Musical Theater

I LOVE musical theater! I love any type of show, whether it be at a high school, a local theater, or on Broadway.

My first experience with a real Broadway show was "The Lion King" in 2001. I had the chance to go see it on a band trip when I was about sixteen. Within the first five minutes I had tears running down my cheeks because it was so beautiful. It was amazing how all of the actors, dancers, costumes, and sets brought the movie to life. It looked like there were real animals on the stage, and it was breathtakingly beautiful! I was hungry for more :-)


The next time I had the pleasure of going to a Broadway musical was in 2008. My family + Luke went to see "Wicked" when it was on tour in Cleveland. I didn't know anything about the musical beforehand, and was just absolutely blown away by it. I enjoyed it even more than "The Lion King." It had a great plot, it was hilarious, the music was incredible, and it was just completely captivating. Even Luke genuinely enjoyed it, so you know there was truly something for everyone. I could not help but become completely pulled in by the story and the music. Ahhh, I loved it. Here are Luke and I outside after the whole experience (it was during February...don't we both look like we haven't seen the sun in years?!)

And here's a video of a few highlights...it will make you want to go see it too ;-)

There is only one musical that I like more than "Wicked." I've always been intrigued by the story, but in 2004 when It was made into a movie, my interest exploded. I rented the movie because I had mono and had nothing else to do, and seriously watched it over and over when I was sick. I got the soundtrack and listened to it for hours. It was the only thing that got me through those boring weeks of being sick in bed. I remember making a desktop wallpaper with pictures from the Broadway musical. And I could sing every word of every song in the entire musical to you right now....

I'm talking about Phantom of the Opera. Ever since my obsession started in 2004 I've been following the musical online to see if it would ever come to Cleveland or Pittsburgh. Well, tonight I was bored and decided to check again, and GUESS WHAT!! This July 28-August 22, it will be in Playhouse Square in Cleveland!!! I think I will buy tickets the day they go on sale. I have been wanting to see the musical for six years! If you were to go look at the bucket list I made about a year ago, you would see that going to see this musical is #66 on the list of things I want to do before I die. I am sooo excited!

I was sitting in the living room on my laptop when I saw the tour dates, and I gasped so forcefully, Luke jerked his head around like he thought something very alarming had just happened. Then I proceeded to squeal and gasp some more and giggle a lot too as I explained the situation to him :-P I then started shaking a little. That's how excited I am!! Just hearing those first few notes of the overture makes my heart start to race. I can't wait!!! I wanted to post a video, but all the ones from the musical that I found have embedding disabled. So here is the overture from the movie, because it's the best I could do :-P I'm sure it doesn't even begin to compare to the actual musical, but it's my favorite movie nonetheless :-) Have you ever heard a more haunting tune than this one? Oh man, I LOVE it!!!


I'm sure this is not the last you will hear about this musical before I go see it this summer. But I am so excited I just had to share today! I don't know exactly when I'm going or even who I'm going with, but I don't even care at this point. I'll go by myself if I have to :-P I could not be more excited!!!

Have you ever seen this musical? What is your favorite musical??