Musicals and Desserts

With a recent overriding spark of interest in musicals, I began thinking about the different styles of musicals there are. I discussed this with Adam (also a huge fan of musicals), and we began using desserts as a way to describe musicals. So how is Julie Andrews like a cupcake, and how is Bernadette Peters cheesecake? Follow along in our adventures as I chronicle our choices for musical/dessert pairings.

In our discussion, we concluded there are 6 types of musicals: cupcakes, fruitcakes, pies, cheesecakes, flambe, and pop rocks.

Cupcake Musicals:

These are the most popular musicals. From the reigning kings of cupcake musicals, Rogers and Hammerstein, these are musicals with catchy tunes that can stand on their own. Musicals such as "The Sound of Music," "The King and I," and "Cinderella" all have songs that oftentimes appear in other places and sound perfectly fine by themselves. What makes this collection of music a fantastic musical is how the music is presented, just like cupcakes on one of those cutsie displays. Songs like "I Enjoy Being a Girl," "Getting to Know You," and "Do Re Mi" are each cupcakes on a bigger display. What, you didn't know "I Enjoy Being a Girl" was from a musical? My point exactly.

"I Enjoy Being a Girl" from 'Flower Drum Song'

Fruitcake Musicals:

As unpopular as this dessert is, its musical counterparts do quite well! These musicals are from smashing together popular songs into a musical. From the first talkie "The Jazz Singer," to the film about the first talkies "Singin' in the Rain," to the film that introduced musicals to a new generation "Moulin Rouge!," they're a mash up of various other artists into a new piece of work. It's a little lazy, it can be a bit clunky, but hey! It's a great moneymaker and it makes the masses happy to hear Ewan McGregor cover Elton John. And I bet you would've never heard of "Make 'em Laugh" if it weren't for Donald O'Connor. Which would be a downright shame, now wouldn't it?

"Elephant Love Medly" from 'Moulin Rouge!'

Pie Musicals:

Namely from the genius of Andrew Lloyd Webber, pie musicals are a thing of beauty, only complete when all the pieces put together. The story serves as a crust that holds all its juicy, delightful musical goodness into one delicious piece of art. The songs, unlike cupcake musicals, rarely stand alone. "The Phantom of the Opera," "Jesus Christ Superstar" (yes I know it's actually a rock opera, shhhhhh!!) and "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat" all have gorgeous songs that all play directly into the story. It's hard to appreciate "All I Ask of You" without "The Music of the Night," or the tragedy of "Pilate's Dream" without understand what's going to happen to Jesus and Pilate.

"The Music of the Night" from 'The Phantom of the Opera'

Flambe Musicals:

Admit it, when you get some fancy flambe dessert, you're not thinking about the actual dessert. You're thinking, "Yay, fire!! Yay, booze!!" That's exactly what Fosse's musicals do. Yes the music and stories are great, but it's really about the ol' razzle dazzle. Musicals like "Chicago," "Cabaret," and "All That Jazz" are about the dancing more than anything. The music too is brilliantly put together to be simultaneously nothing about what's going on in the story and everything about what's going on in the story. Think "All I Care About" and "If You Could See Her." By the way, honorable mention to "A Chorus Line" here... I didn't realize until now that it's NOT a Fosse musical.

"All I Care About" from 'Chicago'

Cheesecake Musicals:

My personal favorite, both in dessert and musical: these are the Stephen Sondheims. In musicals such as "Into the Woods," "Sunday in the Park with George," and "Sweeny Todd," it's all about the music. Every part is intricate to both the music and the story, from the leads to the last man in the chorus. It's rich, it's dark, it's a masterpiece. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. You oftentimes can't sing along because it's such difficult work. But by god, you still sit and marvel and the craftsmanship. More often than not, multiple characters are singing multiple melody lines and lyrics. "These Are My Friends," "It's Hot Up Here," and "Your Fault" are all incredibly feats in both composition and performance.

"These Are My Friends" from 'Sweeney Todd'

Pop Rocks Musicals:

And now for something completely different. Brace yourselves, these musicals are fun, funny, and have been known to cause embarrassing moments. Musicals like "Rocky Horror Show," "Reefer Madness," and "Little Shop of Horrors" are like comedies where people are singing... and most likely high on something or other. Stories about aliens in teddies, pot smoking parties, and man-eating plants, everything goes! There's a reason these are cult classics. They're not for the everyday musical crowd... but man they're fun.

"Sweet Transvestite" from 'Rocky Horror Show'

So, where does your favorite musical fit in? Or would you choose another dessert?