Favorite Musicals

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I love musicals from Singing in the Rain to Mama Mia to Once to Hamilton and everything before and after. Wickeds, do you have a favorite musical? Do you have the songs memorized and sing along?

Edith/Maddie: Growing up, our three bedrooms for four kids were clustered around an open hallway room where we had a record player. I would fall asleep listening to Oklahoma, Annie Get Your Gun, The King and I, and The Music Man. I can still sing along to most of the songs, especially from the first two. Yes, some of the themes are pretty dated and even racist, but as a little proto-feminist, I tuned right into the “I can do it better” message from Annie Get Your Gun. In my adult life, I have enjoyed Mama Mia and Once, but I doubt any musicals will replace those childhood favorites.

Liz: I like musicals for sure but never got around to memorizing any one in particular. I do love Wicked, though, and Defying Gravity was a pretty cool song that I did fangirl over for a while!

Julie: I could write a book with this question as a prompt. I adore musicals. When we were young my parents bought us records that told the story of the musical and played the songs. That’s how we could sing the score to Fiddler on the Roof at the age of eight. We didn’t have a ton of money, but every year we’d go to a touring musical. We’d get the album for Christmas, and usually go in January. We saw the A Chorus Line that way. I also love movie musicals–a difference beast but as important to my life. All of this is an end run to say if I had to choose one, I’d choose The Band Wagon. I sense the confusion, but let me lay out the reasons. Fred Astaire, my favorite. Directed by Vincente Minnelli. Music by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz. Written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Cast includes Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray, Jack Buchanan. Produced in 1953 by Arthur Freed. If you haven’t seen the movie, you likely have still seen a number from it.

Jessie: Despite mentioning my own narration-type singing last week I have to admit that I am not a fan of actual musicals. I have enjoyed attending live musical productions, but as for those on film, count me out.

Barb: Like Edith I grew up with records from all the musicals. The lyrics are stored somewhere in my lizard brain. They’ll probably be the last thing to go. I’ve gone to live musicals right along and continue to do so. We’re seeing Merrily We Roll Along on Christmas Eve day. As for a favorite–impossible! But I have a vivid memory of my mother dancing in a community playhouse production of Oklahoma! when I was about three. Her sequined and petti-coated costume for the can-can number weighed thirty pounds!

Sherry: That’s funny, Jessie. And Julie, I’m going to have to check out The Band Wagon! I’ve asked another question that I have a hard time answering. I loved the music in Once and especially love the song Falling Slowly. Listen to it here. The harmonies in it are so beautiful.

Readers: Do you have a favorite musical? Do you sing along?

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Published by Sherry Harris

Sherry Harris is the author of the Agatha Award nominated Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series and the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Mystery series.

40 Thoughts

  1. When I was a child I had a songbook that included the music (which I couldn’t read) and lyrics, accompanied by illustrations of popular musicals, Oklahoma, The King and I, and others, I think most from Rodgers and Hammerstein. The only one I knew was Oh What a Beautiful Morning, and would try to guess the music of the others. I found out later when I finally heard them that I somehow got the melody of Getting to Know You right! When I lived in London in the late 80s, I saw onstage, Les Miserables, Cats, and also Ziegfeld (with Topol!), and I treasure the experience, beautiful settings and performances to packed audiences, and I would remember the songs if I heard them again. But I can never forget those Rodgers and Hammerstein songs!

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  2. I have several favorite musicals but if I have to pick one, it would be Hello Dolly and yes I sing along every time I see it.

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  3. Love the musicals we have seen in Shipshewana, IN that were from Amish author’s books. As for songs I sing along with – from my childhood it would be Annie, as and adult it has to be Grease.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  4. Because my mom loved old movies, I’ve seen a number of musicals over the years. The Sound of Music and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers comes to mind. Does White Christmas count as a musical? I like that one too. I didn’t sing along to those when I saw them originally or now if I happen to stumble across them.

    Of course, I’ve watched musical episodes of certain TV shows. Scrubs had one and that was pretty good. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds did one in its most recent season which was decent.

    But the gold standard of TV musical episodes is and always will be the Season Six episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer entitled “Once More with Feeling”. It’s utterly brilliant in how it uses the songs to propel the story along.

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  5. I grew up watching musicals and still love them. Brigadoon, Singin’ in the Rain, Oklahoma, Carousel, West Side story, On the Town, The Music Man…the list goes on and on. It was always a fantasy of mine that people in real life would spontaneously burst into song and dance to express emotions and celebrate life. Gene Kelly has always been a favorite of mine with his expressive face and fluid movement. Anyway, I am a fan and always will be!

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  6. Oh, I grew up wathching all the classic musicals and I can sing most of them. Same with Grease. Took me a while to get into Hamilton, but now I like it. And oddly, I enjoyed the movie “LaLa Land.”

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    1. I played Harold Hill in the Spring Musical my senior year in high school, so The Music Man will always have a special place in my heart. As for more recent productions, I’m a huge fan of Waitress, the Musical. My wife and made the trek to see it on Broadway in 2018. It was magnificent!

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  7. I’ve always loved South Pacific. I think I first saw it when I was 12 or so. aprilbluetx at yahoo dot com

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  8. Camelot with Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave is my very favorite movie musical. It has sentimental value for me, as it was my mother’s favorite and we watched it together so many times, including the week before she passed. I know the words to every song in it!
    Another would be the John Legend version of Jesus Christ Superstar. Aside from Legend, the cast includes the brilliant Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene. Brandon Victor Dixon turns in a great performance as Judas. Even Alice Cooper is commendable in the role of King Herod. Shivers. Now I have to watch these both again!

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  9. What an iunteresting topic!!! I enjoyed reading your replies. I like music as my soundtrack for life always, (except when I am asleep), and love to attend musicals. If I have to select favorites, I will say Annie Get Your Gun and Godspell. I acted and sang in both…I was an indian, and Judas, so I know and can sing all the songs. Have a Merry Christmas y’all 🙂 Luis at ole dot travel

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  10. Les Miz, no one mentioned Les Miserables! One of my all time favorites. I grew up eleven miles from NYC and children’s matinees are part of my earliest memories.

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  11. Musical theater, yes please. Saw South Pacific in the round at age 10. Watched all the “On the Road” movies. The CA High School Edith/Maddie and I went to has done a musical production every year since 1965. Meredith Wilson came to the first production of Music Man. Another highlight was seeing Yul Brynner in The King and I.

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  12. I have watched Singing in the Rain, and An American in Paris dozens of times. Can you tell I am a Gene Kelly fan? Also liked the Sound of Music.

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  14. Wow! What a bunch of great musicals mentioned. I’ve seen some on Broadway, lots in Boston, and others in different venues. I love musicals! By far, my favorite is Fiddler on the Roof, and our HS is putting it on in February. They are so incredibly talented that it is hard to believe they are a bunch of amateur teenagers. Of course, the director is a professional and it really shows. Yes, I “sing” along with all of the numbers.

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  15. My family attended musicals when they came on tour to Detroit. We also traveled to Toronto to attend musicals. This would have been in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Of course we saw the movie versions and we had the LP records to play at home. My favorite musical was Cats. The dancing was mesmerizing!

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  16. Oh, my. Definitely musicals! We didn’t have a TV growing up until after I was in 8th grade but did have a record player. Love West Side Story, Sound of Music, and Oklahoma. Sang in Godspell and Jesus Christ, Superstar. But my all time favorite, likely because my father loved it, is Fiddler on the Roof. As a WWII refugee who never returned home, he really understood the story on a visceral level. They filmed the movie in the former Yugoslavia, so the scenery was very evocative. My two older sisters and I could sing most of the songs, and especially Matchmaker, in three part harmony. Alas, they are both gone.

    I have been known to burst into song on road trips, to the embarrassment and chagrin of my children and friends.

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  17. My absolute favorite is “West Side Story.” The old version. The new one stinks. My father managed theatres and in 7th grade, I went and saw it 17 times in a row and still can sing every song. “When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet every day to your last dyin’ day.” But I Iove all musicals. It is interesting that so many of you considered musicals to be on Broadway. I love the movies versions more than the Broadway plays. I love “Singing in the Rain,” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” “Camelot,” “Oklahoma,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” “Grease,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Moulin Rouge,” “Rock of Ages,” “Cabaret,” “Chicago,” “La La Land,” “Show Boar,” “Kiss Me Kate,” and so many more. I love musicals. Watch them all.

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  18. I forgot to stop by this morning.

    The first musical that popped into my head was The Sound of Music. Then Mary Poppins, The Music Man, Annie and Beauty and the Beast. Into the Woods is great.

    And I’m not sure I would have the appreciation I do for Fiddler on the Roof if I hadn’t been in it in my 20’s. (I played the important role of First Man, aka the first unnamed character with a line. That line? “It was a horse!” If you know, you know.) I got to see it again this summer, and I was reminded of just how great it is.

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  19. Like Edith, my parents bought many cast recordings, we also went to Broadway plays & musicals. I saw original productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Man of LA Mancha, Hair and Marat/Sade and can still remember many of the songs. When I was a teenager NYC had a radio station that played musical soundtracks, I still miss that station! Just this week I attended 2 Broadway musicals, Back to the Future and Spamalot, and 1 off Broadway, The Jerusalem Syndrome – I will never tire of theater, musical or straight, Broadway or local.

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  20. Sound of Music gets me every time. Yes, I do sing along with the songs. Thank you for sharing. God bless you. Merry Christmas.

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