13 the Musical is one that most people don’t remember or forgot about. It was actually a really good show, especially if you have kids that are around that age and trying to figure out life. The entire cast was made up of teenagers so it was an easy show for them to be able to relate to. The show is also about issues and problems that the teenagers are going through. It could be stress, being bullied, moving to a new city, making friends and avoiding drama. That’s why I like the song A Little More Homework to Do from 13 the Musical. It brings together all of the themes, the issues and story lines from the show and even adults can relate to it with their own lives.
During the song the main characters is being bullied by the Football player, being ignored by his best friend and the weird kid is trying to blackmail him. It’s a song about what he needs to do and how he needs to try harder and also what he did wrong that could have helped to prevent him from being in that position. Almost all of us have felt like we had no friends, we screwed something up or like the entire world is against us.
At work you could feel like everyone is out to get you. In a relationship you could feel like you did something dumb and that is why your partner won’t speak to you. In a social group, you could say the wrong thing, or because someone doesn’t like you they can start rumors or cause issues for you. The song is about issues that teenagers face, but most adults can relate to it as well.
A Little More Homework to Do from 13 the Musical is an awesome showtune that helps you to get motivated and also gets you to think about how you can do things better. It is sort of inspirational because you can use the characters singing to help you pull out of a depression and start fixing whatever is causing you to feel down. A Little More Homework to Do from 13 the Musical can help you with anything from eating disorders to making up with friends or even just help you motivate to get through a work day where you know you are falling behind. A Little More Homework is an awesome showtune and if you haven’t heard it before, it is a great one to listen to. Here is A Little More Homework from 13 the Musical.
Here in DC we seem to have skipped spring and jumped straight to summer. When I came across We Just Had Sex from Passing Strange, I knew right away that I had found a perfectly steamy Broadway song match the weather here. The song is so warm and surreal I that it captivated me right away and made me think of how this weekend I would finally be able to walk around out in the sun without being bundled up. We Just Had Sex from Passing Strange sounds just as dreamy and happy as I feel about the sun coming out and bringing along beautiful weather after the long winter.
Right off the bat, We Just Had Sex from Passing Strange is warm, spicy and inviting, yet at the same time cool and relaxing. The jazzy and tangy intro lets you know that it is going to be fun, funky, and saucy. No time is wasted diving right into the subject matter – people that just had sex and are totally ok with it. I don’t think I have ever heard a song that is so innocent, non-chalant, and even cute about such a sensitive subject. It is this lackadaisical attitude that makes We Just Had Sex from Passing Strange so hilarious.
As soon as the girl kicked off the song with the statement, “we just had sex” I found it impossible not to grin. Her wide-eyed eagerness and frankness in sharing what she had just done, along with her bedhead hair style was just too much for me to watch and keep a straight face. When a song is titled “We Just Had Sex” and opens up with the same lines, you have to wonder where they will take it from there. I was a little worried that they had peaked too early and the humor would fizzle out, but my fears were relieved as soon as the next verse launched with “We just had sex / that’s right all three of us.” While the song becomes increasingly kinky, it always maintains the innocent, unashamed, and non-graphic tone that it opened with. This is because the whole piece seemed to be arguing that sex is natural and not a big deal. As the cast makes clear, they don’t need any feelings of guilt or to make a big deal of it — except for how much fun it was. They just had sex and even though “you might think it’s quite risqué / It’s the European way!”
My favorite part, other than the tune (which is enraging everyone else in the apartment as I keep humming it) was the guitar player who gets caught stroking his instrument’s neck up and down. Yes, I know I said the song was non-graphic…. it is also called “We just had sex” so I was speaking in relative terms. The other highlight of it for me was watching the younger man at center stage in the button up shirt. To give a little context, he is a young American man from 1970’s Los Angeles on his first trip to Europe — and in this song he seems to be blown away with the culture and absolutely loving it. I thought it was great how he was so ecstatic and excited, especially considering how he contrasts with everyone else’s cool and casual attitudes.
We Just Had Sex from Passing Strange had me cracking up intermittently for almost an hour after I saw it. I feel like this is quite a noble achievement, especially considering that the song is less than two minutes long. With its funny lyrics and cool, surreal groove, I am seriously looking forward to putting it on my iPod and going for a stroll under the capital’s cherry blossoms while singing along to the lalala part.
I went to see Hello Dolly at the Fords Theatre in Washington DC the other night and absolutely loved it. You expect Carol Channing to take the stage or Barbara to sing in her NY accent, but instead of having a lead that you would expect, Broadway Veteran Nancy Opel took on the role of Dolly Levi and absolutely killed it! She was amazing! When you have a show where there are no special effects and just props and place it in a small theatre where the lights are basically always on and you can see the audience, you have to rely on acting and talent. That is exactly what Nancy Opel and the rest of the cast did.
Instead of worrying about having a giant flying gown or flying monkeys, they used their ability to act, sing and dance to take an audience of all ages and make everyone pay attention for the entire show. Some of the best characters were Barnabe or Zack Colonna who was perfect at playing a dumpy but cute dimwit and his facial expressions and presence were amazing. You have Nancy Opel who completely stole the role of Dolly Levi and gave it her own twists and made it unique. One thing she also did was take some of the songs and add in her own drops, notes and belting and it sounded perfect. It’s rare to get the sound working perfectly during an entire show, but somehow they did it and pulled it off so that everyone sounded amazing, no one’s voice took over and the entire cast interacted perfectly with each other vocally. One last mention was the taller dancer. You hit every step and did a great job, but you were showing off a bit to much and sort of took away from the other dancers. You were amazing, but you also ruined the routines by trying to hard and really overdoing it with your hands, arms and lines. You should try to fit in so people don’t keep looking over and so that you don’t ruin the routines which were actually extremely well done. Especially when they are at the restaurant in the end.
When I was a little kid I got to see Hello Dolly with Carol Channing in it. Although I didn’t get most of the show, Carol kept me entertained the entire time. Although Nancy did an amazing job as Dolly, I did notice the kids would get slightly bored, but she did eventually bring them back with the added comedy to the show. If you are thinking about going to see Hello Dolly at Fords Theatre and need tickets, don’t pay full price for them. I was able to find discounts at almost 50% off on tickets to Hello Dolly at the Ford’s Theatre by using one of my advertisers. I included a link in the top right section of this post. Just click on the banner and you’ll go to their site. Enter a new username, create a password and enter your zipcode and you’ll instantly have access to discounts on a ton of tickets including shows at the Kennedy Center, Spamalot at the National Theatre, Miss Saigon at Signature theatre and Discount tickets to Hello Dolly at the Fords Theatre. If you don’t live in DC, they have discount broadway tickets in almost every major city and some smaller cities to so check it out to see if they have your city listed.
Tons of people like karaoke and one thing that almost always ends up happening, especially with duets, is someone singing broadway songs for couples, ballads and other showtunes at karaoke nights. It doesn’t matter if you are at a straight bar, a gay bar or anywhere else, if they have karaoke there is probably going to be a showtune somewhere in the book and someone is going to perform at least one of the most popular broadway songs. Here are a list of ten popular broadway songs for karaoke and the shows they are from.
1. Summer Nights from Grease
Everyone knows this one and it almost always gets everyone in the audience singing along. Summer Nights from Grease is probably one of the most popular broadway karaoke songs that people like to sing. It’s fun to sing a long to and almost always in the song list at every club. Besides we go together or hopelessly devoted, Summer Nights from Grease is probably the most sung karaoke showtune and one that will always be around.
2. Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors
Although many straight karaoke bars don’t always have this one, because of the movie that came out a couple of decades ago, this became one of the most popular karaoke showtunes at gay bars, some straight bars and for duets. It is usually available if there is a large enough song book, and you can find it on sale almost anywhere as it is one of the more popular songs. It is another one that people love to sing a long too, but it’s also one that gets annoying and old fast.
3. I Believe from The Book of Mormon Karaoke
This one came out of nowhere. For some reason people started adding I Believe from The Book of Mormon to their karaoke lists and tons of guys are trying to sing it. Not everyone can hit the higher notes in the song, but everyone who loves the show loves to join in and sing a long to their favorite lines. Not only is it funny, but because it is very new it gets everyone excited and laughing if they’ve never heard the song before. This is a definite song to get applause if you can sing and hit the notes and also get everyone laughing, unless they don’t have a sense of humor. I Believe karaoke is definitely one of the newer popular broadway karaoke songs and one that you should definitely add to your playlist if you want to keep broadway people happy.
4. A Whole New World from Aladdin
Whether you are at a gay or a straight bar, someone is going to sing this song if they have it. People love this Disney showtune and now that Aladdin is going to Broadway, we are probably going to hear it even more. This song has been sung to death, beaten and then sung again. People love it because it is a fun one and it is hard to mess up, but it is also one that gets annoying after a while. If you want to sing it, go ahead but you should also try to find one that hasn’t been done a million times over and over again.
5. Seasons of Love from Rent
This song is another one that is old and overdone. I love Rent and definitely sing it way to often, but this song is never done well. It takes a group of people that aren’t tone deaf and although everyone tries it, I have never heard it done well. The song is a lot harder than it sounds and when you’re drunk you think you can do it well…until you hear the recording the next day your sober friends took with their phones.
6. When You’re Good to Mama from Chicago
This is another popular one that has faded. The reason it’s popular is that it is easy to sing and impossible to mess up. The song was extremely popular when the movie version of the show came out and a ton of people will remember it and pay attention when you sing it. A few might join in as well. The song is fun and easy to do which is why everyone likes it.
7. Cabaret from Cabaret
Liza made this one famous and because of it’s fun nature and because you can overact it, it is always a popular one to sing at a karaoke night. Everyone loves it and almost everyone forgets the words. If you mess up and sing the wrong verse, don’t worry, everyone else probably did the same. You can change it to any tone or pitch and the song will still work and sound good. If you over drank so you could get up and sing, the song still works. Cabaret from Cabaret is a classic karaoke showtune that everyone loves and will definitely join in and sing with you.
8. Don’t Rain on My Parade from Funny Girl
This is one of my favorite showtunes to sing at karaoke. Not only is it a hard one, but it is one that always gets people to cheer for you. Even if you don’t do it well, everyone loves to hear it performed and everyone knows how ridiculously hard the song can be to sing. That’s why they always cheer and give you applause for doing this song. It is an amazing song and one that you can turn and make your own extremely easily. Because you can add or change the tone and pitch with most of the song, add scales or even your own inflections, it is extremely hard to mess up, even though the song is hard to do. This is definitely one of the best broadway songs for karaoke and one that always get an applause.
9. Gimme Gimme from Thoroughly Modern Millie
Oddly enough I’ve heard this song done a million times and randomly at different karaoke nights. For some reason there is always someone when you go to a showtunes themed or gay bar that does karaoke that does this song. I actually love this song and love when people do it. I tried it once and failed miserably so I am always excited when I hear someone sing it well. Two other songs that are popular from this show are Forget About the Boy and The Main Theme Song Thoroughly Modern Millie.
10. Any Dream Will Do from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
The reason people always choose do sing this one at Karaoke is because it is very basic. The tune is the same, you can sing off key and it can still work and as long as you can change pitch, you can do a good job. If for some reason you mess this song up, you probably shouldn’t try singing again. This is one of the easiest showtunes to sing and one that is definitely worth trying if you are too scared to go for a harder one.
If you want another list of broadway karaoke songs that are popular, here are a bunch of others.
Don’t Stop Believing – Rock of Ages and Glee
Maybe This Time – Cabaret
There’s Got to be a Morning After – Poseidon Adventure and King of the Hill
On My Own from Les Miserables
Defying Gravity from Wicked
Good Morning Baltimore from Hairspray
I’m Alive – Next to Normal
Ladies Who Lunch – Company
Somewhere Over the Rainbow – The Wizard of Oz
Music of the Night – Phantom of the Opera
Feel free to add your own favorite broadway songs for karaoke by leaving a comment below. You can also buy broadway karaoke cd’s and broadway karaoke mp3s by clicking on the widgets for Amazon and download them. Feel free to also leave a video of yourself singing your favorite showtune or a link to your YouTube Video and I might replace the one from the post with yours. Thank you again for reading and looking forward to hearing your favorite broadway karaoke songs and seeing your videos if you share them.
I’ve heard some tragic songs, but no musical number has ever incited as many emotions in me as You’ll Be a Dentist from Little Shop of Horrors. When I hear this song a flood of painful memories come back to me…. spending most of my adolescence in braces, having my wisdom teeth pulled (on prom night and having to go looking like a chipmunk with a mouthful of acorns) and the worst, my orthodontist dropping a running drill on my lip….let’s just say that You’ll be a Dentist from the Little Shop of Horrors strikes quite a chord in me.
Unlike in this song, my dentists have always been the more sinister, silent type. Personally, I would much prefer Steve Martin’s maniacally violent character in Little Shop of Horrors. I feel like his character possesses a more comprehensible level of sheer insanity, whereas my dentists have just had an eerie intangible creepiness. The song even gives some insight into how he turned out this way, such as recounting his childhood spent terrorizing animals and showing him in his shrine full of mommy issues. To be fair though, I bet he did indeed make his mother proud by taking the dentist route rather than turning into a serial killer.
I really enjoyed how the song develops. Upon hearing the opening with the funky little synth line, I thought that Elvis was going to give us a song about cruising around the country picking up girls on a chopper. Instead, the Dentist Song from Little Shop of Horrors gave me about 2 minutes of a sadistic, yet hilarious, Steve Martin. The majestic and inspirational part of the song that follows the perky synth line gives everything an incredibly upbeat tone, despite the brutality going on throughout the whole thing.
While the entirety of the song was hilarious, my favorite part was definitely when the camera shifts to inside the mouth of the man who is getting drilled. Even though the sound of the drill brought back memories of the horrifying smell of tooth dust and an unbearable sensation in my mouth, watching the writhing tongue made it all worth it. In a close second place was the back and forth “AWWW” between the dentist and his gurgling victim. Although I considered these two bits the highlights, I had no problem watching The Dentist Song from Little Shop of Horrors several times over, and I feel like I got something out of it each time. If you have seen it before and doubt its re-watch value, give it one more try, but this time, pay attention to how he parks his motorcycle this time –I bet you didn’t catch that one before!
You’ll Be a Dentist from Little Shop of Horrors is great because it capitalizes on a deep rooted fear that is present in almost anyone who has ever had a cavity. It is a song of sharp contrast; with violent lyrics and actions, but insanely upbeat lyrics and melodies. However, above all else, it is a hilarious number that pretty much anyone with a sense of humor will love. Even my girlfriend liked it, and she hates donuts, puppies, babies and musicals. Don’t let my favorable review of You’ll Be a Dentist from Little Shop of Horrors make you think it didn’t scare me though – I’ll definitely brush extra well tonight.
