My Top Fifteen Songs From Musicals! (Part One)

I love musicals, though sadly I don't get to see them as often as I like. The best place to see musicals in the UK is London, but it's just so expensive. That doesn't stop me from listening to the music, though! And I listen to it a lot.

I was going to make a top ten list of my favourite songs from musicals, not only to share my love of musicals but also to try and showcase some of the lesser known musicals out there, but as I was compiling my list I realised I couldn't narrow it down to just ten songs, so instead I have fifteen! 

This post is the first of three, so without further ado, here are the first five of my top fifteen songs from musicals!

(These are in no particular order, I just love them all!)

Home - Beauty and the Beast

I mentioned a little while ago that Beauty and the Beast is my all time favourite film, and the music from the Broadway production is just gorgeous. Sadly I've never seen the musical, but I'd love to. If I'm perfectly honest I love pretty much all the songs from this musical (in fact I love pretty much all the songs from all the musicals I'll be mentioning!) but this one in particular is very special to me.

People Will Say We're in Love - Oklahoma!

Contrary to what I just said, this is probably the one musical on this list whose soundtrack I've never listened to in its entirety. I should really get on that! This song is so much fun, and to be honest it's on this list purely for Hugh Jackman the lyrics: "Don't stand in the rain with me; people will say we're in love", which I think are beautiful.

The Cat and the Moon - The Lord of the Rings

This is a really, really fun song! If you're a fan of folk music that gets people dancing and you haven't listened to this song then you need to listen to it right now. Now, go on!

Shadowland - The Lion King

This is the one musical in part one that I have actually seen! My parents took me to London when I was ten years old, which was very exciting for someone who'd never been before; while we were there we decided to see a show and my parents let me pick one, so, being the Disney lover that I am, I obviously chose The Lion King. And it was amazing. In fact I really want to go and see it again. 

This song is gorgeous - I love that there's more of Nala in the musical than there is in the film - and it's stunning live, too. If you ever get the chance to see this show then you have to see it!

Some Things Are Meant To Be - Little Women

We finish part one with a more melancholy song, but it's still beautiful. I love the story of Little Women, and it's just as great in musical form!

I've always had a fondness for Beth because I played her in an amateur dramatic production of Little Women when I was eighteen, but a lot of the time I think she's seen as a tool for Jo's story (which, in some ways, she is). I love this musical because each of the sisters is given a voice, and this song in particular does a wonderful job of expressing the love that Beth and Jo feel for each other. I have two sisters myself, and this song just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and sad.

I'll be back soon with the rest of my list!

J.

What's Up Wednesday! | 04/06/14

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk as a way for writers and readers to stay in touch!

What I'm Reading

I feel like this past week has flown by, it feels like only yesterday I was writing last week's WUW post, and as a result I haven't done any reading this week. I'm still in the middle of Deadline by Mira Grant, somehow I just haven't found the time to read!

What I'm Writing

Today I'm working on more of my novel, but these past few days I've actually been returning to a few pieces of short fiction and some poetry! There's a couple of competitions I'd like to enter - I want to get more of my writing out there! - and there are quite a few short stories lying unfinished in my documents folder that I'd really like to finish. Some of them have been there for over a year!

What Inspires Me Right Now

Yesterday I spent more time than I should have on Pinterest. I love gathering story inspiration there, in fact I have a board for my novel that I fill with pictures and photographs - it's a lot of fun!

Also, shout out to Pinterest who, when I searched for pictures of a noose, put a phone number and website at the top of the page for anyone who might be considering suicide. I know a lot of websites probably do that now, but it still makes me glad when I see it there.

(Don't worry, I'm not suicidal - there were just a lot of nooses in the 16th century!)

What Else I've Been Up To

This week I have not one, but two cinema trips to tell you about!

Last Thursday I went to see Maleficent with a couple of friends, and to be honest I had a very similar experience seeing this as I did to seeing Godzilla: I can't decide how I feel about it yet. I was really hoping for a story that was about a villain that was evil because she liked being evil, I'm a little bored of villains being 'misunderstood'.

That being said there were some elements of the film that I really enjoyed, and even if the story isn't the most original I've seen you should definitely see it for Angelina Jolie's performance. She was a fabulous Maleficent.

Then on Saturday one of my friends came to visit me. We went to Bella Italia for dinner - I had the most amazing cheese and chicken pasta dish that I would have taken a picture of if I hadn't been starving - and then we went to see the new X-Men film. I enjoyed it, but I think I like X-Men: First Class just a little more.

I also recently heard Channing Tatum has been cast as Gambit, and I'm not impressed. Gambit's always been one of my favourites and I'm still not over the fact that he wasn't in the original films. Hopefully Tatum will surprise me with a Gambit-worthy performance.

I've had a very nostalgic week, too. After we went to see X-Men, my friend and I decided to watch The Road to El Dorado; it's one of those films I always seem to end up watching with her, and we know it that well that I'm pretty certain we can quote the entire film at each other. Then I discovered that it's 14 years old this year!

On Monday I made another one of my friends sit down and watch The Lion King because she had a Disney-deprived childhood, and that's when I remembered that The Lion King came out in 1994, making it 20 years old this year. I feel so old!

What's new with you?