Da-Doo! How Wicked's Kyle Dean Massey Fell in Love With Skid Row in a Starry High School Production

Valentine’s Day is a yearly celebration of love—so what better way to mark the holiday than by asking stage stars to reminisce about the musical that sparked their love of theater? Read on for a treasure trove of musical memories and inspirational stories from your favorite Broadway actors.

KYLE DEAN MASSEY (Fiyero in Wicked)

Musical that sparked my love of theater:
Little Shop of Horrors. It was the first time I saw a musical and thought, “I want to do that!”

My first introduction to this musical was:
My introduction to Little Shop was when I got to see it at my local high school in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I was just finishing eighth grade. I had never heard of it before then. I had never seen the movie either. And I was actually confused about the title, because people in Arkansas pronounce 'horrors" as ha-ruhs. I remember thinking to myself, “What on earth does that title even mean?”

To this day, when I hear or see the show I…
...think about my teenage self singing along to the original cast album.

The most memorable production I’ve seen of the musical Is:
I did see the show on Broadway starring my terrific Xanadu pal Kerry Butler, but the most memorable production for me will always be that first one. It was 17 years ago, and I still remember almost everything about it. I remember the performances and direction being spectacular. And Seymour was played by a teenage Matt Cavenaugh (West Side Story, Urban Cowboy). Jonesboro, Arkansas? Who knew?

The closest I came to performing in the musical was:
I have never come close to being in Little Shop. However, I was on the Wicked first national tour with the original Seymour, Lee Wilkof, who was playing the Wizard. He still sounds like he did on that cast recording. That may be as close as I ever come to being in Little Shop!

The last time I listened to the cast recording was:
Gosh, it's been a long time. It was the first cast recording I ever owned. I'm gonna listen to it now!

Click here for other theater stars’ Showmance stories.