Ten Broadway musicals you can watch at home (part 1)

Source: Memory (Reprise) Cats the Musical, Cats the Musical | YouTube

In the past, it was rare for a Broadway show to be filmed live but now it’s slowly becoming more common today which is great news for Broadway fans and potential spectators. If you can’t come to New York, fear not. There is a growing list of shows that are available to you wherever you are in the world and given our current viral predicament, this is a good thing.

If you need a break from watching Netflix or Disney Plus and you want a different twist to your viewing pleasure, here is part one of the top ten Broadway shows you can watch from the comfort and safety of your own home while waiting for the Coronavirus to blow over.

Cats

One of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterpieces and once the longest-running Broadway musical. Cats is based on a poetry book by T.S. Eliot about well, cats. The musical features iconic costumes and set pieces designed by John Napier. The choreography by the amazing Gillian Lynne, and the makeup by the legendary Candace Carell. This is where the iconic song ‘Memory’ originated, one of the most famous songs to come out of a Broadway musical in the last half-century.

You can stream Cats on Amazon Prime and BroadwayHD.

Falsettos

The 1992 musical by James Lapine and William Finn actually started off as a combination of earlier one-act shows, Falsettoland and March of the Falsettos. The musical is about a gay man trying to maneuver between his relationships with his ex-wife, his child, and his boyfriend in a 1980s New York where this situation is all but ordinary.

Falsettos is available to stream on Amazon Prime and BroadwayHD.

Billy Elliot The Musical

The story is about a boy in a quaint British town who is more inclined to do ballet than boxing which is frowned upon by his honest and conservative community. Elton John and Lee Hall’s Billy Elliot the Musical opened on London’s West End and became a smash hit winning ten Tony Awards and four Olivier Awards.

You can watch Billy Elliot the Musical on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Google Play, and iTunes.

Into the Woods

Stephen Sondheim’s 1986 Into the Woods is one of the most-produced stage plays in schools and local theaters across the globe and has been popular even before Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, and James Corden made it popular in the big screen. The hodge-podge of fairytales breaks the glass ceiling of the conventional ‘and they lived happily ever after’ and has added layers to the conventional telling of fairytales.

Into the Woods is available on YouTube, Google Play, and Amazon Prime.

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Another Stephen Sondheim hit, but this time he’s partnered up with Hugh Wheeler to create Sweeney Todd. Many people who have seen it consider it as one of Broadway’s masterpieces and there’s a reason why. The original Broadway production won eight Tony Awards on multiple categories. The show is about the gruesome, ghastly, and brutal tale of revenge with human flesh as its main course. If you loved the Tim Burton-Johnny Depp-Helene Bonham Carter film triumvirate, you will surely love the musical as well.

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is available on DVD from Amazon.

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