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Post by Lumos314 on Jun 15, 2016 19:49:31 GMT
So... Surprisingly, even to myself, I haven't actually seen that many musicals. My experience with musical theatre is pretty much Disney and the Sound of Music. Also Wicked, as of two days ago. XD
What kind of things would you recommend watching, in the spare time that I don't have?
(Also, could you provide a short description of it?)
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Post by Kai on Jun 16, 2016 0:00:52 GMT
I would suggest Random Encounters on youtube
They are basically Disney meets Monty Python and they write really interesting musicals about video games.
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Post by Shai on Jun 16, 2016 4:17:26 GMT
Oooohh I recommend Hamilton! It's basically a musical about the life and times of Alexander Hamilton told through musical but with rap and hip hop.
And listen to Rent as well! The story is mainly about two HIV positive characters who eventually become lovers, but the story also focuses on other romances between other characters and the basic struggle of being an adult dropped into the real world.
Lastly, I'd recommend Les Miserables because it is honestly such a classic ??? It focuses on the story of Jean Valjean and how he escapes prison after 19 years (and all for stealing a loaf of bread smh) and how Javert, an officer obsessed with Valjean's capture, tracks him down in his new life--all this while in the midst of the French Revolution.
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Post by Lumos314 on Jun 16, 2016 4:25:54 GMT
Oh, I forgot Les Miserables. XD Which is strange, considering I love it and my mom plays "One Day More" for every penultimate occasion. XD
I've heard a bit of Hamilton, and I'm not really sure if I like that music style. Hip hop isn't really my thing, to be honest.
I'll definitely check out Random Encounters and Rent, though!
Thanks guys!
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Diana
Junior Member
Full of useless wisdom
Posts: 83 
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Post by Diana on Jun 16, 2016 18:41:51 GMT
@lumos, even if hip hop isn't your thing, you'll probably like Hamilton. It's SUPER accessible. I also would recommend Tuck Everlasting, which just came out; if you liked Les Mis check out Miss Saigon; Into the Woods is a good introduction to Sondheim (and it has a movie!). There's tons of awesome cast recordings out there, but not a lot of video available. These musicals can mostly be appreciated with just the cast recording.  I listen to cast recordings literally all day every day, so if you want more recommendations, let me know! |
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Post by Madfox on Jun 16, 2016 19:11:47 GMT
Tuck Everlasting is a musical now? Oh dear. I remember reading that in our 3rd grade advanced reading class XD
I've just been listening to tons of Mary Poppins, Les Mis, Turnabout Musical, and Wicked. XD
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Post by apollojustice4all on Jun 16, 2016 21:46:23 GMT
Fiddler on the Roof is a story about a Peasant Jewish Family in Russia in 1905 and how cool it was to be Jewish Peasants in Russia in 1905 (Spoiler alert: It wasn't) The musical is all about traditional customs versus progressive ideas. Expect lots of Jewish humor.
Speaking of Russia, ANASTASIA. Its an animated musical about Anastasia Nikolaevena, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. Unlike in real life where Anastasia and her family were, y'know, executed, Only Anastasia and her grandmother are able to escape the Russian Revolution but Anastasia is struck with amnesia during the process and gets separated from her grandma. 10 years after that Anastasia is 18 and is living in an orphanage when she decides to team up with 2 con men who "believe" she is the real Anastasia and want to take her to Paris where her grandmother is so they can collect the reward
Chicago is a classic and fitting to be mentioned on an Ace Attorney forum. Its about a woman who murders her husband and gets put on trial, presented as if you were in a 1920's nightclub.
Avenue Q is a musical about a recent college graduate who lives on a street and his life sucks. He makes friends with his neighbors because they have so much in common like living on the same street and that their lives suck. 11 of the 14 characters are puppets. Also Gary Coleman is a character in it.
Ordinary Days is a musical where just about nothing happens. There are only 4 people in the show total and the shows story is split between 2 sets of characters. Its hard to describe because so little happens but
Heathers the musical is a musical set to the plot of the 1988 film Heathers. If you don't know the plot of that it's your classic girls meets guy, girl and guy fall in love, girl and guy murder the most popular kid in school by accident(sort of), guy manipulates girl into murdering two more popular kids, dead kids spark other kids to try committing suicide, girl and guy break up because of the whole murdering thing, guy tries to blow up the school during a pep rally, girl shoots his middle finger off, guy commits suicide with bomb jacket, girl takes other girl to prom kind of story
There are also musical versions of other movies like Legally Blonde and Matilda
Lastly Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog is a musical about a supervillain who as a crush on a girl and tries to impress her by being evil. Lets just say things don't work out
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Post by lawyernerd on Jun 16, 2016 22:29:59 GMT
@lumos, even if hip hop isn't your thing, you'll probably like Hamilton. It's SUPER accessible. Agreed agreed agreed! It won 11 Tonys for a reason! Not everyone likes that style, like 100% hip hop and rap isn't usually my thing either but like I LOVE this musical more than life and know all the words, so you should absolutely check it out. I've got like a whole new respect for that genre now. My own fave musicals to add would be: 21 Chump Street. This is if you want a super short musical. Like, we're talking under 20 minutes long. I don't feel like explaining the story, because it's that short, but it's written by the same guy who wrote Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda. He also wrote In The Heights, which won a Tony for Best Musical, so that's also super good and worth a look. It's very immigrant centric; focusing on the lives of those living in Washington Heights. It's got two great love stories.) I dunno if you've seen West Side Story, but do it. It's essentially Romeo and Juliet but with 1950s gang rivalries instead. A classic. Another classic is Phantom of the Opera. Haven't listened to that one yet though. Bye Bye Birdie. This is probably just because I performed in it, but it's very funny and satirical based on when Elvis was drafted into the army, devastating all his fans. Super tongue-in-cheek. Spring Awakening. I... admittedly do not know this one well, but I've heard amazing things about it. The current version incorporates ASL choreography and has the first actress in a wheelchair performing on Broadway, so it's super cool! I definitely need to check it out myself, but I know it includes a lot about sexuality and teenage pregnancy. Other than that, I super agree with apollojustice4all, especially on Avenue Q/Fiddler/Chigaco/Heathers/and Dr. Horrible. Musicals are like the best A+++ |
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Post by Shai on Jun 16, 2016 23:48:47 GMT
ONE MORE THING OMG HOW COULD I FORGET
Something Rotten! It set in 1595 about two brothers' struggle to find success in the theater world as they have to compete with Shakespeare's popularity. Its songs are really clever and funny.
And basically I agree with everyone's suggestions so far! Thespian nerd alert lmao
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Post by Lumos314 on Jun 17, 2016 2:43:06 GMT
Hey, we're all nerds here.  |
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Post by Lumos314 on Jun 17, 2016 2:44:39 GMT
And thanks guys for all of your recommendations! Some of those I've heard of, some I haven't, and a couple of those I also forgot I've seen. XD
I'm gonna get started watching them right away!
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Post by Lumos314 on Jun 17, 2016 2:49:02 GMT
Oh, I forgot. The one thig I'm worried about just listening to it is that I listened to the entire Wicked soundtrack first but there were a lot of plot details or characterization things that I didn't get... Is that likely to happen with some of these that don't have a recorded version?
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Post by Shai on Jun 17, 2016 3:56:14 GMT
Oh, I forgot. The one thig I'm worried about just listening to it is that I listened to the entire Wicked soundtrack first but there were a lot of plot details or characterization things that I didn't get... Is that likely to happen with some of these that don't have a recorded version? Yeah, that's bound happen, especially since musicals like Wicked have songs but the plot is still driven by the dialogue, which goes unrecorded, of course. |
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Post by Kai on Jun 17, 2016 20:17:01 GMT
Well, since we're all talking about musicals, I can say Chicago is my favorite.
I am a sucker for 1920's era stuff. (All the Baccano)
I have performed in the pit for Chicago and Into the Woods, so yeah.
I've also seen Spiderman before it flopped.
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Post by Shai on Jun 17, 2016 20:33:40 GMT
I have performed in the pit for Chicago and Into the Woods, so yeah. YO THAT'S SO COOL! It's kinda my dream to one day perform in the pit for a musical *^* |
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Post by Kai on Jun 17, 2016 21:59:16 GMT
Cool! Go for it!
DON'T LET YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS.
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Post by gyakutentrial on Jun 17, 2016 22:11:13 GMT
and nobody mentioned hairspray, so here is my time to shine...hairspray is so good. seriously. watch it.
it's a story about 1960's racial segregation and body acceptance. Serious topics and it still manages to be super funny.
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Diana
Junior Member
Full of useless wisdom
Posts: 83
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Post by Diana on Jun 19, 2016 12:11:05 GMT
and nobody mentioned hairspray, so here is my time to shine...hairspray is so good. seriously. watch it. it's a story about 1960's racial segregation and body acceptance. Serious topics and it still manages to be super funny. HOW COULD I FORGET HAIRSPRAY AAAA THANK YOU FRIEND. It has a great movie adaptation, too, so you can experience it more fully!! (Srsly how could I forget one of my favorite shows. YOU'RE THE HERO WE NEED) |
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Post by gyakutentrial on Jun 20, 2016 2:07:15 GMT
ALSO, SOUTH PARK THE MUSICAL IF YOU'RE INTO THAT. IT'S REALLY FUNNY.
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Post by lawyernerd on Jun 20, 2016 14:39:58 GMT
Oh, I forgot. The one thig I'm worried about just listening to it is that I listened to the entire Wicked soundtrack first but there were a lot of plot details or characterization things that I didn't get... Is that likely to happen with some of these that don't have a recorded version? Exactly, for stuff like that, I would recommend seeing if you can pull up a script online! A lot of the musicals we suggested to you are oldies, so do a quick search to find some random script pdf, then you can read along with the dialogue until it tells you to queue up the next song. That way you don't miss any songs as well. I think that's the best way to do it! |
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Post by gyakutentrial on Jun 21, 2016 3:13:23 GMT
also, if you want something on netflix: shrek the musical (not even for meme points, its legit really good and has wonderful costuming) and if it's still on there, the phantom of the opera!.
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Post by lawyernerd on Jun 21, 2016 3:42:54 GMT
also, if you want something on netflix: shrek the musical (not even for meme points, its legit really good and has wonderful costuming) and if it's still on there, the phantom of the opera!. tbh i legit agree about Shrek. Meme points are great but like it's actually very well produced like wow. |
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Post by gyakutentrial on Jun 21, 2016 4:04:18 GMT
yes!! my little sister is going to be preforming it soon (she got called back for shrek. the guy.) and like i know nobody cares but WOW its a good show and i am so excited for her!
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Post by Temsik on Jun 21, 2016 4:23:43 GMT
Funny story. I actually saw the shrek musical live on Broadway during it's original 2009 run with Sutton foster and Brian Darcy James. I'm was stellar.
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Post by CooBall on Aug 6, 2016 2:43:23 GMT
I was going to suggest Shrek the Musical before everyone else did! Rats. Funnily enough I got to play Shrek in it as well. Coincidences. Green makeup gives me nightmares now.
I would highly recommend the broadway version of Beauty and the Beast, as it has some awesome songs that aren't in the classic cartoon.
Mamma Mia is also a fantastic musical (do NOT watch the film, listen to the Broadway soundtrack), but it's basically all ABBA songs.
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Post by anxioushiei on Aug 7, 2016 9:13:39 GMT
Zombie Prom is a weirdly good one. It's about a girl who lives in the 50s and her boyfriend who dies and comes back to life as a zombie (trigger warning for off-stage suicide). My school did it a couple years back and it was amazing. I know you can find a lot of the music on YouTube, and there are some (poor quality) recordings of it, too. There's also a ~35 minute movie based on it, but that's only really good for getting a feel for it and seeing RuPaul play the principal, Ms. Strict.
Another pretty good one is Seussical/Seussical Jr. Personally, I think Jr. flows much better that Seussical, but that's all personal preference. The story is about Horton and his attempts to help the Whos, while also mashing together several other Seuss stories, all narrated by the Cat in the Hat. It's a really sweet and ultimately hopeful musical, and I still get chills from some of the songs.
Also, I've never seen it, but I have been told that The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is pretty good. It's about kids who participate in their county's spelling bee and learn a lot about themselves and growing up along the way. The kids are all twelve-ish, but they're often played by older actors for probably satirical reasons.
Lastly, Victor/Victoria. I'm not sure where you can find the full movie anywhere other than by purchasing it, but it really is amazing (and worth it, in my opinion). The movie has a Broadway musical based on it, but I've only ever seen the movie. It's about a singer named Victoria (played by Julie Andrews in the movie) who ends up masquerading as a man named Victor, who performs onstage in drag/pretending to be a woman. It's sooo good and beautiful.
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Post by Kai on Aug 15, 2016 22:33:44 GMT
Another good underlooked jazz musical is the Drowsy Chaperone
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Post by spaceballsupreme on Aug 22, 2016 23:08:25 GMT
the lion king on broadway is also really good for anyone whos interested!!
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Post by anxioushiei on Aug 29, 2016 21:25:46 GMT
My Uncle Alan told me to look into Fun Home, which is about Alison Bechdel's childhood and early adulthood. I've listened to almost all of it and it's really good!
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Eri
New Member
New headcanon: After JFA, Miles made up to Nick by handing him the HD boot of Elisabeth Das Musical.
Posts: 16
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Post by Eri on Nov 27, 2016 10:42:13 GMT
Guys is anyone going to mention Legally Blonde,for the obvious? And for some reason TVTropes actually feel that LG is in the same universe as AA
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