Playlists: songs from musicals that transcend their genre

By Marco den Ouden

What is it about musicals that gives  them their lasting appeal? Part of it, of course, is the music. Who doesn’t like a nice tune? But it’s more than just the music. There’s a certain romanticism about musicals. And by romanticism I don’t mean love stories, though there are great many musicals in which a love story is at its core.

There’s a certain grandeur about musicals. They are larger than life. And they stir the emotions. In a drama or comedy an actor plays a role. But when an actor in a musical breaks into song, he or she bares their soul. And when a large cast of actors breaks into song simultaneously, they become a force to be reckoned with. They carry the audience into another world, a world where passion is important. And while some musicals are maudlin, the best engage the audience in a very visceral way.

Our beloved Song Bar community came together in grand style (as befits a musical) with 225 song nominations. Picking the songs for my playlists was no easy task. And once I’d picked them, sorting into some semblance of order looked to be so daunting a task, I have just listed them in the order they were nominated. Fortuitously it worked out very well with one of my very favourite songs from my favourite musical just happening to be the grand finale to this week’s A list.

I wanted to give a flavour of this grandeur visually as well as aurally, so I’ve tried to use movie versions (if they were nominated). 

ACT ONE

We start off with some classics of musical theatre. As our Landlord noted in his introduction last week, musicals paved the way for many black performers. Paul Robeson’s most famous song, Ol’ Man River, is from the musical Show Boat (1926). It marked a revolutionary departure from most earlier musicals. Writing in The New Yorker, John Lahr wrote that it "was a radical departure in musical storytelling, marrying spectacle with seriousness.“ 

Porgy and Bess was a 1935 opera by George Gershwin, later refashioned into a stage musical on Broadway in 1942. One of its most popular songs is the much-covered Summertime. One of the most renowned renditions is by the legendary Billie Holiday. 

The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd (1964) is a story about class conflict in British society of the 1960s. Nina Simone does a stirring rendition of Feelin’ Good. 42 seconds of a capella followed by a big band powerhouse. I was torn between two versions of this song and you’ll find the other version in the B List.

ACT TWO

Hadestown

Moving to something more contemporary, Hadestown is a 2006 musical by Anaïs Mitchell. It is a modern retelling of the classical Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It played small theatres in Vermont and was reworked as a concept album and then reworked again with additional songs finally making it to off-Broadway in 2016 and Broadway in 2019. It won eight Tony Awards. 

Much of the story revolves around Hades, the god of the underworld (Hadestown). Why We Build the Wall is Hade’s sardonic song that is particularly relevant today. Patrick Page plays Hades. 

While Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus are best known as half of the pop group ABBA they have also been involved in creating musicals. In 1984 they collaborated with Tim Rice to produce the musical Chess, a film about the cold war rivalry between a Soviet and an American chess grandmaster, not just in chess but for the affections of a woman. It was released as a concept album in 1984 and on stage in 1986. Tommy Körberg played the Russian on the album and on stage. Here he sings Anthem. 

The Peddlers offer a jazzy rendition of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever from the 1965 musical of the same name. 

Sarafina! is a 1987 musical about the Soweto riots in South Africa in 1976, a student protest against the mandatory use of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in black schools. It was adapted into a movie in 1992. Sechaba is a rousing anthem performed by Hugh Masekala and cast. 

ACT THREE

Perhaps the most popular and most covered song of the 1937 musical Babes in Arms is The Lady is a Tramp. Several versions were suggested and I opted for the dynamic Lena Horne version. 

Calamity Jane was a 1953 movie musical starring Doris Day as Jane. She sings the most famous song from the movie, Secret Love, which won the Oscar for Best Song. The movie’s success led to a 1961 stage adaptation. 

I had thought about leading off or ending this playlist with Cry Me a River performed by Julie London in the musical The Girl Can’t Help It. Not because of the song in particular but because of the significance of the musical. I looked it up right when it was nominated because I recognized the title as a song on one of my old Animals albums. I wanted to see the connection. What I discovered was that this may be the most influential musical of all time. 

Ostensibly a musical comedy about the hot girlfriend of a mobster. Played by Jayne Mansfield, the sex symbol aspires to be a singing star. This involves a satirical subplot about teenagers and rock ‘n’ roll music. This subplot has a wide variety of popular artists in cameos singing songs. All of the music is original to the movie and written by Bobby Troup, best known as the composer of Route 66. The title song, The Girl Can’t Help It, is sung by Little Richard in the film. 

As Wikipedia puts it: “The unintended result has been called the ‘most potent’ celebration of rock music ever captured on film.” Cameo performers include Fats Domino, Eddie Cochran, The Platters and Gene Vincent. The movie inspired a 16-year-old John Lennon to pursue his dream of being a rock ‘n’ roll star. Elvis Presley’s movie and song Jailhouse Rock was possibly inspired by a similar song, Rock Around the Rockpile, in the musical.

With a name like KPop Demon Hunters, you might think this is a Korean musical but it’s actually an American film with animation subcontracted to studios in Canada. The story is the unlikely rivalry between an all-girl band who are secretly demon hunters and a boy band who are secretly demons. Free is a lush romantic duet by star-crossed lovers Rumi and Jinu (singing voices by Ejae and Andrew Choi) The most recent musical in our list, released in 2025.

ACT FOUR

The 1943 musical Oklahoma! was the very first musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The song Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’ opens the musical, here sung by Gordon McRae in the 1955 movie version. 

The 2015 musical Hamilton broke new ground with hip-hop and rap as part of the repertoire and a non-Caucasian cast portraying America’s founding fathers. Lin-Manuel Miranda not only wrote the music, he plays Alexander Hamilton singing My Shot accompanied by cast members. The show won eleven Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. 

Evita started out as a rock opera concept album that developed into an award winning musical. Julie Covington’s rendition of the signature tune, Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, is from the 1976 concept album. 

Connie’s Hot Chocolates was a 1929 musical revue from Fats Waller that was later incorporated into the 1943 movie musical Stormy Weather. Our list has Fats Waller performing Ain’t Misbehavin’ in the movie. 

Annie Get Your Gun was a 1943 musical from Irving Berlin later adapted into the 1950 movie musical starring Betty Hutton as American sharpshooter legend Annie Oakley. Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, Keenan Wynn & Betty Hutton sing the energetic There’s No Business Like Show Business in the film. 

ACT FIVE

Hair today …. (from the 1979 movie)

The rock musical Hair made its off-Broadway debut in 1967 and hit Broadway the following year. It was adapted for film in 1979. Although the creators of the stage musical strongly disliked the film adaptation, both were popular with audiences. The grandeur and spectacle of musicals is captured well in the movie version of The Flesh Failures (Let the Sun Shine In) performed by Treat Williams, Grand Bush, John DeRobertas and chorus. Story background is this: both the stage and musical are anti-war with the Vietnam War as backdrop. Claude Bukowski is a draftee who falls in with a bunch of hippies before his appointment with the draft board. Claude goes for basic training and the hippie clan led by George Berger travel to the base to visit him but are turned away. George cuts his hair and wearing a stolen uniform gets on base and, like Sydney Carton in Tale of Two Cities, switches places with Claude so Claude can go out to rendez-vous with his girlfriend. Before Claude can get back, George gets shipped to Vietnam in his place and is killed. Claude and his hippie friends go to Arlington Cemetery to visit George’s grave. Given that context, the movie video for the song is gut wrenching. A very powerful piece of cinema and a testament to the power of a musical to convey emotion. 

Paint Your Wagon (1951) is about the California gold rush. It was made into a movie musical in 1969. Harve Presnell sings the film’s most popular tune, They Call the Wind Maria. 

One of the most popular of the animated musicals of the Disney revival of the 80s and 90s was The Lion King. Carmen Twillie & Lebo M sing the signature song The Circle of Life.

THE FINALE

And we round off our 20-song set with one of my favourite songs from my favourite musical of all time, Les Misérables. One Day More is the tour de force that ends the first act. The entire cast is marching in lockstep on a rotating turntable with Jean Valean and Cosette seated on a bench in the foreground. The turntable starts to rotate and the marchers adjust their steps so they seem to be staying in place as they march. Only Valjean and Cossette move and it looks like a camera panning across the foreground figures while focused on the marchers. The effect is visually stunning. But it is the song that provides the tension and the drama as each of the main characters sing of their hopes and dreams as they wait for a momentous tomorrow. The movie is excellent but if you get a chance to see it on stage, it is worth it. It’s coming back to Edmonton next March and my wife and I will be going. Our fourth time seeing it live. It is that good.  

An All-Time Musicals A-List Playlist:

1. Paul Robeson – Ol’ Man River (Uncleben) (from Show Boat – Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II)

2. Billie Holiday – Summertime (Uncleben) (from Porgy and Bess – George Gershwin)

3. Nina Simone – Feelin’ Good (happyclapper) (from The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd – Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley)

4. Patrick Page – Why We Build the Wall (Nilpferd) (from Hadestown – Anaïs Mitchell) 

5. Tommy Korberg – Anthem (BanazirGalbasi) (from Chess – Benny Andersson,  Björn Ulvaeus & Tim Rice,

6. The Peddlers – On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever – (pejepeine) (from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever – Burton Lane & Alan Jay Lerner)

7. Hugh Masekala – Sechaba (Uncleben) (from Sarafina! – Mbongeni Ngema & Hugh Masekela)

8. Lena Horne – The Lady is a Tramp (Nicko) (from Babes in Arms – Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart)

9. Doris Day – Secret Love (Naguchi) (from Calamity Jane – Sammy Fain & Paul Francis Webster)

10. Julie London – Cry Me a River (Naguchi) (from The Girl Can’t Help It – Bobby Troup)

11. Rumi (Ejae) & Jinu (Andrew Choi) – Free (ajostu) (from KPop Demon Hunters – many different songwriters)

12. Gordon McRae – Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’ (pejepeine) (from Oklahoma! – Rodgers & Hammerstein)

13. Lin-Manuel Miranda and cast – My Shot (ShivSidecar) (from Hamilton – Lin-Manuel Miranda)

14. Julie Covington – Don’t Cry for Me Argentina – (ParaMhor) (from Evita – Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice)

15. Fats Waller – Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Nicko) (from Stormy Weather – many different song writers)

16. Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, Keenan Wynn & Betty Hutton – There’s No Business Like Show Business (Naguchi) (from Annie Get Your Gun – Irving Berlin)

17. Treat Williams, Grand Bush, John DeRobertas and chorus - The Flesh Failures )Let the Sun Shine In) (Nicko) (from Hair – Gerome Ragni, James Rado & Galt MacDermot)

18. Harve Presnell – They Call the Wind Maria (Naguchi) (from Paint Your Wagon – Alan J. Lerner & Frederick Loewe)

19. Carmen Twillie & Lebo M – The Circle of Life (Loud Atlas) (from The Lion King – music by Elton John & Tim Rice) 

20. London Cast – One Day More (Loud Atlas) (from Les Miserables – Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil & Jean-Marc Natel)

The Biggest Show In Town B-List:

1. Elaine Page & Barbara Dickson – I Know Him So Well (from Chess) (vastariner)

2. The Doors – Alabama Song (from Happy End) (Noodsy)

3. Christopher Lee – The Impossible Dream (from Man of La Mancha) (happyclapper)

4. Muse – Feeling Good (from The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd) (happyclapper)

5. Shirley Bassey – Big Spender (from Sweet Charity) (happyclapper)

6. Asha Bhosle & Udit Narayan – Radha Kaise Na Jale (from Lagaan) (magicman)

7. Les Misérables Movie Cast – Do You Hear the People Sing (from Les Misérables) (Naguchi)

8. Ella Fitzgerald – My Romance (from Jumbo) (ajostu)

9. Nina Simone – I Loves You Porgy (from Porgy and Bess) (magicman)

10. Johnny Mathis – Never Never Land (from Peter Pan) (magicman)

11. Connee Boswell – Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (from Roberta) (magicman)

12. Nat King Cole – Almost Like Being in Love (from Brigadoon) (Naguchi)

13. Tony Bennett & Diana Krall – Fascinating Rhythm (from Lady Be Good) (Naguchi)

14. Noelle Cordier – Quatre saisons pour un amour (from La Revolution Francaise) (ajostu)

15. Cecile McClorin Salvant – I Didn't Know What Time It Was (from Too Many Girls) (ajostu)

16. Marisha Wallace – Tomorrow (from Annie) (Loud Atlas)

17. Marni Nixon – Getting to Know You (from The King and I) (Loud Atlas)

18. Ramona Davies & Paul Whiteman & Orchestra – I Get a Kick Out of You (Anything Goes) (Nicko)

19. Yvonne Elliman – I Don't Know How to Love Him (from Jesus Christ Superstar) (BanazirGalbasi)

20. Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman & Orchestra – Night and Day (from Gay Divorce) (Nicko)

21. Willie Nelson & Kenny Rogers – Blue Skies (from Betsy) (Naguchi)

22. Mary Kay Bergman – Blame Canada (from South Park Movie: Bigger, Longer and Uncut) (Loud Atlas)

23. Elaine Page – Memory (Cats) (Fred Erickson)

24. Robert Lindsay, Maryann Plunkett & Cast – The Lambeth Walk (from Me and My Girl) (Naguchi)

25. Sarah Vaughan – Send in the Clowns (from A Little Night Music) (Naguchi)

26. Newkid – Du måste finnas (from Kristina från Duvemåla) (ajostu)

27. Angela Lansbury – Beauty and the Beast (from Beauty and the Beast) (ajostu)

28. Cliff Edwards – When You Wish Upon a Star (from Pinocchio) (ajostu)

29. Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga – The Lady is a Tramp (from Babes in Arms) (magicman)

30. Eydie Gorme – Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love (from Paris) (Nicko)

Guru’s Wildcard Picks:

1. Lullaby of Broadway – Wini Shaw & cast – Many of the early musicals and some today were song and dance extravaganza. One of these is Gold Diggers of 1935. The most famous song from the film is Lullaby of Broadway, a fantasy sequence that is a mini-movie within a movie and runs 13 ½ minutes. It includes an instrumental section with a stunning tap dance sequence. Here is that section which makes up the middle of the 13 ½ minutes. 

2. Take Off With Us – from All That Jazz, the 1979 Bob Fosse musical. Most of the songs are old standards but I think Take Off With Us was written specifically for the show. This is the first movie my wife and I saw together before we got married. 

3. Bring Him Home – Colm Wilkinson – Les Misérables is my favourite musical, Bring Him Home my favourite song from it. When we first saw it, this song, a prayer from Jean Valjean to bring Marius safely home from the coming conflict, had me in tears. My body was shaking. The song just overpowered me like nothing else ever has. 

These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations in response to last week's topic: Sing out! For songs from musicals that transcend their genre. The next topic will launch on Thursday after 1pm UK time.

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