Carmiña Monserrat as Ailey and Gianni Palmarini* as James in “The Roads to Loch Lomond,” Matt Villar* as Middle Scrooge and Brianna McClure* as Belle in “A Christmas Carol”, James Gish* as Jervis and Kathlynn Rodin* as Jershua in “Daddy Long Legs” (21/22 production season) (Photos by Reg Madison and Brennen Russell)
What do you do when you love someone? Movie musical director, Rob Marshall, says, “When movement isn’t enough, you dance, or when speaking isn’t enough, you sing,” and a musical does both.
When Tony is so full of his love for Maria, he can’t do anything else but sing out her name in West Side Story. When Don Lockwood is overjoyed by the evening he spent with Kathy Seldon in Singin’ in the Rain, he can’t help but burst into dance to express the growing love he feels.
Though love songs in musicals are not always joyous: “I’ll Cover You (Reprise)” from Jonathan Larson’s Rent explores the love and grief of losing one’s partner, and Sonheim’s “Not a Day Goes By” from Merrily We Roll Along explores the sadness of a love that has been betrayed but still lingers.
The elements of song and dance heighten the emotion of love, allowing the audience to better understand the character’s feelings.
Love Runs Deep in Musical Theatre
Throughout the 25/26 Season at The Phoenix Theatre Company, many love stories are heightened through song and dance.
James and Aliey’s first meeting in The Roads to Loch Lomond is underscored until there comes a point where Aliey can no longer contain her excitement, so that she must sing out “Everything’s lovely, you’ve made a new friend, if we stand together who knows where things end…” James’ memory of that time with Aliey returns when he is in jail with his brother in Act II. His love for Aliey and her love for him cause Lyle to make the ultimate sacrifice for his brother, so that James can go on to live with his love.
In Michael Grady and Matthew Wiener’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol, they spoke about a missing song during Scrooge’s travels with the Ghost of Christmas Past. The story goes that the late Alan Ruch then came to the next rehearsal with the song “Matters Little,” about the lost love between Middle Scrooge and his first love, Belle. This song, accompanied by Craig Bohmler’s new orchestrations, added depth to Scrooge’s past, giving the audience more context for the unhappy man he would become later in life.
More Love Stories Coming to the Stage
The upcoming production of Daddy Long Legs tells the love story of Jerusha and Jervis through a series of letters. The songs in this show tell the entire story and allow the audience to get to know the characters through their writing. What goes unsaid in their letters is sung as an aside. This form of storytelling allows the audience to have more information than the characters do, which builds anticipation for their love story.
Les Misérables will close out the 25/26 season. The show’s famous romantic love triangle explores two love tropes. Love at first sight is explored through Cosette and Marius, with beautiful, lyrical, and light duets between them that convey a sense of youthful, naive love. While Eponine and Marius are an example of unrequited love, as we hear in Eponine’s more grounded, raw, and belting tones. The juxtaposition of these two types of music gives the audience context: one love story will succeed, while the other is destined to end more melancholy.
From romance to friendship to community, this season offers even more love stories for audiences to experience, reminding us how musical theatre carries connection straight to the heart.
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*Courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the U.S.
