what moment made you fall in love with theater?

[Stage Addict]

Was it a show you attended, a performer you saw, or just a cast recording you listened to? For me it was seeing a touring production of Grease (ahh I know, tacky, but just seeing the amazing performers was so inspiring.)Anyone else have a "defining moment" of some sort?

[Mr Roxy]

When the curtain went up on the first show I saw - either Oliver or Here's Love . It was about 40 years ago

[kelly0ann]

I was 5 years old and I my dad took me to New York and we saw Annie Get Your Gun, and Bernadette Peters was amazing and so full of energy! I remember watching the little kids thinking "I can do that!". I left the theatre singing and haven't stopped since! Haha.

I'd have to say when I saw Beauty and The Beast and saw all the people singing and having fun on stage that was about 5 almost 6 years ago.. But the the real moment was listening to Idina Menzel sing the end note of Defying Gravity at the Gerswhin on my 16th birthday which made me love theater, that and lots of inspiration from my school theater productions such as Fiddler On The Roof JR.

[MissMonika]

when I saw The Lion King for the first time on stage at the Pantages theater in LA when I was 12 or 13. it was so beautiful. i'm never gonna forget that.

[OOTI2004]

The moment that made me fall in love with theater was "I'll Know" from a high school production of Guys and Dolls, when I was in the fourth grade. I remeber watching Sky and Sarah sing it, and then when he kissed her and she slapped him all I kept thinking was I want to do that, meaning I wanted to act.

[Katurian2]

Hairspray- when Tracy wakes up in her bed.

[angelrock25222]

the first musical i saw was les mis, so i suppose the opening number would be the clincher in my broadway loving life.

[kelly0ann]

Ah, if the Work Song doesn't make you fall in love with theatre, I don't know what will!

[peggyandvelma]

It's Grease for me too! I was just a chorus member in my high school production, but I had so much fun. With all the other chorus members doing the hand jive...ah..it was such fun. Our production wasn't too great, but I had this moment looking into the audience and I thought "You know, I could do this forever." Just being onstage gives me a high. Also, I saw a community theatre production of 42nd Street and I shot up out of my seat at the end and applauded. It was just an awesome moment, too.

[gumbo2]

Hard to say for me, but probably the first show I was in, Guys and Dolls. It was just so much fun even though I didn't really have a big part. Either that or the second show I did, 42nd Street, where I had to work my @$$ off to learn how to tap dance and sing the *really* high tenor parts, and even though it was tons of work I had TONS of fun and knew that's what I wanted to do.

[GClef2]

Seeing Sutton Foster sing "On My Own" and "A Little Fall of Rain" was the first time I was ever speechless in a theater. Her renditions of those made me love theater forever.

[Broadwaygirl22]

It was probably when I went to nyc my freshman year of high school and the band, chorus, and drama kids went and saw Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King on Broadway. The Lion King was probably what really made me love theatre because the actors and directors put so much work into doing something they love to do. I thought the costumes were really cool too.

[Roninjoey]

When Winston danced with that skeleton a few weeks ago. It just set off this spark in my imagination, and I fell in love with theater and all the possibilities.

[guitargeek0624]

I saw my first Broadway shows at a really young age, so I couldn't really get into it, but when I heard "The Impossible Dream" during Man of La Mancha, it completely renewed my love for theater.

[Akitarent]

For me it was a regional show of The King and I. I went home when I was 7 and sang a few of the songs into a tape recorder. My mom still has it. Also (shoot me) but when I was younger I saw Cats on Broadway 3 times. It was great looking back how my parents went back (for my brother and I) because we wanted to relive the experience.

[Copeman63]

Mine was when my Elementary Music Teacher played the CD to Phantom of the Opera. I got so into it and immeadiatly called my Mom when I got home and told her to buy the cassette on the way home, and I listened to it until it broke from playing it too much!

[freeadmission]

I saw the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival's performance of Hamlet 5 years ago. It was against my will. My mother wanted me and my siblings to go and get cultured and such. I remember they changed the setting to the 1940's during World War II.

It was the grave digger. Something about him made me think WOAH, how cool. And then the final scene. It was so heart-wrenching and so immediate . . . I never looked back.

[GYPSY1527]

Ragtime. I was 12 years old and haven't stopped loving theater since!

[OddExoticCreature]

When I was six my mom took me to see the high school production of Peter Pan. I was amazed and I knew I wanted to do that someday. Then when I was a little older (10? not sure..) I saw the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and thought it was just the coolest! I wanted to be The Narrator so badly! Then last year I randomly bought the Wicked soundtrack because everyone was talking about it and I had no idea what it was about, listened to it, and fell in love, and spurred me to actually see a Broadway show when I visited NYC, and realized I MUST be a part of this, lol.

[jasobres]

It was all Disney's fault that I got hooked into theater at the age of eight.

[Corine2]

It was my first show. I was 3 years old.
It was the Paper Bag Players. My Mother said I loved it.
The funniest part, there were two shows. We went to the first show and when it was over I refused to leave.
My Mother said it was over and we had to go. I said can we please stay. One of the performers heard this and let us stay for the second show for free.
I was hooked for life.

[Spanish Panic]

I started participating in Musical Theater when I was 6. My mother put me in one of those cheesy "Pay For Your Kid To Do a Show" sort of things, and they did 'Oliver', and after the first show I was certain that this is what I'd do for the rest of my life, and that I was in love with that. Just being a part of it was so moving and I loved doing it so much.

[DramaDork925]

The moment I truly fell in love with theatre was when I saw my first professional show- POTO and got to not only go backstage after but got to go onstage (this was at the Opera House in Boston). I was so amazed with the size of the audience and from that moment on I was in love with the idea of performing to that many people. It definetly was life changing.

[Urban]

Four words...

"that strange insistant music"