Why Musicals Matter

"I'll eat some breakfast and then can change the world" 

Musicals have always mattered to me, since I was a small child. I have always loved watching the classics like My Fair Lady and Singin' In The Rain but it wasn't until I turned thirteen that I had enough knowledge and emotional connection to say that musical theatre was my passion. 

That's why I decided to go to The National School of the Arts, to get further theatrical training and then later on, go study musical theatre. I tried for years to move away from this love, of course, like most theatre kids - I was told that it was practically hopeless and that I would probably be starving most of the time - but, in the midst of all of my anxiety, musical theatre always brought me back home, where my true happiness lay. 

So what is it about this that makes me say that it matters? Just because of one awkwardly tall, big mouthed girl's feelings? No. 

From the very beginning, theatre has always been used as an outlet to comment on society. Even Oedipus Rex had something important to say, although many of us today simply think of the incestual relationship within the play and cringe. Theatre has always been there to mirror life. 

Then came this thing called a musical (with song and dance and sweet romance!). It included songs and musical interludes, along with some speaking and acting that would casually turn to dancing within a few seconds. Some dismiss this art form and call it unnecessary, well, quite frankly - those people are absolutely wrong. 

In terms of art, musical theatre fuses every single art form and puts it together into one big spectacle of expression. It gives life to every piece of creativity one could imagine and makes it all fit together in one beautiful representation of life itself. 

Sure, people don't burst out into song every five seconds, with a full piece orchestra playing in the background (here's looking at you, Les Miserables) but then again, people don't really have to choose between dating a werewolf and a vampire, not everything that we watch has to be realistic. In fact, in my opinion, realism is one of the most boring genres of writing and I detest acting in that style. Musical theatre provides that much needed escapism that the public craves. 

Not every musical is jolly and lively however, musicals like Next To Normal painfully discuss the stories surrounding mental illness and pieces like West Side Story (although filled with catchy tunes and loveable villains) truthfully portray the struggles faced by immigrants. That's what makes musicals so versatile, there's one for every mood and that's what makes them so beautiful, they adapt to the people who watch them. 

Musical theatre provides you with the best social education anyone can hope for, this art form shows you the lessons, rather than forces you to read them at 3AM because the school system is flawed. I mean, take Newsies as an example - I had never even heard of the 1899 News Boys Strike before I watched the show and it provided some more interesting information into a narrative that wouldn't have been truly complete without that missing puzzle piece. Or a musical like Hamilton, personifying the founding fathers of America (as problematic as they are...) and providing the audience with a history lesson, whilst being surrounding by some really wonderfully clever hip hop hooks and raps. Or lastly, a musical like Something Rotten that literally makes Shakespeare the coolest person on the planet, it completely destroys any notion that you had on the Bard from school - it gives you some literary inspiration and gives you a fun educational experience, catchy songs and a crush on Christian Borle plus a ton of Shakespearean references to use at bars. 

And lastly, it brings people together and I think that's what matters to me the most. Musical theatre is a unifying art form that is as inclusive as it is powerful. Everyone is welcome on Broadway and that's what I love about it. Everything and anything goes, the only thing that keeps it there is hard work and talent, not money or whiteness. It's a place where everyone has a spot, backstage or in the spotlight and that's what the world needs. 

"It's such a delight, there's nothing quite like a musical!" 

- Mila Brkic 

Theatrical Romanticism & Why Mankind Needs It

Theatrical Romanticism - Necessary or Superfluous?

 

As a Dramatic Arts student, I am exposed to a great deal of playwrights. The playwright that comes to mind when I begin to wonder about the Romantic Movement is, none other than, Victor Hugo. The man famously known for creating the beautiful and undeniably tear-jerking Les Miserables. Then my mind begins to challenge my association - how is Victor Hugo possibly a literary romantic when Les Miserables is desperately sad and grim?

Theatrical romanticism is defined as ''An idealistic fantasy exploring human emotion, dreams and control''. Victor Hugo's works do fit under this general definition. But why? Well, Les Miserables is riddled with emotion - hope, love, fear etc. It also provides an untarnished, unchanged view of war. It accurately documents the smaller revolutions occurring in post-revolution France. These reasons sound like realism to me, so why is Les Miserables then classified as a romantic piece?

To put it bluntly, the revolutionaries are glorified - having been portrayed as dreamers, innovators and great thinkers, readers in the modern era are left thinking that these young men were martyrs for the cause when actually their deaths did not achieve much and their beliefs of equality were hardly inclusive. Jean Valjean's unfortunate daughter Cosette is also unflinchingly annoying - not doing much and yet receiving the most out of all of the characters. Because of Victor Hugo's narrative, readers see her as a symbol of love, I see her as a symbol of entitlement. She has been romanticized, just like the Revolutionaries.

So why do we need stories like this? Why do we feel the way we do about Hugo, Goethe and Lessing? When we know that they were in some ways, liars? We need them because they shield us away from the harsh realities of the world. They give us something to believe in, something to hope for.

The realistic part of my psyche is screaming at me whilst I write this, demanding to know why I am encouraging the sale of false dreams. I am encouraging it because I believe in people and I believe in happiness. Romanticism provides happiness for people. It's that glorified album that we love, it's the Jennifer Lawrences of this world, the paintings that leave out the poverty and paint the sky that keeps the world turning. It is these seemingly false images that keep us satisfied.

The realist in me agrees that people will always need some sort of comfort. The romantic in me provides it.

- Mila Brkic, 2016.