I have a guilty pleasure, one that might surprise you. I love to indulge in a musical, and thoroughly enjoy it too.
It’s not that I’m just occasionally partaking in being an audience member for a musical, oh no, this pleasure extends to numerous cast recordings too. The ultimate confession and guilty pleasure of mine.
I’m the blogger who raves about the Barbican’s contemporary shows, the one who gladly gets minor electric shocks from a performer, and even goes happily to a strangers flat to enjoy theatre in Hackney. Yet nothing makes my heart miss a beat than hearing Elphaba defy gravity, than Oliver asking for more, or even god forbid that it rains on Streisand’s parade. Yes, I adore musicals.
As I write this I’ve got The Last Five Years pumping into my ears, and whilst the fate of Cathy and Jamie might be uncertain, my head bobs along and yes, you can spy me singing along, even if it’s the female parts. You see, I’m all for contemporary theatre and even make it myself, but it quickly fades from my memory the moment I leave the experience. It doesn’t stay with me, at least not in the manner that musicals stick in my mind. Melodies, the chorus lines and even a shake of a jazz hand is lodged in my mind.
Ok- so you don’t get cast recordings and stuffed toys to take home with you after the latest Forced Entertainment show. With musicals you get that ‘take it home with you’ – and I’ve got the programs and soundtracks to prove it. Yet it goes deeper than that. Musicals have a method of expressing emotion that we can relate to. The musical compositions allow us to soar with the singers, lifting us to a new height of experience. Musicals connect with us all, and I’m sure that tucked away someone even the hardest of contemporary audience members could hum a few lines of show tune that gets them going.
Yes, I love musicals – but until I can find a show that gives me the same heart rising moment as singing in the shower along to Les Miserables, I’ll keep them, and a guilty pleasure they’ll be.
Do you have a guilty pleasure of musicals? A stash of cast recordings and ticket stubs from musical night outs? Comment below and get it off your chest…