Decades ago, I was observing my father gushing about some musical he watched on the third or fourth channel of some antenna network he could received on his big rabbit ear antenna on the roof of his house. I secretly mocked him for his old man falls in love for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers saga. Here he was in his late 50’s watching a 40 year old musical with fives of other people on an antenna, because he was too cheap to get cable.

Well… What comes around goes around. I’m going to mock myself for the same thing. I don’t have cable either. We use the internet to access television. No, I do not watch old musicals on the television. I go to movie theatre instead. The musicals are not old, they are more recent too. They are awesome, and they blow Seven Brides for Seven Brothers off the stage… The arts have eclipsed what was possible 50-60 years ago.

Some history… As a music teacher and professional I have had the opportunity to play or conduct dozens of musicals. The first musical I played in was Anything Goes. It was a high school production, and I struggled to play the cello part on my euphonium, as I was unaccustomed to playing in the sharp keys. To this day, that experience stays with me. It was a great learning curve. The last musical I was involved in was Young Frankenstein. I got to conduct the pit orchestra for this one, and it was a blast from beginning to end. Conducting anything musical is about connection, creating musical relationships, and a sense of community. I loved conducting, because I had the best seat in the house. It is a great way to facilitate connections.

I have played the following shows more than once: Wizard of Oz, Guys and Dolls, The Sound of Music, Beauty and the Beast, Meet Me in St. Louis, and Anything Goes. I’m sure there are a couple more, but over 40 years they all begin to blend together. Beauty and the Beast is the show I have played the most. I have covered the trombone/tuba book of this show in excess of 40 shows. I still get ear worms from the show, fifteen years or so later.

I have attended many musical performances. Chicago, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, The Full Monty, Rent, Kiss Me Kate, Wicked, Movin’ Out, Jekyll and Hyde, Spamalot, City of Angels, Big Fish, Sunset Boulevard, Joseph and the Amazing Colored Dream Coat, and many others. My favorite musical is Chicago. My least favorite musical is Cats. I am not a fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals for the most part. They just don’t speak to me like a Cy Coleman or Cole Porter musical do.

Since retiring from performing I don’t attend musical theatre or concert performances too much. I primarily don’t want to spend the money to go to the theatre. I would rather devote the cash to vacations that involve my love of baseball. The mystery of stage musicals isn’t a mystery to me. I have been backstage. I’ve collaborated with many actors of all ages. I know how the Defying Gravity scene is accomplished in Wicked. I appreciate the multi-instrumentalists in the pit. If a musical is filmed and released to movie theaters I will attend them. Here is where I mock myself. I’ve become my father. A middle aged man blubbering over fine art of the new generation of composers of musical theatre.

I was reflecting late yesterday that I have seen more movie musicals over the last four years than any other movie genre. Wicked, Hamilton, Hadestown, and that awful Joker film with Lady Gaga. I may go see Into the Heights at our boutique theatre a short drive from my house here soon. I have gushed at how awesome each one of these productions has made me feel. I have laughed, cried, ached, and loved each film production just as my father did watching a televised production of Seven Brides…

Hadestown was the most recent musical. I knew very little about the production before seeing it. I vaguely remember it being about the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. This new setting of Orpheus & Eurydice, also included the myth of Hades and Persephone. The music was diverse and eclectic, but most importantly it was powerful. The message was tragic, yet hopeful… One could apply the metaphors of these myths to modern times. This musical was art personified for the 21st century. Andre de Shields as Hermes pulled me in hook, line, and sinker. Hadestown was aesthetic experience worthy of a ticket to a movie theater. Go see it… I would like to see again.

I have written about Wicked twice before. Cynthia Erivo blows my mind away in her performance of Elphaba. Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda is mesmerizing from start to finish. I have yet to see it live, but the film is remarkable. The musical still makes me quiver emotionally despite watching it numerous times; most recently on Independence Day. There is something magnificent about Miranda’s portrayal of Alexander Hamilton. I have actually started to read Chernow’s biography of Hamilton because of the musical.

Here I am about 25 years later recreating the circle of my father’s bubbling excitement about movie musicals. I have effectively embarrassed myself in the same manner as he did. Or maybe I didn’t. I saw more emotion from my father post 55 than I saw from him pre-55. Maybe there is something about aging that allows oneself to be more expressive about things that move you. Honestly, I do catch myself embracing more emotions now than ever before in my life. I just know that while reflecting about my experience at Hadestown my father’s reaction to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers flooded my memories. My father passed away in 2019 from glioblastoma, but his existence lives on within me thanks to the sappy memories of events long past. Today that sappy memory is a bonding over movie musicals 25 years apart or so. I will say this, “Dad, your taste in musicals is not as good as mine, (insert laughter and slight teasing here.)

I’m poking fun at myself. I’ve recreated the family circle of a middle aged man getting sappy over a movie musical. We both embraced(ing) our emotional selves as we age. Art and music has this way of connecting oneself to our memories and emotions of the past with exquisite clarity. I only wish that everyone could experience that kind of humor, joy, laughter and emotional clarity with your own father 25 years apart across the great divide of life/death. It has been a rich and joyous experience as I celebrate our similarities across the perception of time.

I’m done being sappy and melodramatic. I encourage you to see the limited run of Hadestown in theaters. Rent the Wicked films. Subscribe to the Disney app to watch Hamilton. Go enjoy theatre from the privacy of your own home. If you can afford to, go support local theatre productions, Go see if you can make emotional connections with others. Celebrate the rich experiences together… …so it goes…