This year has officially got me excited about Broadway musicals again.
After last year's lineup of new musicals that were vastly unoriginal and mostly based off of huge movie/TV hits like "Mean Girls," "Spongebob," and "Frozen," the musicals coming to Broadway this year feel like a breath of fresh air.
Here are four musicals that have recently come to Broadway that I am very excited about.
1. "Hadestown"
Though this musical has actually been in the works for over a decade, Anaïs Mitchell's version of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice only recently made it to Broadway. It has quickly become a hit, reigning in 12 Tony Award nominations.
And there's no question as to why. As of right now, the cast recording has not come out yet, but what few clips of the musical are out (plus the live recording of the Off-Broadway version) are just breathtaking.
Mixing a variety of genres from Louisiana-style jazz to more traditional dramatic Broadway music, it's a diverse and creative retelling of this myth.
2. "The Prom"
"The Prom" is one of the few truly original, not-based-on-anything musicals out there at the moment. And the story it tells is both uplifting and incredibly relevant at the moment.
The story follows a lesbian teen who isn't allowed to take her girlfriend to the prom and four self-centered Broadway actors that travel to her small town in Indiana to help her while boosting their own images.
It's both a great exploration of coming out in a small town and on how wanting fame makes people do crazy things.
If I'm being honest, none of the songs really hooked me into this musical. They're good, but none of them wowed me. However, the original story makes this musical worthy of a mention.
3. "Moulin Rouge"
The Baz Luhrmann jukebox movie musical is finally taking its place onstage with a Broadway adaptation! Honestly, with such a crazy musical, I'm surprised it didn't take the stage sooner.
One of the best parts of the "Moulin Rouge" movie was how they took seemingly random songs — everything from Elton John's "Your Song" to Madonna's "Like a Virgin" — and made them work together well into one coherent story. And it looks like they're adding even more songs into the stage version.
And with Broadway stars Karen Olivo and Aaron Tveit taking the lead, it's really hard to go wrong with this musical. The musical actually hasn't opened on Broadway yet (it will this July), but from the few preview videos I've seen, this is definitely a musical to keep your eyes on.
4. "Be More Chill"
"Be More Chill" has a fascinating origin story that really sets it apart from other new Broadway musicals. The Off-Broadway cast recording was found on Spotify after the show had closed and it went super viral.
In fact, "Be More Chill" is probably bringing more young people into the theater than any other musical.
The musical's based on a novel of the same name and it follows the story of a high school kid who discovers a pill he can take that puts a tiny supercomputer in him that will make him the coolest kid in school. But at what cost?
It's fascinating how social media and technology, which is a huge theme of the musical, is what gave the musical life in the first place.
(Also the fact that George Salazar wasn't even nominated for a Tony for his above performance is a crime. Just needed to throw that out there.)
