Musical Round-Up

After my last post, I realize that I’m not alone in my love of musicals. I’m not the only geek out there – I’ve seen the posts about the cheesy songs you listen to on Mrs. Chicky’s blog.

Now, I know many people know of the “big” ones: Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Cats, etc. But there are an abundance of musicals out there that, for one reason or another, never got the notice that they should have. For all of you who enjoy musicals, or just good music, this post is for you.

As my musical public service announcement, I’d like to share with all of you the best musicals you’ve probably never heard of or seen. Yes, I’m a theatre person, but I did consider briefly majoring in music in college (along with the other 4 majors I considered, along with the 4 I actually changed to).

I recommend these musicals on several factors. For some, the CD is packed full of amazing singers. For others, the story is beautiful, and the music and lyrics can really inspire emotion. And most have both features.

Give the samples a listen, e-mail me if you want to hear more (I can hook you up with some full tracks), and give some lesser known musicals a chance.

Martin Guerre – This musical was written by the same duo who made Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. Why this one wasn’t just as big of a hit, I’ll never know.

It’s the story of a man in 16th century France who runs away from his village after being forced into a marriage as a teen. A man returns years later, and everyone thinks it’s Martin, but it is his friend. The friend and Martin’s wife fall in love, and he pretends to be Martin. Beautiful story, gorgeous music. The song Why? is one of the best I have ever heard.

Notre-Dame de Paris – This is another Hunchback of Notre-Dame story, but told with beautiful music. Ignore the first track, sung as a promo by Celine Dion. The rest of it really is much better than her. I will advise that this is not for the traditionalists. If you’re hopelessly devoted to Oklahoma and other musicals from the Rodgers & Hammerstein era, this isn’t for you.

I’ve never seen this on stage, but I’m told it’s done in a very modern way – no period costumes and such. But regardless, the music is somewhat of a pop-rock variety, combined with the lush depth of music from darker musicals. Belle is probably a favorite song of mine.

Jekyll & Hyde – OK, this one is more well-known, but I’m not talking about the current Broadway version of this. To truly appreciate this musical, you must listen to the original concept album. I first saw this musical when it was on tour to campaign for Broadway. I saw it again when it was touring after its Broadway stint. While they are very similar, the changes made by its time on Broadway in no way helped it, in my opinion. Removing the song Bring on the Men was a shame.

This is the classic tale of Dr. Jekyll and his formula to separate good and evil. Amazingly, Jekyll and Hyde have very different voices, despite being sung by the same man (in this case, the amazing Anthony Warlow). While impressive, it’s even more impressive when Jekyll is battling with himself in the song The Confrontation. Switching voices like that has to be tough. Go. Listen to all of the samples on Amazon. You’ll be hooked.

Once on this Island – This one is very different from all of the others. The music is strongly rooted in Caribbean beats. It’s a story from Haiti, of a peasant girl who is plucked from death by the gods to one day test the power of love against the power of death.

This is one musical that will make you laugh hard, and cry hard. It’s simply beautiful, and the music will stick with you for days. A great musical for children as well – I think the story is appropriate for most ages. Mama Will Provide will make you dance, you’ll be cheering the heroine along against the power of Papa Ge, and sobbing when she realizes she cannot be with the one she loves.

There are so many more I could list for you: Jane Eyre, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Bombay Dreams. The list is endless. I encourage everyone to get out there and expand their musical knowledge.

Go listen to some music that isn’t kiddie music!