Musicals

Welcome readers! So this week I wanted to talk about something very near and dear to my heart: musicals! I know. You're thinking, "ew musicals. They're so cheesy. Why are you into them?" Here's my answer: they involve everything that I love. Singing, dancing, and acting.

Despite the stereotype, not all musicals are cheesy. Take "Les Miserables" for example. It is no where near cheesy. It's very serious, filled with symbolism, violent, and has a deeper meaning along with fabulous songs. Everybody dies except for 2 people out of over 100. The title literally means "The Miserable". It's pretty sad but it's such a good show. See it. Watch the movie. Listen to it. It's pretty darn good. 

Now there are shows like "Annie" which are very over-the-top with "everything will be fine in the end" and "don't worry, everything will be happy" where you think "what do you mean musicals aren't cheesy?" Yeah. This is kind of the epitome of cheesy Broadway shows.

My favorite show at the moment is "Phantom of the Opera". I think the songs are beautiful, the music is brilliant, and the story is great. It's a very dark show about a Phantom who is obsessed with a singer with a beautiful voice and will literally kill to get her. So yeah the show is not for the faint of heart. A little note: do not watch the movie version that is currently on Netflix with Gerald Butler, but if you can find it on YouTube or they put it back on Netflix, watch the 25th Anniversary with Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo. The cast is phenomenal and yeah... I have no more words. 

There's one more musical I want to talk about... "Wicked." It was not my first musical, but it was the first one that really inspired me and showed me how much I enjoy musicals. If you don't know, it's the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda before The Wizard of Oz. The dancing is really good. The songs are great (in fact, I learned the songs YEARS before I actually saw the musical). It's a really good show. 

Okay, I lied. There's one more show I want to talk about, and that's the latest show I've seen: "Beauty and the Beast." To be completely honest, I was not expecting very much from this show, but I loved it. The movie is very dear to my heart as are the songs, but the cast was perfect, the songs they added were amazing, and the costumes and scenes all worked out. Gaston had the perfect voice, Belle's voice was absolutely gorgeous, and the Beast's voice was incredibly powerful. It had that beautiful Disney quality that you just can't fake. 

Okay for real that's it. My suggestion to you is to find a musical that matches your style. A Disney musical, a dramatic musical, there's even this new musical where all the songs are rap called "Hamilton" if that's what you're into. If you're into very Broadway shows, go listen to or see "Into the Woods". There's a show for everyone. 

Thanks for reading.