Art as a whole has a big impact in our lives, changing the way we perceive things and letting us express ourselves through it. Nowadays, society has been moving away from all kinds of art, such as cinema, books and especially theater.
In my perspective, ever since movies blew up, people stopped going to the theater to watch a play. And ever since the internet blew up, people stopped going to the theater at all. It has become more common to watch a movie in the comfort of your own house instead of locating yourself somewhere else.
We can notice that plays are not as common in Brazil as they are in the United States, for example, by the fact that they’re not as popular as they are there. In this case, it is much more difficult to get people to be interested in the subject. The lack of advertisement and options plays a big role in it too.
Based on it, here’s a list of 5 international musicals HC thinks that Need to come to Brazil, in hope of touching brazilian’s hearts just like it did with others.
Hamilton
Hamilton is a worldwide famous musical, it premiered off-Broadway on February 17 of 2015, premiering on Broadway only in August of the same year. The play talks about Alexander Hamilton‘s life, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
It is divided in two acts, which detail his experiences and difficulties, like his involvement in the American Revolutionary War as an aide-de-camp to George Washington, his marriage to Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, his career as a lawyer and Secretary of the Treasury, and his interactions with Aaron Burr (the main narrator for most of the musical), which culminates in their duel that ends Hamilton’s life.
Hamilton has won 11 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Direction of a Musical (Thomas Kail), Best Choreography, Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Leslie Odom Jr.), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Renée Elise Goldsberry), and many more.
It would be interesting to have this play so Brazilians could learn about a new cuture and the history of a new country, it is also in a rap format – something they didn’t had in broadway before – which makes it a more interesting way to learn it.
SIX
Six is a British musical comedy in the style of a pop concert. The musical tells the story of the six wives of Henry VIII, but like a singing competition. At the start of the musical, the six women argue with one another trying to see who had it worse and which one of them should be crowned the “true queen” . But as they listen to their stories, they open their hearts to each other and realise it’s better to stick together.
The musical’s creators, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, came up with the idea during their time at the University of Cambridge. It debuted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017, where it was performed by Cambridge University students.
Telling this history in a pop concert way, each queen being inspired by different pop singers – such as Beyoncé, Avril Lavigne, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Ariana Grande, and many more – it could also be a fun way to learn about it, especially for the teenagers. It could inspire schools to have excursions to watch the play.
The Prom
Based on Saundra Mitchell’s famous book, The Prom, this musical is about four Broadway actors, moved by nostalgia for their days in the spotlight, head to the conservative town of Edgewater, Indiana, to help a lesbian student who’s been banned from bringing her girlfriend to prom.
The play premiered first in Atlanta in 2016, going to Broadway only in 2018. The story even got a film adaption, produced and directed by Ryan Murphy, starring Merryl Streep and James Corden.
The LGBTQ+ representation is a super important subject that Brazilians really care about. This musical would bring a bigger impact of the topic to Brazil, which is also the country with the largest self-declared LGBTQ+ population in the world, according to a research made in 2023.
Waitress
Based on the movie Waitress by Adrienne Shelly, who also wrote other movies such as I’ll Take You There and The Unbelievable Truth. This show is about the story of a woman named Jenna Hunterson who’s a waitress and a baker, she finds out she’s pregnant and her abusive husband, Earl, is the father. Wanting to get out of the toxic relationship she enters in a baking competition that her friends suggested so she can get money to leave Earl and raise the baby.
Brazilians are very moved by stories of strong and independent women, like Jenna, as we see in soap operas like Gabriela, Avenida Brasil and Vale Tudo. Bringing this story to Brazil could be very beneficial to theaters, knowing the musical would touch people’s heart.
& Juliet
& Juliet is a musical based on a “what if” scenario of Shakespeare’s story, Romeo and Juliet. The play shows us what could happen if Juliet hadn’t killed herself at the end of the original play. Being a modern version of it, with some LGBTQ+ representation – like Romeo having past relationship with both men and women, and Juliet having a non-binary friend – and a lot of pop popular songs such as I Want It That Way by Backstreet Boys Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, I Kissed A Girl by Kate Perry and many more.
The role of Shakespeare in the musical adds a theatrical twist, interacting with his wife Anne Hathaway as they rewrite the play together on stage, who was the one who asked for the revival of Juliet.
The show premiered in the West End in 2019 before making its Broadway debut in 2022. It is now in a US tour with familiar faces like Charli D’Amelio and Joey Fatone.
This play could be a way to connect us with this worldwide story too. It could also attract teenagers too, with the colorful scenario and popular songs.
Why You Should Watch It
As said before, art is a really important aspect in society, and these shows could be a way for more people to discover this universe. We do have plays in Brazil, but they aren’t as known as these, so it would be interesting to have worldwide famous shows in Brazil.
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The article above was edited by Fernanda Miki Tsukase.
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