5 Musicals I’ve Gotten Into During Quarantine

As I’m writing this, Broadway has been shut down for approximately seven months. It is expected to be closed well into 2021. It has been seven months since I’ve started working from home. The early days of quarantine feel like a distant memory.

When quarantine began I was excited to have more time on my hands while at home. I thought I would finally take the time to listen to some musicals I had been putting off dedicating the time to listening to the cast recordings.

Luckily, in that time, I’ve discovered some new favorite shows!

The Band’s Visit

This was one of the shows I knew I had been putting off listening to for quite some time. I’m not really sure why, but I had heard such good reviews of it from peers I wanted to be able to dedicate time to really listen to it. I hadn’t heard much about it when it was on Broadway, and was in NYC just after it closed on Broadway. The tour was supposed to stop in Los Angeles this summer, and I had been planning to see the tour since I had heard such good things about it.

So as the first musical I knocked off my list I was immediately impressed. I would say The Band’s Visit is totally something that would be my taste. It’s a little lesser known, it has a strong score and lyrics, and it has a story that sort of makes you feel seen as a human. I loved it, Katrina Lenk is incredible.

I think this musical really hit for me as quarantine began which might be why it was so powerful to me. I really enjoy the cast recording and find it very relaxing to listen to. As time passes I think it will always stick with me as the musical that my brain associates with quarantine because I found it right as we were all sheltering in place. I used to listen to it on long drives when we were only allowed to drive in cars in LA and pretty much everything was shut down.

I love the sort of feeling that comes through the cast recording of waiting for something to happen. I think that resonates very deeply with us all right now, and is part of the reason why this cast recording resonated with me and quickly became a favorite.

Favorite songs: Answer Me, Omar Sharif, Waiting

Bandstand

Okay, so I didn’t technically discover Bandstand during quarantine, I had picked it up about a year prior, but only listened to the cast recording and didn’t really know the plot or anything so I was just okay with it.

When the proshot came to Playbill to stream, I was so excited to pick it up and try it again, and having the visual of the show really helped me. I’m a pretty visual person, so having the visual of the show helps me put together the sound and the story. I absolutely loved it and would easily say its one of my all time favorite shows.

The Bandstand tour was canceled before it came out this way, and I was really disappointed to not have a chance to see it live.

I think the orchestrations of Bandstand are part of what really hits for me. I was a band kid growing up and there’s something so nostalgic about hearing classic band music that just gets to my heart.

That, and the immense talent in this show. I mean objectively, Laura Osnes and Corey Cott are both incredibly talented. I wasn’t very familiar with either of them before Bandstand and they both have incredible voices and stage presence.

Bandstand definitely ranked into my list of favorite musicals very quickly.

Favorite songs: Right this Way, Love Will Come and Find Me Again, Welcome Home (Finale), This is Life

Legally Blonde

While this is an older musical, it somehow totally passed me by. Yes, I know there was a whole MTV show dedicated to it. Somehow it still totally missed me.

Right after The Band’s Visit, I knew Legally Blonde was one that I just kept putting off listing to, so in quarantine I decided it’s time.

I think it’s definitely a really fun musical. There are some really catchy songs in it, and it’s a lot of fun to listen to while I’m working. I think out of all the musicals I’ve gotten into during quarantine, this is the one I reach for the least. But it is definitely fun to listen to. I would probably still go see it if I had the chance to see a production of it.

Favorite songs: Ohmigod You Guys, So Much Better

Amélie (London Cast)

I was already pretty into the Broadway production of Amelie, unfortunately I didn’t get to see it because in the two months it was on Broadway, I was in college and away at college. It’s one of my favorite musicals but I always understood the feeling why it was short-lived on Broadway. Philipa Soo and Adam Chanler-Berat are both wonderful, and it’s not a shortcoming on the actors’ parts at all. I think Amelie was just missing a common musical theme throughout that really just ties it all together and really makes it feel like a Broadway Show.

The UK production of the show rewrote some of the orchestrations and the songs, and I think it very well is what the Broadway production was trying to be. I love how quirky Audrey Brisson plays Amelie, and I feel overall the show has a more robust feeling. It almost feels like an entirely different show from the Broadway production, and I absolutely love it.

There a more central musical theme throughout the show that really ties it all together. I like the almost folk sounding theme throughout it.

I really wish I could have seen this production, because everything I’ve read about it has sounded amazing.

Favorite songs: When the Booth Goes Bright, Half Asleep, The Late Nino Quincampoix, Stay

Once

This was one that I’m not sure why it took me so long to get into it. Like The Band’s Visit, it’s something that would totally appeal to me. A production of it actually traveled through one of the local theaters last summer, that if I knew more about it, I would have gone to see it in a heartbeat.

But I had been thinking of this musical for awhile and it kept coming up on my Spotify recommended list, so I gave it a try. In the same weekend I also watched the film the musical is based on, and while a little different, I loved both equally as much. It’s become such a comfort musical for me now.

I really love Cristin Milioti, and I think her voice suits Girl so well. Her rendition fo The Hill is so beautiful and so heart wrenching I just have to sit and listen to it and think for a little bit afterward.

The music is so fun and I love how they seamlessly blended the fact that Guy is a musician with the musical numbers in the show. I think it’s really well done, and it’s very clear why it won the Tony for best musical! I hope once theatres are up and running again I can catch a production of it somewhere.

Favorite songs: The Hill, Falling Slowly, Sleeping

I’ll likely be stuck at home past the holidays, so it’s likely I’ll have even more to look forward to in that time. Comment down below what musicals you’ve discovered in quarantine! Until next time xx