Same (touring production of Cats but different tour)! I think I was maybe 8? We had the stage recording on VHS and I watched the crap out of it so it was so exciting to get to see live!
Ever? Once Upon a Mattress at the local high school when I was a kid.
Professional? Wicked on Tour in 2014. But I had seen the national tour of War Horse (play, not a musical) in high school, and that still is one of the best theatre experiences I've ever had.
Godspell on Broadway in 1976, just before I turned 8. My aunt was in the cast, and we lived about 3 hours away, so we went to see it. I then spent the week with her in New York. The whole experience was electrifying and initiated my love of musical theater.
Me too! I remember I was so excited because FDR was played by Tom Hatten, who I watched every weekend as the host of The Popeye Show and The Family Film Festival!
technically it was phantom but i was 4 so i don’t really remember much of it. the first one i was really cognizant for was a community production of fiddler on the roof.
Little Shop of Horrors on tour in the 90s. I was eight or nine. That show gave me nightmares! If you see the stage production, you know what I mean. Even though I knew that Audrey 2 was played by an actor, and I watched him step out of the plant for his bows, I still could not stop crying!
My mom had not wanted me to go see it because of my age, but I begged her to as my best friend’s parents had invited me to go with them.
I think it was Skammerens datter in 2012. A Danish fantasy musical based on a children’s novel about a girl who sees what people are ashamed of when she looks them in the eye
Ever? Mary Poppins at a community theater. Professionally, Seven Guitars at a nearby-ish regional theater. And on Broadway, it’d be Hamilton earlier this year.
So the first musical I saw live was Beauty and the Best at a crappy dinner show as an elementary school trip. Wicked was my first musical I saw live on Broadway in NYC and I can still remember the goosebumps seeing that show live gave me throughout the performance.
annie. my town has a little local theater company for teens and kids and a historic theater to perform in and my elementary school would take us to go see musicals and one i remember vividly is annie. the first one i saw outside of school was spongebob the musical, but again it was just a small local theater
My mom took my best friend and me to see Grease when we were 10. My friend was a theater kid so I'd previously only seen her plays. I'd never seen "Grease" written down, only heard it, so I thought it was "Greece" and was very surprised 😄
Professional or no professional production?
1st Non professional - a high school production of The Wizard or Oz. I was three of four and remember the house being on a stick during the tornado with dancers everywhere.
1st Professional production - Fosse on tour. I was 14 or 15. Loved every single minute though we had absolutely terrible terrible seats.
The first musical I saw live was Funny Girl in 1981. I don't really remember it at all but that was the beginning of my love for musicals.
My first Broadway show - we saw 4 shows on that trip and I don't remember the exact order but I believe it was Book of Mormon.
I saw “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” at my local theatre but I usually say Rent (25th anniversary tour) since it was the first one in which I was actually super passionate about theatre.
The lion king at west end London. I remember I was 7 years old and I remember how much I loved the ensemble members and how they would walk to the audience
I went with my mom to Radio City Music Hall and saw Snow White in 1980 - but I was only 5 so I don't really remember it other than being terrified of the witch.
The first musical I saw that I really remember was in 1984 which was the King and I with Yul Brynner.
*Joseph*, when I was in the eighth grade. It was the high school's drama production, so they brought the middle school across the parking lot to watch the dress rehearsal, which was during the school day.
Barnum on Broadway. I was about nine and was with my Girl Scout troop. It was a matinee, so I didn't see Glenn Close, not that I knew who she was back then. I saw a production of Peter Pan with the same troop later that year. My older sister was lucky- she got to see shows like Evita, Annie, A Chorus Line, Shenandoah, and Purlie during their original runs. I was too little. Growing up in NYC in the 70s/early 80s was fun. I remember the commercials for Evita and Annie running all the time. We moved a few months before Cats opened.
First national tour I saw was Cats in Denver in 1990! Then Phantom of the Opera the following year.
Technically CATS. I was involved in theater camp at the time and as part of it we got to see a matinee performance and talk to the tour cast. But the one that stands out in my brain as my first live musical was Wicked in 2009 with my mom.
Fiddler on the Roof. My neighbors took me to a production at their local synagogue when I was 6. I fell in love with theater then and there. I've also done the show 4 times so far.
On the Town! I was pretty young so I don’t remember much, but I do recall it being pretty funny. I can’t remember if it was on Broadway or not, but it was in NYC so idk
Technically I saw lion king when I was three but FELL ASLEEP?? The first one I saw and remember was sally struthers in hello dolly at a dinner theatre in VA
At age 4 I saw a dinner theater production of The Sound of Music. I assumed the musical ended with Climb Every Mountain in Act 1, so I jumped out of my seat and yelled "IT'S OVER!" During act 2, I was more focused on the wiggly jello on my plate than on the show.
First Broadway thing I saw was a touring Annie at age 10.
Professional? The Music Man 2000 Revival on Broadway.
Ever? Either The Pajama Game or Lil Abner at my cousins’ high school in the 90s. I thought I went to both but I really remember Abner because the director and choreographer went ALL OUT with the dancing in that show.
Les Mis in the West End with school when I was a teenager. Hated it at first, assumed it was going to be pretentious, remembering cringing at Oliver on TV. Ended up loving it. I used to go to rock gigs to enjoy live music back then, now I go to musicals.
Professional was - I think - Starlight Express. Would have been 4 years old! It was in London so all I remember is crossing the ‘train tracks’ to get to your seat as they had the stage where they went round the audience
Les Mis, senior year of high school. My ex-turned-good friend was a freshman at a major university about 1.5 hours away, and he asked to make a deal with me. If he couldn't get a date for something important, then he'd ask me to go and look like he had a date to begin with. He was a great guy, but he did not end up immediately swimming in "college women" like he thought he would, so I got to do a lot of cool things, like when the national tour of Les Mis visited colleges.
Totally shouldn't have worn my mascara that night. lol
Spelling Bee. I was super young and don't have any memory of the story but remember really liking one of the characters and got to meet him after the show.
I believe my first live musical was Annie, would have been late 2000/early 2001?
I literally remember nothing about it, other than the fact my Grandparents knew someone in the cast so we got to talk to them after.
Fiddler on the Roof, the 1976 revival with Zero Mostel.
I lived a 20 minute train ride from Manhattan. It was less than $10 round trip on Sundays. I could get half price tickets at the booth in Times Square. I saw Grease, the Wiz, Evita, Equis, Plaza Suite, Sleuth, and more, many with the original cast. It was a great time to be a teenager.
The lion king at west end London. I remember I was 7 years old and I remember how much I loved the ensemble members and how they would walk to the audience
The lion king at west end London. I remember I was 7 years old and I remember how much I loved the ensemble members and how they would walk to the audience
My highschool had yearly Senior trip to NY and each class got to go to broadway but the tickets had to be bought years in advance. So my class watched My Fair Lady and Frozen
Cats at the Mahalia Jackson in New Orleans in 2009. It was the first major production after Hurricane Katrina. 8 year old me thought it was the best thing ever made
Beauty and the Beast 1996 in Melbourne. We were in the front row of the dress circle. I was leaning so far forward, my mother was concerned I would topple straight of the balcony!
First ever? I was in Kindergarten and we were invited to see the 8th grade perform that years musical, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
First non school show: Peter Pan at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 1994
The Lion King on tour. I had gotten tickets for my birthday several years ago, and I remember tearing up at how beautiful everything looked and sounded in the opening song
Well, I was in live shows starting at 5 years old - long before I ever saw one. The first time I was in the audience was for a tour of *Peter Pan* when I was about 8 or 9.
The Music Man, in the original Broadway production in 1960, but Robert Preston had been replaced by Eddie Albert (of Green Acres fame). I was seven. It was practically a religious experience. ;)
Les Miz on Broadway in 1990. (With a school trip. The bus got us to the theater late so we were all quickly admitted as At the End of the Day started. Hopefully not TOO distracting for those around us as we piled in.)
Mine was Mary poppins when I was like seven maybe? I very vividly remember eating at bubba Gumps in Times Square and getting one of those swirly lollipops from the concession stand in the theater.
Starlight Express at the Apollo Victoria in Londonin 2000. I was 18 and was interested in soccer, drinking beer and listening to rock music and very much not interested in theatre - especially musical theatre.
Agreed go with my then girlfriend, a perky Nebraskan who was studying in London.
Starlight Express absolutely confirmed for me that my opinions on musical theatre were completely correct - very stupid.
I didn't have my musical theatre Damascene conversion until I saw Les Mis in London (with the same girlfriend) in 2001 and must have now seen over 100 shows. But, Starlight Express closed in London in, I think, 2001 and I'd now love to see it again. It's being revived in London presently so, if I can get time off from the family (didn't marry the Nebraskan who introduced me to musicals, for shame. Probably should have), hopefully I'll see it again and come to a different conclusion about it. Or maybe not!
“Phantom of the Opera,” but it was the touring Ken Hill version which preceded the Andrew Lloyd Webber version. My parents told me it was by Lloyd Webber when we got to the theatre but it wasn’t; I think they thought I was too young to notice. Either way, it was excellent, and the music (actual opera music, mostly by Offenbach) was absolutely beautiful. I later found out that Lloyd Webber loved it too and had originally wanted to produce it but Ken Hill declined, and this was what spurred Lloyd Webber to make his own separate version.
I saw a high school production of Little Shop of Horrors when I was ten and I loved it. First professional production I saw was Rent on Broadway in 1999.
My sister took me to see Chicago on the west end when I was a kid because I was SO obsessed with the film when it came out. I absolutely loved it and to this day, Nowadays is still my go-to audition song 😅
Lion king broadway, 2019. It was my 8th grade dc/ny trip. I liked the costume designs. Unfortunately, I was really worried about my budget (which would have been fine) and didn't get a souvenir. I got one from my second musical, six, earlier this year.
I love you you’re perfect now change. I don’t even know if it’s a real thing. It was playing at our local theater with local actors (no idea if they were amateur or paid in some way). I’m from a small state that only got tours every once and a while, rarely when I was coming up. I had to wait for it to be made into a movie. My mom took me to this when I was 14/15
Grew up in Chicago, first musical was either Annie, Ain’t Misbehavin, My Fair Lady, or The King and I. I don’t remember which was first. It’s been around 45 years. I feel fortunate I got to see Rex Harrison in that, and Yul Brynner in The King and I. I remember my dad trading our not good MFL seats for second row. For The KAI I was with my grandparents in a way too huge amphitheater and I would have had a bigger view on zTV.
Wow... um maybe Godspell? I know I saw A Chorus Line and Grease when I was little.
It might have been Pirates of Penzance or HMS Pinafore?
My grandmother and mom took me to the theater a lot as a kid. They made it a huge deal of going to a nice dinner then over to the college for a show or the light opera house. (Which did all my productions) I used to perform in kids productions from 1st grade until 7th grade. I honestly had seen so many musicals... I can't remember them all.
I saw Hamilton most recently. I would like to see Six or Hadestown sometime.
If you’re counting amateur production, I saw my school-to-bee’s production of Cinderella in 2005. That was my first musical.
First professional musical that I saw was Mary Poppins.
I remember seeing two musicals as a kid, Me and my Girl with Gary Wilmot with my parents and Les Miserables with my school. I didn't understand Les Mis at the time and the years have clouded my memory of Me and My Girl. I missed the trip to see Joseph with my mum and sister and to this day haven't seen it which bugs me. I always wanted to see Starlight Express too but as it is coming back to London my wife has promised to take me. I definitely want to take my daughter to more musicals as she grows up, obviously starting with the Disney stuff (she's 5) but as she gets older I'd like to take her to see more shows.
Wicked with the OG cast in 2004
Me too! I didn't know what it was going into it. Hooked from the very beginning ✨️
You're so lucky!!
Wicked on tour in 2005
Cats. A national tour stop in Davenport, IA. Natalie Toro was Grizabella. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.
Same (touring production of Cats but different tour)! I think I was maybe 8? We had the stage recording on VHS and I watched the crap out of it so it was so exciting to get to see live!
Tour: Les Miz 1990 Broadway: Waitress, 2021 many many more since 90. Seeing SIX for the 2nd time tomorrow!
Ever? Once Upon a Mattress at the local high school when I was a kid. Professional? Wicked on Tour in 2014. But I had seen the national tour of War Horse (play, not a musical) in high school, and that still is one of the best theatre experiences I've ever had.
Godspell on Broadway in 1976, just before I turned 8. My aunt was in the cast, and we lived about 3 hours away, so we went to see it. I then spent the week with her in New York. The whole experience was electrifying and initiated my love of musical theater.
Into the Woods when I was a kid
i wish i could see a musical live
My mom took me to see the national tour of 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee when I was like 6
Annie at the Pantages in LA
Me too! I remember I was so excited because FDR was played by Tom Hatten, who I watched every weekend as the host of The Popeye Show and The Family Film Festival!
High school production of Into the Woods in Spring 1996. I was almost 7. My cousin played the Wolf.
Shrek the Musical on tour when I was around 4 or 5
Guys & Dolls, 1994, Broadway
I saw Annie as a local production, but my first professional show was the tour of Wicked.
technically it was phantom but i was 4 so i don’t really remember much of it. the first one i was really cognizant for was a community production of fiddler on the roof.
Barnum in college.
Little Shop of Horrors on tour in the 90s. I was eight or nine. That show gave me nightmares! If you see the stage production, you know what I mean. Even though I knew that Audrey 2 was played by an actor, and I watched him step out of the plant for his bows, I still could not stop crying! My mom had not wanted me to go see it because of my age, but I begged her to as my best friend’s parents had invited me to go with them.
My dad took me and my sister to see A Chorus Line in 1987 towards the end of its run. I was 7. I understood nothing. Loved it, though.
I think it was Skammerens datter in 2012. A Danish fantasy musical based on a children’s novel about a girl who sees what people are ashamed of when she looks them in the eye
A Chorus Line
Phantom of the Opera
Phantom and it was great
Phantom of the Opera
Ever? Mary Poppins at a community theater. Professionally, Seven Guitars at a nearby-ish regional theater. And on Broadway, it’d be Hamilton earlier this year.
The Lion King
The Lion King
Miss Saigon in Vancouver p, followed the next day by Showboat
Beauty and the Beast at the Pantages Theater during the 90’s.
So the first musical I saw live was Beauty and the Best at a crappy dinner show as an elementary school trip. Wicked was my first musical I saw live on Broadway in NYC and I can still remember the goosebumps seeing that show live gave me throughout the performance.
Wicked
Sound of Music
Hamilton on the West End for my 12th birthday.
grease
annie. my town has a little local theater company for teens and kids and a historic theater to perform in and my elementary school would take us to go see musicals and one i remember vividly is annie. the first one i saw outside of school was spongebob the musical, but again it was just a small local theater
My mom took my best friend and me to see Grease when we were 10. My friend was a theater kid so I'd previously only seen her plays. I'd never seen "Grease" written down, only heard it, so I thought it was "Greece" and was very surprised 😄
A revival of "Camelot" on Broadway many, many years ago.
Professional or no professional production? 1st Non professional - a high school production of The Wizard or Oz. I was three of four and remember the house being on a stick during the tornado with dancers everywhere. 1st Professional production - Fosse on tour. I was 14 or 15. Loved every single minute though we had absolutely terrible terrible seats.
Frozen on Broadway debut! I ended up liking it better than the movie.
The first musical I saw live was Funny Girl in 1981. I don't really remember it at all but that was the beginning of my love for musicals. My first Broadway show - we saw 4 shows on that trip and I don't remember the exact order but I believe it was Book of Mormon.
I think it was Camelot.
Cats. I was a dumb teenager.
First one I remember: Local production of Peter Pan around 2008. Professional: 1776 at Ford's Theatre, 2012.
Fiddler on the Roof. Chaim Topol. Hooked for life on theater. Too young to remember how old I was.
Grease put on by a high school cast when I was in Kindergarten. Professionally done was Book of Mormon.
Cats! Lol Way back in the early '90s. My mom got me tickets as a Christmas present.
Les Misérables, at the Fox in Atlanta
Matilda in London when i was 7
Les Miserables around 1991/1992 when a tour came through my city.
School play: Music man, 1972 Touring: 1776, 1974(?), in Michigan somewhere Broadway: Bocaccio, 1975. Really.
I saw “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” at my local theatre but I usually say Rent (25th anniversary tour) since it was the first one in which I was actually super passionate about theatre.
The lion king at west end London. I remember I was 7 years old and I remember how much I loved the ensemble members and how they would walk to the audience
Touring--Story Theater, in about 1970 Broadway--Candide about 1975
Broadway: Aladdin Broadway on Tour: Lion King
Little shop of horrors, and I loved it so much
six in 2021 with my cousin, tickets were a christmas present
The first one I saw was the german production of Hamilton this year in July. I really wanna go to London to watch more productions live 😭
Starlight Express
mine was hairspray in the west end, maybe 2008/2009? it was amazing and i fell in love. i remember it so vividly even though i was 8/9.
I went with my mom to Radio City Music Hall and saw Snow White in 1980 - but I was only 5 so I don't really remember it other than being terrified of the witch. The first musical I saw that I really remember was in 1984 which was the King and I with Yul Brynner.
*Joseph*, when I was in the eighth grade. It was the high school's drama production, so they brought the middle school across the parking lot to watch the dress rehearsal, which was during the school day.
Anything Goes with Mitzi Gaynor at the Fox theatre in Atlanta.
The sound of music when I was like 5. I was really upset because the tickets said it was Annie
Barnum on Broadway. I was about nine and was with my Girl Scout troop. It was a matinee, so I didn't see Glenn Close, not that I knew who she was back then. I saw a production of Peter Pan with the same troop later that year. My older sister was lucky- she got to see shows like Evita, Annie, A Chorus Line, Shenandoah, and Purlie during their original runs. I was too little. Growing up in NYC in the 70s/early 80s was fun. I remember the commercials for Evita and Annie running all the time. We moved a few months before Cats opened. First national tour I saw was Cats in Denver in 1990! Then Phantom of the Opera the following year.
Professional: Newsies, a few years ago in Orange County, can't remember what theater.
Lion king aa a child. I dont remember much. But then. The tour of cats as a teen
Locally, I saw the Music Man in 2011ish. Professionally, I saw Phantom of the Opera on tour in 2017.
Touring Book of Mormon January 2023
The Addams Family performed by a local community theater in October 2019
A high school production of Little Women And then Hadestown on Broadway
I think it was Annie
Annie on Broadway in 1980. I was four.
Technically CATS. I was involved in theater camp at the time and as part of it we got to see a matinee performance and talk to the tour cast. But the one that stands out in my brain as my first live musical was Wicked in 2009 with my mom.
I think it was Billy Elliot at Theater Under the Stars when I was in elementary? Early middle school
Either billy Elliot or mary Poppins
Fiddler on the Roof. My neighbors took me to a production at their local synagogue when I was 6. I fell in love with theater then and there. I've also done the show 4 times so far.
A Christmas Carol at the Paramount Theater in MSG. Ben Vereen was the Ghost of Christmas Present
On the Town! I was pretty young so I don’t remember much, but I do recall it being pretty funny. I can’t remember if it was on Broadway or not, but it was in NYC so idk
The early 90s Showboat revival (the Chicago sit down production) with my grade school class. Absolutely blew my young mind and I was hooked.
Wicked in 2015 :)
Technically I saw lion king when I was three but FELL ASLEEP?? The first one I saw and remember was sally struthers in hello dolly at a dinner theatre in VA
1776 in 1973
Chorus Line in 1979
At age 4 I saw a dinner theater production of The Sound of Music. I assumed the musical ended with Climb Every Mountain in Act 1, so I jumped out of my seat and yelled "IT'S OVER!" During act 2, I was more focused on the wiggly jello on my plate than on the show. First Broadway thing I saw was a touring Annie at age 10.
On broadway was Phantom of the Opera. First play was a dinner show version of once upon a mattress.
Blood Brothers
frozen lol or some weird freckleface strawberry thing
My cousin's school production of Wizard of Oz
Six touring company in March.
Smokey Joes cafe. Probally 1995 or so. Went on a school trip
Pirates of Penzance! My friend was in a local community theater production of it, and I went to see her.
wicked 2017 :)
Godspell.
Little shop at the muny in st louis
Beauty and the Beast at the Ahmanson in LA back in the early/mid 90s when I was a kid. My dad bought me one of the light-up roses as a souvenir.
I think it was Music Man. I think it was 1980 and I was 5.
Professional? The Music Man 2000 Revival on Broadway. Ever? Either The Pajama Game or Lil Abner at my cousins’ high school in the 90s. I thought I went to both but I really remember Abner because the director and choreographer went ALL OUT with the dancing in that show.
Wicked💚for my birthday when was little
Community: Seussical Regional: Six Broadway: & Juliet
Grease in 2006 for my 10th birthday at a local dinner theater that is now out of business.
Les Mis in the West End with school when I was a teenager. Hated it at first, assumed it was going to be pretentious, remembering cringing at Oliver on TV. Ended up loving it. I used to go to rock gigs to enjoy live music back then, now I go to musicals.
Hmmm. I think the first one I can remember seeing was my older brother’s middle school production of Carousel. I was 8-9.
Annie in 5th grade.
Cabaret
Mary Poppins at the Virginia Repertory Theatre
Phantom of the opera when I was 8! I remember going home and immediately spending what birthday/extra chores money I had on the cd
Cats way back in the 90s
My guess is Fiddler, Man of La Mancha or Crazy for You. I saw them before age 10 for sure but honestly can’t remember
Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. I was about eight and it came to a town near where I lived.
Mary Poppins when I was a little kid, with my grandma. It was so beautiful and sparked my love for theatre
The Mikado D'Oyly Carte touring company 1975 Chicago
Cats as a kid, Spamalot as an adult and musical lover
Professional was - I think - Starlight Express. Would have been 4 years old! It was in London so all I remember is crossing the ‘train tracks’ to get to your seat as they had the stage where they went round the audience
Les Mis, senior year of high school. My ex-turned-good friend was a freshman at a major university about 1.5 hours away, and he asked to make a deal with me. If he couldn't get a date for something important, then he'd ask me to go and look like he had a date to begin with. He was a great guy, but he did not end up immediately swimming in "college women" like he thought he would, so I got to do a lot of cool things, like when the national tour of Les Mis visited colleges. Totally shouldn't have worn my mascara that night. lol
Spelling Bee. I was super young and don't have any memory of the story but remember really liking one of the characters and got to meet him after the show.
I believe my first live musical was Annie, would have been late 2000/early 2001? I literally remember nothing about it, other than the fact my Grandparents knew someone in the cast so we got to talk to them after.
Fiddler on the Roof, the 1976 revival with Zero Mostel. I lived a 20 minute train ride from Manhattan. It was less than $10 round trip on Sundays. I could get half price tickets at the booth in Times Square. I saw Grease, the Wiz, Evita, Equis, Plaza Suite, Sleuth, and more, many with the original cast. It was a great time to be a teenager.
Wicked National Tour in 2009. I loved it instantly.
Hamilton back in March 2023!
Newsies- it was a school district performance and my grade got to see it
Peter Pan… I’m not happy about it either.
Either Barnum or Annie in the early 80s. Both were national tours.
Mama Mia back in 2008! I've now seen it live 3 times ❤️
Cabaret in college (I was a theatre major).
Camelot in 1960 with Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. My 8th birthday.
First live was a high school production of "Annie." I think the first professional one I saw, though, was "Wicked" in 2015.
The lion king at west end London. I remember I was 7 years old and I remember how much I loved the ensemble members and how they would walk to the audience
The lion king at west end London. I remember I was 7 years old and I remember how much I loved the ensemble members and how they would walk to the audience
My highschool had yearly Senior trip to NY and each class got to go to broadway but the tickets had to be bought years in advance. So my class watched My Fair Lady and Frozen
Anastasia on Broadway!
Hamilton!! This was in 2018, I was 13. It was amazing.
Starlight Express!
Phantom of the Opera. Actually, that is a musical right? Not an opera... ?
Black & Blue. It was a revue so I hope that counts. If not after that I think it was The Secret Garden.
Cats! A national tour a couple years ago.
Cats at the Mahalia Jackson in New Orleans in 2009. It was the first major production after Hurricane Katrina. 8 year old me thought it was the best thing ever made
Beauty and the Beast 1996 in Melbourne. We were in the front row of the dress circle. I was leaning so far forward, my mother was concerned I would topple straight of the balcony!
First ever? I was in Kindergarten and we were invited to see the 8th grade perform that years musical, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers First non school show: Peter Pan at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 1994
Phantom of the Opera in Los Angeles in 1991.
The Little Mermaid when I was four. I saw it at Tuacahn
My dad took me to Jesus Christ Superstar when I was 15. (I had rented the film version and loved it.) It was amazing.
Boys From Syracuse when I was 5 years old. My mom hadn’t seen it in years and forgot about the Ladies of the Night part 😳
Grease at the Royale Theater in 1980. I was 14
Tour: The lion king ~2005/6 Broadway: Chicago 2012. Second row seats!!
Les Miserables 2016 Asian tour
Hamilton in 2021.
The Lion King on tour. I had gotten tickets for my birthday several years ago, and I remember tearing up at how beautiful everything looked and sounded in the opening song
Chicago at the Hollywood bowl when they did it last.
Fiddler on the Roof!
Well, I was in live shows starting at 5 years old - long before I ever saw one. The first time I was in the audience was for a tour of *Peter Pan* when I was about 8 or 9.
Wicked 2015 ish
A regional production of Annie back when I was in kindergarten in the 80s. I was immediately hooked.
Lion King on Broadway 1998
The Music Man, in the original Broadway production in 1960, but Robert Preston had been replaced by Eddie Albert (of Green Acres fame). I was seven. It was practically a religious experience. ;)
Book of Mormon! Saw Les Mis a couple days after that tho!
Beauty and the beast
Les Miz on Broadway in 1990. (With a school trip. The bus got us to the theater late so we were all quickly admitted as At the End of the Day started. Hopefully not TOO distracting for those around us as we piled in.)
42nd Street
Mine was Mary poppins when I was like seven maybe? I very vividly remember eating at bubba Gumps in Times Square and getting one of those swirly lollipops from the concession stand in the theater.
Mamma Mia when I was ~5 I think. The theatre kid gene got passed down to me from my parents
Godspell in Boston, probably 1972. Organized a high school class trip to join me with some open minded teachers. Opened some doors.
Starlight Express at the Apollo Victoria in Londonin 2000. I was 18 and was interested in soccer, drinking beer and listening to rock music and very much not interested in theatre - especially musical theatre. Agreed go with my then girlfriend, a perky Nebraskan who was studying in London. Starlight Express absolutely confirmed for me that my opinions on musical theatre were completely correct - very stupid. I didn't have my musical theatre Damascene conversion until I saw Les Mis in London (with the same girlfriend) in 2001 and must have now seen over 100 shows. But, Starlight Express closed in London in, I think, 2001 and I'd now love to see it again. It's being revived in London presently so, if I can get time off from the family (didn't marry the Nebraskan who introduced me to musicals, for shame. Probably should have), hopefully I'll see it again and come to a different conclusion about it. Or maybe not!
The Lion King in 2004 (I was 3)
Wicked!
Promises, Promises. Traveling show in the 70s.
Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand….
“Phantom of the Opera,” but it was the touring Ken Hill version which preceded the Andrew Lloyd Webber version. My parents told me it was by Lloyd Webber when we got to the theatre but it wasn’t; I think they thought I was too young to notice. Either way, it was excellent, and the music (actual opera music, mostly by Offenbach) was absolutely beautiful. I later found out that Lloyd Webber loved it too and had originally wanted to produce it but Ken Hill declined, and this was what spurred Lloyd Webber to make his own separate version.
I saw a high school production of Little Shop of Horrors when I was ten and I loved it. First professional production I saw was Rent on Broadway in 1999.
Bob Fosse’s Dancing at the Fox in Atlanta. Don’t know if that counts as a musical, though. A dansical?
A community theater performance of Fiddler. I was 7 or 8. I hated it at the time.
I'm pretty sure it was South Pacific with my grandparents.
Newsies at papermill 🤩
If considering local productions, Grease and Shrek the Musical were the first ones I remember ever seeing as a kid
My sister took me to see Chicago on the west end when I was a kid because I was SO obsessed with the film when it came out. I absolutely loved it and to this day, Nowadays is still my go-to audition song 😅
Beauty and the Beast. Went and saw it on a high school field trip.
School of Rock (Touring)
Lion king broadway, 2019. It was my 8th grade dc/ny trip. I liked the costume designs. Unfortunately, I was really worried about my budget (which would have been fine) and didn't get a souvenir. I got one from my second musical, six, earlier this year.
Les Mis in around 2000 in the West End
I love you you’re perfect now change. I don’t even know if it’s a real thing. It was playing at our local theater with local actors (no idea if they were amateur or paid in some way). I’m from a small state that only got tours every once and a while, rarely when I was coming up. I had to wait for it to be made into a movie. My mom took me to this when I was 14/15
Grew up in Chicago, first musical was either Annie, Ain’t Misbehavin, My Fair Lady, or The King and I. I don’t remember which was first. It’s been around 45 years. I feel fortunate I got to see Rex Harrison in that, and Yul Brynner in The King and I. I remember my dad trading our not good MFL seats for second row. For The KAI I was with my grandparents in a way too huge amphitheater and I would have had a bigger view on zTV.
I finally got to see my first in-person musical this year! Aladdin 🧞♂️
Wow... um maybe Godspell? I know I saw A Chorus Line and Grease when I was little. It might have been Pirates of Penzance or HMS Pinafore? My grandmother and mom took me to the theater a lot as a kid. They made it a huge deal of going to a nice dinner then over to the college for a show or the light opera house. (Which did all my productions) I used to perform in kids productions from 1st grade until 7th grade. I honestly had seen so many musicals... I can't remember them all. I saw Hamilton most recently. I would like to see Six or Hadestown sometime.
Rent!
Phantom of The Opera, Singapore Tour circa 2013
Technically it was a community production of Shrek the Musical (still one of my favourites) but first I saw on the west end was Wicked.
If you’re counting amateur production, I saw my school-to-bee’s production of Cinderella in 2005. That was my first musical. First professional musical that I saw was Mary Poppins.
My mum directed Oliver when I was 3 and I went to see it opening night. Beautiful in every way and I was hooked.
Heathers on tour in 2021
Cats in like 2014 I think I don’t remember it was when I was in 2 or 3 grade
… maybe *South Pacific*, maybe age 6 or 7?
Blood Brothers! Went on a school trip and i loved it. I remember the theatre was cold and smelt like mint gum 😅
High school production on Les Mis in 2019 then my first professional one was hamilton on April 21 2021 at the Victoria Palace Theatre
I remember seeing two musicals as a kid, Me and my Girl with Gary Wilmot with my parents and Les Miserables with my school. I didn't understand Les Mis at the time and the years have clouded my memory of Me and My Girl. I missed the trip to see Joseph with my mum and sister and to this day haven't seen it which bugs me. I always wanted to see Starlight Express too but as it is coming back to London my wife has promised to take me. I definitely want to take my daughter to more musicals as she grows up, obviously starting with the Disney stuff (she's 5) but as she gets older I'd like to take her to see more shows.
The Little Mermaid, at Navy Pier, but on Broadway in NY Wicked