If you know me, you know musical theatre is one of my favorite things in the universe. The music, the spectacle, the dancing, everything about it makes it so appealing that I can't get enough of it. However, something has been bothering me recently about it, and I feel like it's worth getting the word out there.
Over the years, there has been a significant shift in Broadway shows. What once was glitz and glamour and swinging show tunes has turned into pop-rock hits and movies made over. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with movies turning into Broadway shows, my two favorites were movies before the Great White Way. But, the problem I have is when the music is extended beyond the Broadway stage. The other day, I was driving down the road and heard a rendition of "It's Quiet Uptown" from "Hamilton". On the radio. It surprised me because first of all, why is a Broadway song playing on the radio, and second, why are they ruining the emotion put into that song to turn it into another hopeless pop hit? I'm all for covers and the public's own creative take on things, but when a song that you know is an emotional point in the show is taken and broadcasted over the radio, things get testy.
I think a song loses emotion when not in the correct context. The writer's intention is lost when pop singers try to make these uppity renditions of songs. It makes matters worse when those songs are on the radio and not the actual version. There's a Broadway station on Sirius XM, just let the songs live there, not on Hits One. The point of an Original Broadway Cast album is to recapture the harmonies and the emotional highs and lows on a record so patrons can relive the show no matter where they are. A cover of a Broadway song by a popular artist placed on the radio is nowhere near that caliber. I just think that it ruins the quality of the show by putting a Broadway song on the radio that's not sung by the original cast. I also believe that Broadway should just be kept on Broadway, letting the public discover the magic of it on their own.
Maybe I'm just old fashioned.