Acting, Singing, Dancing triple threats are sexy. With so many Broadway options, which ones should we pay a pretty penny to go see? I have my list.
1. Hair
Hair the musical is sex, drugs, hippies, politics, song and dance affair. The ensemble is known as the tribe and they frolic onstage with seamless choreography by Karole Armitage. The cast appears to be very comfortable with one another. The main characters that play Berger and Claude are rambunctious, exuberant, and pleasing to the eyes. 😉 When I was in college, I was involved in a production of Hair and loved every minute of it. The scene of the musical is set in the height of 60s, hippies, the draft, and the Vietnam War. Despite its dated decade, we still love hippies and the politics behind the Vietnam War can also be applied to the present. There is a full frontal scene in the musical, I don’t think there is any other musical on Broadway currently that has full frontal nudity from the entire cast. Even though the choreography has simulated sex positions that can be construed as lewd, somehow the young cast appear to be poking fun of the situation rather than appearing on a soft-core porno flick.
2. Fela!
This African musical about Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s political fight for freedom. The director, choreographer and brainchild of this musical is the famous TONY award winning Bill T. Jones. This musical is opening on Broadway this fall and will be hit. Catch it before all the tourists infest it. (No offence to tourists, they keep Broadway alive)
For a preview and interviews click here
3. Chicago the Musical
The first time I saw this musical, I was 16 and it was the Australian cast on tour in Singapore. My mother got me front row tickets and I still remember the cell block tango scene where the female cast members were singing, dancing, and displaying female bravado while wearing fishnet tights and heels. Years later, I watched Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the movie version and it didn’t come close to the live performance. If you’ve only seen the movie or heard the songs, I recommend that you get tickets to see it live.
4. Billy Elliot
Winner of 10 TONY Awards. Any musical that inspires little boys to consider dancing as a career is a fan of mine. This musical is based on the movie Billy Elliot which starts with a young boy growing up in a small miner’s town with a butch father who despises anything associated with pink tutus. The boy falls in love with dancing and movement that he goes behind his father’s back to take lessons.
5. The Lion King
If you have friends visiting from out of town and they want to see a spectacular musical, you should definitely bring them to The Lion King. The costumes, the elaborate sets, the choreography, the make up, the characters make this Julie Taymour rendition of Disney’s favorite Lion King come to life.
For a preview click here
6. West Side Story
I grew up watching West Side Story on video, with catchy tunes and fun jazzy dance numbers choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Even Michael Jackson loved this musical and did a similar choreographed “gang fight” rendition for his Bad music video.
