Enchanting Show Tunes: Exploring Musical Theater Songs

Are you a music fan? Do you like musicals? Musical theater has always felt enchanting to me. Emotions come to life through the stories and voices that come together to leave a mark in our hearts. Songs from musicals are not only melodies, they are also storytellers. They share with us a character's hopes and dreams and their lifestory. Join me as I share my favorite show tunes and explore this world of songs from stage that have become a part of my life.

My father was the person who introduced me to music. He not only shared his music collection with me, but he also taught me and my sisters how to sing. One genre of music that he loved and played all the time were musicals. I was thinking of my father and thought it would be nice write about songs from my favorite musicals. I hope that if you love musicals that you'd recognize some of the songs on the list!

Back in season 2 of  the Fandesals Podcast one of the episodes featured the topic of musicals. I decided to recycle an old post my other blog to share something related to this topic. The episode on YouTube at the end of this post. I hope you like it! 

I have listened to a lot of musicals since I was a child. I remember my father taught us to sing often. He emphasized the importance of "hangin" (air) for proper breathing while singing.  He often told us to  use air from our diaphragm instead of straining our throats when we sing. It was those lessons that helped me to be able to sing along to these songs without straining myself. 

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

What I love about musicals is that it can be any genre. It can be whatever the writers want it to be. This is likely why even outside of musicals, I tend to have an appreciation of songs of varied genres. I can't tell you how many times people get surprised by the mix of songs on my playlists. It can go pop, classical, hip-hop to country depending on my mood! 

To give an idea of the different styles I like, let me share my playlist of songs from musicals that I enjoy listening to. Here are the songs in my musicals playlist and a bit about them. Enjoy!

My Musicals Playlist

Edelweiss - This is from The Sound of Music, something that I first saw on video when I was still young. I remember as I got older we still watched the movie often and my father would sing this with me as the movie played. I get teary-eyed sometimes when I remember that.

Helpless - This is from the musical Hamilton. I read that the inspiration for this was duets by Ja Rule and Ashanti (which you can tell when you listen to it). This and the song Satisfied, appear in the same scene in the musical. This song from Eliza's point of viewand Satisfied from her sister Angelica. It’s an interesting concept and I enjoyed listening to how it all played out.

Satisfied - You can’t listen to Helpless without listening to Satisfied! I loved the use of hip-hop in this musical and the rap in this one is something I love to (attempt to) sing. It is an amazing track that is even better when you see it live. You can see a live version on YouTube and the full musical on Disney Plus. 

Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) - By itself, this song from Hamilton is already a good one. But something about seeing it onstage is so magical that I had to include this in my favorites. It is so amazing!

I Don’t Know How to Love Him - Another musical my father introduced me to is Jesus Christ Superstar. We used to watch it every Holy Week so by the time I was in high school I could sing the entire thing from memory. This is my favorite because of the way the delivery. You could feel the emotional dilemma the character was going through because of her love for him.

Could We Start Again Please - Another one from Jesus Christ Superstar that I loved. This was  when Jesus had died and Mary and the apostles were mourning him. This was so sad and I can’t help but feel for them whenever I hear it. 

I’d Give My Life for You - I know there are more popular songs in the musical Miss Saigon, but I remember singing this a lot. I may not have a child of my own but I loved the story of it. How the mother wanted to do everything for her child no matter what. This is a good one.

 

Bad Idea - This song is from the musical Waitress. This is a song where the two characters are talking about their feelings for each other but how it's a bad idea. I love how this plays out no matter who performs it. It has such a good exchange and I enjoy listening to it every time I hear it. 

Run Away with Me - This is from the musical The Unauthorized Biography of Samantha Brown. So many amazing male Broadway singers have a version of this. Every single version (even a female version from the composer) gives me the “feels” when I hear it.

If I Didn’t Believe In You - The Last Five Years is a musical turned into a movie starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. I love the emotion that was in this song. I love how Jeremy Jordan performed this so much! My heart broke for the characters when I first heard this.

Head Over Feet - While this is a pop (?) song, this version for the Jagged Little Pill musical is so good that I can’t help but add this to the list. I love that this gives the song a different feel from the original. 

On My Own - Les Miserables is a classic and this song is so heartbreaking, being an unrequited love story and all. It's the unrequited love theme song! I'm sure we all can relate to that feeling at one point in our lives. Of course, the Lea Salonga version is my favorite!

All I’ve Ever Known - Hadestown is one of my favorite musicals. This is one of those songs that made me fall in love with the show. I would love to see this musical one day. I can’t wait until that happens!

Wait for Me - Another one from Hadestown. I love this and I love it even more seeing it on stage. I saw it at an awards show and it was a spectacle to watch. I would love to see this in person one day! I heard that this was staged in South Korea. I hope they do the same for the Philippines as well.

 

First Burn - This is not part of the musical, but it is a version of the song Burn from Hamilton. Not a musical song but musical-adjacent? This is from the various actors who played Eliza Hamilton, the character who sang Burn in the musical. I love the power in this song and I love singing along to it (even if the notes get crazy high and my voice cracks).

Come What May - From the musical Moulin Rouge, this is one of my favorite songs from the movie (and now a Broadway musical). The fact that Aaron Tviet performed it is a welcome bonus!

Journey to the Past - From another movie/Broadway musical, this is one of my favorite songs from the entire thing. Again, another beautiful song that takes me to another world when I hear it.

Falling Slowly - There are so many versions of this song now but I still fall back to this one. I love the soft sound and how the minimal style emphasizes the emotions of the songs more. 

Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful - This is from the musical Cinderella. I have a soft spot for the fairy tale so I had to include this song here. This is the song as they met at the ball, if I’m not mistaken.

Never Enough - An iconic song from the movie musical The Greatest Showman. I can't help but end the playlist with Never Enough by Loren Allred. Again, another song that tugs at your heartstrings when you hear it. It’s such a beautiful song.

I hope that you can check out the songs on this list and let me know if you like them or not. If anyone else is a fan, let me know in the comments and let's exchange our favorites! 

As I mentioned earlier in this post, here is the episode from the Fandesals Podcast on musicals. If you understand Tagalog and you like musicals, you would love this! Wait until the end to get to a funny part of the show!