As you have probably noticed, dear reader, from all of the promotional material that has been riddling the internet, the “Wicked” movie-musical starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande will be in theaters later this month. And in honor of this—and as a huge theater nerd—I thought I could recommend some musicals that I enjoy.

A side note before I continue: I know that not everyone is a fan of musicals, but I am attempting to recommend a variety of musicals to appeal to a variety of people and let people know that musicals are not always just the typical Broadway sound.

To begin, “Wicked” is an extremely popular musical for a reason. It has been on Broadway for many years now, and it still remains extremely popular. It is loosely based on the novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire. A prequel/retelling of “The Wizard of Oz,” this story focuses on Elphaba—a green witch who is attending a magical boarding school—and her roommate Galinda. The Original Broadway Cast recording has a fairly typical contemporary musical theater sound. An orchestra with prominent strings and brass as well as Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth’s vocals make the music grand and memorable.

Another musical that is currently on Broadway is “The Outsiders.” Based on the novel by S.E. Hinton, the musical opened on Broadway earlier this year and has gained a massive following. While the musical is often praised for its astounding lighting and scenic design, the music is also incredible. There is a larger variety of style in the music written by the band Jamestown Revival, but it is overall much more stripped down than the typical musical score.

“Falsettos” is a sung-through musical, meaning there is no part of the story that is not included in the music. It takes place in New York City in the late seventies and early eighties and follows a family as they try to navigate their new dynamics as the father, Marvin, has left his wife after coming out as gay. The 2016 cast recording is my personal favorite iteration of this musical, but there are others from the eighties and nineties that are also really charming.

However, all of the musicals that I have talked about so far are pretty typical for the medium. There are also others that tend to be more experimental, such as any of Paul Shapera’s musicals. 

Paul Shapera has many, many musicals that he has written over the years that actually all take place in one universe. His musicals have varying genres, though his most recent are science fiction musicals with extremely synth-heavy, electronic-sounding scores. 

“The Puppetshade Chronicles 1: The Black Beyond” and “The Puppetshade Chronicles 2: The Lost Kingdom” follow several characters including Jenna—a girl who has been separated from her family after being attacked by an alien race called the Kratu—and Jes—a girl who attempting to get back to her old home to seek vengeance on the people who killed her girlfriend. These musicals are, I will admit, extremely odd and sometimes difficult to follow, but I find them to be really interesting and a cool way of telling stories. 

There are so many musicals with so many different stories and music genres, and I am sure that if you wanted to, you could find a musical that you like.