Musical Variety

I've been participating in an online bulletin board for people interested in the Public Radio Talent Contest (more on that soon). I posed the question, what musicals do the other participants like? It's not my usual theatrical audience, so I was curious what others producing radio like.

I've gotten three answers: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Les Miserables, and Disney Musicals (particularly Aladdin).

Now this is diversity. The squeaky-clean Disney universe, the most-loved long-running musical, and a fascinating rock show about a punk singer with a botched sex-change operation.

Hedwig: Rocky Horror move over. Hedwig is another obscure off-Broadway rock musical show turned into a movie (with a cult following), but what music! I'm not a "punk" or hard-rock kind of person because I don't like overamped distortion and I want to know what the lyrics are. Hedwig gives me a melody I can hang on to, a surfboard on the ocean of pounding instruments. It's a wild ride I love. I really like Wig In a Box, it's the same concept as 'A Little More Mascara' from "La Cage" with great music. (Ever heard songs from the stage show Secret Garden? Sweet nature-boy Dickon is the same man behind Hedwig, John Cameron Mitchell. That blows my mind.)

Les Miserables: "Do you hear the people sing, singing the hit shows from Les Mis? Even the great Andrew Lloyd Webber wished the songs were really his" (parody from Forbidden Broadway) Even after 22 years of saturating the world with its pathos and passion, still one of the best-loved shows, for good reason. High drama, noble characters despite their social status (except the comic relief of the Thernardiers). I like the latter recordings, particularly the 10th Anniversary concert, because of the full orchestration. The original synthesizers in 1985 are too tinny for my liking.
Truly it's the most religious musical: heartfelt prayers to God, actions done in religious fervor, and philosophy ("to love another person is to see the face of God"). God is practically a character. Superstar and Godspell are about Jesus, but one is about the man, the other about his teachings, not nearly to the level Les Mis gets at.

Disney Musicals: I love Disney musicals too. I like feeling like a kid, but some of the songs have such sophistication I don't feel guilty.
The Sherman Brothers should be household names. So many of the classic Disney songs were written by Robert and Richard, their songs certainly contributed to the Golden Age of Disney (Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh to name a couple). I'll do a show on the Sherman Brothers before long, with stuff that will really surprise you.
When Little Mermaid came around, Disney was smart enough to look at Broadway for musical inspiration. Two guys with a funny take on the old B-movie "Little Shop of Horrors" were hired to give the Mermaid voice. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman went on to the outstanding Beauty and the Beast, and began work on Aladdin. When lyricist Ashman died, they brought in Tim Rice, lyricist for Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Joseph ... Dreamcoat, and Chess. He and Elton John also went on to do The Lion King and the Disney-produced stage show Aida.
The prominent Disney songwriting team these days is Alan Menken and lyricist/composer Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Wicked). The two started with Pocahontas, then Hunchback, and Enchanted (due this summer). He also wrote "Geppetto," a 2000 Disney Channel movie on Pinocchio. That's now a stage show called "Geppetto and Son," incorporating the classic songs from Pinocchio. Can't wait to take my kid to that one!

This is an example of three different genres in the musical theater catalog. New romantic favorites, classic family fare, and the rock musical. None are played on commercial radio. That kind of a mix wouldn't even be on satellite radio or the internet 'stations' that are in danger of being priced out of existence. But you CAN hear it with public radio. Thanks for listening and supporting our endeavors.