12

I’ve not been to a (stage) rock musical… until last week. The local production touched on critically-acclaimed musicals that had the elements of rock music in it. So yes, it was loud and all (a little too loud at certain points that it was difficult to appreciate the lyrics). At the end of the show, I came out of the venue with a little more knowledge about rock musicals. So I thought it would be a good idea to run through some of the numbers and hits from a few of the rock musicals (other than Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’).

I grew up in a different era, so when this song opened the musical that I had watched, I had no clue what the cast members were singing about. Well, at least after watching the musical, I know now that it’s from the musical titled ‘Hair’. In the late-1960s, the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution emerged. The musical discusses these issues. Various songs from ‘Hair’ were referenced to as anthems during the Vietnam War.

Five-hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes, who can forget the infectious opening of ‘Seasons of Love’ from the rock opera/musical ‘Rent’ (1994). There was a remake in 2005. For the younger generation who are proud Glee(k)s, you’ll surely remember the one episode (from the ‘Glee’ series) where the Glee Club came together to do a cover of this song in memory of the late Cory Monteith, who played Finn. In ‘Rent’, the lives of the Bohemians in New York City are put under the spotlight, as they deal with issues like loss and AIDS.

‘Night Letter’ is one of those songs that you can dance to. It’s adapted from Shakespeare’s comedy ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’. The video presented is the closest I could find to the original.

The heat is definitely on in Saigon. A rock opera, it is based on Madame Butterfly. The story begins when a Vietnamese woman meets an American soldier. As of today, Saigon is known as Ho Chi Minh. But of course, many still prefer the city’s old name.

‘Mama Who Bore Me’ is from the rock musical ‘Spring Awakening’, which discusses teenage sexuality. The play by German playwright Frank Wedekind became the basis of this musical, which was first staged on Broadway in 2006.