Quick disclaimer: this is a 100 percent amateur list with a disparaging amount of classics from a tiny 18-year-old who loves parentheses, commas, run-on sentences, and has barely lived her life to the fullest, so bare with me. I first began to love musicals and all things theatre when I was around 12. My first love was Gerard Butler's Eric from Phantom of the Opera. (cliché, I know; don't judge me.) I first saw the movie when I was 6 on New Year's Eve with my best friend at the time. We both became obsessed for a while, but the love quickly died down after a few months. Flash forward to when I was 12 and I was reintroduced. I then broadened my musical horizons, or the ol' razzle dazzle as I like to say, and the rest is history. Now I guess we should jump into the list.
5. Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812
Now, you're probably thinking, what the heck is this and why is the name so freaking long? Well, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (or more affectionately known as The Great Comet) is one of the most well-written musicals of all time. It's a Russian techno-pop musical written by Dave Malloy that's actually really hard to explain. The reason why it's SO well written is because when you listen to the soundtrack you can picture everything that's happening in your mind. The characters basically narrate every action they make in the song and it all just flows together. AND it's all super intense, techno, bass-heavy music that really draws you in. This musical is relatively underrated and unfortunately not on Broadway anymore. It's truly fantastic and a great listen when you want to escape reality.
4. Love Never Dies
Most of the people who I talk to about Love Never Dies have never heard of it before, which is completely understandable; it's another underrated diamond in the rough. LND is the sequel to Phantom of the Opera. Shocked? SAME. Andrew Lloyd Webber has outdone himself once again with this masterpiece. Ever wondered if Raoul and Christine live happily ever after? What happens to Eric after the Opera house burns down? How about Madame Giry and Meg? Well folks, all those questions are answered and more. It's extremely well written, as expected, and so full of plot twists you might need a paper bag to breathe into. Spoiler alert: you will cry if you have a soul.
3. Come From Away
I sincerely hope you've heard of this one. Honestly. they were nominated for some Tony's last year. (I cannot for the life of me remember if they won or not and I'm too lazy to check.) This is about what happened in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland in Canada, and what happened there on September 11, 2001. 38 flights with around 7,000 passengers were diverted to the Gander airport after the attack on the Twin Towers. A lot of the flights that were supposed to go to New York City that day, if not all of them, were redirected there. This is the story of what these people did there and the struggles they had for the week they were stuck there. The best thing about it all is the cast is only 12 people. 12! Irene Sankoff and David Hein wrote a truly phenomenal book/musical that really tugs at the heartstrings.
2. In the Heights
Lin-Manuel Miranda is a genius. Let's start there. He wrote this just breathtaking masterpiece before Hamilton, and while it's well known now, it wasn't always. This musical is about a Latino community in Washington Heights (see what he did there? it's not that clever, but I love it. Don't kill my joy) of NYC. It deals with heartbreak, deception, fear and sadness while still full of comedy and fantastic music. It's truly got it all and I adore it. I could honestly write a lot more, but I'm tired, so I'll let it speak for itself.Honorable mentions
I was stressing for literally like an hour trying to narrow these down, so I'm just gonna list a bunch of my favorites that couldn't make the list.
Newsies
The King and I
Something Rotten!
The Greatest Showman (Yes it's a movie and not on broadway, sue me.)
Waitress
Dear Evan Hansen
Hamilton (Shocked? So am I.)
Into the Woods
Fiddler on the Roof
Wicked
Les Misérables
La La Land (Another movie, I know. Oops.)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Rent
...and so many more. If you think that's a lot, I'm just getting started.
Aaaaaaaaaand drum roll pleeeeaaassseeeee...
1. Anastasia
Before you say anything, I know; it's a children's movie who's trying to be a Disney princess movie. Or is it? JK my dudes, it's a musical on Broadway! The cast is fantastic, the storyline is still the original but it has some new twists, and the music is as ~magical~ as ever. Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty and Terrence McNally have done a freakin' amazing job bringing this story back to life. They even brought the magical dream part of the movie to life! (You know when she's remembering things and dances with her dad and everyone is dramatically singing "aaaahhh"? Yeah; THAT awesome part that you awestruck about as a wee child.) It honestly makes me feel like a little girl again and I just love it. asdfghjkl. Also can we just talk about Derek Klena, aka Dimitri? Like, heart eyes hello dude you sing amazing, I love you.
If you're on the lookout for new music material, this is you go-to list. AND you got like 14 bonus musicals. It's now gonna bug me that it's not a solid 15 but I can't think of anymore besides Disney musicals and I listed all of musicals from my razzle dazzle playlist. Anyway, hope you enjoyed my Starbucks fueled rambling about one of my all time passions.
P.S. here's two of the greatest videos ever. You're welcome.
