Musicals that defy the status quo

A lot of people believe that musicals are cookie-cutter, light-hearted, dance breaks at every minute obnoxious films, but lately more and more musicals that defy this stereotype are being released. Yes, I will give it to those people, Pippin is pretty obnoxious. But musical theatre has come a long way since. Here are some examples

Rent

“Rent brought Broadway to a new kind of theatregoer: younger and perhaps less affluent. This new audience would bring something radical and fresh to Broadway too.” (Paige, p274)

The age of musicals defying the stereotype began around 1993. And amongst all the productions created in that year Rent, a rock musical by Johnathan Larson definitely stands out. Rent tells the story of struggling artists living in New York in the 1990’s during the AIDS epidemic. Rent was a big shock when it first released due to the themes it mentions. Such as death, Aids, homosexuality and sometimes some suggestive conversation. But it quickly became a fan favourite, having won four tony’s, six drama desk awards and two theatre world awards. Rent inspired many writers to change the way they wrote musicals, Including, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who created 2 musicals that will be mentioned.

Avenue Q

“Couple Sesame street with cynicism and you are left with Avenue Q, a satirical take on kids’ television and it’s every-child-a-special-snowflake optimism” (Paige, p300)

Some writers that were inspired by rent to create “naughty” musicals were Robert Lopez and Jeff Marks. Who exceeded all expectations with their 2003 puppet filled comedy Avenue Q. Making a funny take on serious matters? Somehow managing to incorporate comedy into issues like sex, drinking and drug usage. Much like Rent, this musical was a big shock, but the audience warmed up to the show and it ended up being nominated for six Tony’s and won 3. This musical was so big that it began massive showings overseas, including right here in Portugal. Even though the show only had a 6-year run on Broadway it is still gathering massive audiences (comprised mostly of teenagers) with off-Broadway performances.

In the heights

“many blocks away from Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s West Side, and a million miles away in mood and attitude, Washington Heights becomes the setting for a very different story” (Paige, 311)

In the heights is quite different from the other musicals on the list. It isn’t Dark and is actually pretty family friendly. In the heights is based on the early life of Lin-Manuel Miranda. His parents were immigrants and they lived in a poor neighbourhood in Washington heights. This musical is not shocking for the same reason as the others. This was one of the first big musicals that was mostly rap and hip-hop music. And the second musical released by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Hamilton

“In 2009, a young songwriter and rapper was invited to the white house, where he performed a piece from his work-in-progress album about the life of Alexander Hamilton. It made the appreciative audience laugh. No one’s laughing now.” (Paige, 324)

The big one. Hamilton is perhaps one of the most famous musicals right now. Telling the story of Alexander Hamilton one of the founding fathers of the united states of America. This isn’t the first historical musical, but it was the first big, so called “pop opera”. Hamilton was a major hit when it opened having won 11 tony awards and setting a record for the most nominations with 13. But exploded in fame when its recorded version was released on the streaming platform Disney+. This movie changed the way a lot of people looked at musical theatre with its rap filled soundtrack having over 3,209,908 monthly listeners. All of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musicals from Bring it on to In the heights to Hamilton have had audiences hooked and become huge successes. As well as always having diverse casts and crews.