There's No Business Like Show Business!

"This week on Idol is all about songs from musicals, so I think you should do a blog about some of the best, totally not lame or cheesy musicals. You could give us the names of some of your favorite musical theater songs. Just a thought." - Emma

Emma, I agree! That’s a great idea, so here’s an extra post this week, just for you. Bare in mind, I’m a casual, mainstream musical listener, so the more obscure stuff is under my radar (feel free to suggest some goodies). But here are the Big Three—Sondheim, Gershwin, and Rogers & Hammerstein—and the best I think they have to offer. This is more than just good musical music, but good music-music. Stuff you can safely put on your shuffled playlist and not have to worry about that embarrassing full-chorus medley popping up right in the middle of your posh wine party.

Stephen Sondheim

"No One is Alone" from Into the Woods

Stephen Sondheim (Sweeney Todd) is my favorite theater composer. He casts aside the big plastered smiles that saturate most of musical theater and delves into the bleak and demented. He revels in the shadowy swamps of the soul and sets it to song. I like that.

Into the Woods uses fairy tales (Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk) to explore some dark themes, such as morality and dealing with the consequences of one's own actions. The show lures you into thinking you're watching a breezy, fun romp; Act I delivers comedy and loads of sugary goodness. Then, bam! Act II. The fourth wall is broken when the narrator is proclaimed a sacrifice and eaten by the avenging Giantess, and all childhood naivete gobbled up with him.

I still remember getting a chill of goosebumps when listening to the minor-key melody of “No One is Alone” at the end of Act II, after a good chunk of the classic fairy tale characters are either morally disgraced or dead.

SUGGESTIONS: There are plenty of covers of the song to choose from, but be sure to check out the versions by Ann Hampton Calloway and original cast member, Bernadette Peters.

George Gershwin

"Summertime" from Porgy and Bess

George Gershwin conceived of this ambitious folk opera (based on the book Porgy by DuBose Heyward) in 1935. The story follows the tumultuous events following a deadly crap game scuffle in Catfish Row, and centers on the blossoming relationship between the two title characters. In the time since the opera’s conception, it has become a hot topic: praised for its use of a talented, all African-American cast during a time of heated racism, but criticized for its stereotyped, outsider portrayal of the African-American community.

The one thing we can all agree on is Porgy and Bess’s outstanding music, which was ahead of its time and melded opera with aspects of blues and jazz. George Gershwin—the man behind “Rhapsody in Blue,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” and a dozen other standards—called Porgy and Bess his greatest achievement. Others have called it the 20th century’s most important American opera.

DuBose Heyward and George’s brother Ira wrote the lyrics for “Summertime,” the show’s most well known aria. In addition to being performed three times in the opera itself, the song has been covered thousands of times; it rivals (and may even beat) the Beatles’ “Yesterday” as the most covered song in popular music history.

SUGGESTIONS: Janis Joplin’s version kicks ass.

Rogers & Hammerstein

"You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel

I loved The King and I when I was a kid. I wanted to wear a huge hoop skirt, and I wanted a barefooted Yule Brynner to grab me by the waist and waltz me around a gigantic ballroom. And the little girl in me still smiles when I hear “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful” from Cinderella. That said, the Rogers & Hammerstein catalogue is without a doubt the cheesiest of all musical catalogues.

But Carousel is pretty great. It’s one of Rogers & Hammerstein’s only tragedies. Based on Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar’s even more tragic Liliom, the tale dissects the turbulent love affair of two workers and spins the theme around class discrimination, domestic abuse and redemption. Various aspects of Carousel keep getting re-written to appease the masses; I personally think Molnar’s original ending is the more poetic of the bunch.

SUGGESTIONS: You know “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is a good one because some big time icons have covered it: Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, Aretha Franklin. My personal favorite is Ray Charles’ version. His smooth R&B vocals crack in just the right places, and the lyrics take on profound meaning coming from a singer who’s overcome his own travails.

Close Second: "Bill" or "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" from Kern & Hammerstein's Showboat, the first musical I ever saw and another one of my favorites.

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