Fierce Fangirl Friday: MUSICALS!

Hello, fellow fangirls (or boys) of the internet!

Fierce Fangirl Fridays are put on by the wonderful and lovely Jackie @ Too Much of a Booknerd. If you’re not following her already, seriously, go do it, because she’s amazing. Now, what is Fierce Fangirl Fridays? Basically, it’s where you fangirl/boy over anything – that’s right, each week you pick a different thing you’re fangirling about the moment and JUST RUN FREE WITH THE FEELS. Only rule? Just pingback to her post here! It’s so easy that it hurts. 😄

It’s probably no surprise for you guys to find out that I love musicals (after all, I have a whole post fangirling about Hamilton), but I never really cared much for musicals before?? And now that I’ve sunk into that hole discovered them, I can’t STOP LISTENING TO THEM.

Musicals are great because they tell stories through songs. Which is an awesome change from all the trashy pop music going around! (Noah Fence to anyone.) And the story lines are usually awesome: take Heathers. It starts off as your everyday high school drama, but ends up into a murder mystery/kill everyone sort of thing. It also deals with lots of problems, like suicide, psychopathy, and depression, along with general murderous tendencies and what to do if you have them. 🙂

So, for this post, I planned on listing some of my favourite musicals and FANGIRLING ALL OVER THEM BECAUSE NONE OF MY FRIENDS LISTEN TO THEM AND I AM IN SEVERE NEED OF A FELLOW FANGIRL. 

Heathers

I already mentioned this in the intro – that’s becaUSE IT’S SO AMAZING WHAT THE HELL??? I saw the movie first and it was love at first sight.

THE CHARACTERS. They’re all so well-written and executed! Veronica Sawyer is just the typical teenager wanting to get through high school and actually make something out of it. Heather Chandler is a (in the words of Veronica) mythic bitch. Heather Duke doesn’t really have a discernible personality… but she looks up to H. Chandler a lot! And Heather McNamara is the misunderstood one. Also, Jason Dean. I listened to all his songs on repeat because he’s such an awesome character. He has serious anger issues, and a bad tendency to deal with problems by killing everyone. His songs (Freeze Your Brain, Our Love is God, I Am Damaged) are all so deep and meaningful and I cry.

Much of “Heathers” is about is taking the American High School Experience™ and pushing it to extreme possibilities. In Westerburg High School members of the mean girl clique are so identical they have the same names, profanity is incredibly violent, and the status quo means more than basic human decency. ‘Course, I can’t relate, but it’s still hilarious! (And sad. Oh, so, so sad.)

Also SPOILER ALERT: it has an amazing ending. Usually, musicals end with the guy and girl getting together, right? Not this one. Veronica gets the one person she’s needed her whole life: a true friend. #girlfriendship

the Heathers

Dear Evan Hansen

Okay, so I was a bit wary about this one at first: it seemed overrated and cliched. Let me tell you: IT IS NOT.

The songs are full of emotion, and very relatable. The show is basically about experiencing life and how we make it through both the good and the bad (deep). The music is so hopeful and heart-warming (Waving Through a Window; For Forever) – but there’s lots of fun numbers, too (Sincerely, Me; Sincerely, Me (Reprise); To Break in a Glove).

The musical deals with lots of heavy topics, too – specifically, anxiety and suicide. Evan (the MC, if you couldn’t tell by the name) has a social anxiety disorder, and he’s left to face the repercussions of a classmate’s death. Deep.

AND THE ACTORS ARE AWESOMEEEEEEEE. I mean, Ben Platt is the literal best. (He’s the guy who played Benji in Pitch Perfect, by the way.) Evan and Zoe have such great chemistry??? You can literally tell through the cast recording.

these adorable cinnamon rolls.

The Lightning Thief

PERCY JACKSON HAS A MUSICAL.

Just. Let that sink in.

I love PJO – when I found out it had a full musical, I screamed. I literally screamed. It’s just so?? Unbelievable??? I was still apprehensive of it, because, you know – the movies were a huge disappointment. But then I heard the cast recording and OH MY GODS.

Let’s start with the songs. They are exactly how I would have imagined, and more. I loved “Another Terrible Day” (sung by Mr. D, who else), and “D.O.A.” (sung by Charon! Yeah, that guy on the boat in the Styx). “My Grand Plan” was a pretty great song, too – it had all of Annabeth’s flaws, insecurities, and reasons why she wanted to make it big. ❤

The ACTORS. The actors. Chris McCarrell is Percy Jackson. Literally, he is Percy. Nobody could be better suited for the role or capture the complexities of the character quite like he does. Check him out yourself here if you don’t believe me, and get ready to become absolutely obsessed. I could easily write a whole post about how why Chris is the greatest, but I’ll spare you. For now… And George Salazar is amazing, as well! He plays Grover and Mr. D (weird combination), and is literally the funniest guy ever. He completely captures the essence of both the characters.

It’s also completely true to the book. Unlike some other movies I might mention…

LOOK AT THEM THEY’RE LITERALLY THE TRIO. 

Be More Chill

So this is based off of a book by Ned Vizzini, which had been on my TBR for a while. I read the book, loved the book, re-read the book, and listened to the musical.

Here’s a short summary: Jeremy Heere is a Nerdy Nerd™, but he wants to be cool (chill?). So he buys this illegal thing (this is where the problems start) called a “squip” (Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor). It’s from Japan! It’s a grey, oblong pill! Quantum nano-technology CPU! The quantum computer in the pill will travel through your blood until it implants in your brain and it tells you what to do! (Yes, I just quoted “The Squip Song”.)

Speaking of the songs, they’re SO. CATCHY. The thing about villain songs being the best? The squip may be an evil supercomputer, but damn can it sing. “The Pitiful Children” is amazing. His other songs are awesome, too (Be More Chill, parts one and two). Also, can I talk about the adorable friendships/relationships?? Jeremy’s best friend is Michael Mell (it’s all in the song “Two Player Game”), and they’re literally the cutest ever. A part of me low-key ships them.

AND GEORGE SALAZAR. He’s also in this musical! He plays Michael, and he plays it well. His rendition of “Michael in the Bathroom” made me cry so much 😦 . Will Connolly plays Jeremy, and ERIC WILLIAM MORRIS is the squip. No I’m not in love with a psychopathic computer why would you say that

dance moves on point

Aaand that was my post for Fierce Fangirl Friday! It was fun 😀 Sometimes, you just need to let everything out.

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DO YOU LOVE MUSICALS??? If so, what’s your favourite musical? Have you heard any of the ones I mentioned today? Do you randomly start singing/dancing in the middle of a conversation??? I NEED SOMEONE TO FANGIRL WITH.