Shows That Changed Your Life

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 2:29pm

We've all got 'em. Mine:

Spring Awakening
Little Women
Sweeney Todd
Sleep No More
Angels in America
Hair
Next to Normal

[Taryn]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 2:52pm

I think we may have different definitions of life-changing.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 2:56pm

^this

A handful of shows have really knocked me for a loop, expanded my mind, or altered my perspectives, but the only show that actually changed my life was probably my high school's production of I'M SORRY, THE BRIDGE IS OUT, YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEND THE NIGHT, which I saw in sixth grade, because it was there and then I knew I wanted to be in the theater.

But somehow I suspect that's not what we're talking about here.

[chickfila]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 3:01pm

Theatre has changed my life, not there hasn't been a single show that has changed my life. I've loved certain shows, gone back to them over and over, but I don't believe my life was changed as a result of seeing them.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 3:33pm

I'm going to do my best to eschew hyperbole here:

The OBC album of MAME made musical theater the most important thing in the world to me.

The original Broadway production of FOLLIES completely changed my understanding of what theater could accomplish.

M. BUTTERFLY changed my understanding of gender, sexuality and race, and therefore my view of the world.

[sephyr]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 3:36pm

Ragtime got me into musical theatre & changed the path of my life.

Dear Finder was the show I found my emotional side in and I really connected to the material.

Little Shop of Horrors is the first show I really felt star power in my performance. It was so much fun!

[once a month]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 3:38pm

A Chorus Line

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

Naked Boys Singing (only kidding!)

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 3:49pm

Caroline or Change

It completely altered my perspective of what theater could be. It was extraordinary. I rushed it on a Saturday evening and was so astonished I went back the next day for the matinee.

[MillieDillmount]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 3:49pm

Thoroughly Modern Millie changed my 15 year old self in the sense that for the first time I just remember thinking how much fun it looked. I knew after I saw that show that I had to end up in theatre, if I was performing or cleaning toilets because Sutton Foster just looked like she was having the time of her life - I wanted that. Also, Sutton has changed my life - I literally met all of my closest friends because of her, I've experienced so many new shows, seen new places that I never would have gone if it wasn't for her. She means the world to me, she's always going to have a special place in my heart.

That was in 2003 - I didn't have another life changing theatre going experience until last year with Bonnie & Clyde. That show opened my eyes to what can be accomplished in the theatre, and it really makes me want to do that - create a powerful piece of theatre that touches and moves the audience.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 3:50pm

Gaveston's expression of FOLLIES matches mine of CAROLINE OR CHANGE.

[sephyr]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 4:05pm

Now for some personal ones I wasn't in lol

Rent - the songs just mean so much to me. They make me laugh, they make me cry, they fill me with hope. They made me feel like being the rebel that I am isn't wrong.

Les Miz - The songs are intensely emotional for me. I've never seen a stage version but i LOVE the cast recording.

And more but I just can't think of them right now. I just love musicals!

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 4:05pm

Well, now I just feel like a jerk for not playing along. Okay.

Compilcite's MNEMONIC changed my perspective of the dramatic possibilities of storytelling and what could be achieved through true theatrical collaboration, even thought I thought I'd long figured out what both of those things meant. I still consider it the finest theatergoing experience of my life.

Even thought I'd obsessed for years over my VHS tape of INTO THE WOODS, my VHS tape of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE taught me that sometimes you have to let the show come to you; someday the show you use as a sedative may become one of your all-time favorites.

RENT taught me exactly the reverse.

And I'm not sure about the play -- although I do love it -- but seeing Bingo O'Malley's Willy Loman, in high school, in a small theater in Pittsburgh's South Side, finally illustrated for me the chasm between a great performance and an extraordinary one.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 4:16pm

My list would include shows that either directly inspired my interest in theatre or proved cathartic to me at a personal level:

Les Miserables
Hair
Falsettos
An Inspector Calls
Rent
De La Guarda
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Next to Normal
American Idiot

Each of these shows represents a very specific personal milestone despite how anyone else may feel about them.

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 4:25pm

Hairspray was my first show when I was 14. It was a non-equity tour, but it was the first time I learned how magical live theater can be.
Although many feel it is overrated, Wicked is the show that most impacted me. I first encountered it in high school and found myself enchanted by the grandeur and the lovely music. But more than anything, it helped me learn about myself and the people around me. I was an Elphaba, if you'll all excuse the cheesiness of this. I was quiet, bookish, self-conscious, and deeply insecure; I had never fit in anywhere in my life and I thought most of the people in my small school looked down on me as just the smart girl. I cried the first time I heard "I'm Not That Girl" and "Defying Gravity." I felt courageous and stronger, and I realized I had to accept myself. With that, I got up the courage to strike up acquaintances; a few of these new friends became people who changed my life and helped me become a better person. Today, I'm still bookish and soft-spoken, but I'm also a confident and strong young woman. Finally, "For Good" has woven its way all through my life. I became famous for using quotes from it in papers and speeches; even my high school valedictorian speech. I cannot forget how much I have learned from the people in my life, who have truly left "handprints on my heart." After this weekend, I will have seen Wicked 8 times, and I still feel the same emotions I did the first time I listened to it. Forgive the long post but this story means a great deal to me- more than I could ever write.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 5:52pm

Anything Goes was the first time I had a huge role on stage, so that show changed my life first.

The next year, I got cast as The Baker in Into the Woods. I was very familiar with the show, having seen the original Broadway cast on DVD. It was just around the time the Sweeney Todd film came out. I went to see that, fell in love with Sondheim, got every CD of his that I could from the library and devoured them. Company, A Little Night Music, Follies...they were all just so much deeper than the musicals I was accustomed to. People were singing for a reason, not just cause the producers wanted a number every 10 minutes.

Gypsy really changed my life, too. I realized how dark, tragic, and yet humorous theatre could be. The characters were so complex, the book so strong, and music so beautiful. I can still remember hearing "Rose's Turn" for the first time and getting goosebumps everywhere. I made it my dream to one day sing and act that song in front of thousands of people.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 5:57pm

Company, Rent, The Normal Heart, Angels in America.

[binau]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 6:00pm

Before I saw the SWEENEY TODD movie I didn't know how people could use music so successfully to tell a story. It is the greatest movie-going experience I've ever had and although this might be cringeworthy to some, consider that I was experiencing this musical for the first time without knowing anything about it or musicals. This is what I imagine it is like seeing the original production of FOLLIES for the first time.

Seeing this movie changed my life because It completely changed what music I listened to (musicals), how I often spend my time (posting on this forum or seeing musicals/shows), and how I have spent most of my money in the past few years (travelling to NYC from Australia, buying cast recordings and theatre tickets).

Occasionally, I get to have mini re-experiences of almost being in disbelief with what is being accomplished on the stage in front of me (e.g. Bernadette singing SEND IN THE CLOWNS and now/soon/later in NIGHT MUSIC, The FOLLIES revival, NEXT TO NORMAL, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY). And I am thankful that I have been brought here at the right time by the Sweeney Todd movie.

Updated On: 3/9/12 at 06:00 PM

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 6:44pm

Jersey Boys really got me into theater and The Normal Heart

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 6:48pm

Picnic.

[BroadwayFan12]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 8:14pm

Wicked and Next to Normal. I know, I couldn't be more cliche. Wicked was my gateway musical, and Next to Normal hit close to home and helped me see mental illness in a new light (no pun intended).

[thejcm]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 9:47pm

It's hard for me to put into words what Hedwig and the Angry Inch had done for me at the age of 14. Trying to sum it up is hard and I've tried and tried for the past 10 minutes but that show/movie just really helped me understand and accept myself and has ultimately made me a stronger person in life. I can honestly say that I think I wouldn't be as happy without having been exposed to that show at that time in my life.

Les Miserables is the show that pushed me into loving musicals. Something about the classical/pop sound bridged the gap for me and I realized that not all musicals were (what I considered) "old sounding". And while I still prefer pop/rock scores, I have really grown to appreciate shows from the golden era.

Rocky Horror gave me confidence that I didn't know I had. I hosted the pre-show and played Frank N Furter for a few years in my city's shadowcast and doing that has relieved a lot of social anxiety that I used to have.

RENT introduced me to one of my best friends whom I would have never met if we hadn't joined the same message board. We live 6 hours from each other but she's one of my dearest friends and has been for years.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 9:59pm

Wicked and Next to Normal. I know, I couldn't be more cliche. Wicked was my gateway musical, and Next to Normal hit close to home and helped me see mental illness in a new light (no pun intended).

Good for you. I don't see why that's so cliche, except that it reflects your age, about which you can do nothing. Of course your list will reflect what you saw at formative ages just as mine does. There's nothing about either WICKED or N2N that requires an apology, IMO.

[michellek45]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 10:20pm

Bye Bye Birdie was the show that got me into theater. I'd been playing my schools' bands for years, but it was that high school production (I was in the pit) that really made me feel like I was doing something special with my musical abilities. Even though I rarely listen to Bye Bye Birdie now, it was the thing that got me to say "I wish I could do this kind of stuff forever!"

I've known certain songs from Les Miserables for years, but it wasn't until I sat and watched the 25th Anniversary Concert that I really fell in love with the material. I was sitting in my dorm room and furiously wiping tears away at the end so that my roommate wouldn't see.

West Side Story, Spamalot, Next to Normal, and Chicago will always be special to me because they're the ones that my father and I have experienced together.

Hair, Cabaret, and Caroline, or Change have all left me speechless, each time I see/hear them, it reminds of exactly why I'm studying a subject that will allow me to spend my entire life involved in this field.

[michellek45]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 10:20pm

Double post Updated On: 3/9/12 at 10:20 PM

[ElphabaGoodman]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 11:42pm

Next to Normal-Next to Normal changed my life more than anything else. I've had my own struggles with depression and seeing the show and Diana's journey really inspired me and taught me how to cope in difficult situations. It was actually the most cathartic thing I had ever witnessed. I have applied the lessons I have learned from the show and incorporated them into my everyday life. Also, I have made so many friends simply because we both loved the show. We then found other things in common and bonded on those, but Next to Normal provided the basis for so many friendships and I will always be grateful for that.

Wicked-I know it is a very cliché show to like, but I saw first saw Wicked when I was 9 years old and I was able to relate to Elphaba even at that age. I had been bullied since I started school and was always made fun of for being different. I was into things that most kids my age weren't and I had difficulty relating to them. While Wicked may not be the most well-written show, it's message did inspire me at the time and I am very thankful for that.

Other shows that changed my life to a lesser extent are Billy Elliot, In the Heights, and Rent.