monday trio: three broadway tunes

i've always enjoyed show tunes!  i've been lucky enough to be a part of many productions in the pit orchestra.  today we'll get all caught up with three of my favorites (all very different) from shows i've done in the past.

"joanna" from sweeney todd is beautiful, lush, and always seems to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up whenever i hear it.  it just flows so well!  anthony falls victim of love-at-first-sight when he sees the beautiful joanna from afar.  the beginning almost sounds like it's in slow motion: the world continues to move around him and yet he is frozen by her beauty.  the song is a sincere longing to rescue her from the evil judge terpin, her captor, and a declaration that will do just that!

"if you could see her" is a tragic track from cabaret.  one of the greatest things about musicals is their fearlessness to tackle difficult subjects.  cabaret is set in berlin at the beginning of the nazi party's rise to power. a large portion of the musical deals with germany's efforts to sweep any thoughts of problems under the rug.  "if you could see her" does an incredible job of pairing an amazingly catchy and cheery tune with a horrible subject.  the juxtaposition is incredible!

we'll end on a truly cheery tune, with "kids" from bye bye birdie.  the parents are lamenting over their kids' disobedience and remembering the good old days, when they were perfect kids.  ha!

i hope you found something you enjoyed here today.  there's a plethora of wonderful musicals out there with tons of great music!  go explore!

enjoy,

-jglmnk