Which Broadway show has changed you forever and why?

[Phantom2]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:01pm

Theatre impacts life in so many ways. Which show has made you think about things differently than before, changed the way you acted towards others or influenced your goals and aspirations?

Discuss.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:12pm

Well, when I saw "The Phantom of the Opera" when I was 7 (my first play ever probably), that was kind of the start of my theater obsession. I generally regard "Phantom" as the show that got me interested in the theater. Man that play has been running a long time!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:14pm

Theatre honestly has less of an impact on me than film does in that manner...there are very few shows of such magnitude out there.

Sunday in the Park with George
The Light in the Piazza
Follies
Cabaret

I'm not going to say why right now...

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:14pm

Although it sounds pretty dorky, I'll say All Shook Up. I met some of my best friends from going to that show, and it made my Summer the best summer I could have asked for. And plus, it kind of applied to me, and reminded me how much I want to get out of the town I live in. Don't you wanna get outta here? Yeah.

[Piazzaslight]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:15pm

Distinctive Baritone: I agree with you about PHANTOM being the show that started my theatre obsession.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:16pm

I must add CATS to my list - no joke.
CAROUSEL also belongs there, as does THE KING AND I.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:16pm

POTO also drew me into theater when I was 7. Had I not discovered theater I would be a monumentally different person today.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:17pm

um, maybe LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, like it made me think about mental illness and love and all that (i have a mentally ill cousin, and the line where victoria says "she is not bla bla to life just because she isnt like you or me" REALLY got me)

then, i dont know...

[BwayLover]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:20pm

PASSION has had a profound effect on me. It made me think about a lot of things in my character and my life, and also opened my eyes to more sophisticated musicals.

Updated On: 11/5/05 at 01:20 PM

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:26pm

I'm going to add Hairspray, because it was the show that REALLY got me into Broadway. I loved every second of it. And it's the only show where I truly love every song.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:29pm

Wicked. My favorite Broadway show prior to Wicked was Aida and I just liked the music.

This musical really changed me, it gave myself power and confidence. High school's a bitch, but this helped me.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:31pm

Les Miserables, despite its' depressing tunes. Do You Hear the People Sing?= inspiration.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 1:55pm

This is official nerdom:

Writing a theme and variation based on "Do You Hear the People Sing?" for music theory class.......and then orchestrating it for orchestration class.

::hangs head in shame::

[zepka102]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:01pm

IN MY LIFE!!!



i know it will when i see it... i just know it!!!

[GClef2]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:03pm

John and Jen really changed my life. First off, Carolee Carmello became my favorite performer after seeing this and secondly, me and my sister are so close, it was so emotional to see how a brother and sister share such a beautiful bond. Also, my father and I dont really have a great relationship and the song "it took me a while" has always struck a chord within me. It is definetly the reason why i love musical theater---there has never been anything like it and, frankly, the music is just amazing.

[MoonOnAstring]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:03pm

Chicago, for sparking my obsession with theater
Into the Woods, for being my first Sondheim show and allowing me to see what theater can explore and accomplish
Sweeney Todd for making me a critical theater-goer and giving me high standards

[Horton]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:10pm

Man of La Mancha w/ Stokes,
I was front row, and the tears were just poaring down my face, i will always remember it.

[angelic1]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:13pm

Cabaret. I didn't know a show, especially a musical, could do that - could go that far, mean so much, and move you that deeply.

[Dame Fanadette]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:17pm

Gypsy. It has such an amazing book.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:18pm

Well a couple.

Cabaret, for one...my aunt played the soundtrack while driving me to Nursery School everyday, it was the first showtune-like music I was ever introduced to.

It's a pretty common answer, but Rent as well. It was the first show I really fell in love w/, first cast recording I ever bought, first show I saw more than once. I adored the music, loved the passion and feeling behind it, and the messages, and the whole idea of taking a terrible situation but making the show essentially happy and celebrating, and just really is a good example on how to live life.

Wicked inspires me. Everytime I am going through a tough time or I have a very difficult thing to do, I listen to and/or sing Defying Gravity.

West Side Story showed how touching and magical theatre could be with all of its parts working together perfectly

[Composer9]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:28pm

Cabaret absolutely! That show made me realize what theatre could do, and what it could say.

Passion introduced me to the pure genius of Sondheim and remains my favorite Sondheim show.

West Side Story peaked my interest in theatre when I was seven. My babysitter was playing Anita in her high school production and I became obsessed. I convinced my parents to take me three times! Incidentally, that's also when I became captivated by everything Bernstein...which was also a life-changing experience as it made me want to be a composer.

[bta212]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:28pm

Instead of Broadway "show", I have to answer Broadway lyricist: Steve Sondheim. The way he embraces ambivalence and the inherent contradictions in life has really changed me.

Of his shows, I guess 'Into The Woods' really made me examine the importance of being skeptical about "happy ever after", and I think about the lyrics of that show often--in so many circumstances.

"How do you know what you want until you know who you are?"

And 'Sunday in the Park' didn't really change me, exactly, but it affirmed my experiences in trying to incorporate a creative career into life and trying to exist as an artist in the world.

"Look--I made a hat."

Updated On: 11/5/05 at 02:28 PM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:37pm

I hate to just say the first show I ever saw, but The Wizard of Oz. My dad took me to see it when I was 3 just to introduce me to the concept of live theater and I loved it. If I hadn't loved it as much as I did, he wouldn't have continued taking me back and I know I wouldn't appreciate theater as much as I do today.

In terms of the emotional impact of a show changing me, A Chorus Line, Rent and Cabaret are all up there.

[Color and Light]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:51pm

West Side Story - my gateway into musical theater.

Sweeney Todd - changed my perspective entirely on musical theater and what it could do to a person.

Sunday in the Park with George - hit me on an emotional level like no other show has.

Updated On: 11/5/05 at 02:51 PM

[DramaDork925]

Posted: 11/5/05 at 2:54pm

Well, A Chorus Line was the first show that ever really influenced me, but it wasn't until I got to go backstage of Phantom of the Opera when it was in Boston and stand on the stage that I realized "This is it. This is where I want to be".. up until then I kept being very negative about wanting to pursue theatre.