How To Initiate Your Friends, Loved Ones, and Family Members Into Broadway Musicals

If you are like me and you are a fan of musicals, you know that this hobby and passion can be a lonely one. Unfortunately, musicals are not as widely loved and accepted as they once were, but those of us who love the art form are certainly a loyal and passionately devoted bunch. Using the right amount of coaxing and exposure, it is not that hard to bring loved ones over to the artsy side, making them more cultural and giving you someone to burst into song with. So how do you recruit others to join our proud but feeble numbers?

I think I have developed a highly effective method for exposing those who are not already fans of Broadway to musicals and making them enjoy, nay crave, the songs the way I do. When I got my first musical soundtrack at the age of 8, my mother had no idea the impact she was having on me; she certainly didn't know the impact it would have on her own musical repertoire. Thus far, my mom, my boyfriend, his roommate, my 3 roommates, several close friends, and a few classmates have been won over to the cause. If they in turn expose their loved ones to just one musical that they love, then the joy of musicals is spreading at a pretty good rate. (Except maybe Mom, because her loved ones are largely also my loved ones...)

Do you go around singing your favorite showtunes all the time? That's a step in the right direction. Nothing gets people to listen to something new like getting it in their head. I know I've gone around whistling "Johanna" from Sweeney Todd for like a week. But that's not the only way to expose someone to a show. I for one make it mandatory background music when people want to ride in my car. "Oh, you need a ride back to class? Sure, but ya gotta listen to Les Mis. And you can't talk when Terrence Mann is singing!"

My roommates and I also tend to invite people over for movie night, then have a musical all picked out that we're dying to make people watch. You'd be surprised how many RENT fans have cropped up around here recently...

I work musicals into every day life. Next week I'm giving a speech on Sondheim to a sophomore level class...that's not a music class. Muahaha. Also, today I might have made a small outburst during concert choir when my director told me he got to see PATTI LUPONE in Gypsy last week during fall break. (Seriously, I almost cried from vicarious joy.)

These are a few examples, but putting the word out there is the simplest way to get people started in the right direction.

When a person's interest is peaked in musicals, I find it best to go slow until you know they're hooked. Show them a movie or let them listen to a soundtrack that you really like and you know is easily accesible. For example, don't start out a newbie by giving them Sunday in the Park with George; yes, it's amazing, but it's not exactly easy listening. Get a musical with subject matter that will interest your friend, but not one that is so obscure or so difficult that it will alienate them.

Once they have found a musical that they're a big fan of, give them something else to feed their newfound interest. Suggest other plays by the same composer. Was there an actor that your friend really liked? If so, suggest more of his work (you have no idea how quickly that can grow- I have a roommate who's absolutely in love with James Barbour because he played in Assasins AND Jane Eyre. Very different shows, but when she found out that the Mr. Rochester she'd loved did a show based on historical assasinations, she was sold). Are there similar themes here? For example, if someone liked Jekyll and Hyde, suggest The Scarlet Pimpernel (same composer). Did they like Pimpernel? If so, suggest Les Mis (both about the French Revolution). Then suggest the Canadian cast of Phantom of the Opera (same actor). Then suggest Cats (really, how can anyone not have heard Cats at this point?). Then Into the Woods (fairy tales-still in the childhood theme). And suddenly you have a person whose exposed to lots of different composers, music styles, and types of shows. I mean, clearly there's a lot of room here for personal style and ideas, but you get the gist.

Once you have a friend who is listening to musicals and loving it and wanting more, you'll begin to have those wonderful chats. "I hear Stephen Schwartz is writing an opera." "Why in God's name did they cast her in that role?" "You can't talk about the London version because I'm a fan of the Broadway version and there's bad blood!"

Soon you'll be sharing all sorts of things. Your friend will find you the new obscure German cast of one of your favorite shows that makes you so happy because it has the extended version of your favorite song (true story). Your mom will begin asking you questions about characters in your favorite Sondheim show (also true). The guy you know from choir will walk by you humming a song from the movie you watched together last week (again, true). You will get into arguments with your sister-in-law at family functions about whether or not Raoul de Chagny was a WUSS (and he so is, Jen, should you read this).

And you'll love every minute of it, because the musicals that make it to the pinnacle of American theatre explore life and the human condition in a most poetic and harmonious and powerful way, and that's a connection that's worth cultivating and sharing with your loved ones.