How My Broadway Obsession Began

HELLO!

So today, I bring to you another "Hidden Obsession" post! Granted that it isn't one of my most secret obsessions, since I have briefly talked about it here on CM. I will share how my obsession with Broadway/Musical theatre started! :)

I had always been in love with musicals (yes, I was a High School Musical fan! And YES I watched HSM3 in the movies and on the day it premiered! And I was not 10 years old!), I have always been a very musical person since I was little. I could not live without music playing every single second, and every single musical tv show or movie that was on TV, I would watch! I obviously obsessed over Glee for a couple of years, and fell in love with songs like On My Own, I Dreamed A Dream, etc. Weirdly enough, what made me look for actual cast recordings, was New Girl (my other obsession that does not die), in one episode one of the characters sang Wicked!

After listening to the whole Wicked soundtrack on the Youtubs, I decided to look into live performances thinking that they would sound like many singers (not great), and I realized that the live performances were 100 times better than the cast recordings. I then realized that Glinda was played by Kristin Chenoweth (I had already fallen in love with her in Glee), and I bought the cast recording's CD. I would listen to Wicked non-stop and working on that Elphaba belting on my way to college. :)

For thanksgiving, my mom and I decided to spend a few days in New York to just relax in a nice hotel and go see a broadway show on the last day. We decided to go see Les Miserables, on a matinee. As soon as the whole thing started I was amazed at how beautiful everything was, at how amazing the voices sounded, the whole barricade, it was breath taking (I literally cried throughout the whole thing, and it wasn't because the story was emotional, now I'm used to the crying! It means their doing it right)! From that point on, I knew that I had to try to do something like that to see if I would like to do for the rest of my life, or not! 

I then watched Phantom of The Opera, and it was Norm Lewis' last matinee (that one, I was balling my eyes out! Again, they were doing it right!). After that, came On The Town, which is now my favorite type of musical, I loved the comedy, singing and dancing. And then, I saw Anything Goes on tour.

Here's my little memory board, that I keep in my room

I DYI'd this little "chalk" board, which I have no idea if the writing is erasable. On the top row, I have the two CDs that I have signed by Alysha Umphress, and the other by Laura Osnes. I then have Playbills from Les Miz, Phantom and On The Town. On the bottom row, I have the little program from the show I was in, one that I did sound for, the Anything Goes Tour, and an old birthday card, a photo booth pic I took with my friend in Urban Outfitters and a random picture of the guys in Merlin.

What is your obsession?

Hidden Obsession: Drag Queens

HELLO!

I decided to start posting some things that show more of my opinion, a bit more personal. What better way to start this post series than with my biggest obsession? Drag Queens!

My obsession started when I watched RuPaul's drag race a long time ago, which, I'll admit, it was love at first sight with all the makeup and glitter. And the best part was that they looked beautiful and their humor was my favorite. Granted that seeing the show made me very confused because I didn't see them as men dressed as women, but as drag queens. They fit into any of the gender boxes, I wasn't thinking whether they were girls or guys. And, after watching a video on YouTube, where Courtney Act, talked about how she didn't put people in the little boxes when it comes to gender, I realized that I am just like that.

Whenever I would see a boy dressed as a girl, I wouldn't care. I would look at the outfit, at the makeup, not at the most unimportant part, in my opinion. My mom, on the other hand, would right away see that it was a guy, she would look at the features and put that person in one of the boxes in her head. Granted that she is from another generations, that, some, don't even accept gay people.

Recently I was on facebook and ran into a video post that explained something that, to me, was very simple. The video explained the difference between transgenders, transvestites, and drag queens. I've talked to people that I know and most people don't understand that drag queens don't necessarily identify themselves as women.

So, imma break things down, a lot like the video I saw (here is the video, but it is in Portuguese). There's the difference between gender and sex, gender is the way you identify yourself, and goes into personality, and sex is defined by your reproductive organ. A transgender is someone that doesn't feel comfortable being in the body that they are in and have to change it, like Bruce Jenner or Chaz Bono. Drag Queens, on the other hand, are men that dress as women but don't identify themselves as women. They create a character that happens to be a woman, it's just their uniform. Drag Queens, can be women dressing up as men as well.

I hope this post is something that you enjoy! Tell me your opinion in the comments, and what are you obsessed with?