Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been exposed to music. My mom and my aunt are musically inclined, and were always singing and playing music, specifically Broadway showtunes. Inevitably, I picked up on the love of music. I play four different intruments and sing, so you could very well see I inherited that from my surroundings as I grew up.
Over the course of my lifetime, I have seen around 17 Broadway musicals. All of them are fabulous in their own ways, but I decided to narrow down to my top 10 of all time. So, I thought I would share with you my top ten Broadway shows in order!
- Wicked
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Wicked is a show about what happens before The Wizard of Oz, and the story is just AMAZING! Elphaba, a young girl born green, meets Glinda, a pinkalicious and spunky girl, where they learn to work out their differences and become the best of friends. Over the course of the show, certain aspects fall into place with the storyline of The Wizard of Oz. Elphaba soon discovers that she has magical powers.
This show is my top, because of the storyline, music, and set, and costumes. The music is very deep and different than other musicals. There is a build-up of suspense within the instrumentals and the singing, which is mostly belting. Further, the set and costumes are extravagant! They are colorful and eye-catching, so one can never get bored!
- Hamilton: An American Musical
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Hamilton: An American Musical is an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING show. I saw this show for my 20th birthday, and I was so engaged in the story. Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers and founder of the National bank, journeys from a young man to a prosperous adult. Although, he makes some detrimental decisions, which eventually leads to his demise in a duel with his enemy, Aaron Burr.
There are so many reasons that I ranked this show so highly, which are the music and the dancing. The music is a very unique style to the creator of the musical, Lin-Manuel Miranda. It is a rap and hip-hop styled musical, which gives it a differrent spin than other musicals. It also is non-stop music. There isn’t any dialogue. To build on the dancing, it builds on the theme of hip-hop.
I think that this musical makes history so intriguing, which isn’t normally fascinating to the younger generations. The reason for this is because the musical is so modernized to intrigue the younger generations as well as the adult population.
- Mary Poppins
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Mary Poppins is a classic Disney movie, which has been GLORIFIED into a musical. Mary Poppins takes care of two young children, teaching them fun, but also order. Bert, a friend of Mary Poppins, joins the fun and brings the children on adventures beyond their wildest dreams.
Mary Poppins is one of my favorite musicals because of the vividness and lively nature in the transition of the story from the screen to the stage. Everything about the show is so vibrant, such as the costumes, music, dancing, and the sets.
- Bandstand: A New American Musical
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Bandstand is an inspring story about a group of veterans, who create a band with a woman who lost her husband fighting in the wars. As the group tries to learn to cope with their post-traumatic stress, they create wonderful music and raise money, so they can audition for a competition to have a movie made about them.
What I like about Bandstand is the upbeat, engaging story with its twists and turns. At points in the show, I was close to shedding a few tears. The dancing and the music are also different from a lot of the shows. The main characters in the show actually play the instruments on stage as well as singing and dancing. The music has a more jazzy feel than other musicals. To build on that, the dancing is very connected to the music, where the actors depict the emotions of the instrumentals.
- Hello, Dolly!
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Hello, Dolly! is a wonderful musical, which I didn’t know much about going to see it. Dolly is a older woman, who deems herself as a matchmaker. She arranges love for other people who ask, but when she meets a millionaire man named Horace, she tries to cantain her love for him while he tries to impress her.
I consider Hello, Dolly! to be very high on my list. I kid you not, EVERYTHING amazed me about this show. The sets were extravagant as well as the costumes, the music and the dancing. Not knowing what a show was about going into it was definitely a risk, but in the end, I was astonished and speechless.
- The Spongebob Musical
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The Spongebob Musical is exactly what you would think it is about. All of the Bikini Bottom citizens, including Spongebob, Patrick, Squidward, Sandy, Pearl, Mr. Krabs, and many others, go on a journey to try to save the town.
When I heard that my choir field trip was going to be to see this musical, I thought that it was going to be the worst thing ever. As the show progressed, I became more and more engaged with the story. The show was interactive with the audience and it had amazing dance numbers. I enjoyed the dancing and the set more than anything else. I thought that the songs were okay for the most part, but I definitely would recommend seeing this show any time!
- Dear Evan Hansen
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Dear Evan Hansen is a breathtaking show, in which a young boy Evan Hansen meets a fellow classmate Connor Murphy. Connor Murphy takes his life, and Evan pretends to be his best friend. Evan is faced with his own personal difficulties while making evidence of his supposed friendship with Connor.
I saw Dear Evan Hansen for my 19th birthday, and I was expecting a lot of this show based on what people were saying. Surprisingly, I wasn’t totally in love with this show for a couple of reasons. I thought the story line was amazing, but the set was very plain and there were only supplemental props. Next, I was absolutely in love with the music, but the acting almost seemed fake when I saw it. That may have been the actors themselves, but overall, I would recommend seeing this show.
- Aladdin
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Aladdin is a classic musical, played off the Disney movie. The story is a bit different from the movie. Abu, Aladdin’s monkey sidekick, isn’t a part of the musical, but is replaced by two male friends. Jasmine also has a female friend to replace Rajah, her pet tiger.
Although this Aladdin is my favorite movie, I felt quitely differently about the musical, which is why it ranked so low in my top ten. The sets were quite plain, but I did really like the musical numbers and the personality of the Genie. He really made the whole show enjoyable!
- Matilda
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Matilda, based on the book by Roald Dahl, was a wonderful musical adapation to the book. Matilda is a little girl, rejected by her parents becaused she is smart. Going to a new school, she meets new friends along with her teacher, Miss Honey. Miss Honey accepts Matilda for who she really is, and adopts her to be her daughter.
Matilda amazed me in a few ways, such as the set, incorporation of little children, and the songs that were sung. The storyline wasn’t that interesting because it was something fairly plain. The set was built with various letter tiles, which were different colors.
I definitely think that this show is geared toward a younger audience because it has so many children in the show, but definitely people of all ages coiuld enjoy it.
- Hairspray
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Hairspray is a musical adaptation of the movie with Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes and John Travolta. Tracy is a very racially inclusive girl for the 60s, and often gets in trouble for silly little things in school. Her dream is to be on the Corny Collins Show, but she has to take down the mean girl in school to get her way to the top.
When I saw Hairspray, I was about six years old, so I try to remember what I can. The sets were definitely interesting, as well as the dance numbers. The 1960s had very interesting clothes, so the costumes were also very eye-catching.
I hope you enjoyed this review of my top 10 Broadyway musicals, and are inspired to see some in the future!