Recently, I've become obsessed with musicals and I've watched as many as I've been able to (well, as many as my bank account will allow). More importantly, though, are their soundtracks. I was always amazed at how each and every song was carefully crafted to fit the situation within each scene. How the actors would break out into song and dance out of nowhere and yet as an audience, we always expected them to and we never questioned it. I guess it's because music speaks so much louder than words. With a song, you can feel the passion of what the words mean and the tune adds intensity which provokes the feeling that it's happening directly to you.

With that said, I've been jumping between a few musical soundtracks in the past few weeks and I've listed them here. If you haven't heard them or seen the musicals, I highly urge you to see them or listen to the soundtracks. You won't be disappointed.

HAMILTON

Let's start strong, shall we? Hamilton is about the American Revolution and the people desperate to fight for it. Alexander Hamilton is the focal point of the musical, despite stories about other important individuals. The soundtrack includes a variety of music such as hip hop, rap, classical, and songs with a slower tempo. The mix may sound odd, but the lyrics of each song and the story they tell leave you speechless. One particular song, called "The Room Where It Happens", is about the three people, two Virginians and Hamilton, who help run the government, and by extension the country, and how they plan to govern. However, the issue is them being in a room alone deciding the future of a nation and all its people. No one else knows what's happening and at the end of the song, Arron Burr, a politician pushed aside, sings about not being involved in these decisions when they affect everyone who isn't there. The "room" they sing about quickly becomes a metaphor that stands for the government making decisions for its people without consulting the people themselves. As the song escalates, it gets more intense and by the end, you're chanting along with Burr and the chorus about things happening behind closed doors. Sound familiar?

MAMMA MIA

This is one of the most entertaining musical's I've ever seen. It's fun. It's upbeat. And the story is very relatable, if you think about it. A girl thinks she needs to settle down and get married to help her mom. It's honestly what anyone would do, help out their parents in any way they saw was necessary. At the end, her mom helps her realize that she needs to follow her dream instead, and as her mom's love life sparks anew, everyone finds exactly what they've been looking for. The soundtrack, is filled with great tracks. From "Money, Money, Money" about those who are wealthy and those who struggle to "Dancing Queen" about breaking free and embracing your inner womanhood, there is no missed shot here. Everything about this makes you smile and dance and sing along; it's almost impossible not to.

LES MISERABLE

Les Miserable is a roller coaster of emotions. You'll be sad, you'll be happy, you'll be laughing, you'll be crying, you'll be heartbroken, and then you'll just be completely mesmerized. The performances alone are enough to take your breath away. Adding the music makes it an incredible experience (that you should experience more than once). My mom has gone to see it three times and still cries when Eponine and Gavroche die during the barricade scenes. Some music favorites are "Bring Him Home", sung by Jean Valjean as he pleads for the life of his daughters lover to be spared, and "One Day More," one of the best performances by an ensemble I've ever witnessed. If it doesn't give you chills when you hear it, let alone see it, then you're not paying enough attention. The song speaks about love being torn apart by the war going on in France and people having to sacrifice everything for the better future they're fighting for. My personal favorite is "Empty Chairs At Empty Tables" and it's a very sad song performed after the battle that took many lives. You can hear the strain in Marius's voice as he sings about his friends being gone and him not understanding why he didn't go with them, why he lived and they didn't. The burden he feels pours out of him and it grips at your heart, yearning you feel to same guilt he must feel. Powerful, isn't it?

ANASTASIA

I've been listening to and watching Anastasia for as long as I can remember. Back in the ancient times when VHR's existed and were all the glory, I would watch it, rewind it, and watch it again. And now that it's been given a life on Broadway, there is no way I wasn't including this one. The music is another fun addition and it's bring light to the Russian culture we normally aren't exposed to. For those who don't know, the story goes like this: Tsar Nicholas II and his family were cursed by a jealous yet powerful man and they were all killed during the Russian Revolution in the later years of WWI. His daughter managed to escape but suffered memory loss and was put in an orphanage. By the time she turned 18, she wanted to find her family and thus became the journey of Anya (Anastasia), Dimitri, and Vladimir (two conmen). Of course, this is all the story we're told (especially as children). The real story of the Tsar and his family is more tragic and complicated, but we're not going to focus on that. The best song of the soundtrack is "Once Upon A December." Anya waltzes around the empty castle that was once her home as she envisions the life she used to live. It's simple yet elegant and always gives me goosebumps.

WICKED

How can I not include Wicked? "Defying Gravity" was all I listened to for about a month after having seen the musical. The story is about the "wicked witch of the west" and exactly how she got to be so wicked when Dorothy comes along and killed her sister in The Wizard of Oz. She didn't want to be a mean witch, but her powers and all of her issues that followed her from her past haunted her enough for her to believe everyone was against her. Not that she was given much of a chance. Glinda, the good witch, and Elphaba, the wicked witch, meet and become friends while at school, but their friendship is tested as they must choose which path to follow.

CHICAGO

I have watched this musical (well the movie) more times than anyone has ever thought possible. When I saw the musical on Broadway, I actually preferred the movie. HOWEVER, the soundtrack is what I want to focus on. The overture, for starters, titled "All That Jazz," is my absolute favorite. I even choreographed a dance to the song (and it was a killer dance, if I do say so myself). What I love about the soundtrack is that they tell a part of the story that we might miss during all the talking of the actors. The songs are the characters of the musical showing their true selves, what they want to hide away but also desperately want to show the world. To give a brief synopsis, a woman kills the man she was sleeping with because he tells her she's just fun on the side, and when her husband rats her out and she gets thrown in jail, she hires an arrogant lawyer who preys on women who love him to represent her in court. The dances are perfectly crafted to match the allure of each tune and they even leave you wanting just a bit more. Aside from the overture, "Cell Block Tango," the famous track of six women explaining how they got to prison, and "They Both Reached For The Gun," the song that shows how easily you can sell the most unsupported and controversial story to the media, are other favorites of mine.

Musical have become a part of our culture now, more than they were in the past. As movies get remade and sometimes are brought to Broadway, people are given the chance to enjoy something under a different light. Adding music to each story gives it more meaning, and sometimes makes it easier and more entertaining to watch. The audience lightens up when a song begins, because they know true magic is about to happen.