Here’s the thing about musicals: they’re the ultimate in whisking you away to another place. Want to go back to 17th century America? There’s a musical for that. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989? There’s a musical for that. The Vietnam War? There’s a musical for that.
Ultimately, musical theater is compelling because the stories are told with music, presented with intricately designed sets and costumes. Something about having live music performed with compelling storytelling in front of you is not just thrilling — it’s transformative and evokes emotion like no movie or book can.
Musicals have a way of sticking with people for long periods of time, and while tragedies such as “West Side Story” and “Les Mis” have a way of searing themselves in your subconscious, there’s no shortage of happy, feel-good musicals to take you to places far, far away.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Listen to: “Wicked Little Town,” “Origin of Love”
John Cameron Mitchell and co-creator Stephen Trask created Hedwig — a gender-bending, East German rock & roller — at a New York drag club in 1994. The story of a rock diva who underwent not only a botched sex change operation but also a disastrous love affair with a man who stole her songs, it is one of the most brilliant shows to ever hit Broadway, with the best life lessons and songs ever.
In this gender-bending show, you learn (through songs, of course!) that love knows no gender, delves into the Greek origins of love, and that acceptance — as a drag queen or otherwise — comes in all flavors. It’s a punk rock show that was way ahead of its time, and is just now going mainstream.
Rent
Listen to: “Seasons of Love” “Light My Candle”
Even if you weren’t a theater geek in the 1990s, you’d know the song “Seasons of Love,” which started with “Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes/ How do you measure, measure a year?/ In daylights, in sunsets /In midnights, in cups of coffee/ In inches, in miles/ In laughter, in strife.” It was a mantra that ushered in a real theater experience, discussing the issues of money, AIDS and drugs through the lives of artists in New York struggling to pay rent. Its radio-friendly pop songs changed musical theater for younger audiences, and created a new generation of musical theater fans.
Hamilton
Listen to: The whole soundtrack
It may be too early to call Hamilton a true classic, but the powerfully smart and catchy story of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father who was the Secretary of Treasury and wrote 51 of the 85 Federalist Papers, is possibly the best hip-hop musical to ever hit Broadway. The immigrant narrative has a predominantly non-white cast, and Lin-Manuel Miranda's songs are a sublime mix of intellectual lyrics and earworms. Thus, the inevitable Pulitzer and slew of Grammys and Tonys. The soundtrack is also a chart success — again, something that rarely happens in theater. It's impossible to tamp down your own patriotism in songs like "My Shot" and "Non-Stop."
Book of Mormon
Listen to: "Hello," "Hasa Diga Eebowai"
The story of Elder Price, a Mormon missionary who ends up in Uganda encountering one misadventure after another, doesn't sound like it would become a Tony Award-winning musical. But "The Book of Mormon," written by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, has been a lightning rod for controversy since it debuted in 2011.
It's flippant and hilarious — yet sometimes dirty, but the irreverence toward religion has sparked many conversations about Mormons -- one that has actually been welcomed by the Church of Latter-Day Saints. Why not, when songs like "Hello" get stuck in your head for weeks after seeing it?
Wicked
Listen to: "I'm Not That Girl," "Defying Gravity"
Flipping the order of good and evil gives "Wicked" the most satisfying twist ever, and it doesn't hurt that the reimagined musical, original roots in L. Frank Baum’s classic, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," has songs that have culturally taken root in the American consciousness. It's also, in these trying times, culturally relevant: citizens can be fooled by misinformation from their rulers. Elphaba is wicked only because everyone says so!
Made for misfits everywhere, "Wicked" gets better with each iteration.
Sound of Music
Listen to: “My Favorite Things,” "So Long, Farewell"
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s family musical “The Sound of Music” doesn't ostensibly necessarily have the happiest story — Nazis come for Captain. Von Trapp toward the end, and are almost betrayed by Leisl's sweetheart Rolf, but how can it not bring you back to better days when you, your parents and your grandparents know every word by heart?
"The Sound of Music"'s appeal lies in the incredible nostalgia it delivers, and makes it a classic for every age.
West Side Story
Listen to: "Tonight," "America"
If you're a rebel, a romantic, a lover — you'd have a soft spot for "West Side Story," which remakes the story of Romeo & Juliet told through warring teenage gangs in New York City. For a story that debuted on Broadway in 1957, it still feels totally fresh. The songs? Classic. The dancing? Groundbreaking. The life lessons? The love between a Puerto Rican girl and a white boy is still ultimately relevant in post-racial America.
Its influence is still felt in many ways today, in everything from Bruno Mars choreography to the coming together of high and low art forms (ballet and popular dance, opera and pop).
Jesus Christ Superstar
Listen to: "Everything's Alright," "What's the Buzz"
If you're looking for a way to introduce nonbelievers to Christianity, "Jesus Christ Superstar' is it.
Originally conceived as a concept album, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's rock opera is a fascinating story that tells Jesus' last days. It was controversial when it came out in 1970, but today it is performed in church groups around the world around Easter as a way to draw kids into the church. The songs are incredibly catchy and have been revived by musicians of all genres — from Sebastian Bach to Alice Cooper to Living Colour to the Indigo Girls.
See what else made it into our Top 8 by visiting its official page.
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