Musical Soundtracks to Add to Your Bucket List

One of the things that I love about the musical The Drowsy Chaperone is that the audience experiences the story and the music through a little, middle-aged man living in his apartment whose only access to musical theater is his treasured collection of records. I love this because it is a perfect representation of me. Though I am thankful to have other means of exposure to great theater, musical soundtracks have often been the way I have discovered my new favorite show, song, or story. More on The Drowsy Chaperone later. In the meantime, I want to recommend a few of my favorite musical albums. Especially in a season when live musical theater has been put on hold, soundtracks are an easy way to enjoy the preserved form of a great work of art.

In this article, I am going to focus on shows that aren’t necessarily the first ones to come up when you google “great musicals”. I will be avoiding current staples, such as Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, or Wicked. These shows are great; listen to them. But here are a few others to try (in no particular order).

Aida

The tale of star-crossed lovers never grows old. This Disney on Broadway hit musical has a fantastic, almost Rent-y score by music icon Elton John and popular lyricist Tim Rice. This team also gave us the legendary soundtrack for The Lion King (along with Lego M.). The story follows Nubian princess-turned slave Aida, who, after being taken captive by the Egyptians, falls for Egyptian general and soon-to-be-king, Radames. Voiced by the powerhouse Heather Headley, Aida must find her place as she tries to negotiate her treacherous yet passionate love for Radames (Adam Pascal, Rent) and her strong sense of duty to her oppressed people. Standout numbers include “Elaborate Lives", “Written in the Stars”, and “Every Story is a Love Story”, among many others.

The Last Five Years

With a beautiful and heart-wrenching contemporary score by Jason Robert Brown (Bridges of Madison County, Parade, 13), The Last Five Years follows successful writer Jamie and struggling actress Cathy as they fall in love, marry, grow apart, and break up, all in the span of five years. The Last Five Years is quite unique in many respects. It is one of the few musicals to feature only two characters, and it has a very interesting structure. Cathy begins her story at the end of their relationship and moves backward in time, while Jamie simultaneously starts at the beginning and moves to the end. Both of their accounts are honest, moving, and heartbreaking. The show is also almost entirely sung-through, which means all of the major story-points are on the album. Standout numbers include “Still Hurting”, “Moving Too Fast”, “The Next Ten Minutes”, and “I Can Do Better Than That.”

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Based upon the 1988 Steve Martin and Michael Cane movie, this hilarious musicals follows two con-men as they compete on who can swindle a rich young woman out of $50,000 first. There are many laugh-out-loud lyrics and beautiful melodies in the score, penned with wit and sophistication by David Yazbek (The Band’s Visit, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, The Full Monty.) There is also an incredible twist ending that will leave you baffled and delighted. Standout numbers include “Give ‘Em What They Want”, “Nothing Is Too Wonderful To Be True”, “Love is My Legs”, and “Dirty Rotten Number.”

Dogfight

Before they brought us The Greatest Showman, La La Land, and Dear Evan Hansen, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote Dogfight, a compelling musical based on the 1991 film of the same name. The unconventional love story follows Eddie Birdlace, as he and his marine friends are looking for “Some Kinda Time” on their last night in the city before shipping off to Vietnam. They decide to hold a game they call a dogfight, and whoever brings the ugliest girl as their date wins the pot money. However, when Eddie is unexpectedly enamored by his date, a tale of love, redemption, and forgiveness blossoms. Standout numbers include “Hey, Good Lookin’”, “Dogfight”, “First Date/Last Night” and “Pretty Funny”.

Bonnie and Clyde

This romanticized account of the infamous serial robbers of the 1930s takes you on a wild and musically thrilling ride, with a textured western score by renowned composer, Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll and Hyde, Wonderland). Bonnie and Clyde is a sexy, raucous, and moving romance that follows its two protagonists from childhood through death. The opening number, “Picture Show”, presents a young Bonnie, who dreams of being a glamorous movie star, and Clyde, who wants to be a famous outlaw like Al Capone. Their two destinies entwine as they wish to escape the confines of the small Texas town in which they live and finally leave their mark on the world. As the story unravels, however, they both realize their ultimate dream is each other. With the likes of Laura Osnes (Cinderella, Anything Goes, Bandstand) and Jeremy Jordan (Newsies, The Last Five Years) at the helm, you can expect the powerful ballads and fun upbeat numbers to be sung in all of Broadway’s glory. If you have a similar response to mine, this show will both profoundly move and disturb you as you realize you are crying over two of the great villains of history. Standout numbers include “How ‘Bout a Dance?”, “Raise a Little Hell”, “Too Late to Turn Back Now”, and “Dying’ Ain’t So Bad.”

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

Well, the title is about as long as the book that inspired it. Based upon a 70-page sliver of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, this pop/rock/electro-infused operatic musical by Dave Malloy (Beowulf, Moby Dick) is truly unique, telling the story of a young woman led astray with one of the most diverse scores to ever rock a Broadway stage. The musical follows Natasha, a beautiful young woman who is engaged to be married to Prince Andre Bolkonsky, who is off fighting in the “war going on out there, somewhere.” However, when she finds herself uncontrollably attracted to the slickly handsome Anatole, her life becomes a complicated mess of contradictions, mistakes, passions, and thrills. Starring Josh Groban as Pierre, Denee Benton as Natasha, and Brittain Ashford as Sonya, the epic tale comes to exuberant and accessible life in this one-of-a-kind musical experience. Standout numbers include “Prologue”, “Pierre”, “No One Else”, “Charming”, and “Sonya Alone.”

Merrily We Roll Along

One of Stephen Sondheim’s most infamous Broadway flops, Merrily We Roll Along tells the story of three friends who struggle to keep their friendship alive amid the joys and tribulations of life. Similarly to The Last Five Years, Merrily We Roll Along plays with structure in an incredibly effective and powerful way. The play begins with the cynical and jaded trio at the end of their relationship and works in reverse-chronological order back to the time they first met as optimistic and naive college students with big dreams. One interesting feature of this show is that the song reprises take place earlier in the story’s timeline since the narrative moves backwards. This aspect adds an incredible emotional payoff in several key scenes. My personal favorite of the recordings of this show is the 2012 New York Encores! recording, starring Colin Donnell, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Lin-Manuel Miranda as the central trio. Standout numbers include staples of musical theater such as “Old Friends”, “Not A Day Goes By”, “Opening Doors”, and “Our Time”.

The Drowsy Chaperone

And we are back where we began. While one of my favorite things about this show is the context of the middle-aged man listening to his records and imagining the show coming to life in his head, there are many more things to love about this upbeat 20s musical. Like any great farce, all of the characters have endlessly eccentric personalities and larger-than-life personas, brought to wonderfully wacky life by the talented Broadway cast. including Sutton Foster (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Anything Goes) as stage star Janet Vandergraff. It is Janet’s wedding day, and she is determined to leave her life of glamor to marry Robert Martin. However, produced Mr. Feldzieg (switch the syllables of his name and you’ll get the joke) desperately desires to sabotage the wedding so he will once again have his leading lady. Therefore, he hires “King of Romance” Adolfo to seduce the bride… and hilarity ensues. In addition to enjoying the antics of these crazy characters, the Man in Chair also lets the audience in on all of his favorite pieces of trivia about the fictitious actors who played these roles in the original production, just as an avid theater fan might share all kinds of random facts about their favorite performers and shows. The hilarious score by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison includes great numbers such as “Show Off”, “As We Stumble Along”, “Accident Waiting to Happen”, “Bride’s Lament”, and “Love is Always Lovely in the End.”

I hope you will listen to and enjoy these wonderful musical soundtracks. If you have any suggestions for further listening, please share them in the comments down below!

Post originally published December 10, 2020.