<p>I honestly can’t remember my very first Broadway show, it was so long ago! I grew up in a family very involved in theatre and my grandparents took me to shows as a very young child, in Philadelphia and in NYC. They had many friends in the business and the opportunities it afforded me were probably not appreciated as much as they should have been at that age. :)</p>
<p>We saw a lot of shows at the old Camden County Music Fair (Susan, you probably remember that!) and the one that stands out, for some unknown reason, was Half a Sixpence. I, too, saw Pippin and Hair, wouldn’t it be funny if some of us were at the same show all those years ago?! I also love the memory of seeing Cabaret with Joel Grey.</p>
<p>My girls started attending theatre at a very young age, but it’s impossible for me to remember the first for any of them. I remember being at Anne of Green Gables with them in Toronto and one was just 3. One of the earliest for a couple of them was probably Phantom of the Opera. Three of the five were performing starting in middle school and then on to an Arts high school. We took them to just about every show in Toronto, which has the largest theatre community after NYC and London. We visited NYC three or four times a year through their childhood and lived there for a few years. They saw Broadway, off-Broadway, off off-Broadway, readings, concert performances. We often travelled to various cities to see actor friends who were performing regionally or in national tours. We spent a week every summer at Stratford seeing every show playing in repertory. They’ve all seen shows in the West End, where my actor D is now living and working.</p>
<p>We also went to many, many high school and college productions across our city and often took in summer stock when on family vacations. We’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of theatre! Seeing theatre, of all types, is such a valuable part of an actor’s education. I can’t overstate that and I encourage any student who is interested in pursuing a career in this crazy business to see everything available to them. I also encourage families to be making this as possible as they are making possible dance, voice, and acting lessons. I still see just about everything playing both here and in NYC. There aren’t many shows that have played in either city that I’ve missed over the past 25 years. I also see a lot of shows more than once and have been fortunate enough to be at several closing shows, which are some of my very favorite theatre memories.</p>
<p>alwaysamom, like you, I can’t recall my first show either, but I did see many at Camden County Music Fair which was about five minutes from my house. </p>
<p>snoggie, my kids also saw Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk when they were young (but it wasn’t their first Broadway show). On that trip we saw that show (my kids were both tap dancers and so this was especially intriguing…Savion Glover!) and we also saw A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which I recall we were in the second row so close to Nathan Lane who starred in it. Long time ago.</p>
<p>And when they kids were little, they LOVED RENT and have seen it several times. Back in elementary school, D2 wrote a 20 page paper on Jonathan Larson, she was soooo infatuated with his work. I recall also driving them to Montreal when they were young to see A Chorus Line, one of my favorite shows, which I recall seeing in Boston when I was in college and waiting in a LONG line around the block to get tickets! Someone else mentioned Ragtime, but my kids were very into Ragtime and I’d say my younger D (the one who went into MT) was infatuated for a long time with Ragtime (I must have heard that CD 100’s of times in car rides) and then read the book too. When my D2 was younger, she performed around the country with an actress who was in the OBC of Ragtime (as was the actress’ partner) and the two of them came to spend a weekend with us here in Vermont and my girls were in heaven to actually spend time with two Ragtime cast members (who all these years later, just visited up here with us in VT again).</p>
<p>My D was 2 and a half when she saw Amahl and the Night Visitors (local), which we didn’t realize was an opera. After the first 10 minutes, she leaned over and whispered to her dad, “Are they just gonna sing?”</p>
<p>Like most folks here, both DH and I grew up on theatre and so did our kids.</p>
<p>One thing I sometimes wonder about, though, is would D have wanted to become a brain surgeon if she’d grown up seeing a lot of surgery, or an attorney if she’d grown up in a courtroom?</p>
<p>I wonder to what extent the family’s love of MT (including her grandparents’) has shaped D’s love for it. Nature, or nurture?</p>
<p>Some things that argue in favor of “nature” are that A) As early as preschool it was apparent that D was in BLISS whenever she was performing or organizing kids to do little shows, and B) S had the same MT upbringing yet has NO interest in being onstage (except in the pit).</p>
<p>So maybe we led our D to water, but we didn’t make her drink.</p>
<p>My husband and I are not in theater. But I think our kids were exposed to many things. Both did many sports and many fields of the arts. They were involved in many activities from a young age and it was interesting to watch which ones became their passions. Both my girls did do MT, among other things, but only one went into it for a career. One loved all her activities pretty equally. The other one eventually gave up all her sports just to focus on the arts. The one who went into MT, seemed to know this as a pre-schooler and everyone thought so too and so there was never a question about what she was going to major in for college…never came up as it seemed like a given from a very very young age. My other kid wasn’t sure what she wanted to do for a career but had some “direction” or idea late in high school and she has indeed gone into that field (architecture) but I see a difference. MT is something one can be involved in from a young age whereas some fields, like architecture, you don’t get to study until you get to college (or at least this was the case at our school system). For us, anyway, it was interesting to watch what each kid would end up pursuing. When they were children, they were simply exposed to many activities and wanted to do them. When they were mere babies, who knew what they would end up wanting to do. It has been fun to watch though. Also, with MT, I feel lucky because I enjoy watching MT. Had my kid picked something like boxing or wrestling or heavy metal music, I’d have had to watch but I don’t enjoy these at all! I also enjoyed watching their sports, dance, and music events.</p>
<p>MomCares, I think it’s probably a combination of nature and nurture. Of my five Ds, although all were involved in the arts/music/dance, they were all also involved in sports and other activities. Only one is an actor. The others have chosen other paths - law, social work, teaching, and medicine. They all still love theatre, though, and see shows regularly.</p>
<p>I cross posted with alwaysamom, but same here…even the one who didn’t end up going into theater, still loves seeing a lot of theater as she did a lot of performing arts growing up even if she didn’t go into the field for a career.</p>
<p>I honestly can not remember my first show but I took My D and mother-in-law to their first show and it was The Lion King in Toronto. My D was just 4 years old and she gasped in awe and began to shake with excitement during the opening when the giraffes came out. I will never forget that moment of pure excitement and joy and she has had it ever since for live productions.</p>
<p>Having the good fortune to have lived in London for several years, we were able to take in shows on a whim…we saw almost everything we were able to see, and my D’s first musical was Beauty and the Beast in the West End…she was hooked from the start.<br>
What a wonderful way to develop a love of musicals and live theatre!</p>
<p>Nature V nuture is an interesting question in our house. DD is adopted - so we can’t speak to nature, but I was determined D would be an athlete (I was). D is very strong and coordinated but did not have the disposition for competitive sports. We did take D to theatre and musicals from a young age but never thought of it as anything more than a spectator event. D thrived on stage and dragged her dad back into theatre (back a million years ago he started college as a drama major) and they reinforced each other (best show of our family life was when they were both in Ragtime, Dad as grandfather, D in the harlem ensemble) but the drive definitely came from her.</p>
<p>Yes, it does seem like nature plays a strong part in creating a serious MT kid. When I remember the way our D lit up the first time she got in front of a large audience (preschool) it almost feels like it was her destiny. Maybe there’s nothing we could have done to direct them toward a more stable career choice. Ah well, may they all find happiness!!</p>