Miscellaneous

Five Most Recent Broadway Musicals

bibliopathictendencies
Broadway Musicals
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We all love books. That’s pretty much a given. But I love other things too, and I know we sometimes like to share our love of other hobbies. I work in the theatre industry, so it shouldn’t be surprise (at least I don’t think) that I like musicals. Seeing New York theatre can be quite an expensive hobby, and I attribute it as the number one reason I don’t buy a lot of boys. I can read books free from the library… I can’t (always) see live theatre free!

So today, I thought I’d try a little something different. I’m going to list the five most recent Broadway musicals I was fortunate enough to see! I saw a few Off-Broadway musicals in between, but that will be for another time!

5. Amélie
I saw it a few days ago because my friend had an extra ticket. Yay free! I’ve never seen the movie, but it stars Philippa Soo, who originated the role of Eliza Hamilton in Hamilton. She was stellar, for sure, but the rest of the show fell kind of flat for me. To tell you the truth, I can’t even really tell you what it’s about because I’m not actually sure…

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4. Miss Saigon
The revival of this show is playing at the same theatre it originally opened it in the 90s. It was incredibly popular and ran about 10 years. It follows the story of Kim, a Vietnamese woman and her doomed romance with Chris, an American soldier. It was surrounded by controversy when it first premiered due to white actor Jonathan Pryce wearing prosthetics on his eyes to make him appear Asian. People still cite it as racist and misogynistic, and I can definitely see their points. It’s one of those things that I enjoyed, even though I recognized it’s flaws.

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3. Anastasia
Ahhhh. One of my favorite movies. I’m pretty sure I didn’t like it growing up, but in the last five or so years, my best friend made me watch it. I have no idea why I hated it because I love it now. I saw the musical in it’s original run in Connecticut and wasn’t a huge fan. It’s improved on Broadway, and I did really enjoy it, especially Derek Klena as Dmitry (yes, they changed the spelling of his name) and John Bolton as Vlad. The costumes and set are gorgeous. I think anyone who likes the movie will like this.

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2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
I have a lot of mixed feelings on this. I can see the good in everything, and I saw the good in this. But they really missed out on a lot. The outside of the theatre was transformed into the chocolate factory and looks stellar. They must have put all their budget in that because the set when the show started was sorely lacking. They made some changes from the London version, and all the children characters (except for Charlie) are instead played by adults (most I’d guess were in their 20s), which I liked. But seeing sets from the London version… I feel cheated.

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1. Come From Away
If there was a musical that I’d recommend everyone see this season, it would be Come From Away. (Also Dear Evan Hansen, which I love, love, loved. But I think I’d put Come From Away first.) It tells the story about a little town in Newfoundland, Canada. On September 11th, 38 plans were forced to land there after they closed the American airspace. Yes, it’s about 9/11, but it’s a really powerful, moving, and surprisingly uplifting story about a town coming together to feed, clothe, and shelter the people who were stranded. It makes you feel good about how compassionate people can be in times of  tragedy. 10/10 would recommend.

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So what do you guys think? Anyone else in the New York area seeing musicals? Anyone else just like musicals in general?

Published by bibliopathictendencies

cori. 24. self-proclaimed bibliophile. ravenclaw af. all I want to do is talk about books.

9 thoughts on “Five Most Recent Broadway Musicals”

  1. I am a massive fan of musicals. I saw on show on Broadway and that was way back in 2006 and my mom took me to see Wicked and that show sparked my love for musicals, but I wasn’t a musical fanatic growing up. It was Les Mis that turned me into a musical fanatic since I am obsessed with the musical.

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    1. Ooooh Wicked will always be a fave of mine! I’ve been fortunate enough to see it a few times since I first saw it in 2006. So interesting that Les Mis would be the one to turn you! I know a lot of people don’t really like that one. They find it boring or whatever… they just don’t understand how good it is! Haha. Thanks for stopping by! (:

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      1. Haha, crazy reading that you first saw Wicked in 2006, the same year I first saw it. All the musicals that I grew up with were happy musicals. So it was in my mind that all musicals will stay happy. Those musicals taught me about spectacle and dance, emotions of joy, love, excitement, and sad, and strong emotional connection. All of those characteristics still exist in today’s world.

        When Les Mis entered through the movie, things were a bit confusing. I came in only knowing one song and just not knowing what the title meant. I was blind to the fact that Les Mis is a tragic music. So when I found out it was tragic after the first death, I was so in shock and confusion and at first thought it was odd that tragic musicals exist. So after my first time seeing it, I had no clue whether or not I loved it. Before Les Mis, I was unaware of heartbreak being a musical emotion.

        Les Mis turned into an obsession. When I saw the movie a second time, I was able to calm down and started to see something special about Les MIs. I honestly wanted to know why it makes me feel uplifted. So after a while, I found my answer. It is a story of love, hope, compassion, forgiveness, sacrifice, humanity, and redemption.

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  3. I haven’t seen any of these, isn’t that awful? But I am dying to see all of them. Bummed I missed Amelie because I love Adam Chanler-Berat and Philippa Soo. I’ve got to get tickets to Anastasia though.

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    1. Ohhh I love Adam, and I really liked him in Next To Normal He and Philippa were both really good, unfortunately I just didn’t love the story. So exciting about Anastasia though!! The set and costumes are soooo gorgeous it’s insane.

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  4. I just stumbled across this post, and I was like, oooh Broadway! Musicals! So I just had to say hi 🙂 I’ve been wanting to see Amelie because I LOVED the movie, and I’m so disappointed to hear the musical wasn’t that great. You should give the movie a try, it really is worth a watch. I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in London a couple of years ago and I really enjoyed it, although I ultimately enjoyed Matilda much more. I’ve never seen Miss Saigon on Broadway, but it’s one of my favorite musicals. And I love all of the Disney-inspired musicals that have popping up lately! I’d really like to see Anastasia. I wish I got into the city more often to see the shows, go to the museums, eat all the good food…I feel like living close to NYC but not IN NYC makes it less likely to happen.
    Lauren @ Bookgirl Secrets

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