The best musicals are the ones you can keep returning to even after the story is over. Here are 6 of the best musicals to stream right now!
Wicked
“Wicked” is definitely a classic. With iconic songs like “Defying Gravity” and “Popular,” the Tony-Award Winning musical, is absolutely a treat for the ears. Stephen Schwartz is the composer of the lyrics and music, and the musical itself is based off of the Gregory Maguire novel, “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,“ which is, in essence, a fan-fiction of L. Frank Baum’s novel, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
If you aren’t familiar with the story of “Wicked,” Elphaba, a girl who was born with green skin, winds up at a magic school and becomes roommates with Galinda (whose name later becomes Glinda). This show definitely carries the weight of an old Broadway musical. The classic fun of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” paired with insight to characters we didn’t get to see much of in the original tale, we get an entirely new story with love, adventure, and friendship.
It has some incredibly iconic songs, but also some hidden gems like “Dancing Through Life,” a fast-paced song that talks about not-thinking and dancing through life, and “No Good Deed,” a dramatic epic all about Elphaba’s realization that no good deed goes unpunished. The original soundtrack is available on Spotify with icons like Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. Even a single Ariana Grande covers “The Wizard and I.” Let’s not forget the upcoming film to release in November!
The Last Five Years
“The Last Five Years” is an off-broadway musical by Jason Robert Brown that also has a film adaptation available that stars Jeremy Jordan (“Supergirl,” “Hazbin Hotel,” and “Newsies” on Broadway) and Anna Kendrick (“Pitch Perfect,” “Trolls”). The story surrounds budding novelist, Jamie Wellerstein, and struggling actress, Cathy Hiatt, and their five year long relationship.
“Still Hurting” is the most well-known song from the musical, carrying over 11 million streams on Spotify. It’s the introduction to the musical, talking about how Jamie has moved on while Cathy is still struggling with the hurt and pain of their relationship. The song starts as a soft-tuned melody with deep emotion laced within it. There’s a certain brokenness to Kendrick’s voice that allows the listener to really feel her deep emotions about her failed relationship.
Throughout the musical, we see both perspectives of the failed marriage and the struggles they both individually faced. It carries the old-Broadway music feeling, but has a very inventive way to share Cathy and Jamie’s story.
The soundtrack, featuring the actors and actresses from the film, is readily available on Spotify.
Hadestown
“Hadestown” is an all time favorite. If you like Greek mythology, you’ll love this one. Anaïs Mitchell, creator of the musical, retells the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice is a girl who goes into the underworld in search of food and warmth against the cold. She ends up stuck there, and Orpheus goes to save her. While this adaptation doesn’t have a specific time period, it takes a lot of inspiration from New Orleans and the Great Depression era.
With a stunning original Broadway cast with Eva Noblezada as Eurydice and Reeve Carney as Orpheus, it’s hard to go wrong with this soundtrack!
“Wait For Me” is the showstopper. It’s where we see Orpheus declare he’s going to go find Eurydice, beginning his trek. Of course, there’s some fun favorites like “Come Home with Me” which bring laughter and smiles to those who listen. With a bit of a bluesy feeling to this musical, you can’t go wrong exploring the industrial version of this Greek myth.
Six
“Six” is great for fans of “Hamilton” who enjoy a bit of history to their musicals! This one, like some of the others listed, is a bit more mainstream and was really popular on TikTok for a while. It’s about the six wives of King Henry VIII. Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss created this story and make it a modern retelling that takes the form of a pop concert. This is a really unique way of presenting things, much like the approach “Hamilton” uses rap to retell history.
“Don’t Lose Ur Head,” retells the story ofAnne Boleyn and her relationship with King Henry (and how it ultimately ended in her death). The most popular track from the album on Spotify, “Don’t Lose Ur Head” was incredibly trendy on TikTok a few years back.
“Six” was all-around pretty popular for a while, which is reflected in the stream count on Spotify. Seeing as the musical is taking the form of a pop concert, this the vibe of the music. It’s very peppy and upbeat, keeping in tune with the fun, spirited energy of the characters.
Hazbin Hotel
The Prime Video series “Hazbin Hotel” is a recent TikTok phenomenon. This music has also taken over TikTok with fan theories, cosplays, dance covers, and various trends.
Starring icons like Jeremy Jordan and Erika Henningsen (“Mean Girls” on Broadway, “Les Misérables” on Broadway as the youngest actress to play Fantine), “Hazbin Hotel” follows the daughter of Lucifer who works with her friends to redeem the lost souls of dead sinners. It’s a whirlwind adventure that people love because of how bold and unafraid the show is. The series covers a multitude of very sensitive topics (like domestic violence, drug usage, violence, etc.), unafraid to show what they really look like.
With amazing songs like “Hell’s Greatest Dad,” a jazzy almost-duel between Alastor (Amir Talai) and Lucifer (Jeremy Jordan), who are competing over Charlie (Erika Henningsen), and “Loser, Baby,” a slower, more blue-sy number between Blake Roman (Angeldust) and Keith David (Husk) this musical series is quickly becoming a fan favorite.
The Violet Hour
With cast members like Erika Henningsen and Jeremy Jordan joining in the musical, this was bound to be a great one. “The Violet Hour” is an adaptation of Richard Greenberg’s play, and was adapted by Will Reynolds and Eric Price. The musical ran on Broadway in 2003, but the soundtrack is still amazing.
“The Violet Hour” is about a young publisher, John Pace Seavering, who is torn between publishing his friend’s book, or his lover’s book. John has the opportunity to see the future, via a mysterious paper machine, and learns that he becomes a very well-off publisher, but the success doesn’t carry as far as his lover and his friend. He tries to change their fates, by denying them both, but ends up publishing both anyway because he realizes their fates are out of his hands.
This musical is nothing short of an adventure.
The song with the most streams is the namesake, “The Violet Hour,” leading the charts of the album with about 130,000 streams. It’s available to listen to on Spotify.
