Good musicals that get dark

 If you came to a musical to have a cheery tune play through your brain you should beware of these. Though they are excellent choices of entertainment, they don't leave you happy. Some of them make points about society, some are just weird, but they do not leave you with fuzzy feelings. Join me in exploring the world of musicals.

Photo by 25 YL

A musical, for the purpose of our blog here, is determined to be in both film and live theatre form. Basically, if there are consistent songs throughout the acting scenes and script you have a musical. The dancing and singing have to be essential, according to the dictionary, so that is our standard here. 

While there are plenty of upbeat, light musicals out there, you clicked this blog link to talk about the ones you don't watch for sheer comedy. If you want the light humor and show tune quality in another blog comment below, but without further adieu, we start with Les Miserables.

Photo by Les Miserables 

Les Miserables translates to "the miserable ones" and the book is no cheerier (in fact, it is much sadder at the end because it is drawn out). I'd recommend the book if you have a lot of time, but if you can barely read a short 20 chapter novel you should probably skip it due to the sheer length of the book (which was released in smaller chunks, but is huge put together). Victor Hugo wrote it and is not everyone's jam, so I get it. It is good if you have the attention span, so I suggest it - and I know because I took months to read it. 

Anyway, the plot is that Jean Valjean gets out of prison in the 19th Century after serving 19 years for stealing bread for his family to eat. He then breaks parole in order to start a new life because a priest saved his soul by giving him mercy. He does a lot of good in the community and then has to run because of his violation of the law, which eventually puts him at the barricades through various detailed events that get a bit complicated. There are several plotlines to follow that all end up connected. The musical makes them easy to understand. It is all singing (talented singing), in case you were wondering, so if you are not into constant singing you were warned. It will leave you in tears.

Photo by Rocky Horror Wiki Fandom

Rocky Horror Picture Show is a cult classic, a musical that makes you wonder who drugged your popcorn - when you know no one did. It doesn't have a real clear plotline once everyone starts sleeping with each other and the only clear plot is the beginning, where Janet and Brad are newly engaged and get a flat tire. The couple go for help in a mansion that is full of sexually active aliens, one of which is a psychopath that plays with people like toys and is killed at the end for the sake of humanity.

In case you didn't know how to attend the show, I have advice. You can dress up, bring props (they sell them in survival kits there, most likely), and you are welcome to dance to the time warp when it comes up. You can shout up at actors, however, watch the people who know what they are doing before you do that. It is an oddity of a show. First time seeing it? You may have to be embarrassed with a lipstick V for virgin and sit at the front. Be prepared for that.

Cabaret, set during the start of the German occupation, is a show that truly shows you how the Nazi ideals choked out the good in society and killed relationships. The main character is a homosexual and is telling the story through a cabaret show style. At the end, they sing the same beginning song in a darker manner and use the same words to portray a different tone. Your narrator dies at the end scene when they bow and the lights go out - and the kicker is that they are wearing striped pajamas! It is a kick in the gut and you almost expect to hear a gunshot. 

Photo By Stage Chat

During this whole musical there is a romance going on that involves a man and cabaret dancer, which is complicated by his confusion of sexual nature. Also, a Jewish man almost marries a woman, only to have the German Nazi influence ruin everything and leave the pair unable to marry. All the characters end up miserable and the main narrator is clearly killed in a concentration camp.

West Side Story is a gang and street-violence retelling of "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare. It is not exact, I don't think, and isn't intended to be exact. If you have never read the play I just mentioned it is about two people from rival families falling in love and killing themselves on accident and on purpose (depending on the character you are looking at). In this case, Maria is the sister of the gang leader of the Sharks (Porta Rican gang) and Tony is part of the Jets, the previously established gang unsure how to handle the foreign gang. Only Tony dies in this one, but Maria nearly kills herself and shoots several others in the process.

The way they show the gang violence is kind of mesmerizing due to the dance style and choreography. It is not all words in songs and is instead dance for most of the time. The beginning scene is quite telling without the need for the words, much like a silent film, but not silent. It is almost all body language and cinematography saying the Jets are not into the Sharks in the area. Watch it to the end to see how cool the dance style looks. It has an excellent way of telling a story without words, but still having words involved when necessary. Below is the opening scene, in case you want an example of this storytelling technique.

A gentleman's guide to love and murder is the tale of Monty Navarro, who learns at his mother's death that she was disowned for marrying poor, and that they were in poverty with no help from her rich family. He finds out he is up for a title, but they all hate him. As revenge and for his own gain he kills his way from the 8th Earl to being the 2nd Earl. It is not a commonly known one. He is attracted to two women and is trying to figure out what to do about it. He is then accused of murdering the one, the only relative, that he never murdered and actually liked. 

Photo by Boulder Weekly

This one I have never fully seen because I can't find it on a recorded anything and can only listen to the soundtrack on youtube. Which is a bummer because it is such a funny show. I put it here because of its odd, murderous nature that might make some shy away from it. I loved the songs and I know that it is not the most normal entertainment in the world. Try it out, if you can find it shown. If you've seen it comment about your experience. I know it is long and takes some attention span.

Dear Evan Hansen is the story of a troubled youth who tried to kill himself over the summer in secret and gets a therapy note stolen from him. The kid with the note is found and it looks like a suicide note, so Evan gets contacted about it and lies about a friendship because he doesn't know what to do and doesn't want to tell them their son was a bully. He ends up dating the dead boy's sister. Everything spirals out of control and it is a tear-jerker.

Photo by Seanger Theatre

What makes it so emotional is the way that we see his anxiety tear him apart, as well as seeing part of why he was like that. We see the struggles of his single mother because her husband left. All of it is hard to look at, especially when the lie falls apart and chaos breaks forth into a confession that he tried to kill himself and he had lied to the family for months. I saw it live. I cried. It was an amazing show that his now as expensive as Hamilton (if you look for live shows). 

Next To Normal is a show exploring bipolar disorder, suicide, electric shock therapy, and dealing with the death of a child. It is not the light and airy show and is here because of the mental health struggles it reveals. Diana Goodman has bipolar disorder and her first child died, but she sees him around the house. This causes problems with her living daughter. If you watch carefully, no one else acknowledges her figment and talks to him and the table is only set for one child and her date - not two children. The husband dealt with the loss by taking away every picture of the dead child, and after the electroshock therapy he doesn't return them and continues in denial. I'll let you watch the show and watch the complications that happen, but I will warn you that it is a bittersweet ending.

Photo By Broadwayworld.com

You see readers, this is more realistic than you would think. It isn't a sunny, bright show because the battle for mental health in disorders like Diana's is not sunny. It isn't fun to deal with the death of a child and in the case of the husband we see that he too is faced with this figment and has trouble even saying his name. By this time Diana is facing the child's death, recovering and is moving out due to her recovery. It is hard to watch, even more so than the previous show I described. Be mentally prepared to see a reality you are not used to. It is titled like it is due to the nature of Diana's life and how she can't have normal, but she can have next to normal.