My obsession with Broadway started, technically, when I was younger. My sister was going to see “Wicked” in Chicago and we listened to the playlist. My sister can be “blamed” for many of my obsessions. She was the one to introduce me to anime by watching “Sailor Moon” on video tape. She showed me shows like “Sherlock” and “Doctor Who,” giving me a taste of what sort of shows happened in the U.K. She got into music and band, so I picked up an instrument as well and our whole family made a name for us in high school as being the most likely to trip on the marching field. And she got me into “Twilight” and “Homestuck.” Yeah, I think we both cringe at those last two. I look up to her a lot. Thanks, sis.

Back to musicals.

I couldn’t get the music of “Wicked” out of my head. The way Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth performed on the album was powerful and inspiring. I still have that album on my Broadway playlist today. It was one of my first experiences with the musical theater world. I want to say it was back in 2008 when we started listening to Broadway musicals and we had a CD of the album we’d just play over and over again.

My sister ended up going to New York a couple years later and saw the musical “Chicago.” I know it’s weird how that happened, right? She saw “Wicked” in Chicago and “Chicago” in New York. Trust me when I say, typing it out felt weird.

Skip forward to when I was in college. That was only three years ago. I want to say it was the spring break of 2018 I started to really get into Broadway. I jumped down a YouTube rabbit hole of the famed WatchMojo YouTube videos and their top 10 lists of whatever it was that day. One I came across was the top 10 hardest male roles to play on Broadway. The roles of both Dr. Jekyll and Edward Hyde were there. What was so hard and, in my eyes, amazing, was that both roles were played by the same person, which required a huge vocal range. I wanted to know more about the musical so I found it and I was instantly hooked. For anyone who is curious, I mostly listen to the 1997 version, but I do love the other version as well.

From there I fell down ANOTHER rabbit hole of finding as many of the performances of Jekyll, Hyde, Lucy, and the other main female character (her name varies depending on the version of the musical) as I could. It was so much fun seeing the differences in the different versions and I loved every second of it.

After that, I attended many Thunder Bay Theatre performances, which I enjoyed every time. The ones I can remember the most vividly are “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Westside Story,” and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” I remember going to one of the cabarets hosted at John Lau’s and being so nervous because I wanted to ask one of the performers about their experiences with acting and musical theater. I ended up mustering up the courage to ask the girl sitting next to me and she told me all about it. I still remember her name, but I won’t post it here. So, if you’re reading this and remember an awkward and shy girl asking you about the musical theater world, hi!

One of my friends I met on Mackinac Island was in one of the musicals I saw at Thunder Bay Theatre and, boy, was that a mind-blowing experience when I realized I might have shaken her hand before I even met her.

After talking to the girl at the cabaret, I took a theater class for nonmajors and it was one of the highlights of my semester. I got to listen to others’ performances and do my own performing. It brought me out of my shell as well.

The next musical I listened to after “Jekyll and Hyde” was “Hamilton,” and, from there, I started listening to more and more musicals. I’ve listened to “Next to Normal,” “Hadestown,” “Heathers,” “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812,” “Six,” “Into the Woods,” “Hairspray,” “Anastasia,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” and a lot more.

Of course, what I’ve listened to can probably never hold a candle to what a musical theater major or an actor has listened to. I’m not a professional actor, singer, or dancer by any means, but, hey, I can still entertain my mirror, my dinner, or my shower head when I dance or sing out loud.

Without fail, the emotional songs always pull me in. I like to think about what the characters are going through and really feel what they are feeling. Sometimes I cry. Other times I feel so enthralled that my poor dancing skills become fiercer and I really get into the acting, if that makes any sense at all.

I think the thing I love about musicals so much is that for a moment or two, I’m able to get lost in the music and the story. The characters, the dancing, the vocals. They all come together to make a singular story and every move or every note is done with purpose and is there for a reason. You can fall down another rabbit hole of people analyzing musical or choreography choices. It’s like a Marvel trailer. There’s always more to find out about. I get giddy just thinking about how cool some of these musicals are.

It might take a little bit to see all the minute details and see how certain notes work with the others, but when you do it’s mind-boggling and it sends chills down my spine.

Plus, musicals are a great way to get into the histories behind them. Maybe listening to the music from “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812” would inspire someone to get more into the book on which it was based. Or “Hamilton” might push someone to learn about the stories behind the founding fathers. Or “Next to Normal” could get someone to take a closer look at mental health in adults. There’s such a wide realm of possibilities when it comes to musicals. Of course, I know you can’t get all your history from musicals or learn everything you want to from a single musical, but it’s a great push into other topics.

Recently I’ve been listening to the soundtrack from the movie “Tick, Tick…Boom!” It’s about the life of Jonathan Larson, the person who wrote the musical “Rent.” He died of an aortic aneurysm on the opening night of “Rent” in 1996.

The music is amazing, and when it hits just right, it brings me to tears. I think listening to his album is the most I’ve ever related to music before, and Andrew Garfield does one heck of a job portraying him in the movie. He didn’t get nominated for an Oscar for nothing. The music shows how tragically short life is sometimes, with songs like “30/90” and “Why” and “Come to Your Senses,” and I just love it.

Musicals hold a whole new world, and they’re so beautifully thought out and made that it’s hard not to want to listen or watch them all. With new musicals and musical-like movies coming out every day, there seems to be something for everyone. So if you’re ever looking to try something new, try out a musical!

Alyssa Ochss is the page designer at The Alpena News. She graduated from Oakland University and loves pop culture and all things nerd. Reach her at aochss@thealpenanews.com.