Musical Guide - A Well Rounded Education
In this article we're going to try to give an idea of what shows
to go see if you want to get as broad a musical theater
background as possible.
To just say you're going to see a musical is not only less than
adequate but it's inaccurate at best. The truth is, a musical is
not just a musical. Just like in television and movies there are
different types of shows, dramas, comedies, mysteries, science
fictions, and a number of other genres, so it is the same in
musical theater. So if you're looking to get a well rounded
education and see the best of the best in each genre, what
follows is a list, if not totally comprehensive at least
representative, of the kinds of musical plays that are a must
see.
If you're looking for some serious entertainment that is tense
and dramatic, your best bets are shows like Phantom Of The Opera
and Jekyll and Hyde. These also fit well in with the thriller
type theme. Phantom is still currently running as well as Hyde
and both are very dramatic stage adaptations of a couple of very
old and well worn movies. The original Phantom Of The Opera was
actually a silent movie with Lon Chaney. The updated version is
beautifully done with some of the most breathtaking music in
recent musical theater history, including the ever popular
"Music Of The Night" made famous by the performance of Michael
Crawford back in the 80s. Jekyll and Hyde, while not quite as
famous, is also an excellent dramatic play about a man who
basically leads a double life, one good, one evil. The musical
show stopper of this play is "This Is The Moment" sung like
nobody else can by Robert Cuciolli.
If you want something a little more light hearted there is
always "The Producers" or "A Funny Thing Happened" which are
also both currently playing as of this writing. The Producers is
probably one of the funniest and off the wall musical comedies
ever written while Funny Thing is a wonderful parody of Roman
times. It's worth going to see this farce just to hear the
classic "Comedy Tonight" which has been sung by many great
performers including Nathan Lane who was also in Producers. Of
course, nothing needs to be said about "Springtime For Hitler"
which is probably one of the funniest songs ever written.
If fantasy is your thing, there is always "Wicked" which is one
of the more recent fantasy plays. Wicked is actually a prequel
to "The Wizard Of Oz" that tells the story of how the Wicked
Witch Of The West actually became evil. Ironically, at the
beginning, she was the good witch and her sister was the
conniving one. This is one musical that if you go see it you
will never see the original the same way again. Musical
highlights from "Wicked" include "No One Mourns the Wicked",
"Popular", "Defying Gravity", and "I'm Not That Girl". The
original cast of Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who later
went on to "West Wing" fame, may never be duplicated again. They
were just brilliant.
The above shows don't even scratch a very broad surface. There
have been a number of great musicals, dramas, comedies and
fantasies that have come and gone over the years. Starting with
the ones mentioned, however, will certainly get you started on
what will hopefully be a long and enjoyable education.