Long-time followers of my Odyssey articles will know that I love musicals. They help us through hard times. They give us the encouragement we need to keep going. They’re appropriate literally every time of year. Best of all, they’re just plain beautiful!
Here are twelve of my all-time favorite songs from musicals, in no particular order. I’ve limited myself to one song per musical. It was difficult.
1. “Show People” (Curtains)
I’m a theatre geek through and through, and this song resonates with that part of me. Some people don’t get the appeal, and I’ll admit working in theatre has its ups and downs, “but that hop in our hearts / when the overture starts / helps us know how lucky we are!”
2. “As If We Never Said” (Sunset Boulevard)
This Andrew Lloyd Webber classic captures the feeling of going back to that place where you really felt like you belonged. Its setting in a film studio especially hits home for me as an aspiring storyteller who longs for “the early morning madness / and the magic in the making.”
3. “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” (Hello, Dolly!)
Here’s a song that always makes me smile. It’s about breaking away from the daily grind, seeing the world, and having a good time! “There’s no blue Monday in your Sunday clothes!”
4. “Changing My Major” (Fun Home)
“Oh my god, last night!” This one’s a bit PG-13, but this musical based on a graphic novel managed to recreate in song the feeling of being totally enamored with someone, the nerves and uncertainties included alongside the joys.
5. “Sabbath Prayer” (Fiddler on the Roof)
This song takes me home, to Shabbat dinner Friday nights with my family. Every week, my parents would recite a blessing for my siblings and me, like the family in this song: “May the Lord protect and defend you, / may the Lord preserve you from pain…” It’s peaceful, and gorgeous.
6. “Shall We Dance” (The King and I)
I want to learn how to dance the polka, and this song is why. It’s just so darn cute. “Shall we dance? On a bright cloud of music shall we fly?”
7. “Burn” (Hamilton)
If I’m limiting myself to one song per musical—which I am—then from among all the awesome songs in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s history musical, I have to choose Eliza Hamilton’s big second-act number. “The world has no right to my heart, / the world has no place in our bed…” It’s angry, it’s sad, and it’s beautiful.
8. “My Favorite Things” (The Sound of Music)
Let’s get happy again, shall we? This is one of the first musical theatre songs I ever learned. I still sing it to myself when I’m feeling down. “I simply remember my favorite things, / and then I don't feel so bad!”
9. “Children Will Listen” (Into the Woods)
It’s no spoiler to point out that the second half of this Sondheim musical is dark. This song is a light in that darkness, a wonderful message for parents. “Careful the things you do, / children will see, and learn…”
10. “The Girl I Mean to Be” (The Secret Garden)
“A place where I can bid my heart be still / and it will mind me. / A place where I can go when I am lost / and there I’ll find me.” This calming song takes me to that place.
11. “The Colors of Paradise” (The Spitfire Grill)
“And all at once you understand that you are here to stay, / with roots so deep into the earth, they’ll never blow away!” I fell head over heels in love with this song, and the picture it paints, while working with a production of “The Spitfire Grill” this summer.
12. “Who I’d Be” (Shrek the Musical)
I have a hard time picking favorites when it comes to musicals, but this might just be my favorite song from one. “A perfect happy ending / that’s how it should be!”
