by Zarabeth, guest blogger

I love Broadway Musicals and when Keira asked me to compile a list it got big really fast - and so I had to break them up into categories. Here you'll find my top five happy, tragic, and both romantic Broadway musicals. I really don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll just give you the gist of what each Broadway is about. You should be able to determine what happens by their category but there you go.

Happy:

These Broadway Musicals are happy, happy, happy. They are cheerful and end with a HEA.

1. Brigadoon: A little village that disappears into the mist and wakes up to find its 100 yrs later, every day. 20^th century hunters come upon the village and one of them falls in love with a village spinster. He must make the ultimate sacrifice of all he knows and cares about to be with her.

2. Sound of Music: A would-be nun is sent to serve as a governess to a widower and his 7 children. Set in 1930s Austria as the Nazi’s take power. Do either of them have the courage?

3. Beauty and the Beast: If this needs explanation please get off the computer and see it.

4. Thoroughly Modern Millie: A ‘modern’ woman comes to 1920s New York to find and marry a rich man to improve her lifestyle and status. She has to choose whether she really wants this high life or wants real love. He has to choose if he wants a committed relationship or to continue being a rover (for my historical romance friends- a rake).

5. Legally Blonde: Musical version of the Reese Witherspoon movie is fun and colorful. We follow Elle through the breakup, the convoluted plan to get him back, the new romance, and her journey to find who she really is.

Tragic:

These Broadway Musicals are beautiful and very tragic.

6. Les Miserables: One of the saddest books I’ve ever read. It is set in Revolution era France. There are many characters worth identifying with, all of them lead difficult lives. It is easy to sympathize with every character and feel sad when unfortunate events occur. There is a lot of faith/religion, moral, and political questions addressed in this Victor Hugo.

7. Aida: A love story between 2 warring nations in ancient Egypt. Both commit treason just by being with each other. Internal conflicts of duty, love, and family obligation lead to quite a few very difficult situations.

8. West Side Story: Romeo and Juliet in 1950s New York. The Capulets and Montagues are the Puerto Ricans and the Americans.

9. Spring Awakening: This is a very new musical and it is very different. The characters are a bunch of high school students in early 20^th century Germany. Lack of sex ed, normal teenage curiosity, suicide and rape lead to quite a bit of pain for every character.

10. King and I: An English teacher/governess to the King of Siam’s 40something children fall in love with eachother. But, with their backgrounds and positions could they ever be together? Other cultural and military dangers also abound.

Both:

These Broadways are classified as maybes, because depending on who the protagonist is the ending is either happy or tragic.

11. Wicked: The Wizard of Oz from a VERY different perspective- The Wicked Witch of the West’s. So it depends on who you are rooting for whether this is happy or tragic.

12. Phantom: Young chorus girl rises to Opera fame with the often disturbing help of a man know only as “The phantom of the opera”- a very real urban myth. She falls in love with her patron and they work to free her from the clutches of the phantom’s obsession. Again, who are you rooting for?

13. Fiddler Little Russian village around the turn of the 20^th century. A father goes about his life as each of his 5 daughters come into their own and marry. Some of the daughters’ stories are uplifting and some are very sad. I love this show but can’t decide which category it should be in.

14. Rent This is a very popular show about a group of young people in their various relationships-highs, lows, AIDS, substance abuse, and death. The main question actually depends on which ending you are using. There are 3 for no reason, as far as I can tell: happily ever after, complete tragedy, and somewhere more realistic in between.

15. My Fair Lady: (Pygmalion.) Rich man takes a poor flower girl and teaches/turns her into a Princess. Palpable sexual tension is often present but the professor is completely closed off. Unsatisfying ending in my opinion leads to the wishy-washy category.

So there you have it, my 15 favorite romantic Broadway musicals. Do you agree with my list or are there others you'd recommend?

Photo Credits: Lisa Andres

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beauty and the beast, Brigadoon, chorus girl, governess, Historical Romance, legally blonde, modern woman, phantom of the opera, reese witherspoon, romance friends, russian village, sound of music, thoroughly modern millie, ultimate sacrifice, urban myth, wicked witch of the west, wizard of oz