Musicals made me do it

 Hey... recognize this art style? I'm Anya Shenoy, and I'm here to tell you that you have rights. If you recognize this art style, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Okay, if you don't, first of all I'm jealous of you, but this is basically a tumblr fan drawing of John Laurens by the same artist who drew the infamous "Thomas Jefferson Miku Binder". Now, if those words mean nothing to you I will attach an image below, feel free to shut your eyes if you don't want to relive the trauma of seeing it for the first time. But I'm not writing this to make fun of a garbage fan art that was made 10 years ago, I'm writing this to discuss the impact that Hamilton had on the way we view real historical figures.  The Man, The Myth, The LEGEND When  Hamilton: An American Musical  exploded into mainstream popularity after its 2015 debut, it did more than just bring hip-hop to Broadway or make theatre kids start rapping about the Federalist Papers it t...

Unfortunately for all my fellow constantly anxious readers, this post is not a how-to guide for handling stress; it's a desperate rant begging you to understand my undying love and affection for the 2015 off-Broadway production of Be More Chill. Be More Chill is a musical adaptation of Ned Vizzini's novel of the same name. It features original music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and a book by Joe Tracz. The musical premiered at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey, in 2015. It then transferred off-Broadway in 2018 and, after building a cult following online, landed a Broadway run at the Lyceum Theatre in 2019. While its time on the Great White Way was brief, its impact on fans, especially younger ones, was long-lasting and deeply emotional. Be More Chill (BMC for short) is a sci-fi teen musical centered around Jeremy Heere, an anxious high school student desperate to climb the social ladder and win the affection of his classmate, Christine Canigula (dream role, btw). In an ...

 As a fan of musical theatre, I've watched a fair few slime tutorials. For those not in the know, slime tutorials are the term used for bootlegs, videos of Broadway shows filmed discretely from the audience. This term is used so that people can find it without YouTube flagging it as illegal. These unofficial recordings often spark passionate debates online. Some call them disrespectful, others say they're lifelines. I would say it's a mix of both, and while they are complicated they are far from evil.  Let me be clear: I’m not saying we should encourage illegal recordings. I understand the concerns from performers, creators, and producers, bootlegs can bypass copyright laws, violate performers' privacy, and undermine the integrity of a live experience. But here’s where the conversation gets murky: we treat the viewers of bootlegs as villains, when in reality, many of them are just passionate fans who lack access. Musical theatre, as it currently exists, is painfully exc...

 You already know what Hamilton is. Maybe you haven't seen it, but you know it. Hamilton as a musical dominated Broadway in 2015, gaining enough traction to be professionally recorded and uploaded onto Disney+ in 2020. Fun fact, it was this recording that started my addiction with musicals, and I didn't even want to watch it. My dad had to force me to sit down for 3 hours and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed the initial experience far more than I did. Neither of us knew just what a gateway it would be for me. Moving forward, I feel pretty confident in saying that Hamilton is one of the most famous musicals that is still running on Broadway today, and it's worth a watch. That being said, this article is not about Hamilton, it's about something much much worse. Feast your eyes on the utter beauty of Scamilton.  Scamilton refers to an unauthorized and altered performance of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton staged by The Door Christian Fellowship, a church in McAllen, Texas....

One thing for me that always made me enjoy musical theatre is it's representation. I have a theory that wherever movies and tv are in terms of representation, musical theatre is a decade ahead of them. From people of color to the LGBTQ+ community, musical theatre celebrates minorities and oppressed communities.  Today, musical theatre pioneering in diversity is beautiful, but it's origin is far darker. In the 1800’s, Irish immigrants faced mass waves of racism and xenophobia in the US. These immigrants faced heavy discrimination, and often didn’t receive any job opportunities. As a result, they were forced to find other ways to get money. Since upper-class citizens enjoyed theatre, but never wanted to demean themselves to acting, immigrants realized that singing and acting could be their way out of poverty. Very soon, numerous immigrants began performing acts of musical theatre.  One major example is Irving Berlin, a Russian immigrant who lived most of his life in poverty. How...

 The first two (or three) main figures in musical theatre are Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein the second. Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern were known for popularizing modern musical theatre through show boat (1927). However, Hammerstein is much more known for his work with Rodgers, the two becoming an unstoppable duo. From the sound of music to Oklahoma, their work will forever be remembered. Any theatre student worth their salt will know Rodgers and Hammerstein (see left), and further nerds(me) will even know that Richard Rodgers(my third favorite theatre) has a theatre named after him on Broadway, cementing his legacy. Jerome Kern is also a legend in his own right, but due to him largely working on movie musicals, he is not remembered in live theatre as much.  ALW!! Andrew Lloyd Webber is another major figure, known for creating successful musicals. From Cats to the Phantom of the opera, he is known for writing long running shows. Phantom ran for the longest, closing ...