Panorama reviews Broadway Musicals

BROADWAYA BROADWAY TIMELINE Panorama reviews the best Broadway musicals by era

ETHAN WILLICK

editor in chief

1980

1980-2000: Little Shop of Horrors

“Little Shop of Horrors” was on Broadway from 1982 until 1987. The plot is the classic “speaking plant from space that drinks human blood tries to kill its owners and take over the world.” You know, the usual. The plant begins as a small hand puppet that is controlled by the main character Seymour, but as the show progresses, the plant gets larger and slowly takes up more and more of the stage until the puppet takes up the whole stage. The musical was one of the first musicals with microphones and thus the songs move the plot along rather than just reiterating what has already been said. The plant sings many of the best songs in the whole show. The three singing narrators provide exposition well without interfering with the story itself. If you want to see a version of the musical, check Hulu and Amazon Prime.

image courtesy of Endgame Entertainment

1990

2000-2010: Wicked

“Wicked” began its Broadway run in 2003 and is still on Broadway to this day, ranking the 5th longest consecutive Broadway run of any show. The musical is a prequel and alternative perspective of “The Wizard of Oz” that follows the origins of the rivalry between the witches of Oz. The musical fills many of the plot holes of “The Wizard of Oz” without feeling boring. After seeing the show, I can’t see “The Wizard of Oz” the same way ever again, but in a good way. The best song in the musical has to be either “What is This Feeling?,” “Popular,” or “Defying Gravity.” In my first listen to “What is This Feeling?” I had to pause multiple times to stop laughing. “Popular” is what I would call a theatre kid song, image courtesy of Serino Coyne Inc. but “Defying Gravity” by Idina Menzel is good enough for anyone’s playlist. There’s no recording, but the music is all on Youtube for free.

2000

2010-2020: Be More Chill

“Be More Chill” had a brief Broadway run from March to August 2019, which I think was far too short for such a good musical. The musical is about a boy who wants to be popular so badly that he takes a pill which creates a voice telling him everything he needs to do to be popular. The voice is often represented on stage as a person and has multiple musical numbers, which are some of the most interesting parts of the show, with multiple rock and techno songs. The show’s rock and techno-style reminds me of “Footloose,” but done better. The show has a silly sense of humor and is jam packed with cultural references that I think people ages 12 through 20 would enjoy, but would cause anyone with a 401(k) to be confused. All the music is on Youtube for free, but no visual accompaniment is currently available without seeing it in person.

image courtesy of LDK Production