musicals

Playlist of the month: Musicals

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Screenshot of the musicals playlist

Now I’m not saying that it’s mandatory for queer men like myself to like musical theatre – but, let’s face it, lots of us do, and I’m no exception. Both my wife and previous girlfriend were involved in a musical theatre society at university (same university but not at the same time), and I’ve seen a number of shows, both locally and in the West End in London. And, seeing as Wicked is now a film, it’s a good theme with which to base a playlist on. So, here are my favourite songs from musicals. As ever, you can listen to it on Spotify.

  • “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, by Kerry Ellis. This isn’t the version on either the stage or film soundtrack, but a belting cover version by Kerry Ellis. Although, to be fair, Ellis played Elphaba for a time during its West End run. This is one of my morale boosting songs.
  • “The Greatest Show” from The Greatest Showman. Friends fear that he’s been listening to the Greatest Showman soundtrack and has just found another excuse to include this in a playlist. Yes, I included it in July’s ‘duets’ playlist too.
  • “You Can’t Stop The Beat” from Hairspray. It’s not quite the finale but it’s the big number where the audience is usually encouraged to join in. Back before Netflix was available in the UK, I rented the DVD of Hairspray, not realising it was the (non-musical) 1980s original with Ricki Lake, and not the then new (musical) film version.
  • “I Wanna Be A Producer” from The Producers. This is one of those songs that I randomly break out into. I enjoyed the film adaptation and have also seen a good amateur production in Bradford.
  • “Just Around The Corner” from The Addams Family. I don’t think enough people know that there’s an Addams Family musical, especially after Wednesday came out a couple of years ago. It’s about Wednesday coming of age, and this song is a solo by Morticia.
  • “Unfortunate” from Unfortunate. We went to see this very camp Little Mermaid spin-off earlier this year, and I would strongly recommend it. It’s refreshing to hear new music on stage, and a break from the seemingly endless jukebox musicals.
  • “When I Grow Up” from Matilda. We managed to see the Matilda musical in the West End shortly before it won loads of awards, and it was excellent. This song manages to be both fun and heartbreaking at the same time. Also, it’s the only one of these that I’ve performed in a show before.
  • “Let It Go” from Frozen. Oh come on, just because this song has been massively over-played, doesn’t mean it’s not good. How many kids songs manage to include words like ‘fractals’?
  • “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana. I haven’t actually watched Moana all the way through in one go, but I’ve probably seen all of it collectively as our eight-year-old has watched it multiple times on Disney+. Whilst it’s not made it to the stage yet, this is a good song. I imagine we’ll be watching the sequel at some point soon.
  • “Ex-Wives” from Six. Six is a musical that I really want to see, but haven’t managed to yet. I’ve listened to and enjoyed the soundtrack a few times though.

We Will Rock You

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The 'Minion' Theatre

As I mentioned briefly earlier in the week, on Friday we went to see We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre in London. For those unaware, it’s a a so-called ‘jukebox musical‘, where the script is written around pre-existing songs. All the songs are by Queen, hence the title.

It opened in London in 2002, and it still going strong. When we went it was nearly a sell-out, although it was a Friday night, the beginning of the half term holiday for some schools, and Valentines Day, so that’s not so surprising.

The musical is set in a dystopian future, where one corporation, GlobalSoft, rules the world, and all original music is banned. Except one person, Galileo, who keeps hearing lyrics from music from the twentieth century in his head, but doesn’t know why. He teams up with a young woman, who he calls ‘Scaramouche’, and they flee to the sewers where the Bohemians live, all the while being pursued by GlobalSoft and its leader, the Killer Queen.

That’s the general synopsis of the plot, whilst trying to avoid spoilers. The story is rather contrived, and some of the links with the songs feel a little forced. The ending is also a bit rushed in my opinion, leaving several plot holes unclosed. And it’s very similar to the plot of The Matrix, in several ways, which is something that its writer, Ben Elton, has admitted.

Thankfully, what it lacks in plot, it makes up for in looks. Some of the lighting and effects are brilliant, and visually it is quite spectacular. Plus, you’ll probably know most of the songs already, even if sometimes the words are changed to fit the plot.

Furthermore, there have been some minor changes to the musical over the years to keep it topical. The Bohemians are all named after current pop acts, some of which were not around in 2002, so these have been changed. And references to Facebook and Twitter have been introduced as neither existed 12 years ago. What hasn’t changed is some of the computer graphics, shown on the backdrops, which arguably looked dated even in 2002. I’m sure your average computer animation student could do something better in an afternoon nowadays.

Should you go and see it? If you can get some of the cheaper tickets like we did – £30 each, for the back of the stalls but still with a good view – then sure, go for it. But there are better musicals out there in the West End – Wicked is amazing, and I’ve head good things about Book of Mormon, although tickets are still like gold dust for that. Of course, it also depends how much you like Queen’s music.