Top 5 Musicals (that I’ve Seen at Shea’s)

Honorable Mentions- and my favorite songs

Waitress- "She Used to Be Mine.” A beautiful song about a woman looking back on her life and all the things she used to be. 

Outsiders- “Great Expectations” and “Little Brother” One song is about being the one expected to be better then your family members and the other is a mournful song about failing your found family. 

Hamilton- “It’s Quiet Uptown” There are a ton of great songs in this musical, but this is my favorite because of the line "They are standing in the garden. Alexander by Eliza's side. She takes his had." It is the moment that Alexander and Eliza come back together following the death of their son Phillip.

Come From Away-”Something’s Missing” When Hannah calls Beulah and says “He’s gone. It’s Over” brings me to tears every time. 

I also saw “To Kill A Mockingbird.” It wasn’t a musical, but it was one of the best things I have seen on stage.  I know that the musicals sell better, but I would love to see more plays on stage at Shea’s.

Now on to the Top 5

5: The Phantom of the Opera

I don’t remember how old I was when I first listened to the soundtrack for “Phantom,” but I became obsessed. I recorded the soundtrack from my parents' CD to tape so I could listen to it on my own. I listened to it so much that I still know which songs were playing when I had to flip the tape over. For my birthday one year (not sure which one), my present was tickets to see it at the Pantages Theater in Toronto. That's where my love of the theater really started. I saw it at Shea’s before I became a season ticket subscriber. It remains one of my favorite shows, even after seeing dozens of other performances. Starting with the chandelier's rise, it sets itself apart from the other shows on this list. It is a statement that sets up the spectacle and drama that is to come. What happened to this chandelier, and what disaster is the auctioneer talking about? Why did that old guy buy that monkey music box? Then the music kicks in, and this giant chandelier rises off the stage and hovers over the audience. It is a moment that made a lasting impression on me. That is even before we get to the crux of the musical. The love triangle between Christine, Raoul, and the Phantom is one for the ages. Christine is truly caught between them. One of my favorite lines from the musical is when, after the decision is made to use her as bait to lure the Phantom, she sings “Twisted every way what answer I can give?… Do I betray the man who once inspired my voice?… I know I can’t refuse and yet I wish I could.”

4: Beetlejuice

From the jokes to Beetlejuice’s fourth-wall-breaking opening number, this is a blast to watch. I was a bit skeptical about this one. The movie is incredible and full of memorable moments. How could this live up? It doesn’t try to be the movie; that’s how. We still get some of the classic movie moments, but it is not the same beats as the movie. The musical also has some great songs. I’ve already mentioned “The Whole Being Dead Thing,” which opens the show, but Lydia gets two absolute bangers (as the kids would say). “Dead Mom” and “Home” are two I could listen to on repeat. The first is a girl who has lost her mom and feels alone in the world. The second is about a girl who has come to terms with the loss of her mother and has found family again. Even one of the classic movie moments, “Day-O,” gets its moment. It has the most obvious act break with Lydia calling out the ghost with the most’s name three times and wreaking chaos to get back at her father. It really is a crowd-pleaser- even my parents, who saw this in Rochester, liked it. I was excited to see that it was coming back as an add-on to the 26-27 Shea’s Season. I cannot wait to see it on stage again.

3: Six

My Netflix algorithm has made me in a category of suggested movies that are 90 minutes or less. As much as I love musicals, they can be very long. If you are sitting through one that you don’t like, it can feel like forever. Not so with “Six.” The musical is 90 minutes and gives you no time to be bored. Henry VIII's six ex-wives get together to form a band and let the audience pick the lead singer (spoiler alert: that’s not actually how it ends). There are very few songs on the soundtrack I don’t love, and there aren’t that many songs. The short runtime means that it can’t lag or slow down for one second. These six queens need to sing their song, with quick connective tissue between the songs. It also ends up being one of the most upbeat musicals I have seen. Yes, these women had terrible lives because of Henry-two of them were beheaded, one died in childbirth, and one was forced into divorce. She couldn’t give him a son; his last wife had to leave a man she loved because Henry chose her. These songs are all tinged with the sadness of their lives, but the final song, when all the queens sing together, is joyous and triumphant. It is them breaking out of the story history has been telling about them, being their own people, and not letting themselves be tied to a man. This is also coming back to Shea's this year as a Special Engagement and I will be there.

2: Les Misérables

This is my favorite musical to see on stage. If that is confusing, let me explain. While another musical is my favorite, the spectacle of “Les Mis” makes it my favorite to see performed live. I first saw it at Shea’s a few years ago. It was one of the Special Engagement shows that weren't part of the season, so I wasn't in my usual seat. I was actually closer for this one than my season ticket seat. The problem was that I was off to the side, and those seats don’t give you the best view. Yet, I loved it. It felt epic, had some incredible and powerful songs (On My Own being one of my highlights), and that was all before the barricade got wheeled out. When it showed up and set up the coming battle, I knew no other musical would ever match it from a staging perspective. Not even the very bad Oscar-winning movie could match this touring production in spectacle. I have seen it twice, and it is one of those musicals I'd jump at the chance to see again (metaphorically, of course, since I can’t really jump anymore).

1: Hadestown

What? Were you really expecting something else? Considering all I have written about this, the fact that I saw the proshot in theaters and even preordered the Blu-ray, there was nothing else that stood a chance. It takes one of my favorite subjects, Greek mythology, makes incredible choices in the stories it retells, and adds great music. I don’t have much more to say. I love it, and you should see it. I will take this opportunity to pitch my idea that touring companies should release cast albums. I saw this before I heard the soundtrack, so my first Hades was Matthew Patrick Quinn, and I loved the deep baritone in his voice; I thought it added a lot to the character's sinister nature. When I first listened to the soundtrack afterward, I still liked Patrick Page’s Hades, but not as much as Quinn’s. As I have listened to the soundtrack since, I have come to love Page’s as much as Quinn’s. I think releasing the soundtrack for a touring company is a way to capture a moment. These are the people you heard when you saw it (assuming no understudies). To counterpoint my own argument, if that were the case, I would never have heard Eva Noblezada, Reeve Carney, Amber Grey, or Andre De Shields completely own their roles in the musical.