This morning, my day started with my mom tagging me in a post on Facebook about auditioning for The Music Man. When I was in the second grade, I was cast as Winthrop in a local high school’s production. Since then, it has been something special between us. She was with me at every rehearsal and sat with me through every tear. It was a big undertaking for a little boy. Rehearsals were long and grueling. I couldn’t even go trick-or-treating on Halloween that year. It was traumatic.
But the show went off without a hitch, and to this day is one of my favorite memories. It was really a good bonding experience for me and my mom, and will always be special to us.
Because of this good memory, I thought the most appropriate way to spend Top Ten Tuesday is by talking about books that inspired Broadway musicals. (Bonus: At the end of this post, I’m attaching a Spotify playlist of my favorite numbers from each of these musicals.)
Full disclosure: I’ve never read this book. And I don’t know anybody who has. But it inspired my favorite opera, and that’s enough for me.
Porgy & Bess the opera was composed by my favorite American composer, George Gershwin. It’s beautiful. It’s heavy. And it gave us the beautiful jazz standard, “Summertime.”
9. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Secret Garden is a classic novel. I don’t know many people who haven’t read it at some point. It’s an example of a story with a protagonist I want to hate. I never really liked the character of Mary, but I softened toward her as the book progressed. It’s a sweet, lovely ready, and translates well into visual media.
Bonus points to the musical for casting Mandy Patinkin.
Peter Pan has been the inspiration to several forms of visual media. Disney animated it (kind of.) There have been stage plays. There was a lovely middle grade series that started with Peter and the Starcatchers that was then turned into its own play, Peter and the Starcatcher. Peter Pan has inspired countless movies and TV shows and retellings. From Hook, the definitive re-imagining of my childhood, to Peter Pan’s appearance in ABC’s Once Upon a Time, Peter Pan’s influence is far-reaching.
My favorite piece of work inspired by Peter Pan is Finding Neverland. Okay. So maybe I’m bending the rules a little bit. Because the musical is inspired by the movie which is inspired by the life of J.M. Barrie and the inspiration around Peter Pan. But this is my blog, and I can bend the rules as I like. 😜
This musical starred Matthew Morrison (of Glee fame), who is wonderful. Carolee Carmello, who played Madame du Maurier in the original cast, also happens to appear later in this list.
7. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Color Purple is an epistle by Alice Walker. It’s heavy. There’s nothing particularly lighthearted about this book. (I know, you’re all so surprised that I would put a heavy book on this list.) But it’s a wonderful story. It’s full of heartbreak and hope and pain. It’s about family and love and so much.
And it translated well into a Broadway musical. It’s won Tony’s, most recently it won Best Revival. It’s been performed around the world. The music is amazing. The actors have been phenomenal. It presents well on stage.
6. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was written as America’s great fairytale. And it’s lovely. I’ve read all 14 of the canonical books by Baum (several authors have continued the story of Oz after Baum had finished writing.)
It has, like Peter Pan, inspired tons of other works. The popular Dorothy Must Die series is directly inspired by Baum’s books, as was this fantastic SyFy miniseries called Tin Man starring Zoey Deschanel. And of course Wicked grew out of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz‘s influence (spoiler: Wicked appears later in this list.)
But seriously, nothing beats the Judy Garland adaptation, The Wizard of Oz when I’m home sick. Her singing voice has lulled me to sleep my entire life. When I was a kid, I was in love with Judy Garland, and I still feel the heartbreak I felt the day I found out she was dead.
5. Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown
Okay, so if I’m being honest, I enjoyed almost every book on this list more than I enjoyed Legally Blonde, but it’s not a bad book. However, the movie is tremendous. Reese Witherspoon is a goddess. She’s America’s sweetheart.
You know what’s even better? A musical about Elle Woods that’s rife with smartly written jokes and stars Christian Borle. It’s my go-to comfort musical. It’s my rainy day, I’m exhausted, I’ve graded too many papers kind of relaxation musical. It’s a warm blanket. And it’s so funny.
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Didn’t I tell you once that Roald Dahl deserves to be on every top ten list, ever? I’m really trying to make that happen.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is another literary work that translates so well to a visual media. Two very successful movies have been inspired by this book. (No disrespect to Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore, but the Gene Wilder version is superior; it’s scientifically proven.)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is also a stellar musical that stars Christian Borle (he’s the best. Seriously. Total heart eyes when he performs.) Give it a listen. It’s adorable. It’s so true to the heart of the book.
3. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Seriously, if you’ve not heard of this musical, you may live under a rock. “Defying Gravity” was the anthem of every high school student in 2005. (And then the film adaptation of Rent rose to popularity and knocked Wicked out of public school choir programs, everywhere.)
The musical and book are two very, very different entities. The book takes a much darker approach to the story. It’s sad. There’s a very somber tone to it. But I loved every bit of it. The musical, however, is much more lighthearted. It deals with some of the same heavy topics, but through a very Ozian lens. It’s wonderful.
2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Okay. So everything about this setup is perfect.
Little Women is a wonderful book–on of my wife’s favorites–that I didn’t read until I was an adult. But it’s lovely. The story is so pure and so wholesome. It deals with heavy topics, but it’s not a heavy book. It’s a perfect read for somebody who wants some drama but not to cry for three hundred pages. You will cry. Anybody who knows this book knows you will cry. But it’s still brilliant and beautiful.
The musical starred Sutton Foster (my girlfriend; don’t worry, my wife knows.) She was brilliant. She’s brilliant in everything. It had great writing. It had great music.
And it has lovely memories attached to it, for me. I played violin for a production of Little Women in college with two of my best friends. It was so much fun. We had the best time in the pit. We laughed and cried and grew emotionally attached to the actors. It’s another one of my fondest memories. It was special and maybe that’s why I love this musical, that’s not entirely much like the book. But it’s beautiful. And I love it.
1. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Tuck Everlasting holds a really special place in my heart. It’s such a lovely, wonderful book. I once wrote a 10-page paper about it (the requirement was 4 pages, but who’s counting?) I read this book like literary fiction. I read it like a marvel and like a masterpiece, because it is.
That same summer, Tuck Everlasting premiered on Broadway and we happened to be in New York. So we went. And it was a beautiful show. It was true to the spirit of the book. It had so much heart. It was adorable. It closed down two nights after I saw it, and I’m so glad I got to see it. It was unfortunate that it opened during the year of Hamiltonys, because it would have likely fared much better one year later or one year earlier.
And I’m possibly Tuck Everlasting‘s biggest fan.
BUT IT WAS SO GOOD
As promised here is my playlist of favorite songs from the musicals mentioned on this list. I love Broadway almost as much as I love books, so it’s safest for everybody if I just sign off right now.
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