So You Say You Hate Musicals

Hello blog readers! Allison F and Eric P here to talk to you about something that’s been weighing on us.

So, you say you hate musicals …

Do you really?

Is it the cheesy storylines? Or maybe it’s the way they keep making their characters sing and dance when people don’t really do that. Perhaps they give you a strange, uncomfortable feeling – as if you are embarrassed for the incredibly talented people singing and dancing their hearts out. They look like they’re having the time of their life, but deep down they feel awkward and self-conscious, right? Right?

We get it, musicals are kinda weird. But the thing is, we don’t actually believe you when you say you hate them.

We think maybe you just haven’t discovered the musical that’s right for you.

We think maybe you saw “Fiddler on the Roof” once when you were seven and swore you’d never watch one again. (At an impressionable age, Eric sat through a high school production of “Oklahoma!” in which the title song threatened never to end. It may still be going to this day.)

We think we can convince you otherwise.

So we dare you to keep reading. Let us try and prove to you that musicals are a magical force of fun and excitement just waiting to change your life. Or at least change your mind.

Eric says

If you like…

“War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy Book | eBook Audio | eAudio DVD	Gogol Bordello Music CD | eMusic	“You’re the Worst” DVD

You’ll probably enjoy…

“Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812“ The musical where actors play their own guitars and accordions while navigating love and dysfunction during the Napoleonic wars. Music CD | eMusic

 

Allison says

If you like…

“Outlander” DVD | Music CD	“Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer Book | eBook Audio | eAudio DVD	Evanescence Music CD | eMusic

You’ll probably enjoy…

“The Phantom of the Opera“ In which the female lead never once questions the disembodied voice that is teaching her to sing and willingly allows herself to be kidnapped and taken into the bowels of Paris’s underground before panicking and realizing something might not be quite right with the dude in the mask. DVD | Music CD | eMusic

 

Eric says

If you like…

“Symposium” by Plato Book | eBook Audio | eAudio	“The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” DVD | Music CD	David Bowie / Ziggy Stardust Music CD | eMusic

You’ll probably enjoy…

“Hedwig and the Angry Inch“ The glammy rock opera about love, identity, and sex reassignment surgery in the shadow of the cold war. Music CD | eMusic

 

Allison says

If you like…

“Role Models” by John Waters Book | eAudio	“Save the Last Dance” DVD | Music CD	“RuPaul’s Drag Race” DVD

You’ll probably enjoy…

“Hairspray“ The upbeat and colorful tale of some plucky teens who just want to dance and aren’t gonna let a little thing like institutionalized racism get in their way. DVD | Music CD

 

Eric says

If you like…

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl Book | eBook Pocket Audio eAudio | DVD	“Marathon Man” DVD | eVideo	“Wall of Sound: The Very Best of Phil Spector” Music CD | eMusic	“The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual” Book | eBook

You’ll probably enjoy…

“Little Shop of Horrors“ In which carnivorous plants and malicious dentists sing catchy Brill Building pop numbers as the bodies pile up. DVD | eMusic

 

Allison says

If you like…

“The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton Book | eBook Audio | eAudio DVD	“Stand By Me” DVD | eMusic Based on the novella “The Body” by Stephen King	Literally any boy band of the early 2000s Music CD | eMusic

You’ll probably enjoy…

“Newsies“ The story of scrappy turn of the century newspaper sales boys who team up with Teddy Roosevelt to take down the newspaper industry. Also, Christian Bale in a cowboy hat. DVD | eMusic

 

Eric says

If you like…

“Ripper Street” DVD | eMusic	Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” Music CD | eMusic	“The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair Book | eBook eAudio	“American Experience: The Donner Party” DVD | eVideo

You’ll probably enjoy….

“Sweeney Todd“ The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a darkly Victorian tale of entrepreneurial cannibalism. DVD | Music CD

 

Allison says

If you like…

“Harry Potter” by J.K. Rowling Book | eBook Audio | eAudio DVD | Music CD	“Hocus Pocus” DVD	“Charmed” DVD	Kermit the Frog’s “It’s Not easy Being Green” (aka “Bein’ Green”) Music CD

You’ll probably enjoy…

“Wicked“ The tale of the “Wicked” Witch of the West who it turns out had a greater handle on things than anyone else and also really knew how to rock the all-black look. Music CD | eMusic Based on the novel “Wicked” by Gregory Maguire.

 

Eric says

If you like…

“Lawrence of Arabia” DVD | eMusic	“Northern Exposure” DVD	Omar Sharif “Doctor Zhivago” DVD | eMusic

You’ll probably enjoy…

“The Band’s Visit“ The intimate and heartbreaking show about cosmopolitan Egyptian musicians unexpectedly stranded in a small Israeli desert town. Music CD | eMusic Book | eBook Based on the film by Eran Kolirin.

 

Allison says

If you like…

“Antique’s Roadshow” Book | DVD	“The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas Book | eBook eAudio	“The Fugitive” DVD | Music CD

You’ll probably enjoy…

“Les Miserables“ In which everyone is truly miserable except for two young lovebirds whose self-absorption is so intense they are able to all but ignore the French Revolution. Plus, ghosts. DVD | Music CD

 

…Did it work? Is your previous antipathy toward musicals dwindling like the box office returns of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark?” Do you feel a newfound generosity toward the art form swelling in you like the crescendo of an 11 o’clock number?

Or perhaps your indifference remains unchanged. Maybe you still feel as antagonistic toward the stage musical experience as Leslie Odom Jr’s Aaron Burr felt toward Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Alexander Hamilton.”

But that’s okay. It just means we haven’t found the right one for you yet. We’ll be back with another blog post with more suggestions, and we’ll keep coming back until you’ve got jazz hands.

I mean, that high school performance of “Oklahoma!” is still going on somewhere, so anything’s possible.

Five-six-seven-eight!

 

Read more from Eric and Allison

---

 

Looking for your next great read?

Let us help you!

Tell us what you’ve enjoyed reading, watching or listening to, and our librarians will give you personalized recommendations.

No algorithms, cookies or data mining – just real experts in your community sharing their love of great books, music and movies with you. We call it Give 3 Get 3.

Get started today at

toledolibrary.org/Give3Get!