Theatre audiences are inspired daily by the works of Broadway’s brightest, but did you ever wonder what iconic performances inspired your favorite Broadway star to get there? BroadwayBox got all spiffed up and headed to the JW Marriot to chat with the 2014 Drama Desk nominees to find out from them: What was the film, TV show or theatre piece that inspired you to become an actor?

Stephanie J. Block (Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Little Miss Sunshine)

“Anything that was MGM. If that lion roared at the beginning of the movie, I knew it was going to take me for a ride. I would pretend I was sick just to put in my little VHS tapes of Meet Me in St. Louis—really, anything that had Judy, Mickey or Ann Miller. All the MGM greats touched me in a such a way that I thought, ‘I was born in the wrong era; these are my people!’ Even when I was eight. And somehow (even though they are excellent), those movies made you feel like you could do it. However they projected that sort of star quality, it was still attainable to me as a young woman, and I’m very grateful. I just loved that old-fashioned feeling that you had to break out in song and you had to break out in dance, and I’ve carried that through my life.”

Indulge in an MGM moment with Babes in Arms stars Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.