From the moment I saw Annie on the big screen in 1982, I have been an official Musical Theatre Nerd! I would stare out my bedroom window and sadly sing the lyrics to Maybe, in my little 5 year old voice, imagining that someday I would sing on stage. In middle school, it was The Phantom of the Opera. I’m sure my family REALLY loved listening to me attempt opera through my closed door. Even as an adult, I have a playlist of favorite show tunes that I play and sing, with MUCH emotion, while I am driving.
I may never accomplish my dream of winning a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical, but I love being a patron of the theatre. Going to a show is a magical experience for me. The stirring music from the orchestra pit… the precision of the dancing… the powerful singing… the raw emotion of the lyrics… the thoughtfully designed costumes… the transformational sets… the thunderous applause at curtain call… it’s all just otherworldly, and I. Am. Here. For. It.
Though the theatre world had to take a LONG hiatus recently, the crews are finally getting back to work. I was able to renew my Broadway Series subscription this week, and cannot wait to return to my seats!! In honor of the curtain rising again, I thought I would share some of my favorite quotes from Broadway Musicals. These are the lyrics that are my favorite to sing, and help keep me going. I hope they have the same effect on you. The show MUST go on!
Mental Health
“Even when the dark comes crashing through, when you need a friend to carry you, and when you’re broken on the ground… You will be found.” (Dear Evan Hansen)
“She is imperfect, but she tries. She is good, but she lies. She is hard on herself. She is broken and won’t ask for help. She is messy, but she’s kind. She is lonely most of the time. She is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie.” (Waitress)
“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” (Les Miserables)
“No one deserves to be forgotten. No one deserves to fade away. No one should flicker out, or have any doubt that it matters that they are here. No one deserves to disappear.” (Dear Evan Hansen)
“You have suffered enough, and warred with yourself. It’s time that you won. Take this sinking boat and point it home. We’ve still got time.” (Once)
“I know that the night must end, and that the clouds must clear, and the sun will rise.” (The Lion King)
“Feel you’ve lost your way? You decide, but you are not alone.” (Into The Woods)
Relationships
“You matter to me, simple and plain and not much to ask from somebody. You matter to me. I promise you do, you’ll see. You matter to me.” (Waitress)
“So much of me is made of what I’ve learned from you. You’ll be with me like a handprint on my heart. And now whatever way our stories end, I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend.” (Wicked)
“If I hadn’t believed in you, I wouldn’t have loved you at all.” (The Next 5 Years)
“Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could. So, somewhere in my youth, or childhood,
I must have done something good.” (The Sound of Music)
“Only you… When the sun and moon and stars are gone, what’s left is only you. Will you answer me?” (The Band’s Visit)
“I’ve longed to discover something as true as this is. So with a thousand sweet kisses, I’ll cover you.” (Rent)
Empowerment
“No other path. No other way. No day but today.” (Rent)
“I am the one thing in life I can control. I am inimitable. I am an original. I am not falling behind or running late. I am not standing still, I am lying in wait.” (Hamilton)
“Too late for second guessing. Too late to go back to sleep. It’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap.” (Wicked)
“Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now.” (Hamilton)
“So raise your right finger and solemnly swear, whatever they say about me, I don’t care. I’d rather be me than be with you.” (Mean Girls)
“When the world has screwed you, and crushed you in its fist. When the way you’re treated has got you good and pissed. There’s been one solution since the world began, don’t just sit and take it… Stick it to the man!” (School of Rock)
“Most of all, I’m thankful for loving who I really am. I’m beautiful. Yes, I’m beautiful and I’m here.” (The Color Purple)
“It’s not much I’m asking, I only want your ear. And I promise, one day I’ll shake you so damn hard that at last I’ll wake you. Yeah, I promise, one day I’ll make you hear.” (School of Rock)
“You can’t stop my happiness, because I like the way I am.” (Hairspray)
Forty Fat and Fabulous 
Annie is my favorite childhood musical. Wicked changed me for good- first saw it on Broadway August 2006, and that was when my musical theatre journey truly began. Years later, Les Mis would turn that love into more of a passion. Love being in the audience.
Wicked, Les Mis, Annie, Sound of Music, Rent, Phantom of the Opera, Newsies, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, Frozen, Music Man, Pippin– are just some of the musicals I love
Nothing beats the power of live theater
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