"Blog-way": Confessions of a Musical Theatre Nerd

"War of the Roses, Chaucer's tale, the brutal feudal system, holy crusade, bubonic plague..." Though these all sound like things you would learn about in a European history class, they are also the first lyrics to the show Something Rotten!  Contrary what the name may suggest, Something Rotten! is so much more than just "something", let alone "rotten". Set in Shakespearean England, the musical tells the tale of Nick and Nigel Bottom, brothers who are trying to come up with the next big hit and outdo Shakespeare himself by creating the first musical. I said this in a previous post, but I'll say it again. I love history. The Tudor time period is one of my favorite historical eras, and I'm always excited for a riveting drama featuring Anne Boleyn or Elizabeth I, as played by some British actor whose face I've seen somewhere in the American TV-verse. But this musical takes that background and adds a hilarious musical twist, complete with Tud...

My tale today concerns the firstborn son of Charlemagne... and is entitled... Pippin ! To be honest, Pippin is hardly actually based in history, but that doesn't mean that the album isn't brilliant. Then again, the music is written by Stephen Schwartz, creator of  Wicked , so that shouldn't come as a surprise. I confess, part of the reason that I'm reviewing Pippin is because my high school is doing it for our spring musical, so it's basically going to be the only thing I listen to for the next few months. I'm beyond excited; there's so much amazing music, parts to perform, hearts to warm, kings and things to take by storm... I'm killing two birds with one stone here (don't worry, no ducks were harmed in the making of this blog post), so without further ado, Pippin ! Notable Songs*: Magic to Do - There's a moment at the beginning where you're not quite sure if it's begun. For the first thirty seconds, it's just an orchestra wa...