525,600 showtunes

By Gwen Tuxbury
Collegian Editor
March 22, 2006

When someone is asked to choose a favorite genre of music, Broadway show tunes are not the typical response. In fact, that response generally incurs laughter and the pointing of fingers. I love musicals, but why do I feel such hesitation in admitting this?

Maybe because one of the immediate associations with the term “show tunes” is Rogers and Hammerstein. I blame these two “geniuses” for the negative connotation attached to shows. Although my mother would strongly disagree, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, The Sound of Music, and Oklahoma! are not fantastic examples of the glory that is Broadway. Thirty-four Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, two Grammy Awards and two Emmy Awards don’t count for much, right?

Rogers and Hammerstein cannot compete with a show currently on Broadway, Avenue Q, involving puppets of men, women and fuzzy monsters singing songs about unemployment, racism, sexuality and the ultimate meaning of life—not to mention the fact that Gary Coleman is the superintendent of the characters’ apartment complex. This show consists of such upstanding, genuine ballads as “If You Were Gay,” “I’m Not Wearing Underwear Today,” and one of my personal favorites, “What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?”

My point here is that Broadway has clearly changed, and my love of show tunes does not necessarily mean that my hills are alive with the sound of music (that was as cheesy as those shows, I apologize).

Musicals have the versatility of either tackling social issues or merely entertaining an audience with dancing, instruments and harmony. I find rap to be monotonous, and classical just plain boring. Musicals can be energetic or soothing, serious or not, and that variation can exist in one single song or from show to show. Moreover, the vocal talent is amazing. Chris Carrabba, lead singer of Dashboard Confessional, would never be suitable and that is reason enough to like show tunes. Aside from everything else, though, the music is just so damn catchy.

In an effort to gather other opinions on the negative connotation assigned to Broadway show tunes, I interviewed a junior Communication student who wishes to remain anonymous, but who I shall refer to as “M.G.”

G.T.: Do you like musicals?
M.G.: Yes.
G.T.: Do you like to admit that you like musicals?
M.G.: I don’t mind it.
G.T.: True or false – You were singing the song, “Take Me or Leave Me,” from the musical Rent so loudly in Backstage the other day that other people were telling you to stop.
M.G.: Very true.
G.T.: Clearly you don’t mind. Do you listen to musicals on your iPod while walking to the Com Center?
M.G.: Well, my iPod is broken right now.
G.T.: You’re useless. Anyway, have you ever been caught singing a musical really loudly in the car?
M.G.: This can be off the record, but weren’t you with me that one time?
G.T.: … oh yeah.

I’ll admit, it’s awkward iPod music—you can’t exactly have the cool my-music-is-so-awesome-right-now saunter down the sidewalk when you’re listening to You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. And you can never go up to your friends and say, “This beat is so whack!” with a head nod, smile and a downward sweep of the hand when your headphones are blaring “The Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the Opera. But give musical lovers a little slack, particularly if they openly admit to it.

tuxburyg1@lasalle.edu