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Get ready to hum along as we spotlight the musicals that have etched their unforgettable tunes into pop culture history. From Broadway blockbusters with show-stopping numbers to cult classics loaded with earworms, these shows are sure to keep you singing. Did your favorite melody-packed musical make the cut? Share the songs that never leave your head in the comments!
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00:00I'll be either dead or dreamin', cause look at that paint with my face beamin'.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the musicals that will
00:10furrow into your brain and never leave. For this list, we'll be excluding jukebox and
00:15Disney musicals, film or stage. Sorry, Gene Kelly and ABBA fans.
00:20But what can I say? Rules must be obeyed.
00:27Number 10. The Sound of Music
00:30Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. When you read, you begin with
00:40A, B, C. When you sing, you begin with Do, Re, Mi.
00:46In true Rodgers and Hammerstein fashion, this score is packed with unforgettable music.
00:52From its epic opening and Do, Re, Mi to the now Christmas standard, My Favorite Things,
00:56This musical score is nothing short of classic. There's also the soaring Climb Every Mountain,
01:02and the heartbreakingly beautiful Edelweiss.
01:04Blast in the snow, may you bloom and roam, bloom and roam forever.
01:16The film's soundtrack in particular sold over 20 million copies worldwide. It even reached the
01:23number one spot on the Billboard 200 for 1965. Its catchy score is so well known, and its film
01:29presentation so iconic, that it was preserved by the Library of Congress in 2001. Now, that
01:36is a legacy.
01:37Follow every rainbow, till you find your dream.
01:53Number 9. Rent. This musical by the late Jonathan Larson has had many, many retrospectives throughout
01:59the years. But even if its story is problematic, it's clear that its songs have made a deep,
02:04lasting impression.
02:05The defiant La Vie Boheme is an anthem for artists and revolutionaries. And then there's
02:22Take Me or Leave Me, a number with lyrical parallels to Giacomo Puccini's famous Quando Men Vo.
02:27Take me or leave me, take me baby, leave me.
02:42Angel and Collins' love duet, I'll Cover You, often appears on lists of the best romantic
02:47songs, as well as its devastating reprise. But it's the ensemble number, Seasons of Love,
02:53has become a modern classic, the anthem for musical theatre fans everywhere. And let's
02:58face it, it's the main reason we know precisely how much time we have in each year.
03:12Number 8. West Side Story. This is the classic to beat all classics. West Side Story is a tour
03:18de force on all four counts. Music, lyrics, book, and an inspired modern retelling of Shakespeare's
03:25legendary play.
03:27There's a place for us, a time and place for us. Hold my hand and we're halfway there. Hold my hand and I'll take you there.
03:45The infinite variety of Leonard Bernstein's muscular hybrid score is something that never wears us out. Swing and jazz
03:52play cheek to jowl with Latin and Spanish rhythms as the Jets and the Sharks go against each other.
03:57And then there are the beautiful classical strains of Tony and Maria's Tonight and the epic Somewhere, turned into a love duet for the movie. Honestly, it'd be easier to list the songs that don't land as hard. The whole score is just that unforgettable.
04:19We're gonna rock it tonight! Tonight!
04:32Number 7. Hamilton.
04:34It's hard to predict which musicals will go on to become modern classics, but when this 2015 musical landed on the Broadway
04:55stage, it was clear it would be a game changer.
05:08Sure enough, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton became a supernova of a hit, winning a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater album and earning Diamond certification in 2023. With witty lyrics and catchy refrains, Hamilton's score consistently impresses. From the opening, Alexander
05:24Hamilton to the emotional final strains of Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story. Layered ensemble numbers propel the plot, while the solos of secondary characters, like Angelica's Satisfied or King George's You'll Be Back, add depth and humor. And any of Aaron Burr's spotlight moments inevitably bring down the house.
05:43I've got to be in the blue with all these. I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be.
05:50I'm the wrong, I gotta be.
05:53Click, boom!
05:55Number 6. Wicked.
05:57There's nothing that can stop you from becoming popular.
06:02Goodness knows, this musical score has been rattling inside our noggin since 2003.
06:07With a successful film adaptation released in 2024, those earworms have returned with a vengeance.
06:14My pulse is rushing.
06:16My head is reeling.
06:17Yeah, well, my face is flushing.
06:19What is this feeling, the fervent of the flame?
06:24Does it have a name?
06:27Yes.
06:33Of course, there are the dramatic strains of No One Mourns the Wicked,
06:36and the comic tour de force of Glinda's giddy popular.
06:40Dancing Through Life is also a fan favorite,
06:42but of course, who can ever forget one of the most iconic Act I finales of all time,
06:48Elphaba's defiant Defying Gravity.
06:50It's ingrained in all of our musical theater loving heads by this point.
07:06And soon I'll match the Menorina.
07:11Number 5.
07:12In the Heights
07:13Lights up on Washington, heights up at the dawning,
07:16I'll wipe down the awning, say y'all good morning.
07:19Before Hamilton, this was Lin-Manuel Miranda's claim to fame,
07:23and it still has its passionate fans even today.
07:26While it may not be Miranda's strongest score melody-wise,
07:29it just may be his catchiest.
07:30As with most of his scores,
07:50In the Heights is brimming with hip-hop and Latin-flavored songs that you just can't help but sing along to.
07:54From the fun opening song,
07:56to the gossipy No Me Diga,
07:58to the appropriately festive Carnaval del Barrio,
08:01this score keeps us singing along,
08:03and on our feet.
08:05And of course,
08:05Miranda's trademark witty lyrics are as memorable as ever.
08:17Number 4.
08:18Newsies
08:19We're glad so many people woke up to this sleeper hit.
08:22Newsies began as a film,
08:36with music and lyrics written by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman,
08:39which unfortunately flopped.
08:41The music lived on, however,
08:42and a new stage musical proudly showcases the strengths of its mid-century-inspired score.
08:47Now is the time to seize the day.
08:49Answer the call and don't delay.
08:51Answer the call and don't delay.
08:53Force will be righted.
08:55If we're united,
08:57let us seize the day.
09:02There's seize the day and Carrying the Banner,
09:04ensemble numbers which never fail to rouse.
09:07King of New York is also a toe-tapping crowd-pleaser.
09:10And almost everyone knows Jack solo Santa Fe,
09:14a favorite audition piece of tenors everywhere.
09:17Alan Menken has done it again.
09:18But I'm laughing in my face,
09:21I don't care.
09:22Save my place.
09:28I'll be there.
09:29Number 3.
09:30Little Shop of Horrors
09:32This little horror comedy packed a lot of punch in its score.
09:35I'm just a mean green mother from outer space and I'm bad.
09:39I'm just a mean green mother from outer space and it looks like you've been had.
09:44I'm just a mean green mother from outer space so get off my back.
09:48Get off my face because I'm mean and green and I am bad.
09:53Another Alan Menken musical turned movie,
09:56Little Shop of Horrors' grizzly tale comes with many catchy numbers.
10:00There's the title song sung by its Greek chorus for one thing.
10:03Plus you've got Audrey's terrible boyfriend Oren song Dentist,
10:07which is a riot.
10:08Audrey 2, the sassy evil plant, also gets a soulful number in Feed Me.
10:27Mean Green Mother from Outer Space was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
10:33For a memorable love duet though,
10:34look no further than Audrey in Seymour's Suddenly Seymour.
10:38This musical is a charmer.
10:40Seymour's young man.
10:59Number 2.
11:00Chicago
11:01The success of this Kander and Ebb musical was more of a slow burn,
11:18with the original production getting mixed reviews.
11:20The still-running revival of the show in 1996, however,
11:24fully cemented its iconic status,
11:26as well as its Academy Award-winning film adaptation.
11:29Now, of course, it's jauntily 20s ragtime and swing score has become iconic.
11:34Come on, babe, we're gonna press the sky.
11:38I bet you lucky you landed, they never flew so high.
11:41Cause in the stratosphere, I bet he landed near to all that jazz.
11:51All that jazz, and we both reached for the gun, are ingrained in our cultural consciousness.
11:56Cell Block Tango, in particular, became one of its best-known numbers,
11:59a showstopper long since memed to death.
12:02Chicago really is our kind of show.
12:05Razzle-gazzle-lum
12:06And they'll beg ya for more
12:09Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
12:16The Book of Mormon
12:17We believe in the hilarity of this show's satirical score.
12:20I believe that in 1938, God changed his mind about black people
12:26Black people!
12:28The Music Man
12:29We never have trouble forgetting these 76 trombones.
12:44Fiddler on the Roof
12:45Tradition-null culture is such a bop.
12:48Tradition-null culture is such a bop.
12:50The Soul-null culture is such a bop.
12:51The Soul-null culture is such a bop.
12:52The Soul-null culture is such a bop.
12:53The Soul-null culture is such a bop.
12:54The Soul-null culture is such a bop.
12:55Avenue Q
12:56Who can forget a song titled, You Can Be As Loud As The Hell You Want When You're Making Love?
13:00Or are we being too loud?
13:02Yeah, are we bothering someone?
13:04Oh no, not at all kids!
13:05You keep doing what you're doing.
13:07Yeah!
13:08Heather's The Musical
13:09This candy store of a musical is deliciously catchy.
13:13Whoa, whoa, whoa, honey, what you're waiting for?
13:20Love you to do like candy store!
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13:39Number 1.
13:40Hairspray
13:41Great scores are one thing.
13:43Catchiness is sort of different.
13:45When it comes to jaunty, bubbly songs that bury themselves into your skull,
13:50Hairspray is where it's at.
13:52The rhythm of town starts calling me down
13:55It's like the message from high above
13:59Oh, oh, oh, pulling me out to the smiles and the streets
14:04I love
14:05Good morning, love, tomorrow
14:07There's the ebullient opening by the joyful Tracy,
14:11But there's also the sweet I Can Hear the Bells and Edna and Wilbur's romantic You're Timeless to Me.
14:16Of course, the show is known for its rousing anti-racist finale, You Can't Stop the Beat.
14:21The original cast album won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
14:36The soundtrack to the 2007 film was even more successful, earning platinum certification.
14:41Who can resist this beat?
14:44That's where it's at home, baby, baby, run and tell that
14:48Run and tell that
14:49Go run and tell that
14:51Go run and tell that
14:51Go run and tell that
14:54Hey, yeah, yeah
14:56Which other musical score lives in your head rent-free?
14:59Let us know in the comments down below.
15:01I am so into you
15:04I am so into you
15:07I am so into you
15:09I am so into you
15:13I am so into you
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