirls, The Wiz, Dracula..etc...all the big shows of the late 70's early 80's
My first exposure to theater was at our local theater, seeing Children's Theater put on Fairy Tales or Annie. But, for my eighth birthday, my parents got us tickets for my first broadway show...Steven Sondheim's Into the Woods. It was the original cast, but with Phlycia Rashad, and that's really what started my love of theater. I totally remember it to this day, sitting on the extra cushion in the orchestra, so I could see in above the people in front me. I know living in Chicago, I try to see as much as I can, whether it's in a huge theater or a basement that seats 20 people. There's something about the community aspect I love about theater, and that it is such an actor's medium.
Posted: 3/27/25 at 1:50pm
I took piano lessons from third grade all through high school. When I was a junior and senior, I had a piano teacher who also taught voice and I would accompany some of her voice students in recitals or rehearsals. In the mid-late '80s, a couple of her students started singing "I Dreamed a Dream" and "On My Own" from Les Mis, and I fell in love with those melodies. I got the London cast recording and played it obsessively. I finally got a chance to see it on Broadway in 1989, and seeing the full production, sitting in the same space and breathing the same air with an audience witnessing a particular performance that would only happen once, was thrilling for me. I've been hooked on the immediacy of live theater ever since.
Posted: 3/27/25 at 2:10pm
I grew up during the Disney Renaissance and their animated films and scores were everything to me. I would sing them at the top of my lungs and play pretend to be many a character from them.
Because of my love of Disney, my aunt took me to my first show on Broadway - Beauty and the Beast. I'll never forget it. Andrea McCardle [of Annie fame] was Belle and Stephen Blanchard was the Beast and the whole production just had me captivated. My aunt said I was like transfixed and even when she'd try to whisper to me I was completely locked in.
It's been pretty much that way ever since. I see shows all over - Broadway, tours, regional, etc. The magic of live theater is so important and special to me.
