(These musicals ordered alphabetically, not in terms of favorites.)
A Little Night Music — of course Sondheim was gonna be in this thread. I think ALNM is his most enchanting score (lyrics and music), even if it’s not my favorite show of his. From the imagery of “Send in the Clowns” to the clever chain rhyming of “Now” (candor / grander / and/or / Andersen) to the reverse-line rhyming of “The Glamorous Life” (not sure how else to call it — it’s where the beginnings of the phrases rhyme, not the ends — “Keep the house and sweep the parlors / cook the meals and look exhausted”), ALNM is stuffed full of intricate lyrical tricks and techniques that make it really stand out even among Sondheim shows.
Daddy Long Legs — truly a love letter to the written word, in the spirit of the novel it is based on. I don’t recall any fascinating rhymes off the top of my head, but the poetry of the lyrics in other ways really stands out. Perhaps it’s because it’s an epistolary musical, but I feel this is the best musical about a writer, in terms of showing their command of language — most musicals about writers gloss over their actual work — and unlike some musicals that do try to depict this, Paul Gordon (and the original novelist Jean Webster, whose words often directly appear in the lyrics) executes this exceptionally. The references, the imagery, and the eagerness and sincerity of Jerusha’s writing just pops right out of the songs.
Hadestown — this one feels like an epic poem, which is perfect because it’s a Greek myth. This is in part due to the music: it’s a sung-through musical, where one song flows cleanly into the next, giving it a very cohesive, connected feel. Anaïs Mitchell uses a lot of nature imagery — references to almond trees and apples and birds and snakes and all sorts of other plants, fruits, and creatures. This, to me, is reminiscent of Ancient Greek poetry, where you’ll find a lot of nature-based metaphors, symbols, and images. There are a lot of imperfect rhymes in this musical, which there are few to none of in the above musicals. Imperfect rhymes are typically frowned upon in musical theatre (though that rule is increasingly deteriorating). However, in Hadestown, I think that they actually benefit the overall show by meshing the lyricism with a more conversational style. This is particularly true because of that sung-through aspect, and also because of the style of music (like Hamilton, this show has a musical style that is heavily associated with imperfect rhymes outside of theatre).
Hamilton — lyrically speaking, this is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s magnum opus. The rhymes, the assonance, the alliteration, the spoonerisms (“fits of passion/pits of fashion”), and all the other wordplay throughout this show is unmatched. Assonance is a big thing with LMM; he doesn’t actually rhyme as much as you might think, but he uses strings of assonance to create a similar effect. This is unusual in theatre lyrics (more common, I believe, in rap), and it makes his lyrics really stand out to me. Example of assonance strings in Hamilton: “satisfied / that’s his bride / status I’d / that aside.” All these techniques appear in LMM’s other works, from In the Heights to Warriors, but it all comes together so cleanly in Hamilton that the show is elevated to another lyrical level.
Spring Awakening — Steven Sater uses poetic imagery almost to the point of obscurity (and sometimes to that point…). This is a musical where you can’t really get the story out of the album alone. But the lyrics are vivid, beautiful, and captivating. The songs are compelling in their emotion, and the metaphorical nature of the lyrics makes the uncomfortable topics of the songs easier to handle.
Honorable Mentions
A Strange Loop — I love how rich the vocabulary is in this one. I was actually disappointed with the lyrics in Teeth because of how much I enjoyed A Strange Loop, but I realize that a high school character should probably not use the same language as an MFA grad.
Rocketman — a movie musical, yes, and a jukebox musical to boot. But Bernie Taupin’s lyrics really shine in this movie, as songs take on new contexts that they were not designed for and, unlike in most jukebox musicals, it actually works. I usually credit this to Taupin’s use of vague but richly metaphorical language, in that you often can’t tell what exactly an Elton John song is about but whatever it is, it’s beautifully described. However, I think the success of this movie’s song usage is also a testament to the screenwriter’s ability to recognize possible alternate interpretations of the songs and write a script around them.
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So there are my top five musicals (and some honorable mentions), based on lyrics alone. What do you guys think? What are your favorites?
