Theatre Persuasion

Average Theatre Reviews Capable of Reforming Anyone Into a Fanatic

Prologue: Welcome to the Show!

Grab your playbill and take a seat. Welcome to my little blog where I can indulge in one of my (not-so-guilty) guilty pleasures.

Ever since I was young I’ve enjoyed watching plays, movie musicals*, and live action musical theatre. But I was known to many people as the tomboy, three-sport athlete. I believe most kids can recall the separation between high-school, or even middle school cliques; to say the least, the jocks and the theatre kids didn’t really mesh that often. I, as most self-conscious preteens, didn’t want to try and disturb the natural flow of the gangs, so I stuck to my place. To be fair I was generally okay with this, I loved (and still love) playing sports; but something was missing.

In sixth grade, before I could play a sport for the school, I decided to audition for the fall play. This was a pretty big step for me because I was notoriously shy, so you can imagine the devastation I felt after putting myself out there and getting cut. But I was a go-getter! I wasn’t going to let it stop me from auditioning for the spring musical (which by the way happened to be High School Musical, so like, I HAD to – if you didn’t notice the references in my First RCL Post then I’ll just briefly say that yes, I am a big HSM fan).

But, no uplifting underdog story here. Yeah, I was cut from that too.

After failed attempts at joining my schools theatre performances, I realized my spot was better suited in the audience. Rather than being dissatisfied I actually learned a lot about myself and my abilities to be more outgoing and less sheltered. But more importantly, I realized it would’ve been pretty difficult to sing-along to every part, and every song, in every act while playing one role on stage. Because as dorky as that may sound, that is my passion.

Many people that walk down the streets with their earbuds in are probably listening to variations of maybe pop, hip-hop, or yes, even country music. However, you can almost guarantee that that’s not my case. Not only will I be jamming to whichever musical soundtrack that I’m obsessed with at the moment, I will be singing along to every word.

At this point I’m sure you’re thinking, Eva, you like musical theatre, so what?

So, you can too!

Yes, even if you have no interest in it (at the moment) whatsoever, I believe that there’s something for everyone. Musicals aren’t always super cheesy and theatrical (for lack of a better word), which means that neither are their soundtracks. To name just a few of the greats, Hamilton is primarily rap and Rent and The Rocky Horror Picture Show are all rock.

The main reason that I believe the stigma of cheesy musicals should be disregarded is because that aside from the (genius) soundtracks, most musicals harbor really intense and meaningful themes and messages. There’s so much that people are missing out on just because they won’t open themselves up to the theatre. I hope that by reading my reviews as just another average student, who technically knows nothing about musical theatre, people will be more willing to appreciate musicals for one valid reason or another.

So, stay with me here, Act I is just about to begin.

 

*Anytime I reference the theatre or musicals in my writing, I am likely just referring to the movie musical versions of the shows, cause ya girl’s not rich enough to actually stop by Broadway 😉

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1 Comment

  1. nah5344 September 7, 2017

    I love this blog, and I will continue to follow it throughout the semester. I am also a huge Broadway fan. I even have a Spotify playlist of 120 songs dedicated to different musicals. My Hamilton obsession is so big too. I love anything by Lin-Manuel Miranda: In the Heights, 21 Chump Street, etc. He is a genius; and as a fellow Puerto Rican, he inspires me to be the very best. However, I have the utmost disdain for High School Musical. Call me pretentious, but it has no artistic value. I too do not have enough money to see Broadway shows (Hamilton costs at least a kidney or my firstborn child on the black market). Nevertheless, I did get to see the Lion King on a school trip on Broadway. It was beautiful.

    And as for your musical blog…”don’t throw away your shot”.

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