Why do we love theatre so much?

[THEATRICAL100]

I'm getting my friend a t-shirt for his birthday. I want it to say:

Why Do I Love Theatre?
Listing several reasons why...like
It takes me away. It gives me life. It makes life more fun. It helps me learn life lessons. It helps me teach other people life lessons.

[HopeChanged]

What a great question. Off the top of my head: It lets me feel, it inspires me, it makes me think, it changes my life, it moves me, it opens my heart, it transports me, it opens me up, it reconnects me to what's in my heart, it breaks down barriers, it connects us, it gives me powerful music and stories ... I could go on, but there's a start.

[FindingNamo]

It's Amazing.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Edited for removal of snarkiness in what is turning into a lovely thread. :)

[tazber]

I love theater because:

The first four notes of Gypsy

Because no one ever says what they mean in a Chekhov play

Because when Jennifer Holliday told me she wasn't going I knew she meant it

The first 15 seconds of A Chorus Line

Because there is no more emotionally shattering song than Could I Leave You....

....Except Another Winter in a Summer Town

Because seeing a Pirandello play is way more trippy than getting high

Because there really is no day but today

Because now I know people love you and tell you lies

Because of the way Bob Fosse moved

Because Yul Brynner really was Something Wonderful

Because who else but Patti could ever be Patti

Because Richard Kiley dared to dream the impossible dream

Because One Day More still stops my heart every time

Because when I was very young it taught me that I needed to find my very own corner of the sky

Because Mrs. Lovett still gives me nightmares

Because A New Brain helped me to go on when I thought I couldn't

Because Tom Stoppard doesn't worry whether or not people understand his work

"Ragtime"

[Reginald Tresilian]

Taz, that was wonderful.

[tamra2]

i love theater because...

wildest dreams can "become reality"
anything can be expressed with a song

[PalJoey]

I was going to say something flip like "The costumes, the scenery, the makeup, the props," but I can't after Tazber's post.

I like them all, especially one in particular.

[tazber]

Thank you gents. It's such a broad question, and when you think about it everyone's own answer is made up of hundreds (thousands...more?) little moments which collectively define a relatively undefinable feeling.

I have so many more...

I propose for this thread we should all share our own "reasons".

There is only one rule: No judgements.

(We have tons of threads for that.)

[EponineAmneris]

... Because we hear the people sing.
... Because we're born every night at half-hour call.
... Because there's no business like show business.

I love theatre because family and friends have come and gone and I have moved from city to city and had many jobs... and through it all the only constant besides my parents and brother has been Broadway.

When I'm feeling inspired and dreamy, I go storm the barricades and sing with the amazing characters of LES MIZ. When I'm sad and lonely and need cheering up, I put in THE PRODUCERS. When I'm feeling romantic, I listen to the music of the night with the Phantom and Christine...

There is a show for everyone, a character everyone can relate to.

Theatre teaches us about the past- SOUTH PACIFIC and MISS SAIGON- while entertaining us.

Theatre transports us to anywhere it wants to take us... and that's a good thing.

[THEATRICAL100]

Thanks all for the submissions. Try and format it like
"It..." format
Thanks!

[Gaveston2]

I too love Tazber's list.

This may sound perverse, but one reason I love theater is precisely because it's so rare that all the elements come together perfectly at the same time.

Seeing a great performance is like sighting a unicorn.

[hermajesty]

It takes all my cares away.
It takes me into a world of make believe.

[broadwaybabytn]

Because sometimes, we hate the greats and love the unknowns.
Because a simple play, not too well written, can move us to tears, like WAR HORSE.
Because life is a Cabaret.
Because great performances pop up in mediocre plays, like Lavin in THE LYONS.
Because Neil Simon recycles his works and still makes me laugh.
Because young, exciting playwrights are always being discovered.
Because someone like Sondheim can have as many great collaborators as he's had.
Because Donna Murphy can be elegant, awkward, a tragic figure, a comedienne.
Because the only worthwhile things we leave behind are Children and Art.
Because of the wonderful variety that appears on and off Broadway.
Because, even in what some call a poor season, many Tony categories were tight.

[Idiot]

Because it conveys the totality of humanity better than anything else in the world.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I can't wait for your friend to get his "Why people on BWW love theatre" shirt!

[showchoirguy]

"There's No Business Like Show Business"
Theatre is it's own emotion because there is so much put into it and so much comes out. Theatre is a release, a medicine, a reliever to the soul. Simply, it's art: it's made for us to make us feel good.

[chewy5000]

That's why we like spelling.

[dramamama611]

It makes me alive.

Because waiting for a show to start, in the moments in the dark, I feel closest to god. (no kidding.)

[NYadgal]

Taz, that is so beautiful.

More, please! More!

I love theatre for all the reasons already listed, and, because... it connects me. It connects me to people, to memories, to stories, to my hopes and dreams. It truly does make me feel alive.

[NYadgal]

Robert Shaw once wrote:

“In these days of political, personal and economic disintegration, music is not a luxury, it's a necessity; not simply because it is therapeutic, nor because it is the universal language, but because it is the persistent focus of our intelligence, aspiration and goodwill.”


I would say the same for theatre. It's a necessity.

[broadwaydevil]

If we're doing great quotes:

(I confess I could only paraphrase them so I looked them up to get the exact wording.)

"The good die young but not always. The wicked prevail but not consistently. I am confused by life, and I feel safe within the confines of the theatre."
- Helen Hayes

"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."
- Stephen Sondheim

[mc1227]

It's one of the few things in life that brings people from all different backgrounds together to watch some of the most dedicated, bravest and most talented creative people do what has been done for centuries, tell a story. Some tell it better than others but at the end of the day, we are all part of that experience and everytime I go I can't think of another place I'd rather be.

[qolbinau]

Because there are more grindr users around Shubert Alley than Yankee Stadium :P.

[sing_dance_love]

I am so happy I happened upon this thread. So many of you have described so eloquently what I've felt for so long and didn't know how to put into words.

[qmechanic]

Unlike film or television, theatre is a living, breathing thing. Actors have good days and bad days. The audience is part of the show. Every performance is different. Just like life.