5 Broadway Musicals For People Who Aren't Fans Of Musicals
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5 Broadway Musicals For People Who Aren't Fans Of Musicals

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5 Broadway Musicals For People Who Aren't Fans Of Musicals
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If you're not a fan of musicals then I understand where you're coming from. When we go see a movie or a play, we usually need the story to play out in a world of logic. A beginning, middle, and end without interruptions and with us able to know what's happening, as in our world. So when we see a musical and suddenly the actors break out in song and dance, some might be confused and lose their sense of the plot and what's going on.

What happens when characters break out and sing is us, the audience, getting inside their mind and emotions. We manage to know thoughts and feelings better in musicals than most normal characters because there's a passion and poetry to a song that doesn't translate into real life.

It takes awhile to become a fan of musicals if you're not one yet. You need to adapt to its world and suspend your disbelief.

But in a way, if you grew up a fan of animated Disney classics, then you already are a fan of Broadway musicals because a lot of those cartoons are made like Broadway musicals, too. They have multiple song-and-dance breaks condensed into the story.

With that said, there are a few great Broadway shows out there that made me a fan of the musical scene, and I think these five below can get you hooked too. We'll start off with a Disney classic that got a stark reimagination in their musical treatment:


The Lion King



There have been several Disney movies adapted onto the stage, but no adaption is quite as experimental and memorable as The Lion King.

Famous theater and movie director, Julie Taymor, adapted the 1994 Disney animated classic on the stage with a unique style and vision.

While the movie is a fun cartoon about wild animals in Africa, the stage musical pays homage to African culture in its costume designs and props.

Taymor even borrows from techniques that were used all the way back in Ancient Greek theater as the actors wear masks and use puppetry. While we can see actors faces wearing the masks of the animals or holding their animal puppet, we suspend our disbelief and can visualize both the face and the mask as one character.

What this musical taught me is that you can take a recognizable story and recreate the visuals and style in a way that creates an entirely different experience. Even though the musical almost plays out exactly like the Disney movie word-for-word.





Wicked


When making a musical, it helps to have the story based on a well-known property. Which is why Wicked, a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, is one of the most popular Broadway shows of the 21st Century.

What made it fascinating to me as a kid was that it was the first time I saw a version of a classic story told from the perspective of the villain.

In the iconic 1939 film, The Wicked Witch of The West is one of the most one-dimensional villains in cinema history. So when the idea was introduced to me that a villain could turn into a sympathetic and misunderstood heroine, it was mind-boggling. The ugly and hideous character you were scared of is suddenly the hero you're rooting for.

The story is about the young Wicked Witch, originally named Elphaba, having to deal with being rejected by society for being green and thinking differently, making her a rebel to the system and "Defying Gravity." It enriches a world that was already rich in our imaginations as kids.

Idina Menzel was the original Elphaba on Broadway, and she went on to play a similarly misunderstood heroine as Elsa in Frozen. (Which also has a Broadway musical now.)





The Phantom Of The Opera

I know it's silly but listen to that overture! DAAAAA DA DA DA DA DAAAA!


The longest-running Broadway musical of all-time recently surpassed its 30th anniversary and has no signs of slowing down.

While snobby critics and intellectual Broadway fans who prefer more complex lyrics and down-to-earth stories, the music and mise-en-scene of The Phantom of The Opera stay in your mind in ways that most entertainment products can't.

The half-mask, the falling chandelier, the booming organ playing the big opening notes DAAAAAA DA DA DA DAAA DAAAAAA! (Which Andy Lloyd Webber probably stole from Pink Floyd’s Echoes)

It’s also fascinating how this musical might be the most instantly recognizable and popular Broadway show of the past three decades.

It's based off an 1880's French novel written by Gaston Leroux that was adapted into several Hollywood films including the iconic 1925 silent horror movie starring Lon Chaney.

From This

To This

Lord Andrew Llyod Weber's version of the story, however, is a lavish and romantic update of the gothic tale about the disfigured man behind the mask who hides beneath the Paris Opera House and haunts everyone in it. He's a master singer and musician who teaches the opera's young singer, Christine Daae, in secret and falls in love with her, setting up a series of dramatic and intense events at the theater that leads to an emotional climax. While he's not the hero of the musical, he's still sympathetic and one of the most compelling characters in all of theater.

It’s not a perfect show: It has its flaws in storytelling and the bombastic music and spectacle contradict with a dark story about a toxic relationship. The emotionally damaged and disfigured titular character manipulates the young and impressionable singer in disguising himself as an angelic singing teacher called the “Angel of Music”. What makes the story great however is the fact that they do manage to mature their way out the abusive relationship in the climactic scene where the maskless Phantom finds the compassion to let his love go with her childhood sweetheart Raoul.

While the musical did get a movie adaptation in 2004 directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Gerard Butler(?!) as the title character, in my opinion, the best version of the show is the 25th Anniversary performance at the Royal Albert Hall starring Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess.

Here's a great mashup of the classic Phantom song The Music of The Night with arguably the two best actors to play him, Karimloo and Michael Crawford.



Les Miserables


There’s something about this era of American history we live in that makes Les Miserables feel relatable and meaningful. It’s not just because this is a play about a tragic revolution but also all the characters in the show are MISERABLE. And we Americans are all MISERABLE.

It's one of the most popular musicals of all-time despite its heavy themes about life and thick story. The original novel was written by iconic French author, Victor Hugo, and was published all the way back during the Civil War. The novel is one of the most beloved ever, and there were several movies based on the classic tale, but the Broadway musical has gone down as it's most recognized adaptation.

The epic and timeless story chronicles the struggle and redemption of its main character Jean Valjean as he's chased by the obsessed Inspector Javert for breaking his parole. (The crime he went to jail for just for stealing a loaf of bread) He also takes care of Cosette, the orphaned daughter of a factory worker who died on the streets after losing her job, which Valjean feels responsible for.

The music, composed in the early 80s by French composers and translated into English when taken by England, is stirring and inspiring. There are so many moments where you want to break out into a chorus and scream the fighting words of Revolution! It has so many tunes that raise the hairs on the back of your neck like "I Dreamed a Dream" "Bring Him Home" "On My Own" "Do You Hear The People Sing?" "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" and "One Day More."

While the Oscar-winning 2012 movie version is good, I think the best version of the musical is the 1996 10th anniversary performance at the Royal Albert Hall.



Hamilton

What?

You thought I was gonna put Lestat The Musical for the fifth and final spot?

You gotta listen to Hamilton!

Lin Manuel-Miranda's masterpiece of 21st-century art and theater not only made musicals cool again, but it made American history and Democracy cool again.

The music is catchy, the lyrics are insightful and brilliant, the storytelling is complex and fascinating. We get to witness the sharp and heavy minds of some of the greatest people of the Revolutionary Era. Too many people put the Founding Fathers on pedestals as mythologized Gods, but Hamilton makes these people seem like brilliant but flawed humans, making them more appreciated and beloved than ever.

It's an inspiring tale of the American dream and also a human tragedy. And in this current era of bubbling tensions and a groundswell of change and revolt, Hamilton means something to Americans that I don't think Manuel-Miranda himself thought was possible.

The best part? The fact that this musical is based on the lives of real people and nearly every original cast member is not the race or ethnicity of the person they’re playing and nobody cares! Like...nobody!

Here's a funny parody of the title track at the 70th Tonys


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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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