Why We Love Musicals
By: Kristina Malmstrom
With Trap Door’s two-hour musical escape experience “The Greatest Freakshow“ getting ready to premiere in August 2019, we thought we would take a look at ten reasons why we love musicals.
1. Brings Us Back to Our Disney Roots
Ask yourself, name the first movie that you really loved as a child? Chances are your answer will be a Disney movie. The Disney company has been making hits for several generations. In fact, one of Walt Disney’s first children movies was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, which premiered in 1937. That’s over 80 years of Disney’s fantastic films!
Any Early Start with Musicals
Anyone familiar with Disney knows that these movies almost always include musical numbers and are basically considered the younger version of adult musicals. Of course, this is why Disney ended up on this list.
As kids, we loved Disney movies and often went through a period of time where these songs were the only ones we would even consider listening to. Even now, many still feel nostalgic hearing songs like “Circle of Life” and “Under the Sea” and can still recite all of the lyrics to our favorite Disney classics.
In a way, Disney planted the seeds of why we love musicals. These seeds, for many, sprouted into their current love of musicals today. Along these lines, while many musicals have mature themes, our Disney musicals brings us back to that more innocent time when we were children.
2. People Love to be Entertained
One of the most obvious reasons why we love musicals is that, at their core, they’re a form of entertainment. And everyone loves to be entertained! Movies, television, and books are certainly among the more popular and accessible forms of entertainment.
However, musicals take the similar plot ideas of these but expand into other avenues as well. By adding in music and performance aspect, they create an immersive element that allows musicals to engage their audience better.
Live Performance
The live performance aspect tends to also feel more exciting, as you get to be in the same room as the actors. Plus, many musicals create environments where the cast is able to interact with the audience.
The Lion King opens with the animals marching up the aisles to the stage. Similarly, Cats features performers crawling around the audience, acting as cats would. Essentially, musicals create an entertainment form that is unedited and unfiltered, which makes for an honest, authentic experience with their viewers.
3. Songs You Can Belt
Whether your stage is the shower, the car, or your bedroom, everyone loves to belt out a song. Musicals tend to lend themselves to this, as they feature belt-worthy songs that stand out.
Consider “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, “One Day More” from Les Miserables, and “Non-Stop” from Hamilton. These are all extremely powerful songs that you can’t help but to sing along to. With most musicals, it’s easy to get lost in their lyrics and pretend that you’re the character.
Singing is also cathartic, so it’s no wonder its a favorite hobby. It’s been proven that singing can help reduce stress, so if you haven’t tried it before as stress relief, you should!
4. A Break from the Real World
Everyone needs a break from life at some point. A reason why we love musicals is because it’s entertainment that offers escapism from your daily life. Escapism refers to the act of getting out of your head, typically via a distraction.
Many people find escapism easiest to achieve with entertainment like movies, books, and of course musicals, as it’s easy to find yourself getting caught up in the story that you’re engaging with.
How Musicals Facilitate Escapism
The live performance of musicals helps facilitate the immersive environment that you can get lost in. Add in grand musical numbers, and you start to feel like you’re part of the show! Moreover, the songs help you forget you’re just a passive member of an audience. In turn, this lets you forget anything in your mind except for the story unfolding before you.
Not to mention additional components like sets, costumes, and dialect help to keep up this immersive environment that you can lose yourself in. There’s even a variety of themes within musicals, from fantasy to history to modern era and more, so it’s easy to find one that works best for you.
5. Increasing Diversity in Musical Styles
Another reason why we love musicals is the variety of genres and styles from which the music comes. The form of traditional Broadway music is definitely still present and popular. However, many newer, modern musicals have started to branch out into multiple other genres.
Perhaps the most famous of these is Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda. This new musical portrays the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton, but is told through the lens of rap music.
Some other similar musicals include Once, which takes place in a pub with exclusively Irish music, Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief rocks out to a pop-rock soundtrack, and Chicago uses 1920s style Jazz music to tell its tale.
Jukebox Musicals
Another type of musical is Jukebox musicals, where the songs are non-original and borrowed from one artist or period. Popular example of this are Mamma Mia, whose music comes entirely from pre-existing songs by Abba, Jersey Boys, which uses the music of Four Seasons to tell Frankie Valli’s story, and Rock of Ages, which consists of music from the 1980s.
These are only a few examples of this popular style of musical, as it typically re-invents the familiar songs (like in Moulin Rouge) or uses an artist’s creations to tell the story of their life (like in Beautiful, The Carol King musical).
Why Jukebox Musicals are Popular
With the rise of Jukebox musicals, it’s easy to understand why they are so popular. We tend to prefer the familiar as a genre, and this style typically takes this familiar music and adds a fresh coat to it. Of course, it also helps that musicals have started to branch out into different genres, as they are able to attract listeners of that style in a way that traditional musical music could not.
6. Blends Multiple Art Forms into One Experience
Musicals create a unique opportunity where you get to witness the cross-section of multiple art forms. Art, music, poetry, and design all go into the creation of a musical, so it shouldn’t be a surprise!
Music and Poetry
Music would be the most obvious, since it’s in the name after all! This refers to the soundtrack and backing music that goes into each production. The instrumentals of the song are structured to emphasize the emotions of characters (we’ll discuss that further in a later point).
Of course, there’s also lyrics that go along to make these songs. Here is where poetry comes into play, as it takes a creative touch to write the lyrics for songs. This typically expands into writing the storyline and overarching narratives.
Art
Art is present in many of the things we see on stage: sets, props, and costumes. Someone had to envision and bring to life everything seen on the stage. Finally, lighting is another art form present. Though on the more technical side, it’s still a critical piece of the artistic vision. Lighting affects the way we see the characters, and different shades of light are designed to evoke different emotions.
All of these art forms are necessary for a successful musical, as they help to accentuate and grow the emotions of the characters on screen.
7. Musicals for Every Stage of Life
Musicals feature a variety of characters from different backgrounds and stories. It’s easy to find a story that you can relate to. Modern musicals come from a range of cultures and ethnic backgrounds. This diversity has been on the rise within the musical scene for several years now.
Lin Manuel Miranda is the most well-known of these artists, with productions like In the Heights and Hamilton, which both feature non-white leads.
Relatable
Furthermore, there’s also a range of characters undergoing situations. Some are simple and others are more complex, some are light while some can be very dark. But most importantly, there are situations that everyone can relate to or comfortably acknowledge as familiar. This can help people feel less isolated when they themselves are going through these situations, and they feel like they have characters and songs to turn to that capture the raw emotions.
8. Music as an Expression of Emotion
Music as a medium has always been used to express emotions in ways that words, by themselves, are unable to. Many musicals involve emotionally charged songs, such as “Michael in the Bathroom” from Be More Chill, “You Will Be Found” from Dear Evan Hansen, and “ On My Own” from Les Miserables. All of these use a combination of the instrumental music and lyrics to build on the emotions of the characters, complete with builds and falls of the instruments according to the emotions of the lyrics at given points.
How Do They Do It?
We use these songs to relate to our own life. “Michael in the Bathroom” describes the awkward situation of being at a party alone. “You Will Be Found” is a student’s speech following the suicide of a classmate. “On My Own” describes the heartbreak of unrequited love.
So, fans of these songs are often able to relate to the emotions or situations depicted in songs like these in ways that many non-musical songs don’t always reach. While the situations themselves may be quite specific, the emotions are often shared between people of all ages and backgrounds. This helps add in to a community aspect, which will be discussed more in a later point.
9. Songs Have a Specific Intent
Unlike most popular songs that top the charts, music from musicals has a particular intent and tells a singular story. All of the songs are used as part of the story-building process, so they tend to be more loaded and narrative.
The introductions in particular are typically loaded with expositional content, such as, “Road to Hell” in Hadestown, where Hermes, the narrator, introduces each character in the show or “Magic To Do” from Pippin, which follows a similar pattern of introducing everyone from the show.
Following the introductions, songs from musicals are written with a specific intent. They are used to accomplish motion within the plot, to move characters around, express motivation and action, or otherwise influence characters and storylines.
For example, consider “Miss Baltimore Crabs” from Hairspray, where we learn about Velma Von Tussle’s history, “Tango: Maureen” from Rent where two characters discuss a mutual love interest. These all set out with a specific goal or point to express to the audience, as is clear from the subject matter that they discuss.
Of course, one of the more emotionally gratifying reasons why we love musicals is the community that creates a sense of belonging among peers. Overall, musicals tend to value acceptance of all people, as most clearly displayed in Rent. As a society we long for that acceptance and belonging that comes with being involved in any group of people.
It’s the same community ideals between sports fans, movie fans, and book fans- the sense of feeling at home with people who share interests with you. In this way, musicals foster a community where people are able to express their passion for musicals, or even one specific musical, and have that passion reciprocated.
Our Suggestion
So, are you ready for the first Escape Room Musical? Tickets are on sale now for The Greatest Freakshow. Experience all the feels and get ready to be belting out our performers’ songs all the way home! It’ll give us another reason why we love musicals!
For family-friendly, light-hearted fun, check out The Greatest Freakshow. As the newest members of Xunder’s oddity troupe, it’s up to you to save the circus from the spell of an evil mermaid. This escape room even features musical elements for a fun and engaging experience to play with children.
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Mentioned Experiences
As Oddities in Xunder’s new sideshow act, you must stop the evil Mermaid Atina from stealing the show with her siren song.
$39.99 Per Player
You have 60 minutes to escape, at $39.99 per person plus tax. At a minimum of 1,000 square feet of playing space, this theme is sure to provide a thrilling adventure. The Greatest Freakshow is three times larger than the average escape room experience. Most importantly, however, all bookings are private.
Trap Door Escape Company
Trap Door Escape Room has 4 locations: 3180 Route 611 in Bartonsville, PA in the Poconos; 60 White St. in Red Bank, NJ; 34A Speedwell Ave. in Morristown, NJ: and 77 Wind Creek Blvd in Bethlehem, PA. The Red Bank location was the first of the 4 locations, opening in the fall of 2015. Morristown followed in the summer of 2017, and Bartonsville opened during the holiday season of 2018. Wind Creek is currently undergoing construction and will be opening in September 2022.
History
The idea came to Tone Purzycki back in 2011 after he wrote a screenplay that developed into a live-streaming game. The game revolved around an actor trapped in a situation and the audience had to solve puzzles to figure out where he was trapped. The “Find Me Event” had more than 1,000 people playing over the course of several hours. After the success of several other streaming events, the idea of an escape room was born.
Location
Each location has different rooms from which to choose. Our Morristown location is home to Day of the Dead, Witch Hunt, and The Greatest Freakshow. In Bartonsville, you’ll find Cure Z, F5 Tornado Escape, Fear the Bogeyman, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, We’re All Mad Here, and Prisoner Z. In Red Bank we currently have Everest – our first 2 story escape room. Ripper of London is also available at this location. Our pirate themed games will soon be open at Wind Creek.
Trap Door Escape Room also offers team building, streaming events, and birthday parties. For more information on any of our games, prices, and locations, explore our website or call 570-234-3366