Man of La Mancha… Richard Kiley… Being in the audience of a Broadway musical, I transcend the reality outside the theater building and am uplifted magically into the all encompassing talent on stage. The actors play to me beyond their potential to the ultimate of their gifts. The productions are often works of art. To be in a Broadway audience is one of the most satisfying moments of my life. It is for me existence in another dimension. And… for play, every pun intended, New York is my favorite city in the world.

Oh another memory I love, when my son was little about 5 - I caught him on the roof top of his Little Tikes play house marching and singing “Chim Chiminee” . Haven’t heard him sing a note since he was in grade school, however.

“The Music Man” - I grew up watching this one. Whenever I stayed home sick from school Professor Harold Hill and Marian the Librarian kept me company while Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn entertained. I know I am only 23 but it is my dream to one day play Eulalie — I long to be married to the Mayor of River City.

The first honest-to-God musical I saw on Broadway was “Annie”. I was nine years old, and oh, how I wanted to be on that stage, singing “It’s a Hard Knock Life” with the other girls! I also saw Yul Brenner do a revival of “The King and I”, and that was by far my favorite to date. So dramatic, such beautiful sets and music!

One of my dreams is to see a Broadway musical. The first musical I ever saw was a movie with Robert Preston in The Music Man, still one of my favorites. My other favorites are The King and I, Guys and Dolls. Back in the 60’s I would sit and listen to Broadway recordings on an LP. I listened over and over again to Broadway musicals of Funny Girl, Applause, Company and the movie version of Camelot. OK, I purchased CD’s of Funny Girl and Company a couple of years ago. Now I’ll have to pull them out tonight and listen.

My all time favorite is Phantom of the Opera. The music is so haunting - it fills my soul. Our eight year old great-grandson can sing the songs from that musical with all the appropriate expressions, so I’m thrilled that that appreciation will continue on in our family. We live close to a major Performing Arts Center and are blessed to be able to attend regularly.

West Side Story! I think I was the right age to be inspired. I still sing those songs. I saw the movie South Pacific with Mary Martin, but all I remember is my (to young to see a movie) younger brother exclaiming every time someone kissed, “Oh, no, not again”. By the end of the movie, people around us were waiting to hear his comment. Needlesstosay, I don’t think he enjoyed the movie and I never went to the movies with him again! I was very lucky. For $1.99 per ticket, I had Saturday matinee season tickets with my friend Alice, from 1962-1965 to every performance at the National Theater in Washington DC. We saw a lot of shows that were on their way to Broadway!

Annie was one of the first musicals I saw on the stage, but still love West Side Story, Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof - all of them really!

Funny Girl!

Well, okay, I wouldn’t call South Pacific a comedy exactly. West Side Story - def not a comedy - was my watershed.

I love “Mame” or “Auntie Mame”. I just love Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur. I’ve never actually seen the musical in person, just the 1974 movie with Lucille Ball. Mame was outrageous, hilarious, but sometimes oblivious. My grandmother is just like Mame even in the noise, overbearing parts. My grandmother’s house has gone thru 80’s fashion, oriental style, Mexican in some parts, Indian style with elephants all over the place, etc. Not only do I identify with the musical, but my father and I use to watch the movie all the time, because when he was a boy his mother and grandmother had taken him to see it.

Camelot! Especially my 8th grade production of it. I had a huge crush on the boy who played Arthur but later when I saw the Julie Andrews version I transferred my affection to Lancelot - the late, great Robert Goulet. Also, given the time (1966) it was all tied up emotionally for me with idealism and the possibility that somehow the world could be a place like Camelot. A while later, with the onset of reality, I found “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris” moved me more and I still today regularly listen to the original cast recording.