Hello friends! I though today’s post would be fun, and the idea just popped into my head a few weeks ago. I love Music Theatre, so I thought it would be fun to share my 5 favourite musicals. This list only includes Broadway musicals, not movies. I may do another post about my 5 favourites movie musicals :). Ethan and I like to go see something about once a year, and I think we’ve been doing that for the almost 6 years we’ve been together! Coming up with the first four was really easy, but not number 5! I also included some honorable mentions, because choosing only 5 was pretty difficult! They are in no particular order, so let’s get started!
Wicked
Wicked might be #1 in my books. I think this is the quintessential broadway show. The music is amazing, and the story is even better. Plus, the original broadway cast has Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth. I’ve seen Wicked twice, once in NYC (the only show I’ve ever seen one Broadway) and once in Toronto. When I originally saw it, I already had the soundtrack on my iPod so I could listen to it right away. That’s actually something I like to do to help me remember what’s happens in the show. My though process for this list was basically if I’ve listened to the soundtrack in the car, it’s a favourite!
The Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is hilarious. Offensive to some and over the top, but hilarious. I’ve seen it twice, and am going to see it again in April! It’s hard to put into words why I like it so much, but I really do. After seeing it the first time with Ethan my family attended a fundraising event for Broadway, where my sister and I got to meet some of the cast from The Book of Mormon and Wicked (they were both in Toronto at the same time). When we met Ron Bohmer who was in The Book of Mormon (which only Ethan and I had seen at this point), he said if we got tickets to see it again he would give us a backstage tour. So we did! And It was amazing! We met a lot of the cast who were all really nice, and even got to stand on the stage. The music theatre nerd inside of me was in heaven! Below is a picture from the stage of The Princess of Whales Theatre in Toronto!
Les Misérables
This is the only show on this list I’ve never seen in person! I have definitely grown up with it. When I was a kid my Mom had the 10th Anniversary concert of Les Miz on VHS, and I grew up watching it, having no clue what was going on. If you have never seen those versions, it’s basically the cast in costume standing in front of microphones singing the parts, so there’s not a lot of acting out the story. Fast forward to when I was a teenager, and the 25th anniversary came out, with Nick Jonas as Marius, and I was OBSESSED. I learned the story a little more, and loved it. I actually read the book when I was in elementary school, and sang a Les Miz medley in high school. Then the movie musical came out with Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried and more my love for Les Miz deepened. I absolutely love the music, and hope to see it in person the next chance I get!
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph has been a favourite since I was little. I’m not a very religious person (something I don’t really want to go into on the blog), but I have always loved Joseph. It was the first musical I ever saw, and I remember listening to the soundtrack when I was a kid. Then my Aunt and Uncle gave the DVD version (with Donny Osmond) to my sister and I for Christmas one year (it’s actually one of the first DVD’s we ever got). I can still tell you all of the colours of his coat 
It was red and yellow and green and brown….
Once
This one is very different, and it had to grow on me before I realized how much I loved it. It’s not your *jazz hands* type of broadway show, but it’s super impressive as the actors play their own instruments through the whole show. I think I didn’t like it as much at first because of how different it was, and because I didn’t really know much about it so I wasn’t expecting it. But after listening to the soundtrack on repeat, I realized how good the show was!
Honorable Mentions
Aladdin
I was lucky enough to see Aladdin in Toronto right before it debuted in New York! It was really cool to see the original broadway cast on stage, including Jonathan Freeman who originally voiced Jafar. The only regret I have is not listening to the soundtrack right away because that helps me remember everything. But that wasn’t on me, because when I saw it the soundtrack wasn’t recorded yet! Aladdin is one of my favourite Disney movies so I knew I would love the musical as well.
The Sound of Music
It’s such a great movie, and a great show! I saw this one in high school as a school trip. When I took Music Theatre in high school, we had to put on a couple scenes in small groups from anther musical for another assignment in the class (after the show we worked on all semester had performed). The year I went to see it in Toronto, my group had actually done The Sound of Music for that assignment! I was Gretle because I was the smallest in our group, surprise surprise. It was special getting to see it on stage after performing a few songs in the months before 
I know today’s post was a little random, but now hopefully you know a little more about me and my background in music theatre (if you can even call it that!). Let me know what your favourite musicals are in the comments below!
Thank you for reading!
