These Broadway villains brought the chills. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most spine-tingling, electrifying, or downright disturbing villain solos in musical theater.
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most spine-tingling,
00:16electrifying, or downright disturbing villain solos in musical theater.
00:2810. Worldburn – Mean Girls Regina George was an all-time baddie even
00:34before she got a musical counterpart. Whether she's being played by Renee Rapp or original
00:38Broadway cast member Taylor Louderman, Regina's second act barnburner Worldburn is a showcase for
00:44a big voice. The number finds Regina selling out her backstabbing former friends by leaking
01:00their burn book full of petty insults and vicious rumors. The school descends
01:04into chaos as Regina enacts her mutually assured destruction.
01:16With its escalating notes and runs, Worldburn is not just a major plot point in the show,
01:21it's a technically challenging song. Listening to a singer navigate those
01:25wild vocal acrobatics is a thrilling experience in itself.
01:359. Why We Build the Wall – Hadestown
01:48Anais Mitchell's musicalized retelling of the Orpheus legend takes a lot from the oral
01:53traditions of myths and folk music. Why We Build the Wall is a call-and-response number,
01:58with Hades reminding his minions why they are safer behind the walls of Hadestown,
02:02where they work themselves ragged for his benefit. They dutifully repeat back
02:07his lies about how the enemy is outside. In their slave-like reverence for Hades,
02:18we realize how they've been brainwashed to believe their prison is really their salvation.
02:23He's not just the ruler of the underworld. In Hadestown, Hades is a cult leader.
02:338. Lonely Room – Oklahoma
02:49Cited as one of the first musicals to tell a cohesive story through careful integration of
02:53song and dance, instead of relying on spectacle, Oklahoma is celebrated for its sharply drawn
02:59characters. The obsessive and socially stunted Judd Frye has set his sights on Laurie Williams.
03:04Lonely Room is his haunting lament about how awful his life is without a woman of his own.
03:09It would be a love song if it weren't so horrifying.
03:13It was all a pack of lies! I'm awake in a lonely room.
03:26Angry and bitter and desperate, Judd's not interested in wooing Laurie. He's not interested
03:31in what she wants at all. He just knows he wants her, no matter how she feels.
03:507. Molasses to Rum – 1776
03:57Much of this show about the Second
04:08Continental Congress is actually pretty lighthearted. Yes, the fate of a new nation
04:13hangs in the balance, but how can they think about writing a declaration of independence
04:16when it's so hot outside? But as discussion gives way to heated debate, the topic of slavery comes up.
04:26Hail Africa, the slavers have come! New England with bibles and rum!
04:36In one of the most chilling show tunes ever, the fun grinds to a halt as the delegate from
04:42South Carolina calls out Northerners' hypocrisy concerning slavery. He reminds them, and us,
04:47that even the congressmen who aren't slave owners benefit from the practice.
04:516. The Music of the Night – The Phantom of the Opera
05:12A villain can be misunderstood, but at the end of the day, they're still a villain. The Phantom's
05:18obsession with the young soprano Christine Daae compels her to join him in his lair beneath the
05:23Paris Opera House. The Music of the Night is his siren song. The Phantom's music has an intoxicating
05:44power over Christine. It's a gorgeous number, but it's clear that his hold over her is less than
05:50pure. The song encapsulates everything that makes him an engrossing character. He's a brilliant
06:09musician and a romantic at heart, but he's never too far from flying into a murderous rage.
06:235. And Eve Was Weak – Carrie
06:36Stephen King's story of a telekinetic teenager who takes revenge on her enemies at the prom
06:41doesn't seem like it would work on the Broadway stage. Well, it really doesn't. But with vocal
06:46powerhouses like Betty Buckley and Maren Maisie, its most disturbing song is a stunning combination
06:52of great music and great madness. And Eve Was Weak sees Margaret White, Carrie's fanatically
07:04religious mother, impressing upon her daughter the evils of wicked women. Margaret's forceful
07:09and deeply poisonous beliefs about womanhood, sexuality, and eternal damnation are just as
07:15responsible for Carrie's fractured psychology as her classmates' mistreatment.
07:194. Last Midnight – Into The Woods
07:32The cast of fairy tale characters find themselves hunted by an angry giantess. Instead of finding
07:54a solution, they've devolved to pointing fingers at each other. The witch, who is used to being
07:59blamed for any terrible thing that happens, decides to let them all believe she is the villain
08:03of this story too. Last Midnight is her goodbye. Ironically, where some villain songs make it clear
08:25exactly what side a character is on, this is the show at its most complex. Is she the villain,
08:30or is she the convenient scapegoat? No matter what side you choose, one thing is for sure,
08:35Last Midnight is a showstopper.
08:373. Tomorrow Belongs To Me Reprise – Cabaret
09:07John Kander and Fred Ebb's famed musical takes place in and around a Berlin nightclub in the
09:16early 1930s. Given that setting, the growing fascist movement hovers around the edges of the
09:22story. It isn't until the end of the first act that the show reveals a major character's affiliation
09:27with the party, and the movement makes itself known with this song.
09:47With its imagery of nature and gentility, Tomorrow Belongs To Me sounds awfully nice,
09:52but coming out of the mouths of Nazis as our troubled main characters look on,
09:56it's a reminder that even the most evil and villainous ideology can come in a pretty package.
10:192. Epiphany – Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
10:24Stephen Sondheim's horror comedy about a barber hellbent on revenge
10:28features too many deliciously wicked songs to count. Epiphany is by far the most chilling.
10:47Sweeney Todd is tossed between unbearable despair and unbridled rage. Instead of focusing on his
10:52revenge against one corrupt judge, he's decided to think bigger. It's not just about this one man,
10:58it's about society as a whole. Everyone deserves to die by his razor. The powerful deserve to die
11:14for their wickedness and greed, while the powerless, he feels, would be better off dead
11:18than living in oppressive conditions. Once he starts directing all that anger toward the audience,
11:23it's hard not to feel a little threatened.
11:48If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
11:531. S.T.A.R.S. – Les Miserables – Inspector Javert
12:11Inspector Javert spends most of Les Miserables trying to capture Jean Valjean,
12:15a former convict who dodges parole. Javert is a man of principle. Valjean has broken the law,
12:21and so he must pay the price. Unfortunately, the inspector's principles don't leave room
12:26for compassion or redemption.
12:45S.T.A.R.S. describes his own belief that he is an extension of God's omnipresence.
12:50His devotion to his faith and the law overrules everything. In fact, he is so married to his
12:55beliefs that he can't even see that the escaped parolee he's doggedly pursuing
13:00is the living embodiment of Christian ideals. Fit for a powerful baritone voice,
13:05S.T.A.R.S. is a soaring villain song that has a devastating impact.
13:25Which Broadway villain song do you sing in the shower? Tell us in the comments.
13:35Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms Mojo,
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