I love musicals. When everyone else was watching shows like Dora the Explorer and Teletubbies, I was watching the classic musicals. They have helped me through the hardest times in my life and have always brought me such joy. I am not a theater expert, but I have seen hundreds of musicals, so I know a thing or two. The following are a list of some of my favorites that I highly recommend.
1. The Last Five Years
This is the story of a man named Jaime and a woman named Kathy. It tells the story of their relationship from dating to marriage to divorce. Jaime tells the story from the beginning to the end while Kathy simultaneously tells it from the end to the beginning. Jaime is a young writer who gets his book about Kathy published by Random House, and Kathy is a struggling actress who never truly makes it. The Last Five Years was written by Jason Robert Brown who based it off his own failed marriage. If you are interested, it was made into a movie and is now on Netflix. It stars Anna Kendrick as Kathy and Jeremy Jordan as Jaime.
2. Annie Get Your Gun
This was one of my favorites as a kid. I dressed up as Annie for Halloween when I was eight. This is about Annie Oakley joining Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and falling in love with Frank Butler along the way. Annie Oakley was a sharpshooter in real life, but this musical is fiction. It features jazzy music along with western American musical influences.
3. Victor Victoria
If you love drag, this is a great musical for you. Starring Julie Andrews, it is a story about a struggling actress, Victoria, who pretends the be a man so she can make money from being a drag queen. She gets the help from her gay friend Carole “Toddy” Tod played by Robert Preston in the movie version.
4. A Very Potter Musical
Unfortunately, this musical is not a Broadway musical. This is a musical adaptation of Harry Potter, and it is hilarious. I love Harry Potter, but even people who have never read the books find this funny. To make it even better, Darren Criss plays Harry, and he wrote all the music for it.
5. Evita
This may be one of the best musicals ever. It is about Eva Perón’s life and how she helped lead Juan Perón to power in Argentina during the 1940’s. The movie version features Madonna as Eva Perón and Antonia Banderas and Che Guevara. The music was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and the book was by Tim Rice. I highly recommend this to anyone and everyone.