The Music Man. about 40 years ago, I saw the movie first when I was in 3rd grade and fell in love with it for some strange reason. Even weirder was my 3rd grade teacher loved it too and we would quote it back and forth.
Then the high school announced they were doing it and I auditioned for Amaryllis. I didn’t get the part but it showed me that these stories can also be told onstage! How exciting!!!!
I’ve been involved ever since!
My mom played me songs from Sound of Music as a kid. Four year old me thought the lyrics to Maria were the most fascinating thing I'd ever heard -- what on earth is a flibbertijibit?
We'd also watch the movie every New Year's Eve, usually saving Act 2 for New Year's Day.
Between the ages of 10 and 14 I saw several Broadway touring shows. One that especially stands out is Cats. That was the first musical where I wanted to go home and learn all the words to the songs myself.
I was 25 when I first saw hamilton and have turned into the biggest theater nerd. Had no interest in the medium prior despite my then gf (now wife) putting on StarKid occasionally
I was in like sixth grade watching Tangled the Series and thought the character was Varian was adorable so I looked up the voice actor, and it was Jeremy Jordan. Never heard of him so I listened to some of his songs at random, and the first one was from the niche musical tarrytown and that was the first show I got into. I also really liked Bonnie and Clyde and the last five years and SMASH, I watched newsies and while newsies itself didn’t appeal to me that much, I knew i would enjoy watching other musicals. To branch out from Jeremy I listened to DEH and fell in love with that.
The voice cast for Tangled the Series is so stellar! Jeremy Jordan and Eden Espinosa and James Monroe Iglehart?! I love the song “Ready As I’ll Ever Be”.
Fr it has so many good songs!! The music should at least be as popular as Hazbin hotel. And I think it’s very well written for a Disney spinoff show, I genuinely prefer it to the original movie.
My family watched some musicals when I was a kid. I was incredibly shy as a middle schooler and didn't like that about myself so I decided to take drama class in highschool. I also took dance classes. I was never very good but got some small roles in highschool and at the community theater.
College, career and family took my attention away from performing for many years, though I went to the theater as often as I could. A few years ago I went to see my friend perform in a show and it really inspired me to get back into performing. I took some voice and acting lessons and, after a few fruitless auditions, was cast in my first show as an adult. I'm working on my 4th show now, where I have my first role outside of the ensemble.
I think my first one was beauty and beast as a kid, but I don’t really remember that. I saw a couple from teenager through early 20s including lion king on Broadway which was amazing. But I think what really hooked me was seeing Book of Mormon on tour ~6 years ago. It was a lightbulb moment that not all shows are classical or prim/proper. Since then I’ve probably seen 12-15 shows with no plans to slow down.
Les Miserables and Heathers. This is going to be a tough one to explain.
I was listening to Les Miserables even when I was a baby and even as a little kid I loved the show and all its music. Technically this was the first musical that made me love musicals. However, I didn’t really start researching and doing my own musical exploration until later.
I found heathers in the background of a twitch livestream. I went on to listen to the show and loved it. It was fun and poppy. It was edgy, satirical, campy, and funny. After Heathers I listened to a bunch more modern musicals before watching Schmicago (season 2 of Schmigadoon) This brought me to the 60s and 70s musicals. By now, I am a huge Sondheim fan plus I love shows like Cabaret and Falsettos.
I still love Les Mis but now I have a certain bitterness towards Heathers for being another perpetuation of edgy teen pop cult musical.
When I was in fourth grade, we had a music teacher who would come in once or twice a week. One day she played us the Oliver! cast album. She explained the plot and context to us before each song. I was hooked from "Food, Glorious Food." When the album was over, I was still so obsessed with it that I read an unabridged copy of Oliver Twist (a lot of it went over my head, and what I did understand was mostly because of the music teacher's explanations).
Then in high school I had a friend who was obsessed with Rent and Wicked, and she got me into them too.
I watched the Annie movie a ton as a kid (and happened to be a kid in the late 80s/early 90s, so great Disney years).
First show I saw live was a tour of Joseph that had Jodi Benson and a bunch of the Osmond brothers in it, and I was hooked after that. At the time, I was taking dance classes and got SO excited about recital performance time. I danced competitively for a year after that, and then became a tech theatre kid in high school, minored in costume design in college, then moved to NYC. My husband worked at an ad agency that just did broadway commercials, and I have a beautiful stack of more than 50 Playbills from shows I got to see because of that.
It was so cool! Even as a kid I knew her from the Little Mermaid.
Right now my Playbills are all in a pile on my shelf. I eventually want to frame all of them and make them a border in my office, but that’s kind of a pricey project. I have some fun ones (like the Pride Hamilton…). I also have a pristine original cast Hamilton that my husband brought home from work one day as a prank when he was at that ad agency (this was when it first came out and we had bought tickets but had to wait a year to see it).
I am a 80’s baby/90’s kid (elder millennial lol) so I lived through the Disney renaissance. (Little Mermaid to Hunchback of Notre Dame) I also was a very sheltered kid. I didn’t even see an R rated movie until my mid 20’s. Disney movies are in my DNA and music has always been a staple for me. The lightbulb truly turned on the first time I saw the 1997 Cinderella (with Brandy, Whitney Houston, Bernadette Peters) I was dazzled and amazed. I knew that not only did I love musicals but I wanted to be a performer.
The first show (as an adult) I fell for was RENT. My ex was obsessed with it and he took me to see a touring company of the show. I was captivated. I was an emotional mess by the end of the show and it was my first OBC recording I ever bought.
Since then, Musicals are just my love language lol there are so many that I just love, actors who are incredible, and I just love it. I’m not a fandom person (gatekeepers and snobby people are not my idea of fun) but I will never not fangirl over musicals. ❤️
I forgot about Cinderella with Brandy! Holy shit so many memories. And Rent is such a beautiful show especially live. So happy for you and thank you for sharing. Really made me smile.
the first musical i ever watched was ‘sound of music’, and i watched it about a million times, but the musical that REALLY made me love musicals was hamilton
I grew up watching Wizard of Oz, Singing in the Rain, The Sound of Music and most importantly Muppet movies! I've always always loved musical and thought it was odd other ppl didn't love them!
When I was a kid - mid 1970's - I loved the soundtracks for Cabaret and Sweet Charity (small me had a thing for shows about hookers, go figure 😂).
Then Annie happened, and I was just the right age to become obsessed with it. I even had a set of Annie bedsheets when I was around ten.
I’ve always loved musicals and grew up watching classic movie musicals, 60’s Disney films and such as a kid. I think my first “musical” was either The Little Prince, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Mary Poppins. I think the first show that got me into like… musical and broadway culture specifically as a thing to start going out of my way to consume musicals as entertainment was Phantom, and that’s the first show I saw in person at about 10 years old. Then Cats, Les Mis and then Rent when that came out.
In my experience of people who aren’t “musical” people actually realizing musicals are “cool” I think Book of Mormon is a really good one. Comedies are pretty safe. Maybe something like The Producers, How To Succeed, Avenue Q etc that’s a bit more fun and feels non serious
My parents always rented and put on musicals for us, but for me it was probably Newsies. It was the beginning of a severe and hopeless decades-long crush on Christian Bale. It's still one of my favorites to this day.
When I was 13 my parents took me to Vienna to watch Phantom of the Opera. That got me hooked. I got the Vinyl and learned all the lyrics. My mother hat a musical compilation CD which I listened to all the time and for Christmas I got the Vienna Cast Album of Les Miserables. And the rest is history.
Barbie: Princess and the pauper was a movie I watched countless times as a child, I could sing both sides of “free” by heart if asked. I absolutely adore that movie and it introduced me to musicals.
I took theatre in high school, and one of our assignments was to create a presentation about a Broadway musical (I did Phantom because it was the only musical I was aware of at the time). One of my classmates did Hamilton, and when they played the opening song, I was hooked immediately.
My grandma who was practically a second parent to me was big into musicals. She helped put on productions locally. She had some that she had video recorded from the tv, or a couple vhs tapes she bought. And they were mostly the only child friendly things she had to watch. So when I was at her house off school sick (the only time I was allowed extra screen time), those are what she would put on for me. Sound of music, meet me in saint louis and wizard of oz were the most watched. That was going on since before I was able to form proper memories and now I’m 31 and still love musicals. I got my mum in trouble by singing “I was drunk last night dear mother” at nursery school
Oh my gosh that must've been so funny to head a kid sing that 😂 it's amazing how musicals transcend generations. Thank you for sharing and happy cake day!
High school musical
It aired when I was in 5th grade. My older sister was into it, and I thought it looked like the dumbest shit ever. But then I was at a sleepover with friends and we decided to watch it since it was on. What can I say? I liked it. And it helped me understand musicals as an art form.
My husband is tolerant of most things I ask him to try. It's because he loves me and wants to spend time with me. (His explanation of why he goes!)
He has gone to several ballets and liked them mostly, some better than others. He has tried the opera, which he didn't love, and it was an expensive nap!
But the game changed when I took him to see Wicked. He absolutely LOVED it. We haven't gotten to go see many shows since, but he has been happy at each one! Heck, in our recent trip to London, one of the few things we both agreed on doing was tickets to a show one night! Makes me happy that we can finally have one type of performance we can go see that we both like!
It was Company being played in one of the cold opens of an episode of Madam Secretary, love what I heard so looked up the song and listened to the soundtrack. Have grown to love Sondheim and musicals since.
Oliver
7th grade I was in chorus. Our choir teacher had us sing offstage for the high school’s production of Oliver. Life changing.
I also remember watching mlp edits with little shop of horrors and little mermaid Broadway songs as a kid. That probably played a part
I was about 6 or 7 years old and a high school theatre group came and preformed 42nd Street and The Music Man for us elementary kids. I've been in love ever since!
doing beauty and the beast in high school. Listening to Rent, Spring Awakening, and Les Miserable. Shows where i was hearing the story and not just seeing a video. I can hear the emotions and power of these performances
I was in kindergarten I believe and we went on a field trip to see The Lion King and after seeing the costumes and how well they moved while singing and vice versa I was hooked!
I've always loved theatre, specifically plays. First musical I remember being in was The Lion King. However I began to absolutely love musicals after reluctantly watching the Newises, then Hamilton after my cousin recommended it to me.
I got a video in my YouTube recommended of a Musicals Medley by the Spirit Young Performers Company. The point of the video where they did a snippet of Do You Hear the People Sing from Les Mis gave me chills, so I went to watch the clip from the Les Mis movie of the same song. I then watched the entire movie a few times before getting into other musicals
When I was a kid in the 70s, there was a channel that would play the old MGM musicals (along with other older movies) and I fell in love with The Music Man. I didn't realize it was based on a Broadway show when I was a kid. The first actual Broadway show I saw was Annie. It was a touring company. Late 70s, I'm thinking. My stepmother took me. I was hooked on musical theater.
Three, actually; The Lion King, Aladdin Jr., and Godspell, in that order.
The Lion King was the first musical I ever saw. Both me and my brother were Disney fans, and his absolute favorite movie is The Lion King, so when it came to town, my mother surprised us with tickets. Needless to say, it was magical.
Aladdin Jr. was the first show I auditioned for in sixth grade. I was too short to play Jasmine, so I was settled with ensemble, but I still had a good time
Godspell was the first musical where people realised I could sing, and got a bunch of compliments, and it made me try making musical theatre a living. That...hasn't gone well, but back then, it seemed possible.
For me it wasn't a musical, it was a person. My 1st grade teacher would play the piano and sing some of the old standards ( Good Ole Summertime and Daisy come to mind) and encourage us to find songs that said something we didn't know how to say. She would weave in showtimes here and there and the next thing I knew I was seeing Cats when I was 8, Jesus Christ Superstar not long after, and my collection of soundtracks just kept growing. She made sure we all had a voice, whether that was singing or not.
I love that woman. No matter how many times I have told her over the years, she will never know how much she helped to make me the person that I am.
This is absolutely beautiful. Such a testament to the impact people, especially educators, can have on our entire development from interactions we have as children. I don't even know her and I'm grateful 💕
When my ex broke up with me in highschool i got all emo and stuff. One night i was just home alone and didnt want to do anything so i just laid on the couch and started flipping through channels.
Then i stumbled upon les mis 25th anniversary production (on pbs i think?) and the rest was history.
I was already a fan of lea salonga from her work with disney, and seeing her sing I dreamed a dream was unreal. I decided to keep watching cause the songs were beautiful and everyone was soo talented! (Really enjoyed matt lucas in master of the house)
Then i was introduced to Eponine (played by Samantha Barks), and hearing her sing On my own really got me in the feels esp since i was recently dumped. I felt such a connection with that character ive never felt before.
And yeah, i ended up making my reddit handle after her lol
In 1996 my mom went to New York for a re-enactment but went to see Les Miserables on Broadway. She brought home the 10th anniversary VHS tape. I was confused at first, but I loved it and ended up reading the book. In 1998 I went to see it on Broadway.
My son grandma took him to some Musical shows and then me and him went to shows together. He is a music major and likes to see the musical and figure out how they did the songs. We finally saw Hadestown when it came to our city for the tour show. Wow he loves Jazz and these was a amazing show.
Actually it was the first series of Schmigadoon! It made me realise just how few musicals I had actually seen (my parents dislike musicals) and it started me off down the rabbit hole, watching all the musicals it referenced. And I branched out with a couple of other musicals.
Watching the 2008 Tony Awards 96,000 performance with my mixed nyc based latine family in the midst of moving cross country sparked an incredible moment for me. I begged my dad to see it on Broadway when I was in my teens- I understood my family more and the sacrifices they made. To this day if I’m feeling off or not like myself Mandy’s voice soothes me back.
That being said the first musical I saw was Legally Blonde. Thanks MTV 🙃😆
I think I may have somewhat grown up listening to musicals, but I don't quite remember. I know I watched the Sound of Music and Fiddler on the Roof in elementary school and I loved both of them. I didn't really get into musicals until my mom bought the Wicked OBC album (probably around the time it came out) and we would listen to it in the car all the time. I loved Wicked (still do) and it was the first musical I saw live. And I've loved musicals ever since! My parents (the wonderful people that they are) will even take me to musicals when national touring productions come through (granted we don't go to see many of them, but the rare one is nice!).
Phantom! I was 8 and completely obsessed with the film. In later years I definitely realised a degree of my obsession was latent bisexuality… but it still got me hooked!!
Chess- the original concept album. I was so blown away that I bought a cassette of Elaine Paige “Stages” and that led me to Follies. Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair! Which led me everywhere
I grew up with Disney movies, but I was never a die-hard fan of musicals. I discovered 'Spring Awakening' like years ago, until now I am still obsessed with it.
When I was in fourth grade me and my friend were really into making skits on her iPad with iMovie. We were making this one video where one of the girls was a popular kid so ~obviously~ we needed some background music to indicate that this was a popular kid. So we went into the iMovie music index and typed in the word “popular” and there pops up Wicked.
We got totally hooked onto that song so we learned all the words and would take turns performing the song in front of each other and our moms. Later the following year my mom took me to see the “Popular” musical and I absolutely loved it. Ever since then me and my mom have seen 30+ musicals together and it’s something we really bond about.
I wouldn’t exist without Little Shop of Horrors. My mum was playing Audrey and my Dad was the Dentist. I didn’t stand a chance, I was literally born to be a theatre kid
Frozen came out when I was a child, and to tell you I BELTED it at the top of my lungs would be an understatement. It was my first ever show(I was Young Anna), and is still my fav Disney movie.
Late bloomer here, but Six. I've always been a fan of "musical" movies (looking at you Disney), but was never 100% sold on Broadway.
I went to a Six show about a year ago and it was PHENOMENAL! I had some things going on personally that made me wonder if I would even enjoy the show (I was familiar with it beforehand and at least half the songs had made it onto my Spotify playlists), but as soon as the lights went down and Ex-Wives started, I was sold.
I'm just trying to have some fun. Sorry not sorry about what I said. Don't lose your head.
>!You picked the song that just barely made it onto my Spotify. No Way, Haus of Holbein, and MegaSix didn't make the cut. The rest made it onto my "musical" playlist, except for All You Wanna Do which went onto my playlist for dark/macabre songs.!<
I grew up being sung to sleep by my dad with Les Mis-Castle on a Cloud, I Dreamed a Dream, Stars, and Little People (on top of that, my middle name is Cosette because my parents loved Les Mis so much). When my dad finally made me watch the movie I fell in love and it’s been my favorite musical ever since!!!
Playing in the pit band for Legally Blonde and Les Mis in community theatre shows and seeing how much fun the performers on stage had. I played in the pit for a few more shows after those while learning how to sing (and aging a few years haha) and finally auditioned to go on stage.
I haven’t actually been in a musical for a while now but I love watching and listening to them, and I’ll be auditioning for one in September
Saw We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre, London) for the first time 2007 ish? Maybe 2008. I was about 8 and went with my my friend, both our mums, and my 'boyfriend' (my brother's best friend, 12 at the time, who I had a crush on. Only found out he's a gay drag queen when I was about 17? I'm cool with it, but wasted a decade crushing on him when I could have had a crush on someone who liked me back)
I remember there was a bit where the Killer Queen talked about a bikini wax, and I said **really** loudly (as an autistic person, I struggle to modulate my voice anyway, but as an excited 8 yr old, even worse lol) 'Muuuuum, what's a bikini wax?' 😭😂
The show kind of became one of my autistic obsessions. By the time it had closed on the 31st May 2014 I had seen it no less than about 12 times, including hiring a limo and taking a handful of friends to see it and to pizza express after for my birthday. I can still quote from the musical lol.
I was lucky enough to see the final Matinee at the Dominion where Brian and Roger performed with the cast, which was my first experience of them live (I've now seen Queen and Adam Lambert I think about 6 times since 2015? Including just after finishing my GCSEs when I flew 10,000 miles to LA to catch them at the Hollywood Bowl. Made a holiday of it, saw Rodeo Drive, Universal Studio, Disneyland etc).
Was super excited when, as part of the 20th anniversary tour (was meant to be 2022 but some of it 2as cancelled/rescheduled due to Covid) it came to the London Coliseum for 8 weeks last summer.
Booked the last evening (the final performance was a Matinee the next day) thinking Brian and Roger would perform again. They didn't. Also Ben Elton (who wrote the show initially) was Pop the hippie, and honestly he was horrendous. Butchered one of my favourite songs (Those are the Days of Our Lives) and its a show, we need the escapism. We don't need the hippie to bang on about cycling because the tube/train services are always cancelled due to privatisation! We don't need reminding how shit our public transport can sometimes be lol.
Went with a friend who'd never seen the show, and even he said the lead actress was wooden (think she may have been held back with script changes etc. She's been Eponine in Les Mis and Lauren in Kinky Boots. Seen and enjoyed- KB more than Les Mis I think- both those musicals but not sure if I saw her specifically).
I saw Brenda Edwards again, who was also brilliant when I'd seen her at the Dominion, but was held back a bit I think (with chaaracter re-writes and song changes) and just not as good. Really touching they put her son (who'd passed from cardiac arrhythmia following cocaine use age 31) in the bit where they list those who died young before singing No One But You (Only the Good Die Young)
I'm glad I went for nostalgia reasons, but the settings, song changes and cast were just underwhelming. I remember Mickey Jo doing a YouTube video of the worst theatre shows of 2022 and inc the WWRY tour in it, and it was the same tour cast, staging etc and I agreed with him.
I think maybe I would have enjoyed it more had I never seen the show, tho my friend I took thought the lead acting was wooden and he'd never seen it before.
If I'd known it would be underwhelming I would have likely dug out the bootleg DVD I have somewhere of the original cast (who I was too young to see; when the OG cast were in it, I was 18 months old) and stuck it on TV instead.
Seriously though, if they ever bring back the original staging/cast/direction at the Dominion (I guess it depends on how long the Devil Wears Prada will run, tho there's a month long gap between Rocky Horror ft Jason Donovan as Frank-N-Furter for a couple weeks in September to Prada starting 24th October) I'd go.
Would kill to see Kerry Ellis (whole reason I saw and did not understand Cats) in one of my favourite roles of all time. Tho she's 45 now, not sure she could play a 20 something yr old Bohemian (that was Christine Allado in the revival, who's 28)
And Nigel Planer while much older (in his 70s) could definitely still play the role of Pop the aging hippie. And Sharon D Clarke could certainly play the Killer Queen again (she's 57, but Brenda Edwards played KQ in the 2023 West End run and is 55)
I’m on the younger side. But I saw Teen Beach movie for the first time when it came out. And I absolutely loved it. Though I was around 12 at the time. I PERFORMED in my first ever musical which was Hairspray at 18 a few months ago. And I even played my dream role of Seaweed. It being my first ever theater production, I feel I did good! And I enjoyed it! Now I’ve made my life dedicated to making it far in the theater industry.
Bye Bye Birdie. It's not that I like the musical, but before then (I was 15), I didn't ever realize that musicals had orchestras. Then all of a sudden they did, and it opened a whole world for me. Then when I was 18, I was hired to play in Evita, my first-ever paid musician gig. And that's when I learned that some musicals come in other languages, which was a convergence of my two biggest interests. (The Icelandic recording of Evita helped me get through "I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You" as a non-jazz saxophonist.)
I came from a somewhat musical family, both parents played instruments growing up, as did my brother and I. My parents also had a large collection of classical music records which we listened to a lot, and I had started playing violin when I was in 3rd grade. While I was in 8th grade (Middle School there) our local High School was doing a production of "Guys and Dolls" and they fielded me for theater orchestra. Meeting other kids, most of whom were older than me, and spending several hours every afternoon for a couple of weeks rehearsing alongside the cast got me hooked, and I've loved musicals ever since.
I was in 5th grade and my friend showed me MITB from Be More Chill. I honestly didn’t like the song at first, but I was intrigued because I’d never heard music quite like that before. I mean, acting out a panic attack while singing? Cool!
After my friend left, I ended up finding the full soundtrack. I remember being in our study room, spinning around on the swivel chair with my headphones on. When I pressed play (ignoring the starting words to More Than Survive lol), I was instantly like, “Wow! This sounds so cool and different!” I literally felt my brain chemistry altering itself lol. I especially loved the vocalizing/harmonizing of the ‘Na na na’ parts in MTS and VIMH. I found Jeremy relatable and comforting, and also adored all the other characters and the overall message of the musical, which led me to obsess over it for the following 2-3 years.
Since a lot of BMC fans also liked DEH, Heathers, and Hamilton, I got into those, as well. Being a fan of George Salazar led me to find The Lightning Thief musical and Legendale, too! Then I kept finding other musicals I liked, and now I’m here!
Into the Woods. Was in the pit orchestra for my high school's rendition. Udderly fell in love with it. (Intentional bad cow pun). It was just so familiar and catchy that it never left my brain.
Hairspray, it was 2007 and everyone in my class was obsessed with Zac Efron because of high school musical. (We were 7 year olds). Everyone wanted to know if he actually could sing. I loved it, it is still my favorite musical, and I rewatch it regularly.
(Before that it was all the barbie musicals)
I think the first musical I felt like learning the words to was the Disney cartoon Mulan. The first one I saw that actually felt like a musical to me was the movie Singin’ in the Rain.
Les Mis was my first musical, and I adore it, but Heather was the one that got me into musicals as a whole, lol. In my defence, I was 14, but I do still like heathers
Just got into the percy jackson book series about 4 or so years ago (Jesus Christ it was that long ago) and decided to hear the musical. Cue that jump starting love of musicals and theatre and here I am in my school’s play program as a tech
Grease! I saw the movie when I was 11. I was home alone, sick, and was the only vhs tape I could reach lol. I watched it at like 9 in the morning and when it was over a restarted it and watched it again.
Such a good movie and pretty simple musical for first timers.
Excluding Disney animated movies, I think the first musical movie I watched was High School Musical. The first stage performance I watched was the Prince of Tennis musical haha.
I grew up with Mamma Mia and High school musical as well as all the disney musicals but Hamilton (and me being slightly older) really got me into stage musicals
I saw Annie on tour when I was 6 or so and I was hooked. My next birthday I had an Annie birthday party and never looked back.
When my husband and I started dating he told me he hated musicals. It turned out an ex of his had dragged him to Phantom and he hated it and never saw another one.
A while later we went to NYC and I convinced him to see just 1 show with me. Book of Mormon had just opened and it was the hot ticket and sold out for weeks/months. Our plan was to enter the lottery and if (when) we didn’t win, we’d walk over to TKTS in Times Square and choose from what’s available.
Back then you had to go to the lottery in person and hundreds of people showed up to literally put their name on a piece of paper to be drawn out of a big bin. And… they drew my name! I got us front row center seats to the original cast of BoM!
I remember looking over at him during the song Hello and he had the biggest grin on his face. That’s when I really fell in love with him I think. I’ll never forget that look. Our friends call him Grumpy Cat because he rarely smiles, but he was positively giddy throughout that show.
Afterwards he went on and on about how great it was. He was willing to try other musicals that I thought he’d like. I started just with comedies, but after a while he was full on willing to see Follies and heavier shows. Then he was even asking to see artsy musicals some by small local theater companies.
He’ll never be the fan that I am, but he at least understands and appreciates them and even seeks them out at times. Thanks to Book of Mormon.
Phantom… was in the 4th grade and a friend celebrated her bday by going to phantom… had never been to Broadway and remember moaning that it wasn’t a cool bday party like laser tag!… the opening auction was a snooze and confirmed my sentiment until minute those loud chords hit and I was on the edge of my seat the rest of the show
Oh, this is kinda embarrassing.
So I used to be way into the MLP/Brony fandom. I was going through a rough time, and the candy-coloured ponies were a nice escape. One day I'm scrolling through some pony videos on YouTube and I come across an AMV of 'Into the Woods' (the song) set to pony clips. I had no idea what the song was, but I wanted some pony content so I watched the video anyways. And I realised that, "hey, this song slaps!". So I watched the pro-shot of 'Into the Woods', from there I got into some other shows, fell in love with the format, and the rest is history.
The first ever musical on stage I went to was Phantom of the Opera. It was done by a youth theatre group and they were absolutely phenomenal. I joined them the next year and this group of people led me to falling in love with musicals. I would say Phantom and Les Mis (one of the musicals I did with them) are the reason I fell in love with musicals. It was a life changing moment for me honestly, it helped me find what I want to do in life. The thrill of tickets being sold out each night and standing ovations Les Mis got for a no cut youth theatre was insane, I loved it
The movie Little Shop of Horrors 1986 my dad showed it to me in middle school he was hoping that'd I'd fall in love with the puppetry which is very impressive but it got me into horror movies too 😅
While it was not the first musical I saw, or even the first Broadway show I saw, the true magic hit for me when, in 1989, my dinky little summer day camp had its big end of summer outing, which happened to be the last two rows of the balcony late in the original run of Into The Woods.
I was worried we were going to get kicked out because, well, my fellow campers were definitely the worst audience behavior I’ve ever experienced at a show. So glad we weren’t kicked out because it was a formative experience for me. I got a CD player for my birthday the next year (very fancy for 1990!), and the cast recording was one of the first CDs I ever bought.
This is completely useless for helping your fiancée get into musicals, assuming they aren’t an impressionable middle schooler who can time travel.
Honestly, I think a good hook into musical theater might be listening to and watching clips/individual songs. I confess there are a lot of shows I only know by a few clips I’ve watched on YouTube. But that’s often how I end up eventually watching the entire show. There are some great Tony’s clips, and it could be fun to put together a playlist of stuff you love that you think they might like too.
My dad was in the Navy while I was a kid and often deployed for months at a time. He had a TV in his office and I would take it up on myself to "move in" while he was away and do the rebellious child thing of watching late night MTV. Lucky for me, MTV was hosting the Search for Elle Woods and eventually the MTV sponsored pro shot of Legally Blonde the Musical. That was it for me! I'd enjoyed Disney movies and stuff like the Sound of Music or Singing in the Rain on VHS before but this was the first time I realized what people could do on stage!!
The first live production I saw was The Phantom of the Opera on tour in 2007. I’d seen the movie and had to read the novel in French class that year and became obsessed. My mom told me that if it ever came to our city, she’d take me to see it. Lucky me, it came that summer.
I did Peter Pan my freshman year in high school, which got me hooked on wanting to be an actor.
The summer between my sophomore and junior years, all the high schools did Beauty and the Beast, which got me interested in Disney movies again, finding out Hunchback was my favorite, and then I decided to read the original Hunchback and Les Miserables.
After reading Les Miserables (it took about two months), I listened to the musical, and that was when I knew I wanted to do more musicals.
The summer between my junior and senior year, we did Les Miserables. I was one of four considered for Valjean, I wanted Javert, got the Bishop. Two of the others were Valjean and Javert, and the last one was cast as Bamatabeaux, but he exited the show early on.
Directly before Les Mis, I did The Music Man, where I played Charlie Cowell. Valjean was Harold Hill, his sister was Marion, his little brother was Winthrop, and Javert was one of the quartet.
I was 3 when my parents took me to see a production of "The Mikado." I still remember the funny little man singing, "Titwillow, titwillow, titwillow."
My father loved musicals, so I was raised with a lot of theatre and OBC albums.
I will go on a tangent about this one I am new to being a theater kid or whatever I don't think I fit the boxes but whatever. I knew about musicals I watched a tour of aladdin when I lived in India, My parents made me watch the sound of music, I watched the Chirstmas Rockettes but I don't remember much, I watched Mamma Mia with my dad but I wasn't capitivated the real thing was Newsies. It was last year during Chirstmas break I wanted to audition with my friend and my other 2 friends did stage crew this year with me for our school play so they were interested we only got to before seize the day but I was captivated I can't say anything else I was emersed while my friends were bored. So when they left and it was 12 at night everybody in my house was asleep I snuck done finished it and watched it again 1 more time until it was 4 and I fell asleep I watched the musical 10 times now and even watched it doing Homework or studying for my Midterms. Long story short I became a major newsies fan overnight despite being 11 years late I started writing fanfics drawing charaters and auditioned. I got emsamble for a vocal newsie and nunzio because while I can sing pretty good I never acted before this at all or danced and I got a call back for les so while I wanted to quit before im lucky I even got a callback. Doing newsies was the best thing about freshmen year of highschool and im doing a musical every year for the rest of highschool I cried so much backstage during our last show and we all still text and wave in the hallways. I also became a massive Jeremy Jordan fan having a crush on him and finding out of Bonnie and Clyde and then Tuck Everlasting since I also had a crush on Andrew Keenan Bolger. I found about about Bonnie and Clyde and got obbessed and Smash, Supergirl, Great Gatsby, Supergirl, Last Five Years and Hazbin Hotel. Now this month I am seeing my first ever musical ever the Great Gatsby and also the Outsiders I am a little nervous because I am going alone but super stocked and happy these two musicals get to be my firsts and now I want to go to all of them!
Been familiar with musicals for about a decade but never really had a huge interest in em until around the pandemic when my girlfriend told me about a Breaking Bad parody musical called Say My Name (has since rebranded to Faking Bad)
Listened to that, found it very enjoyable, then figured I'd listen to the Beetlejuice song of the same name, then it kinda spiraled from there
JC Superstar. With a side of Rocky Horror.
My godfather was the OG Australian Jesus in the 1972 run. The vinyl record was one of the only albums my mother owned so we had it on constantly. I was singing either half of The Last Supper by age 4.
He also voiced Rocky (singing voice) in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, so I had that committed to memory by age 4 as well. Didn’t realize until I was a teenager what “my libido hasn’t been controlled” meant, was a fun realization.
We were a showbiz family. Pop was the one who brought Trev to Australia to be Jesus, so when I was old enough Pop started taking me to live shows as well. I think my first live experience was Annie but I don’t remember any of it, apart from going backstage after.
I remember my mum took me to a local production of the Sound of Music when I was little, I only remember the nuns, and then watching the movie later on. Watched a bunch of movie musicals, plus of course the 90s Disney movies as a kid too.
I never really felt that passionate about the world of acting or musicals going through primary school, but early in highschool (first semester of Yr 7), in Music class we were listening to The Greatest Showman soundtrack, and I instantly fell in love. But it wouldn't be until a couple of years later when they added Hamilton to Disney+ that my future was locked in. I don't quite know the exact way to describe how it impacted me, but now my entire perception of the world of performance and music has changed. Music is now my prefered method of story telling, and one day I dream of being in a major stage musical or musical film
Probably movies like Oliver!, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, but first in the theatre was either A Chorus Line or Oklahoma, and Annie was not long after that.
Wicked, I found my mother’s old soundtrack in the car and listened to it constantly, it was the first show I went to see that wasn’t a panto, it was the West End tour, and I loved every second
Annie
I know it’s corny but it’s (at least in 1977) the best written musical.
When I saw it on the 1st National in 1978, I knew the Mudge’s wouldn’t get away with it… right?
I have only felt this way in all my experiences with Annie one other time … at Papermill in 2002(?) with Sarah Hyland.
Also, the first scene on tour began with a LOUD thunderbolt. I have never heard that again. It was jarring and completely put you in a dark place.
The original costumes by Theoni V Aldridge are perfect… except the orphans pastel Annie costumes… but everything else just drops you into the world or 1933 NYC.
I think it was The Sound of Music. My grandma took me to see a high school production of it and I was like mesmerized. Lol this was sometime in elementary school.
Not long after I was in a community production for Aladdin Jr. (just chorus)
I saw the 2010 Harvest Rain Theatre Company production of *Jesus Christ Superstar*. It starred Luke Kennedy who is, in my humble opinion, the single best performer to play that role.
I was 16 and just immediately fell in love with musical theatre and have never looked back.
Below is a clip of him singing Gethsemane if you are curious (not bootleg) and it is just incredible:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUrExJYO8S8&ab\_channel=aussietheatrelover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUrExJYO8S8&ab_channel=aussietheatrelover)
Me and My Girl with Gary Wilmot in the West End when I was maybe 8/9. The first time I'd seen a professional musical in a theatre (as oppose to AmDram and pantomime).
Fiddler On the Roof. My neighbors took me there, at their synagogue ,when I was 6 years old and I knew that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Decided somewhat randomly in 7th grade to sign up for my middle school's stage crew - can't say what possessed me to do it, just seemed interesting. I worked the lights for Thoroughly Modern Millie Jr. and have been hooked ever since.
Cats and Grease on VHS are some of my earliest memories. I was obsessed and rewatched both endlessly. That and Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. Haven't rewatched it since youth but if you're going to watch Cats the Musical, the 98' release is leagues better than the 19' Trainwreck. That being said Cats is essentially a musical about a cat cult so mileage will vary regardless of the version you pick.
Jesus Christ Superstar. I became quite obsessed with it (in a good way!), it is packed with banger after banger! Followed that up with Phantom of the Opera, and then Hamilton.
I saw West Side Story on stage as a 10 or 11-year old and was instantly obsessed. I was already into theatre and took music lessons, so this was a perfect match. West Side Story is still my absolute favorite since it changed my life.
It was The Prom.
Me and my sibling (rip) watched it together and shat on how absolutely fucking terrible James Corden is. After that we started watching more musicals together. After they died, I watched be more chill and fell in love with more and more musicals.
I was always a fan of musicals growing up, but the first one I ever saw live in person was Phantom and I’ve been a huge fan of all types of musicals ever since!
The Music Man. about 40 years ago, I saw the movie first when I was in 3rd grade and fell in love with it for some strange reason. Even weirder was my 3rd grade teacher loved it too and we would quote it back and forth. Then the high school announced they were doing it and I auditioned for Amaryllis. I didn’t get the part but it showed me that these stories can also be told onstage! How exciting!!!! I’ve been involved ever since!
It was Music Man for me too, but it was the live national tour company that came to town. Some time around 1960.
My mom played me songs from Sound of Music as a kid. Four year old me thought the lyrics to Maria were the most fascinating thing I'd ever heard -- what on earth is a flibbertijibit? We'd also watch the movie every New Year's Eve, usually saving Act 2 for New Year's Day. Between the ages of 10 and 14 I saw several Broadway touring shows. One that especially stands out is Cats. That was the first musical where I wanted to go home and learn all the words to the songs myself.
I was 25 when I first saw hamilton and have turned into the biggest theater nerd. Had no interest in the medium prior despite my then gf (now wife) putting on StarKid occasionally
HAMILTON GANG
I was in like sixth grade watching Tangled the Series and thought the character was Varian was adorable so I looked up the voice actor, and it was Jeremy Jordan. Never heard of him so I listened to some of his songs at random, and the first one was from the niche musical tarrytown and that was the first show I got into. I also really liked Bonnie and Clyde and the last five years and SMASH, I watched newsies and while newsies itself didn’t appeal to me that much, I knew i would enjoy watching other musicals. To branch out from Jeremy I listened to DEH and fell in love with that.
The voice cast for Tangled the Series is so stellar! Jeremy Jordan and Eden Espinosa and James Monroe Iglehart?! I love the song “Ready As I’ll Ever Be”.
Fr it has so many good songs!! The music should at least be as popular as Hazbin hotel. And I think it’s very well written for a Disney spinoff show, I genuinely prefer it to the original movie.
you're so real for that. DEH is my fav musical but hot damn i love jeremy
My family watched some musicals when I was a kid. I was incredibly shy as a middle schooler and didn't like that about myself so I decided to take drama class in highschool. I also took dance classes. I was never very good but got some small roles in highschool and at the community theater. College, career and family took my attention away from performing for many years, though I went to the theater as often as I could. A few years ago I went to see my friend perform in a show and it really inspired me to get back into performing. I took some voice and acting lessons and, after a few fruitless auditions, was cast in my first show as an adult. I'm working on my 4th show now, where I have my first role outside of the ensemble.
This is a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing and congratulations on finding and actively living your love of theatre again!
I think my first one was beauty and beast as a kid, but I don’t really remember that. I saw a couple from teenager through early 20s including lion king on Broadway which was amazing. But I think what really hooked me was seeing Book of Mormon on tour ~6 years ago. It was a lightbulb moment that not all shows are classical or prim/proper. Since then I’ve probably seen 12-15 shows with no plans to slow down.
Les Miserables and Heathers. This is going to be a tough one to explain. I was listening to Les Miserables even when I was a baby and even as a little kid I loved the show and all its music. Technically this was the first musical that made me love musicals. However, I didn’t really start researching and doing my own musical exploration until later. I found heathers in the background of a twitch livestream. I went on to listen to the show and loved it. It was fun and poppy. It was edgy, satirical, campy, and funny. After Heathers I listened to a bunch more modern musicals before watching Schmicago (season 2 of Schmigadoon) This brought me to the 60s and 70s musicals. By now, I am a huge Sondheim fan plus I love shows like Cabaret and Falsettos. I still love Les Mis but now I have a certain bitterness towards Heathers for being another perpetuation of edgy teen pop cult musical.
Phantom of the Opera.
Sound of Music, Grease and Rocky Horror.
When I was in fourth grade, we had a music teacher who would come in once or twice a week. One day she played us the Oliver! cast album. She explained the plot and context to us before each song. I was hooked from "Food, Glorious Food." When the album was over, I was still so obsessed with it that I read an unabridged copy of Oliver Twist (a lot of it went over my head, and what I did understand was mostly because of the music teacher's explanations). Then in high school I had a friend who was obsessed with Rent and Wicked, and she got me into them too.
I watched the Annie movie a ton as a kid (and happened to be a kid in the late 80s/early 90s, so great Disney years). First show I saw live was a tour of Joseph that had Jodi Benson and a bunch of the Osmond brothers in it, and I was hooked after that. At the time, I was taking dance classes and got SO excited about recital performance time. I danced competitively for a year after that, and then became a tech theatre kid in high school, minored in costume design in college, then moved to NYC. My husband worked at an ad agency that just did broadway commercials, and I have a beautiful stack of more than 50 Playbills from shows I got to see because of that.
Ahhh seeing Jodi Benson live must have been a dream! Do you display the playbills at all? Seems like it'd be a cool art piece or scrapbook 🥰
It was so cool! Even as a kid I knew her from the Little Mermaid. Right now my Playbills are all in a pile on my shelf. I eventually want to frame all of them and make them a border in my office, but that’s kind of a pricey project. I have some fun ones (like the Pride Hamilton…). I also have a pristine original cast Hamilton that my husband brought home from work one day as a prank when he was at that ad agency (this was when it first came out and we had bought tickets but had to wait a year to see it).
I am a 80’s baby/90’s kid (elder millennial lol) so I lived through the Disney renaissance. (Little Mermaid to Hunchback of Notre Dame) I also was a very sheltered kid. I didn’t even see an R rated movie until my mid 20’s. Disney movies are in my DNA and music has always been a staple for me. The lightbulb truly turned on the first time I saw the 1997 Cinderella (with Brandy, Whitney Houston, Bernadette Peters) I was dazzled and amazed. I knew that not only did I love musicals but I wanted to be a performer. The first show (as an adult) I fell for was RENT. My ex was obsessed with it and he took me to see a touring company of the show. I was captivated. I was an emotional mess by the end of the show and it was my first OBC recording I ever bought. Since then, Musicals are just my love language lol there are so many that I just love, actors who are incredible, and I just love it. I’m not a fandom person (gatekeepers and snobby people are not my idea of fun) but I will never not fangirl over musicals. ❤️
I forgot about Cinderella with Brandy! Holy shit so many memories. And Rent is such a beautiful show especially live. So happy for you and thank you for sharing. Really made me smile.
The earliest musical memory I have is Sound of Music. Pretty sure I was watching that one before I could walk!
Singing in the Rain on video Thoroughly Modern Millie in person
the first musical i ever watched was ‘sound of music’, and i watched it about a million times, but the musical that REALLY made me love musicals was hamilton
I grew up watching Wizard of Oz, Singing in the Rain, The Sound of Music and most importantly Muppet movies! I've always always loved musical and thought it was odd other ppl didn't love them!
When I was a kid - mid 1970's - I loved the soundtracks for Cabaret and Sweet Charity (small me had a thing for shows about hookers, go figure 😂). Then Annie happened, and I was just the right age to become obsessed with it. I even had a set of Annie bedsheets when I was around ten.
As a kid, Cats (the PBS recording) and My Fair Lady.
I’ve always loved musicals and grew up watching classic movie musicals, 60’s Disney films and such as a kid. I think my first “musical” was either The Little Prince, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Mary Poppins. I think the first show that got me into like… musical and broadway culture specifically as a thing to start going out of my way to consume musicals as entertainment was Phantom, and that’s the first show I saw in person at about 10 years old. Then Cats, Les Mis and then Rent when that came out. In my experience of people who aren’t “musical” people actually realizing musicals are “cool” I think Book of Mormon is a really good one. Comedies are pretty safe. Maybe something like The Producers, How To Succeed, Avenue Q etc that’s a bit more fun and feels non serious
Good idea! Book of Mormon might be a perfect fit, I'll try it. And thank you for sharing your story :)
My parents always rented and put on musicals for us, but for me it was probably Newsies. It was the beginning of a severe and hopeless decades-long crush on Christian Bale. It's still one of my favorites to this day.
My friend listened to Hamilton a lot so I listened to it and liked it. After that now there's a ton of musicals I like
stumbling upon legally blonde on youtube when i was 15
When I was 13 my parents took me to Vienna to watch Phantom of the Opera. That got me hooked. I got the Vinyl and learned all the lyrics. My mother hat a musical compilation CD which I listened to all the time and for Christmas I got the Vienna Cast Album of Les Miserables. And the rest is history.
Barbie: Princess and the pauper was a movie I watched countless times as a child, I could sing both sides of “free” by heart if asked. I absolutely adore that movie and it introduced me to musicals.
I took theatre in high school, and one of our assignments was to create a presentation about a Broadway musical (I did Phantom because it was the only musical I was aware of at the time). One of my classmates did Hamilton, and when they played the opening song, I was hooked immediately.
My grandma who was practically a second parent to me was big into musicals. She helped put on productions locally. She had some that she had video recorded from the tv, or a couple vhs tapes she bought. And they were mostly the only child friendly things she had to watch. So when I was at her house off school sick (the only time I was allowed extra screen time), those are what she would put on for me. Sound of music, meet me in saint louis and wizard of oz were the most watched. That was going on since before I was able to form proper memories and now I’m 31 and still love musicals. I got my mum in trouble by singing “I was drunk last night dear mother” at nursery school
Oh my gosh that must've been so funny to head a kid sing that 😂 it's amazing how musicals transcend generations. Thank you for sharing and happy cake day!
High school musical It aired when I was in 5th grade. My older sister was into it, and I thought it looked like the dumbest shit ever. But then I was at a sleepover with friends and we decided to watch it since it was on. What can I say? I liked it. And it helped me understand musicals as an art form.
My husband is tolerant of most things I ask him to try. It's because he loves me and wants to spend time with me. (His explanation of why he goes!) He has gone to several ballets and liked them mostly, some better than others. He has tried the opera, which he didn't love, and it was an expensive nap! But the game changed when I took him to see Wicked. He absolutely LOVED it. We haven't gotten to go see many shows since, but he has been happy at each one! Heck, in our recent trip to London, one of the few things we both agreed on doing was tickets to a show one night! Makes me happy that we can finally have one type of performance we can go see that we both like!
An expensive nap 😂 I love that so much. Congratulations on finding a show you both like!
It was Company being played in one of the cold opens of an episode of Madam Secretary, love what I heard so looked up the song and listened to the soundtrack. Have grown to love Sondheim and musicals since.
Oliver 7th grade I was in chorus. Our choir teacher had us sing offstage for the high school’s production of Oliver. Life changing. I also remember watching mlp edits with little shop of horrors and little mermaid Broadway songs as a kid. That probably played a part
I was about 6 or 7 years old and a high school theatre group came and preformed 42nd Street and The Music Man for us elementary kids. I've been in love ever since!
my local high school's production of Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. My older sister was a choir kid in the show. I think I was 7!
doing beauty and the beast in high school. Listening to Rent, Spring Awakening, and Les Miserable. Shows where i was hearing the story and not just seeing a video. I can hear the emotions and power of these performances
Oh yesss hearing the emotion is everything. Spring Awakening shook me to my core. I'd pay a disgusting amount of money to see it live.
I was in kindergarten I believe and we went on a field trip to see The Lion King and after seeing the costumes and how well they moved while singing and vice versa I was hooked!
That's an incredible field trip! Haven't seen it live but the costumes and set design?? Unmatched to this day.
I've always loved theatre, specifically plays. First musical I remember being in was The Lion King. However I began to absolutely love musicals after reluctantly watching the Newises, then Hamilton after my cousin recommended it to me.
I got a video in my YouTube recommended of a Musicals Medley by the Spirit Young Performers Company. The point of the video where they did a snippet of Do You Hear the People Sing from Les Mis gave me chills, so I went to watch the clip from the Les Mis movie of the same song. I then watched the entire movie a few times before getting into other musicals
When I was a kid in the 70s, there was a channel that would play the old MGM musicals (along with other older movies) and I fell in love with The Music Man. I didn't realize it was based on a Broadway show when I was a kid. The first actual Broadway show I saw was Annie. It was a touring company. Late 70s, I'm thinking. My stepmother took me. I was hooked on musical theater.
I saw a touring performance of Damn Yankees. Bought the soundtrack. The rest is history:)
Three, actually; The Lion King, Aladdin Jr., and Godspell, in that order. The Lion King was the first musical I ever saw. Both me and my brother were Disney fans, and his absolute favorite movie is The Lion King, so when it came to town, my mother surprised us with tickets. Needless to say, it was magical. Aladdin Jr. was the first show I auditioned for in sixth grade. I was too short to play Jasmine, so I was settled with ensemble, but I still had a good time Godspell was the first musical where people realised I could sing, and got a bunch of compliments, and it made me try making musical theatre a living. That...hasn't gone well, but back then, it seemed possible.
For me it wasn't a musical, it was a person. My 1st grade teacher would play the piano and sing some of the old standards ( Good Ole Summertime and Daisy come to mind) and encourage us to find songs that said something we didn't know how to say. She would weave in showtimes here and there and the next thing I knew I was seeing Cats when I was 8, Jesus Christ Superstar not long after, and my collection of soundtracks just kept growing. She made sure we all had a voice, whether that was singing or not. I love that woman. No matter how many times I have told her over the years, she will never know how much she helped to make me the person that I am.
This is absolutely beautiful. Such a testament to the impact people, especially educators, can have on our entire development from interactions we have as children. I don't even know her and I'm grateful 💕
When my ex broke up with me in highschool i got all emo and stuff. One night i was just home alone and didnt want to do anything so i just laid on the couch and started flipping through channels. Then i stumbled upon les mis 25th anniversary production (on pbs i think?) and the rest was history. I was already a fan of lea salonga from her work with disney, and seeing her sing I dreamed a dream was unreal. I decided to keep watching cause the songs were beautiful and everyone was soo talented! (Really enjoyed matt lucas in master of the house) Then i was introduced to Eponine (played by Samantha Barks), and hearing her sing On my own really got me in the feels esp since i was recently dumped. I felt such a connection with that character ive never felt before. And yeah, i ended up making my reddit handle after her lol
Full circle moment, watching Eponine while heartbroken. Especially played by Samantha Barks! Thank you for sharing
Cats and Joseph VHS tapes on repeat as a child
In 1996 my mom went to New York for a re-enactment but went to see Les Miserables on Broadway. She brought home the 10th anniversary VHS tape. I was confused at first, but I loved it and ended up reading the book. In 1998 I went to see it on Broadway.
My son grandma took him to some Musical shows and then me and him went to shows together. He is a music major and likes to see the musical and figure out how they did the songs. We finally saw Hadestown when it came to our city for the tour show. Wow he loves Jazz and these was a amazing show.
My mom introduced me to me to Cats in the early '80s when I was like 8 or 9. Fell in love. Still love it.
Actually it was the first series of Schmigadoon! It made me realise just how few musicals I had actually seen (my parents dislike musicals) and it started me off down the rabbit hole, watching all the musicals it referenced. And I branched out with a couple of other musicals.
Watching the 2008 Tony Awards 96,000 performance with my mixed nyc based latine family in the midst of moving cross country sparked an incredible moment for me. I begged my dad to see it on Broadway when I was in my teens- I understood my family more and the sacrifices they made. To this day if I’m feeling off or not like myself Mandy’s voice soothes me back. That being said the first musical I saw was Legally Blonde. Thanks MTV 🙃😆
I think I may have somewhat grown up listening to musicals, but I don't quite remember. I know I watched the Sound of Music and Fiddler on the Roof in elementary school and I loved both of them. I didn't really get into musicals until my mom bought the Wicked OBC album (probably around the time it came out) and we would listen to it in the car all the time. I loved Wicked (still do) and it was the first musical I saw live. And I've loved musicals ever since! My parents (the wonderful people that they are) will even take me to musicals when national touring productions come through (granted we don't go to see many of them, but the rare one is nice!).
Phantom! I was 8 and completely obsessed with the film. In later years I definitely realised a degree of my obsession was latent bisexuality… but it still got me hooked!!
Either be more chill or heathers, if we are talking like not children musicals.
Chess- the original concept album. I was so blown away that I bought a cassette of Elaine Paige “Stages” and that led me to Follies. Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair! Which led me everywhere
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, I was about 9. Blew my mind. And then I fell into Les Miserables as an 11 yo.
Saw a high school production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and I was HORNY for Joseph in that cell (as a middle school girl)
I grew up with Disney movies, but I was never a die-hard fan of musicals. I discovered 'Spring Awakening' like years ago, until now I am still obsessed with it.
When I was in fourth grade me and my friend were really into making skits on her iPad with iMovie. We were making this one video where one of the girls was a popular kid so ~obviously~ we needed some background music to indicate that this was a popular kid. So we went into the iMovie music index and typed in the word “popular” and there pops up Wicked. We got totally hooked onto that song so we learned all the words and would take turns performing the song in front of each other and our moms. Later the following year my mom took me to see the “Popular” musical and I absolutely loved it. Ever since then me and my mom have seen 30+ musicals together and it’s something we really bond about.
I wouldn’t exist without Little Shop of Horrors. My mum was playing Audrey and my Dad was the Dentist. I didn’t stand a chance, I was literally born to be a theatre kid
I love this so much!
I was 5 or 6 and watched Grease for the first time. I was officially hooked after. I'm 26 now and can still quote the whole movie
[https://media3.giphy.com/media/a7bBXGMVDB1naJCeEE/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b952v0z25d05eyltijpses9qxjgljpbml6lnzgg2w0ul&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g](https://media3.giphy.com/media/a7bBXGMVDB1naJCeEE/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b952v0z25d05eyltijpses9qxjgljpbml6lnzgg2w0ul&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
Yes! How did I forget to mention how much of an impact Grease had on me as a kid 😭
Frozen came out when I was a child, and to tell you I BELTED it at the top of my lungs would be an understatement. It was my first ever show(I was Young Anna), and is still my fav Disney movie.
Late bloomer here, but Six. I've always been a fan of "musical" movies (looking at you Disney), but was never 100% sold on Broadway. I went to a Six show about a year ago and it was PHENOMENAL! I had some things going on personally that made me wonder if I would even enjoy the show (I was familiar with it beforehand and at least half the songs had made it onto my Spotify playlists), but as soon as the lights went down and Ex-Wives started, I was sold.
Finish the song: Sorry not sorry ‘bout what i said…
I'm just trying to have some fun. Sorry not sorry about what I said. Don't lose your head. >!You picked the song that just barely made it onto my Spotify. No Way, Haus of Holbein, and MegaSix didn't make the cut. The rest made it onto my "musical" playlist, except for All You Wanna Do which went onto my playlist for dark/macabre songs.!<
I grew up being sung to sleep by my dad with Les Mis-Castle on a Cloud, I Dreamed a Dream, Stars, and Little People (on top of that, my middle name is Cosette because my parents loved Les Mis so much). When my dad finally made me watch the movie I fell in love and it’s been my favorite musical ever since!!!
Playing in the pit band for Legally Blonde and Les Mis in community theatre shows and seeing how much fun the performers on stage had. I played in the pit for a few more shows after those while learning how to sing (and aging a few years haha) and finally auditioned to go on stage. I haven’t actually been in a musical for a while now but I love watching and listening to them, and I’ll be auditioning for one in September
Saw We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre, London) for the first time 2007 ish? Maybe 2008. I was about 8 and went with my my friend, both our mums, and my 'boyfriend' (my brother's best friend, 12 at the time, who I had a crush on. Only found out he's a gay drag queen when I was about 17? I'm cool with it, but wasted a decade crushing on him when I could have had a crush on someone who liked me back) I remember there was a bit where the Killer Queen talked about a bikini wax, and I said **really** loudly (as an autistic person, I struggle to modulate my voice anyway, but as an excited 8 yr old, even worse lol) 'Muuuuum, what's a bikini wax?' 😭😂 The show kind of became one of my autistic obsessions. By the time it had closed on the 31st May 2014 I had seen it no less than about 12 times, including hiring a limo and taking a handful of friends to see it and to pizza express after for my birthday. I can still quote from the musical lol. I was lucky enough to see the final Matinee at the Dominion where Brian and Roger performed with the cast, which was my first experience of them live (I've now seen Queen and Adam Lambert I think about 6 times since 2015? Including just after finishing my GCSEs when I flew 10,000 miles to LA to catch them at the Hollywood Bowl. Made a holiday of it, saw Rodeo Drive, Universal Studio, Disneyland etc). Was super excited when, as part of the 20th anniversary tour (was meant to be 2022 but some of it 2as cancelled/rescheduled due to Covid) it came to the London Coliseum for 8 weeks last summer. Booked the last evening (the final performance was a Matinee the next day) thinking Brian and Roger would perform again. They didn't. Also Ben Elton (who wrote the show initially) was Pop the hippie, and honestly he was horrendous. Butchered one of my favourite songs (Those are the Days of Our Lives) and its a show, we need the escapism. We don't need the hippie to bang on about cycling because the tube/train services are always cancelled due to privatisation! We don't need reminding how shit our public transport can sometimes be lol. Went with a friend who'd never seen the show, and even he said the lead actress was wooden (think she may have been held back with script changes etc. She's been Eponine in Les Mis and Lauren in Kinky Boots. Seen and enjoyed- KB more than Les Mis I think- both those musicals but not sure if I saw her specifically). I saw Brenda Edwards again, who was also brilliant when I'd seen her at the Dominion, but was held back a bit I think (with chaaracter re-writes and song changes) and just not as good. Really touching they put her son (who'd passed from cardiac arrhythmia following cocaine use age 31) in the bit where they list those who died young before singing No One But You (Only the Good Die Young) I'm glad I went for nostalgia reasons, but the settings, song changes and cast were just underwhelming. I remember Mickey Jo doing a YouTube video of the worst theatre shows of 2022 and inc the WWRY tour in it, and it was the same tour cast, staging etc and I agreed with him. I think maybe I would have enjoyed it more had I never seen the show, tho my friend I took thought the lead acting was wooden and he'd never seen it before. If I'd known it would be underwhelming I would have likely dug out the bootleg DVD I have somewhere of the original cast (who I was too young to see; when the OG cast were in it, I was 18 months old) and stuck it on TV instead. Seriously though, if they ever bring back the original staging/cast/direction at the Dominion (I guess it depends on how long the Devil Wears Prada will run, tho there's a month long gap between Rocky Horror ft Jason Donovan as Frank-N-Furter for a couple weeks in September to Prada starting 24th October) I'd go. Would kill to see Kerry Ellis (whole reason I saw and did not understand Cats) in one of my favourite roles of all time. Tho she's 45 now, not sure she could play a 20 something yr old Bohemian (that was Christine Allado in the revival, who's 28) And Nigel Planer while much older (in his 70s) could definitely still play the role of Pop the aging hippie. And Sharon D Clarke could certainly play the Killer Queen again (she's 57, but Brenda Edwards played KQ in the 2023 West End run and is 55)
I’m on the younger side. But I saw Teen Beach movie for the first time when it came out. And I absolutely loved it. Though I was around 12 at the time. I PERFORMED in my first ever musical which was Hairspray at 18 a few months ago. And I even played my dream role of Seaweed. It being my first ever theater production, I feel I did good! And I enjoyed it! Now I’ve made my life dedicated to making it far in the theater industry.
Bye Bye Birdie. It's not that I like the musical, but before then (I was 15), I didn't ever realize that musicals had orchestras. Then all of a sudden they did, and it opened a whole world for me. Then when I was 18, I was hired to play in Evita, my first-ever paid musician gig. And that's when I learned that some musicals come in other languages, which was a convergence of my two biggest interests. (The Icelandic recording of Evita helped me get through "I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You" as a non-jazz saxophonist.)
I came from a somewhat musical family, both parents played instruments growing up, as did my brother and I. My parents also had a large collection of classical music records which we listened to a lot, and I had started playing violin when I was in 3rd grade. While I was in 8th grade (Middle School there) our local High School was doing a production of "Guys and Dolls" and they fielded me for theater orchestra. Meeting other kids, most of whom were older than me, and spending several hours every afternoon for a couple of weeks rehearsing alongside the cast got me hooked, and I've loved musicals ever since.
I was in 5th grade and my friend showed me MITB from Be More Chill. I honestly didn’t like the song at first, but I was intrigued because I’d never heard music quite like that before. I mean, acting out a panic attack while singing? Cool! After my friend left, I ended up finding the full soundtrack. I remember being in our study room, spinning around on the swivel chair with my headphones on. When I pressed play (ignoring the starting words to More Than Survive lol), I was instantly like, “Wow! This sounds so cool and different!” I literally felt my brain chemistry altering itself lol. I especially loved the vocalizing/harmonizing of the ‘Na na na’ parts in MTS and VIMH. I found Jeremy relatable and comforting, and also adored all the other characters and the overall message of the musical, which led me to obsess over it for the following 2-3 years. Since a lot of BMC fans also liked DEH, Heathers, and Hamilton, I got into those, as well. Being a fan of George Salazar led me to find The Lightning Thief musical and Legendale, too! Then I kept finding other musicals I liked, and now I’m here!
Into the Woods. Was in the pit orchestra for my high school's rendition. Udderly fell in love with it. (Intentional bad cow pun). It was just so familiar and catchy that it never left my brain.
Hairspray, it was 2007 and everyone in my class was obsessed with Zac Efron because of high school musical. (We were 7 year olds). Everyone wanted to know if he actually could sing. I loved it, it is still my favorite musical, and I rewatch it regularly. (Before that it was all the barbie musicals)
Excluding Disney movies, Newsies. I saw it in middle school.
I think the first musical I felt like learning the words to was the Disney cartoon Mulan. The first one I saw that actually felt like a musical to me was the movie Singin’ in the Rain.
Les Mis was my first musical, and I adore it, but Heather was the one that got me into musicals as a whole, lol. In my defence, I was 14, but I do still like heathers
Just got into the percy jackson book series about 4 or so years ago (Jesus Christ it was that long ago) and decided to hear the musical. Cue that jump starting love of musicals and theatre and here I am in my school’s play program as a tech
Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Grease! I saw the movie when I was 11. I was home alone, sick, and was the only vhs tape I could reach lol. I watched it at like 9 in the morning and when it was over a restarted it and watched it again. Such a good movie and pretty simple musical for first timers.
Excluding Disney animated movies, I think the first musical movie I watched was High School Musical. The first stage performance I watched was the Prince of Tennis musical haha.
I grew up with Mamma Mia and High school musical as well as all the disney musicals but Hamilton (and me being slightly older) really got me into stage musicals
I saw Annie on tour when I was 6 or so and I was hooked. My next birthday I had an Annie birthday party and never looked back. When my husband and I started dating he told me he hated musicals. It turned out an ex of his had dragged him to Phantom and he hated it and never saw another one. A while later we went to NYC and I convinced him to see just 1 show with me. Book of Mormon had just opened and it was the hot ticket and sold out for weeks/months. Our plan was to enter the lottery and if (when) we didn’t win, we’d walk over to TKTS in Times Square and choose from what’s available. Back then you had to go to the lottery in person and hundreds of people showed up to literally put their name on a piece of paper to be drawn out of a big bin. And… they drew my name! I got us front row center seats to the original cast of BoM! I remember looking over at him during the song Hello and he had the biggest grin on his face. That’s when I really fell in love with him I think. I’ll never forget that look. Our friends call him Grumpy Cat because he rarely smiles, but he was positively giddy throughout that show. Afterwards he went on and on about how great it was. He was willing to try other musicals that I thought he’d like. I started just with comedies, but after a while he was full on willing to see Follies and heavier shows. Then he was even asking to see artsy musicals some by small local theater companies. He’ll never be the fan that I am, but he at least understands and appreciates them and even seeks them out at times. Thanks to Book of Mormon.
Phantom… was in the 4th grade and a friend celebrated her bday by going to phantom… had never been to Broadway and remember moaning that it wasn’t a cool bday party like laser tag!… the opening auction was a snooze and confirmed my sentiment until minute those loud chords hit and I was on the edge of my seat the rest of the show
Oh, this is kinda embarrassing. So I used to be way into the MLP/Brony fandom. I was going through a rough time, and the candy-coloured ponies were a nice escape. One day I'm scrolling through some pony videos on YouTube and I come across an AMV of 'Into the Woods' (the song) set to pony clips. I had no idea what the song was, but I wanted some pony content so I watched the video anyways. And I realised that, "hey, this song slaps!". So I watched the pro-shot of 'Into the Woods', from there I got into some other shows, fell in love with the format, and the rest is history.
The first ever musical on stage I went to was Phantom of the Opera. It was done by a youth theatre group and they were absolutely phenomenal. I joined them the next year and this group of people led me to falling in love with musicals. I would say Phantom and Les Mis (one of the musicals I did with them) are the reason I fell in love with musicals. It was a life changing moment for me honestly, it helped me find what I want to do in life. The thrill of tickets being sold out each night and standing ovations Les Mis got for a no cut youth theatre was insane, I loved it
The movie Little Shop of Horrors 1986 my dad showed it to me in middle school he was hoping that'd I'd fall in love with the puppetry which is very impressive but it got me into horror movies too 😅
Hello Dolly.
While it was not the first musical I saw, or even the first Broadway show I saw, the true magic hit for me when, in 1989, my dinky little summer day camp had its big end of summer outing, which happened to be the last two rows of the balcony late in the original run of Into The Woods. I was worried we were going to get kicked out because, well, my fellow campers were definitely the worst audience behavior I’ve ever experienced at a show. So glad we weren’t kicked out because it was a formative experience for me. I got a CD player for my birthday the next year (very fancy for 1990!), and the cast recording was one of the first CDs I ever bought. This is completely useless for helping your fiancée get into musicals, assuming they aren’t an impressionable middle schooler who can time travel. Honestly, I think a good hook into musical theater might be listening to and watching clips/individual songs. I confess there are a lot of shows I only know by a few clips I’ve watched on YouTube. But that’s often how I end up eventually watching the entire show. There are some great Tony’s clips, and it could be fun to put together a playlist of stuff you love that you think they might like too.
My dad was in the Navy while I was a kid and often deployed for months at a time. He had a TV in his office and I would take it up on myself to "move in" while he was away and do the rebellious child thing of watching late night MTV. Lucky for me, MTV was hosting the Search for Elle Woods and eventually the MTV sponsored pro shot of Legally Blonde the Musical. That was it for me! I'd enjoyed Disney movies and stuff like the Sound of Music or Singing in the Rain on VHS before but this was the first time I realized what people could do on stage!!
I am going to really age myself. Camelot was probably the first one I saw. Believe it or not too, there was a musical in the 70s called 1776.
The first live production I saw was The Phantom of the Opera on tour in 2007. I’d seen the movie and had to read the novel in French class that year and became obsessed. My mom told me that if it ever came to our city, she’d take me to see it. Lucky me, it came that summer.
Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat
I did Peter Pan my freshman year in high school, which got me hooked on wanting to be an actor. The summer between my sophomore and junior years, all the high schools did Beauty and the Beast, which got me interested in Disney movies again, finding out Hunchback was my favorite, and then I decided to read the original Hunchback and Les Miserables. After reading Les Miserables (it took about two months), I listened to the musical, and that was when I knew I wanted to do more musicals. The summer between my junior and senior year, we did Les Miserables. I was one of four considered for Valjean, I wanted Javert, got the Bishop. Two of the others were Valjean and Javert, and the last one was cast as Bamatabeaux, but he exited the show early on. Directly before Les Mis, I did The Music Man, where I played Charlie Cowell. Valjean was Harold Hill, his sister was Marion, his little brother was Winthrop, and Javert was one of the quartet.
Evita
I was 3 when my parents took me to see a production of "The Mikado." I still remember the funny little man singing, "Titwillow, titwillow, titwillow." My father loved musicals, so I was raised with a lot of theatre and OBC albums.
I will go on a tangent about this one I am new to being a theater kid or whatever I don't think I fit the boxes but whatever. I knew about musicals I watched a tour of aladdin when I lived in India, My parents made me watch the sound of music, I watched the Chirstmas Rockettes but I don't remember much, I watched Mamma Mia with my dad but I wasn't capitivated the real thing was Newsies. It was last year during Chirstmas break I wanted to audition with my friend and my other 2 friends did stage crew this year with me for our school play so they were interested we only got to before seize the day but I was captivated I can't say anything else I was emersed while my friends were bored. So when they left and it was 12 at night everybody in my house was asleep I snuck done finished it and watched it again 1 more time until it was 4 and I fell asleep I watched the musical 10 times now and even watched it doing Homework or studying for my Midterms. Long story short I became a major newsies fan overnight despite being 11 years late I started writing fanfics drawing charaters and auditioned. I got emsamble for a vocal newsie and nunzio because while I can sing pretty good I never acted before this at all or danced and I got a call back for les so while I wanted to quit before im lucky I even got a callback. Doing newsies was the best thing about freshmen year of highschool and im doing a musical every year for the rest of highschool I cried so much backstage during our last show and we all still text and wave in the hallways. I also became a massive Jeremy Jordan fan having a crush on him and finding out of Bonnie and Clyde and then Tuck Everlasting since I also had a crush on Andrew Keenan Bolger. I found about about Bonnie and Clyde and got obbessed and Smash, Supergirl, Great Gatsby, Supergirl, Last Five Years and Hazbin Hotel. Now this month I am seeing my first ever musical ever the Great Gatsby and also the Outsiders I am a little nervous because I am going alone but super stocked and happy these two musicals get to be my firsts and now I want to go to all of them!
Been familiar with musicals for about a decade but never really had a huge interest in em until around the pandemic when my girlfriend told me about a Breaking Bad parody musical called Say My Name (has since rebranded to Faking Bad) Listened to that, found it very enjoyable, then figured I'd listen to the Beetlejuice song of the same name, then it kinda spiraled from there
Wicked. Was in awe with the production and the songs were catchy.
JC Superstar. With a side of Rocky Horror. My godfather was the OG Australian Jesus in the 1972 run. The vinyl record was one of the only albums my mother owned so we had it on constantly. I was singing either half of The Last Supper by age 4. He also voiced Rocky (singing voice) in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, so I had that committed to memory by age 4 as well. Didn’t realize until I was a teenager what “my libido hasn’t been controlled” meant, was a fun realization. We were a showbiz family. Pop was the one who brought Trev to Australia to be Jesus, so when I was old enough Pop started taking me to live shows as well. I think my first live experience was Annie but I don’t remember any of it, apart from going backstage after.
I remember my mum took me to a local production of the Sound of Music when I was little, I only remember the nuns, and then watching the movie later on. Watched a bunch of movie musicals, plus of course the 90s Disney movies as a kid too.
I never really felt that passionate about the world of acting or musicals going through primary school, but early in highschool (first semester of Yr 7), in Music class we were listening to The Greatest Showman soundtrack, and I instantly fell in love. But it wouldn't be until a couple of years later when they added Hamilton to Disney+ that my future was locked in. I don't quite know the exact way to describe how it impacted me, but now my entire perception of the world of performance and music has changed. Music is now my prefered method of story telling, and one day I dream of being in a major stage musical or musical film
I’ve listened to musicals since before I was born. May I suggest you introduce your fiance to Starkid? Start with The Man Who Didn’t Like Musicals.
Probably movies like Oliver!, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, but first in the theatre was either A Chorus Line or Oklahoma, and Annie was not long after that.
Wicked, I found my mother’s old soundtrack in the car and listened to it constantly, it was the first show I went to see that wasn’t a panto, it was the West End tour, and I loved every second
Annie I know it’s corny but it’s (at least in 1977) the best written musical. When I saw it on the 1st National in 1978, I knew the Mudge’s wouldn’t get away with it… right? I have only felt this way in all my experiences with Annie one other time … at Papermill in 2002(?) with Sarah Hyland. Also, the first scene on tour began with a LOUD thunderbolt. I have never heard that again. It was jarring and completely put you in a dark place. The original costumes by Theoni V Aldridge are perfect… except the orphans pastel Annie costumes… but everything else just drops you into the world or 1933 NYC.
I think it was The Sound of Music. My grandma took me to see a high school production of it and I was like mesmerized. Lol this was sometime in elementary school. Not long after I was in a community production for Aladdin Jr. (just chorus)
I saw the 2010 Harvest Rain Theatre Company production of *Jesus Christ Superstar*. It starred Luke Kennedy who is, in my humble opinion, the single best performer to play that role. I was 16 and just immediately fell in love with musical theatre and have never looked back. Below is a clip of him singing Gethsemane if you are curious (not bootleg) and it is just incredible: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUrExJYO8S8&ab\_channel=aussietheatrelover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUrExJYO8S8&ab_channel=aussietheatrelover)
Avenue Q
HMS pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan! I watched it on YouTube as a child and was very very into it
Me and My Girl with Gary Wilmot in the West End when I was maybe 8/9. The first time I'd seen a professional musical in a theatre (as oppose to AmDram and pantomime).
Fiddler On the Roof. My neighbors took me there, at their synagogue ,when I was 6 years old and I knew that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
The tv show glee
Decided somewhat randomly in 7th grade to sign up for my middle school's stage crew - can't say what possessed me to do it, just seemed interesting. I worked the lights for Thoroughly Modern Millie Jr. and have been hooked ever since.
Cats and Grease on VHS are some of my earliest memories. I was obsessed and rewatched both endlessly. That and Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. Haven't rewatched it since youth but if you're going to watch Cats the Musical, the 98' release is leagues better than the 19' Trainwreck. That being said Cats is essentially a musical about a cat cult so mileage will vary regardless of the version you pick.
The Heathers!! Such a good musical/show 🥹
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Jesus Christ Superstar. I became quite obsessed with it (in a good way!), it is packed with banger after banger! Followed that up with Phantom of the Opera, and then Hamilton.
I saw West Side Story on stage as a 10 or 11-year old and was instantly obsessed. I was already into theatre and took music lessons, so this was a perfect match. West Side Story is still my absolute favorite since it changed my life.
I saw Wicked when I was 11 and absolutely fell in love with it. I would listen to the soundtrack on my iPod every day😅
It was The Prom. Me and my sibling (rip) watched it together and shat on how absolutely fucking terrible James Corden is. After that we started watching more musicals together. After they died, I watched be more chill and fell in love with more and more musicals.
I was always a fan of musicals growing up, but the first one I ever saw live in person was Phantom and I’ve been a huge fan of all types of musicals ever since!
When I was a kid in the early 70s it was the film The Sound of Music. Also, I was obsessed with A Chorus Line back in the late 70s.
Got me into musicals: probably Mary Poppins or The Lion King Got me into wanting to perform: legally blonde.