<p>My first Broadway show was a now-forgotten musical called All American. It starred Ray Bolger, known to me then only as the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. My mom and aunt had taken my cousin and me, both age 9, on an organized bus tour to NYC from our home in Mass., and I think we found the Statue of Liberty far more interesting than Broadway. I can’t say it sparked a particular interest in musicals , but as young adults, H and I lived in Manhattan for 6 years and saw many, many shows. We live further away now, but I still see 3 or 4 shows a year, making great use of the TKTS option.</p>
<p>D’s first Broadway musical was Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, a birthday present at age 5. We were lucky enough to know a cast member who took us on a tour of the theater after the curtain. (We got to walk on the stage, and D was absolutely stunned to realize that Belle’s house was just a false front–she walked “inside” and her jaw dropped.) So it was most fitting that as D’s last role as a senior in high school she played Mrs. Potts. We certainly could never have imagined that outcome 13 years earlier, when she hadn’t even figured out she liked to sing! But I do think that in her case that early exposure lit a fire, and she was happy to see a show as a birthday present for many years thereafter.</p>