That Thing Where People Randomly Burst into Song and Dance, You Know, Musicals
By Angelirene Cuautle and Kylie WiIliams
Musicals (especially here in NYC), are huge and cause even bigger fandoms. Musicals like Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, Wicked, Matilda, The Lion King, Cats, Mean Girls, Phantom of the Opera, etc.
Musicals (especially here in NYC), are huge and cause even bigger fandoms. Musicals like Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, Wicked, Matilda, The Lion King, Cats, Mean Girls, Phantom of the Opera, etc.
The problem is, some people stereotype musicals to be happy and cheerful. But musicals can also have dark stories, cliffhangers and can help people get through some difficult times. They can even help people express their feelings. But overall, they are just as great as movies or shows and can also have cult followings.
We at HPCMS here in Long Island City have our own musical productions too. This year we are doing Peter Pan, the musical. Students are making costumes and rehearsing in the auditorium. You can see students rehearsing their lines and marking their dance steps.
Cara Giardina from class 603 explains: “My role in the musical is a Siren. Learning the songs is kind of hard but usually to practice, Mr. Quaintance (the director) makes us listen to recordings until we know it by heart. Once you do it so many times it gets fun.”
So back to Broadway musicals. We interviewed kids from the sixth grade to have them answer a few questions on musicals. More specifically, we had them listen to showtunes and guess what the whole plot of that musical is. Here we go!
Tanairy from class 604 listened to Sincerely Me from Dear Evan Hansen and said said, “I think that the play is about someone who loves their parents and what would happen if they stopped taking ‘things’.” Just so you know that is not the plot, at all, but nice try!
Miciah from class 604 listened to You'll Be Back from Hamilton and said: “This is when Hamilton cheats on his wife and he wants her back but she says no.” This is also not what the song or the musical is about, but again, nice try!
Brandon from class 604 listened to Words Fail from Dear Evan Hansen and said: “I think it is about romance, drama and depression.” That was the first pretty accurate guess which is very impressive.
Next was Valery Castaneda from class 603 who listened to Stay Alive (Reprise) from Hamilton said “It felt sad, and kind of scary too.” This part of the plot of Hamilton is correct although this is not the overall plot, but definitely part of the mood of the play.
Another student we interviewed, Griffin Weiss from class 603, listened to Castle on a Cloud from Les Miserables. He said, “Maybe it’s sad and sounds like a fairy tale.” Although Les Mis is sad, the musical is more of a realistic story based on the French Revolution.
Finally, we on happy note; we have our funniest anwer by Faiqa Ali from class 603. We had her listen to the song Candy Store from the Heathers. She said: “The first thing that comes into my mind is candy shop!” Listen to the song and you will understand why this is funny.
I guess now I should go over the plot of each musical. Hamilton, in case you already didn’t know, is about the founding fathers of America! To be exact: Alexander Hamilton. Dear Evan Hansen is about a boy with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts who creates fake emails to a dead boy, Connor, to make it seem like they were friends. The whole musical then deals with the ups and downs of this huge lie. It has some comedic relief but deals with these serious topics very well. Heathers is about a girl, Veronica, who is part of the popular group but hates them. She joins forces with an “angsty” teen, J.D, to destroy them. It takes some people to die for Veronica to realize that what they are doing is wrong and that J.D is a phycopath. Who knew! Les Miserables, like I said before, is about the French Revolution and is very sad.
I would recommend all of these musicals 10 out of 10. Your welcome and now enjoy the wide world of musicals!
We at HPCMS here in Long Island City have our own musical productions too. This year we are doing Peter Pan, the musical. Students are making costumes and rehearsing in the auditorium. You can see students rehearsing their lines and marking their dance steps.
Cara Giardina from class 603 explains: “My role in the musical is a Siren. Learning the songs is kind of hard but usually to practice, Mr. Quaintance (the director) makes us listen to recordings until we know it by heart. Once you do it so many times it gets fun.”
So back to Broadway musicals. We interviewed kids from the sixth grade to have them answer a few questions on musicals. More specifically, we had them listen to showtunes and guess what the whole plot of that musical is. Here we go!
Tanairy from class 604 listened to Sincerely Me from Dear Evan Hansen and said said, “I think that the play is about someone who loves their parents and what would happen if they stopped taking ‘things’.” Just so you know that is not the plot, at all, but nice try!
Miciah from class 604 listened to You'll Be Back from Hamilton and said: “This is when Hamilton cheats on his wife and he wants her back but she says no.” This is also not what the song or the musical is about, but again, nice try!
Brandon from class 604 listened to Words Fail from Dear Evan Hansen and said: “I think it is about romance, drama and depression.” That was the first pretty accurate guess which is very impressive.
Next was Valery Castaneda from class 603 who listened to Stay Alive (Reprise) from Hamilton said “It felt sad, and kind of scary too.” This part of the plot of Hamilton is correct although this is not the overall plot, but definitely part of the mood of the play.
Another student we interviewed, Griffin Weiss from class 603, listened to Castle on a Cloud from Les Miserables. He said, “Maybe it’s sad and sounds like a fairy tale.” Although Les Mis is sad, the musical is more of a realistic story based on the French Revolution.
Finally, we on happy note; we have our funniest anwer by Faiqa Ali from class 603. We had her listen to the song Candy Store from the Heathers. She said: “The first thing that comes into my mind is candy shop!” Listen to the song and you will understand why this is funny.
I guess now I should go over the plot of each musical. Hamilton, in case you already didn’t know, is about the founding fathers of America! To be exact: Alexander Hamilton. Dear Evan Hansen is about a boy with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts who creates fake emails to a dead boy, Connor, to make it seem like they were friends. The whole musical then deals with the ups and downs of this huge lie. It has some comedic relief but deals with these serious topics very well. Heathers is about a girl, Veronica, who is part of the popular group but hates them. She joins forces with an “angsty” teen, J.D, to destroy them. It takes some people to die for Veronica to realize that what they are doing is wrong and that J.D is a phycopath. Who knew! Les Miserables, like I said before, is about the French Revolution and is very sad.
I would recommend all of these musicals 10 out of 10. Your welcome and now enjoy the wide world of musicals!
YOWCH
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