Anyone who knows me knows that I live, breathe, and eat theater. Seriously, if I was better at it and it was a more stable career option then I'd be dedicating my life to it. However, given the fact that it's not a stable career option and I'm perfectly content with the path that I've chosen, I'll just obsess over it in my spare time and pursue the arts as a hobby. So, coming from the world's biggest theater nerd herself, here are 13 musicals (in no particular order) that you absolutely NEED to know about now.
13. RENT
Jonathan Larson's musical about struggling artists in AIDS-ridden NYC has been captivating audiences since it first began performances in 1994. The characters and the songs will have you laughing, crying, and appreciating the 525,600 minutes of every year that comes your way.
12. Avenue Q
This musical may seem extremely similar to Sesame Street, but trust me, this show is not meant for kids. This hilarious and inappropriate show has become an off-Broadway hit, where humans and puppets alike navigate adult life through New York City. Catchy songs such as "What Do You Do With A B.A. In English" and "Everyone's a Little Racist" will have you singing along, that is, if you can control your laughter!
11. The Heathers
A stage adaption of the 1988 cult film, this show premiered off-Broadway in 2014, and despite it's closing just a few short months after previews, has gained a huge cult following. Taking place in a small town during the late eighties, high school senior Veronica Sawyer struggles with what every high school student deals with: bullying, accidentally murdering a couple of people, and her manipulative and psychopathic boyfriend. Casual, right?
10. A Chorus Line
This classic musical centers on seventeen dancers competing for a spot in the ensemble for a fictitious musical. With classic songs such as "What I Did For Love" and "One," this musical gives a personal look at the most easily forgotten members of a production.
9. Next to Normal
This rock musical doesn't get half of the attention that it deserves, in which a suburban mother struggles with the worsening state of her bipolar disorder, and how her family deals with the effects that it has on them. This amazing show, with its soaring vocals and hard-hitting messages, will have you feeling all types of emotions.
8. Hamilton
It's impossible to talk about Broadway musicals and not talk about Hamilton. This is possibly one of the most innovative musicals of this generation, all while giving you a history lesson that's far more interesting than one given in any classroom. There's a song for any occasion, and you'll gain a much greater appreciation for the United States and how it was born. And yes, yours truly can shamelessly rap the entire soundtrack.
7. Fiddler on the Roof
This classic musical will always remain one of my favorites. Set right before the settlement of Imperialist Russia in Ukraine, the story focuses on Tevye, a dairyman who is struggling to raise five daughters in a traditional Jewish household. Throughout the show, Tevye struggles to control his eldest three daughters who choose to marry for love, and also keep his family together as the Tsar's rule threatens to uproot their entire lives. This show is easily adaptable to our world's ever-changing political climate, and will remind you that sometimes embracing the ideals of the new world doesn't mean abandoning who you are.
6. Hair
This rock musical will bring out the hippie in all of us, telling the story of a tribe of hippies celebrating peace and love in the wake of the Vietnam War. With classic hits such as "Aquarius" and "Let the Sunshine In," Hair will have you dancing and singing along until the final bows.
5. The Drowsy Chaperone
I'm in a production of this now, so there was no way that I couldn't add this to my list. This musical comedy opens with a middle-aged man sitting in his apartment, raving about his favorite musical: the (fictional) 1928 hit The Drowsy Chaperone. As he puts the record on, the show takes place in the middle of his apartment, and he comments on the story, actors, and characters. The show has a lot of slapstick humor, but the jokes are funny and the characters are lovable. And the original Broadway cast has Sutton Foster as the leading lady, so really, what is there not to love?
4. The Phantom of the Opera
The longest running show on Broadway, Andrew Lloyd Webber's masterpiece has been stunning audiences for 31 years and counting. Based on the the French novel Le Fantome de l'Opera, the plot surrounds around beautiful opera singer Christine Daae, who becomes the focal point of a deformed composer living underneath the opera house in which she performs at. Everything, from the costumes to the set to the love triangles is absolutely impeccable, and if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and buy tickets now.
3. Wicked
One of the most popular musicals on Broadway, Wicked tells the unknown story of the witches of Oz, in which Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda (the Good Witch) are unlikely friends. Wicked will have you sympathizing with a character notorious for her supposed wickedness, and will also have you "Defying Gravity" and "Dancing Through Life."
2. Les Miserables
Based on the novel written by Victor Hugo, Les Miserables tells the story of Jean Valjean, who breaks parole and tries to start his life over after being imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister's starving child, and is pursued by a relentless police inspector. Along the way he adopts a young girl named Cosette, and is swept into the French Revolution, where Valjean and others make their final stand at the barricade. This show will have you feeling all types of emotions. Seriously, I saw the most recent revival of it on Broadway and I sobbed through the end of Act II.
1. Cabaret
Cabaret takes place in Berlin, Germany, and shows the nightlife of the Kit Kat Club, where an American writer named Cliff falls in love with a club performer named Sally. There are many references to the growing political tension, and many of the themes throughout the show could be applied to modern society. Take away the dark nature, and Cabaret makes it almost enticing to be a down-on-your-luck nightclub performer.
