What show has had the most profound impact on you?- Page 2
What show has had the most profound impact on you?
#25re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 11:02amLES MIZ hands down. The story and music inspired me beyond anything else I had even seen or heard.
"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
HeartandMusic
Featured Actor Joined: 6/11/06
#26re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 11:12am
The first show I ever saw was a community theater production of Really Rosie, and from that moment on I was absolutely in love w/ musical theater.
Gypsy managed to change my life twice. First when I saw the video w/ Bette Midler and it became my favorite show, and then again when I saw it on Broadway (it also happened to be the first musical I EVER saw on Broadway) with Bernadette Peters. Every time I watch that musical or listen to the cast album I fall more and more in love with musical theater. Yes, I know, I know, very corny...but true. : )
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#27re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 11:14am"Renkid." Because it taught me that even if I am a squatter, I deserve love in spite of my greenness.
Twitter @NamoInExile
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#28re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 11:16amI've got to say THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. It was the show that got me into theatre. Up until I saw it for the first time, I had no really big interest or passion ever since I was little. I had a love for old B&W Horror movies, though. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA was one of my favorites. When I heard that there was a musical version of the movie, I HAD to go see it. I waited two full years o get what I wanted, but it was worth every second. What I thought would be a one time thing (Going to see a Broadway show) turned into a hobby, passion and obsession for me. True, I was introduced to other great works, like LES MISERABLES, RENT, THE WOMAN IN WHITE, etc. Also, when I saw it a second time, I realized that it lost something on me. Maybe it was because I hated Sandra Joseph as Christine. But anyways, I will remember it as the show that got me interested in theatre, and gave me passion when I didn't have one.
MARGARET: "Clara, stop that. That's illegal." - The Light in the Piazza
"I'm not in Bambi and I'm not blonde!" - Idina Menzel
"I'm not in Bambi and I'm not blonde!" - Idina Menzel
Aphexis
Stand-by Joined: 8/15/04
#29re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 11:18amCaroline, or Change
canirollerskate
Swing Joined: 12/18/05
#30re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 11:44amThe Light in the Piazza. I saw it a week after they opened. Something incredible was going on with that original cast. I have never seen such a collaborative effort onstage....I just remember being so grateful to be there and so grateful that someone had written a musical that wasn't mocking something or about how high someone could belt. It was about context and line. I will never forget that feeling.
#31re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 12:01pm
The Light in the Piazza was the most moving, life-changing experience I had in the theatre.
The recent revival of Sweeney Todd really introduced me to new ways of staging shows. The original production also had effect on my life.
Chicago (in my opinion, the greatest musical ever written) really introduced me to Kander and Ebb and Fosse who are idols of mine.
Jyn326
Broadway Star Joined: 12/7/05
Christoph
Stand-by Joined: 4/20/06
#33re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 12:16pm
The original production of 42nd Street (although I love the revival as well). I had already seen Evita (loved it) and The King and I (less in love with it), but 42nd Street was the first stage musical to totally blow me away with its songs, dancing and the exuberance of its performers. It was like discovering nirvana. It made me want to become a stage performer - although sadly I am a wretched dancer. To me it was the essence of everything joyful about musical theater. To this day if someone tells me that they hate this show or find it boring, my first thought is always that this is someone who really doesn't like musicals.
Also, the original production of Sweeney Todd (with Angela Lansbury) where I first learned that I could be transported and bowled over by markedly darker material in musical theater.
#34re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 12:56pm
FAME-because i met my partner of 5 years at the stage door when i was in the show,and it was the show what made me want to be in musicals(soooooooo wanted to be a kid from fame hehe)and then i was.
MISS SAIGON-first time i cried at a show
RENT-restored my faith in theatre
TABOO UK-yeah the brits got a show right
FOOTLOOSE-the best fun ive had in a musical
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
#35re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 1:16pmThe first Broadway revival of Pal Joey with Harold Lang, Vivienne Segal, Helen Gallagher and Elaine Stritch. Followed closely by Kismet with Alfred Drake, Doretta Morrow, Joan Diener and Richard Kiley.
#36re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 1:21pm"The Light in the Piazza" is the show that really has impacted me the most. On top of the amazing performances and beautiful music and breathtaking sets, the real clincher for me is seeing a character like Clara take such a big journey. Watching her grow from being so naive and confused and blossoming into this beautiful person who knows what they wants and gets it really showed the magic of theater to me better than any other show I'de ever seen did.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
gustof777
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/8/04
#37re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 1:31pm
Sunday in the Park with George- It just really moved me beyond belief and spoke to me on many different levels about being an artist and what we sacrafice for what we love. I see so much more in it now that I'm older and about to go out on my own and pursue theater. It is an amazing peice about being human and it always holds a specail place in my heart.
Man of LaMancha- I was six and it was the first show my Mom took me to and she didn't think I'd understand it but couldn't afford a babysitter...I loved every minute of it and bawled for most of act two. We got the tape in the lobby and I had the whole show memorized by the next afternoon and thus began my love for the theater :)
also The Pillowman because I didn't know or necessarily believe that a play could hold you or move you like a musical could. I saw it last summer and it was my first broadway play and it was a night that i won't ever forget. Just watching that cast it felt like I was holding my breath for whole scenes. I really felt so close and connected emotionally like it was right there in front of my face. haha I realize that probably makes no sense and I can't describe what I felt that night very well but at the end of that play I was so awestruck I could barely get up and it took me so long before I came down. It was an amazing peice and really opened up my eyes to the power of words and performance and how much they can transport you and move you. and ironically it was in the Booth which was Sunday's theatre as well so it all fits right? :)
RIP Natasha Richardson. ~You were a light on this earth ~
Updated On: 7/4/06 at 01:31 PM
#38re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 1:45pmThe first show that really impacted me was Ragtime. Something about the music just captured my heart. The second show that had an impact on me in more recent years was the recent Gypsy revival. My interest in Stephen Sondheim was perked and I became fascinated with his work and bought the Stephen Sondheim Box set. This led me to my current interest in the ST revival.
Happy...Everything!
Kaye Thompson
thevolleyballer
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
#39re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 2:12pm
Hairspray. Hairspray attracted me to musical theatre, Hairspray led to my first Broadway CD purchase, Hairspray introduced me to performers and attracted me to the city, Hairspray did a lot of things. It was one of the first shows I'd ever really listened to (when it first debuted), aside from Rent, and I consider it the show that made me love musical theatre. That being said, I know of no other show that made me love something so much.
Although Footloose made me really want to dance. :)
#40re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 2:27pm
The show that has had the biggest impact on me is one I know none of you have heard of. It's WHILE CHILDHOOD SLEPT, a musical about the children of the Holocaust. Being able to perform in it was probably the greatest experience of my life and it taught me so much and helped me grow as an artist and as a human being.
THE COLOR PURPLE was such a beautifully touching show. Words can't even describe it. I was such a mess when I saw it... crying like crazy. And as a side note: you don't have to be black to enjoy it. I hate when people think that way or say that. I'm white, yet it was still a wonderful experience that I wouldn't trade for anything.
Even though BARE: A POP OPERA doesn't have the best score, and is a little over-dramatic, I liked it because of the subject matter. I relate to Peter, struggling with his mother, and the church... only not to the same extreme.
All of these shows deal with prejudice, racism, etc. and overcoming them. They're about keeping your dignity, discovering who you are, and accepting others for being themselves. As a homosexual, "in a world that's quick to judge" (I threw that in for all of you BARE fans) you because of your lifestyle, and as a person growing up around bigoted, close-minded people, I believe whole-heartedly in all of these things. I believe as artists, it is our job to communicate these morals through our work, and these three pieces attempt to do that.
"I believe that art does not exist only to entertain, but also to challenge one to think, to provoke, even to disturb, to engage in a constant search for the truth."
- Barbra Streisand
gustof777
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/8/04
#41re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 3:55pm
bwayboi4life42 I completley forgot about BARE!!! and it's my avatar for crying outloud...and while I didn't get to see it. The music in it and everything about it was incredibly moving and had the show gotten to move on and I got to see it then it definitley would have been on my list...so sad 
RIP Natasha Richardson. ~You were a light on this earth ~
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#42re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 4:38pmWEST SIDE STORY. This show has everything I could want to see and hear in a show.
#43re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 4:43pm
I saw a tour of PETER PAN with Cathy Rigby. It was my first theatrical experience, I was like 8 years old, and it was amazing. I did not want to be there at first--my grandmother (who bought the tickets) also got one of the souvenier programs and it had images of the cave scene and the whole idea of a darkened stage with fog and creepy people--it did not appeal to me. But Gram made a bargain. We'll sit through the first fifteen minutes--if I didn't like it after that, we could leave. Well, needless to say, the curtain went up and I was completely enthralled and engaged. I mean, she flew out OVER THE AUDIENCE at the end and threw FAIRY DUST on us!! It was life-changing. I really attribute my love of the theatre to my Gram. She took me to lots of great production.
Oh, and TAKE ME OUT. It was an amazing piece of theatre. I'd love to do it! (I wanna play Mason.)
whatever and ever amen - ben folds five
#44re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 4:49pm
RENT- I found it at a time when I was very sick and going through a lot. It gave me a place to turn too and a new community of people to reach out too. It also really pushed me head on into theatre.
Yeah, sounds a bit hokey but I can't help it.
"Without Jews, fags, and gypsies, there is no theatre!"
~Mel Brooks, To be or not to be
Updated On: 7/4/06 at 04:49 PM
#45re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 5:18pm
The Beautiful Game : Never in my life have I cried so much during a show while looking at a nearly empty stage with barely no sound at that time. It is IMHO Lloyd Webber's best show.
Les Misérables : Saw it in 1980 or 1981 as a small child as it was my brother's bday present. It changed my life
In my heart, I found the answered dream,
and in my soul I found the song, and in my friends
I found the magic, the love,
the moon up above- they were mine, all mine, all along..!
Practically Perfect
Leading Actor Joined: 3/10/05
#46re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 5:23pm
Sunset Boulevard - I was 8 years old, and Elaine Paige just inspired me - I was in awe of her. The whole experience was incredibly moving, and has made a massive impact on me.
The Light In The Piazza - as corny and lame as it may sound, this show taught me a lot about understanding other people, and the importance of following your heart. I was an emotional wreck after the show.
Mary Poppins - it was my favourite film as a child, and to see the characters come to life on stage was wonderful. I really felt a connection with the Banks family - I could see uncanny similarities to my family - which was inviting, and comforting.
Mary P x
#47re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 5:25pmPeter Pan and Brooklyn the musical.
"I never had theatre producers run after me. Some people want to make more Broadway shows out of movies. But Elliot and I aren't going to do Batman: The Musical." - Julie Taymor 1999
Isabella2
Broadway Star Joined: 10/6/05
#48re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 5:27pm
Passion
Updated On: 9/6/06 at 05:27 PM
SweetQintheLights
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/12/05
#49re: What show has had the most profound impact on you?
Posted: 7/4/06 at 5:40pm
Avenue Q
I saw other Broadway shows when I was little but in 2003, my mom randomly asked me if I wanted to see it. I wasn't doing anything for that week so I said yes. We weren't sure we could get tickets but...we did.
I have NEVER laughed so hard in my whole entire life. I have trouble staying focused but Avenue Q kept my attention like nothing else. It's so true and real to life...and in a funny sarcastic manner.
It's Avenue Q that brought me to love Broadway and also, since seeing Avenue Q, I love to act and be on stage.
"How bout a little black dress?"~hannahshule
"I have a penis, not a vagina." ~munkustrap178
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