Jennifer. J. Chow

Musically Yours

I have a thing for musicals. There’s something riveting about a show that features songs, and I’m very excited to go watch Legally Blonde (yes, there’s also a musical) tonight. My older daughter is actually playing in the pit orchestra for the musical (clarinet and bass clarinet, if you’re interested); it’ll be mostly professional musicians with a smattering of high school students. Here’s her souvenir shirt!

Honestly, I’ve always wanted to act in a musical (despite not being a great singer). I was in drama club during high school and got a part in our poetry-themed production. Go figure. It was called Immersed in Verse, and we all had to memorize entire poems for our “dialogue.” We each played an archetypal character, and I was the rebellious teenaged daughter!

After the performance, one of my classmates came up to me and said she’d heard me speak more during that show than the entire school year. (And you wonder why I became a writer…)

Speaking of writing, I recently learned that I could use musicals to spur my creativity. Thank you, Alexandra Sokoloff, for your story structure book, Stealing Hollywood.

Revelation: Every huge moment in a musical pairs with a song. This encompasses sweeping character emotions and pivotal turning points.

So now I can enjoy my musicals and analyze all those plot happenings set to music. A win-win situation. Let the show begin!

Do musicals inspire you in any way?

46 thoughts on “Musically Yours”

  3. I grew up with Broadway musicals and movie musicals. My heart broke when I moved and had to leave the majority of my cast albums behind.

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  4. I love this, Jen! Three cheers to your daughter! My younger kiddo plays trombone. Last year, he performed in the local civic theater productions of Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Proud parent moments!

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  6. OMG! Musicals are my JAM! I’ve seen scads of them, beginning with my first (1776) that I saw when I was probably 12. Technically, that wasn’t my first, since I’ve seen all the movie musicals, but it was my first live event. Coincidentally, I just saw the remake of 1776 with an all-female/trans, completely diverse cast. Stellar, btw. I’m always a bit amazed when I hear people say they’re not fans of musicals because, as a writer, as you say, Jen, there are layers and layers to them, pairing music to story and theme throughout. My kids too were in the pit orchestras, and I’ll tell you what, when they did Les Mis, it rivaled what we saw in the touring company when it came through Denver that year. Big fan. As to inspiration, I can quote any lyric to fit any situation!

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    1. Woohoo, Becky! (And, ha, I was thrown by the year 1776–like that was the “first” time you saw a musical.) I have not seen 1776 but now I want to! Hooray for your kids–I’m sure they were stellar!

      And wouldn’t it be fun to have a skit or a book with lyrics as dialogue? (Except for those pesky copyright issues… 😉 )

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  7. I grew up near New York City and went to first run performances of several famous musicals: Destry Rides Again, The Music Man and 1776 come to mind. I’m also an opera fan. I remember one day in high school in Manhattan when we were given a choice between going to class or a matinee at the Met to see La Traviata. That was no choice for me! I also had the unique experience of playing as first clarinet for the student production of My Fair Lady. And over the last few years, an opera company has been established in Raleigh, NC. Next week I’m excited to have tickets to Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

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    1. Ah, NYC–so much fun! I was one of those people who would wait in line for last-minute discounted tix. (Those were my college student days…)

      How great that you’re an opera fan! I like them but wish I knew more languages.

      Enjoy Porgy and Bess!

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    2. Ooh, Tom … jealous! I’ve never seen Porgy and Bess live, but would love to. The only classical opera I really know is the Marriage of Figaro because we studied it in depth in college. I’m trying to organize hubs and me enough for a trip to the Santa Fe Opera, which I hear is primo.

      Enjoy!

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  9. I LOVE musicals! I tend to pay more attention to things on TV or at a public event if there is music involved. I am thrilled for your daughter to be in the orchestra tonight. I wish her all the best, and I hope above all that she has FUN!
    I was given the opportunity to see Hamilton in London several years ago. It was an experience I will always remember. Have a great time tonight!
    Carol

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  10. Jen, how much do I love this post? Huge congrats to your daughter–what a thrill for all of you. I played clarinet also…but I do not recall any orchestra audition invites, ha. I love musicals, though it’s a long time since I’ve been (yes, even though I lived in NYC more than 20 years). My first Broadway show was Fiddler on the Roof for a junior high field trip. I played Liesel von Trapp in a summer camp production of the Sound of Music. I was the shortest of all the kids, so when we lined up to the Captain’s whistle, I didn’t exactly look 16. Have fun at Legally Blonde (like that’ll be hard)?

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  11. Congrats to your daughter! I’m inspired by music in general. Apparently, I didn’t have stage presence and couldn’t sing well, but I found a place in the orchestra pit.

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  12. What a wonderful post! I love musicals too–they are magical–and am often belting out various soundtracks in the car. 😉

    Congratulations to your daughter (wow!) and applause too for your theater performances. Have a wonderful time at the show!!

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    1. Isn’t that the best part, Cyn? Belting out the songs? (My kids love memorizing lyrics. They have the Hamilton songs down pat. And sometimes my older one will randomly start singing different Broadway tunes.)

      Yay! I’ll be enjoying the show with some family & friends!

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  13. Jen, we share a passion for musicals. Be jealous: growing up in NY, when I was a kid, my parents would take me to previews. I saw all the OG casts of the Sondheim musicals, plus Pippin, etc. I was at the final perf of HAIR. Then when I was doing theatre in NY, I had friends join the casts of various musicals, so I got to go to their free dress rehearsal before taking the stage.
    To this day, the Tonys are my Superbowl!

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    1. The Music Man! I’m grateful for all the recorded performances (and movies), which is sometimes how I get to see shows. Hurrah for PBS for providing recordings that I loved watching as a kid!

      (And Les Miz is so lovely, dramatic, and moving!)

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  15. I adore musicals–as well as opera–because of exactly what you said,Jen–that they combine words, music, and visuals to fully express human feelings and actions in the most emotionally charged way possible. (My favorites: West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Tosca, Die Walküre).

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  16. I really enjoy musicals as well. I got to be in a couple in college. I was just in the party scene in Sound of Music, but I had the important, plot hinging part of First Man in Fiddle on the Roof. You know, the first speaking character without a name. (It was a horse.) The towns people are actually a huge part of that musical, so I was in several scenes, sang in some of the songs, did the bottle dance (always the scariest part for me since I broke bottles during rehearsal), and generally had a great time.

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        1. Other productions may have a trick to it, but we used real bottles. It was a college production, so maybe we didn’t get all the information we should have.

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  17. I have loved musicals since I saw the first one at my father’s theaters and then later live. Hubby Dearest does not like musicals. Anyway, when “West Side Story” came out, I saw it 17 times since my father managed the theatre. He finally told me that I could not see it another time as my grades were suffering.. I was in 7th grade. I can still sing every song and repeat the dialogue. I did not like the new version at all. There are so many great ones out there and I was lucky enough to many stars in person such as Yul Brynner in “The King and I” among others.

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  19. I loooooooooooove musicals–and I double-love that Legally Blonde is one! (My favorite thus far: Spamalot.) HUGE congrats to your daughter!!

    That is so cool about the musical numbers corresponding to, basically, beats in the play. I think I’ll start doing the same with my life and break into song at significant moments! (Cue the tuning pipe!)

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  20. So excited for your daughter. Congrats, proud mama!
    I love musicals, too, Jen! We got to see the traveling Broadway production of Spamalot in at the Orpheum in Memphis. We had great seats — and it was so much fun!!

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