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3 Must-See Musicals in this Broadway Season

These three musicals are just some of the many things Broadway has to offer in 2018.

By Jakob DanekovPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Broadway is currently packed with revivals and musical adaptations of pop culture. While smash-hits such as Hamilton, Lion King and Dear Evan Hansen still draw in wide audiences, other shows are also performing well in the box offices and impress audiences. Here are three selected shows to check out if you live in New York City or are coming to the Big Apple anytime soon.

'Come from Away'

This new original musical arrived to Broadway in 2017 after having had try-outs in Toronto, Washington D.C. and more cities. Music, lyrics, and book are written by Irene Sankoff and David Klein. It consists of a twelve-person cast starring Tony-nominated Jenn Colella.

The musical is set around the time of 9/11, where 38 planes were ordered to land in the small Canadian town Gander. It tells the story of the people of Gander and how they welcomed around 7,000 people and provided them with food and shelter.

While it is set around the time of the 9/11 terrorist attack, the story revolves more around humanity and the acts of kindness that sprung from the tragedies, while also covering serious subjects such as religion, racism and misogyny.

The music is unlike anything you will find on Broadway. The lyrics are well-crafted with many clever references to pop-culture and other events. The genre feels folk-like, which fits the scenery of this small town very well.

The staging is very simplistic. Chairs are being used as some of the only props in this musical. However, with creative use, the cast manages to present convincing seats using the chairs to represent airplanes, buses, and whatever other scenery was needed for the plot.

Overall, Come From Away is a really unique musical theatre experience, which fully deserves its attention.

'Once on This Island'

2017 became the year when this 1990 musical got its long awaited Broadway revival. While Once on this Island has been a go-to choice for many high school productions and other smaller productions, it has not seen any big productions since its Broadway debut and the short lived 1994 West End production.

But now, it is back on Broadway filled with star power. It stars big names such as Lea Salonga and Norm Lewis, while the female protagonist is being played by Broadway newcomer, Hailey Kilgore.

The story takes place on a remote island, which is divided between the peasants and the rich Frenchmen. Here it tells the story of the orphan peasant girl Ti Moune (Hailey Kilgore) who saves and falls in love with one of the French boys, Daniel (Isaac Powell), who one day crashes in his car. Looking over Ti Moune are four gods and goddesses; Asaka: mother of theearth (Alex Newell), Agwé; god of the sea (Norm Lewis), Erzulie; goddess of love (Lea Salonga) and Papa Gé; demon of death (Tamyra Gray). The music fits the scenography very well. While Once on this Island does not provide any big and iconic showtunes, the music is very well performed and the vocal ranges of the cast are phenomenal. However, what really makes this musical stand out is the staging. The audience is seated all around the scene, which provides everybody with unique viewpoints and experiences of the musical. The stage is covered in actual sand and features live animals, as well as an entrance to the stage going through a pond of water, representing the sea.

The overall staging is unlike any seen in other shows in this current Broadway season, and it alone is reason enough to go see this show.

'Sweeney Todd'

So the last musical on this list is actually Off-Broadway. Sweeney Todd is a revival of Stephen Sondheim's classic tale of the demon barber of fleet street. This adaptation stars Hugh Panaro as Sweeney Todd and Carolee Carmello as Mrs. Lovett.

The story takes place in London in the mid 1800's. Benjamin Parker (Hugh Panaro) returns to London, where he meets up with the owner of a pie shop, Mrs. Lovett (Carolee Carmello). In an attempt of leaving his past life behind, he takes on the name of Sweeney Todd, but continues his previous profession as a barber. When confronted by a person who knows of his true identity, he ends up killing him, which leads to a trail of murders in a pursuit of killing judge Turpin (Michael James Leslie), who had taken away his daughter.

The classic tale is told in a very interesting way in this Off-Broadway revival. The whole theatre is built to represent a pie shop, and even before the show tickets-holders are can choose to buy a meal of pie. Seating is also put up with tables, which is actually used within the play. During intermission, people are ushered away and into the lobby, where the cast members wander around in character. All this creates a rather unique theatre experience, which in and of it self is reason enough to go and watch this revival.

Sure to say, the music is of course fantastic. Stephen Sondheim's lyrics always continues to impress and the delivery of it in this adaption is also outstanding.

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About the Creator

Jakob Danekov

A Danish boy interested in musical theatre, movies and TV.

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