These musicals opened on the highest of notes. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for unforgettable songs that gave us our first taste of incredible shows.
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for unforgettable songs that
00:12gave us our first taste of incredible shows.
00:14We're only including shows that premiered after the year 2000, and excluding revivals
00:19of classic shows.
00:2910.
00:30No One Mourns the Wicked – Wicked As dramatic an opening as you'll find on
00:34Broadway, No One Mourns the Wicked is both an overture and a first song.
00:42Spooky, sweeping, and funny, it reintroduces us to the land of Oz.
00:52It also reinvents the Wizard of Oz story that we thought we knew.
00:55Glinda the Good Witch addresses her fellow Ozians, who are ecstatic about the recent
01:00death of the Wicked Witch of the West.
01:12She tells them, and us, about the witch Elphaba's cursed upbringing.
01:16Even without original star Christian Chenoweth's heart-stopping soprano voice cutting through
01:20the chorus of voices, the song is a hard-hitting entrance into the skewed take on an old story.
01:259.
01:26Road to Hell – Hadestown Greek myth gets a modern takeover in this
01:44award-winning Broadway production.
01:46Placing its cast of Greek gods in a post-industrial context, Hadestown retells the timeless legend
01:52of Orpheus and Eurydice, two lovers torn apart by a voyage to the underworld.
02:03Sung by the god Hermes, the show's jazzy first number introduces us to the show's mix of
02:08styles and inspirations.
02:10The god-turned-MC reminds us that this is a story we've heard before, but we keep telling
02:14it again because we always hope the ending may change.
02:18Like a Shakespearean tragedy, it tells you how it's going to end, but you still can't
02:22help but get invested.
02:268.
02:29Hello – The Book of Mormon From the brilliantly irreverent creators of
02:33South Park comes this surprisingly loving, Tony Award-winning riff on Mormonism.
02:45Hello is a fitting primer for the show.
02:47Punctuated by doorbells and buzzers, it sees a smiling chorus of missionaries-in-training
02:52demonstrate the nuances of converting people to their religion.
02:56Some of them are better than others.
02:58All of them are absolutely hilarious.
03:06The original choreography has the actors popping up and waving like toothy, grinning whack-a-moles
03:10throughout the entire song.
03:12Hello constantly plays with the juxtaposition between their good manners and threats of
03:16hellfire.
03:17After a while, they start to feel almost relentless.
03:267.
03:30Anybody Have a Map – Dear Evan Hansen This best musical winner focuses on high school
03:36outcasts dogged by mental health crises, but it opens the show by exploring the toll it
03:40takes on their mothers.
03:50Anybody Have a Map is a song shared between Heidi and Cynthia, two mothers who feel helpless
03:54against their son's depression and anxiety.
03:57There is no roadmap to parenting them through these struggles.
04:00It's hard not to get chills as their voices build and harmonize.
04:11Right away, we realize this isn't just a story about Evan Hansen.
04:15It's about the cumulative effect of mental illness on the people who experience it, and
04:19the people who love them through it.
04:286.
04:31Welcome to the Rock – Come From Away
04:47Telling the true story of the 38 planes diverted to a small Newfoundland town in the wake of
04:51the 9-11 terrorist attacks, Come From Away's first number introduces us to the townsfolk.
04:56The citizens of Gander are just acting out the routine of their days when they hear the
05:00news.
05:01They have no idea yet just how much their lives are about to change.
05:20Welcome to the Rock engages the sounds and instruments of the region, and introduces
05:23us to the spirit of the town.
05:26Though it's only about five minutes of stage time, it has poignant moments of humor and
05:30stirring emotion that will catch you off guard.
05:405.
05:41Oh My God, You Guys – Legally Blonde
05:44The sisters of Delta Nu are abuzz with the news that their president and Queen Bee Elle
05:48Woods is about to get engaged.
05:50At least, that's what everyone thinks.
06:03We all deserve friends like Elle's sorority sisters.
06:06They put as much effort into finding her the perfect proposal dress as they would in planning
06:10their own weddings.
06:17Oh My God, You Guys is a cartoonish but lovingly daffy opening number that's deceptively complicated
06:22to pull off.
06:24With enough rapid-fire jokes, vocal acrobatics, and choreography to make our heads spin, these
06:29performers have to make it look as light and frothy as possible.
06:33And on top of all that, it also introduces the musical's most iconic character, sales
06:38girl number two.
06:494.
06:51Just Another Day – Next to Normal
06:53Winner of several Tonys and a Pulitzer Prize, this wickedly funny and devastating musical
06:58follows a mother with bipolar disorder and a long and ongoing road to managing her condition.
07:07It's first scene sees a mother, a father, a son, and a daughter prepare for an ordinary
07:15day in their own lives.
07:17But as this upbeat scene continues, we see the cracks start to show.
07:21Everyone is in some state of crisis, desperate for some inner peace, and doing their best
07:25to hide it.
07:40The lyrics expose more and more of their dysfunction as it goes along.
07:44As funny as it is disturbing, Just Another Day exposes the truths that the four principal
07:49characters think they're keeping from each other.
08:003.
08:01Mama Who Bore Me – Spring Awakening
08:17Adapted from a controversial coming-of-age play that doesn't shy away from the ugliness
08:21of growing up in a repressive society, Spring Awakening begins with a yearning ballad.
08:26Originated by Lea Michele on Broadway, Mama Who Bore Me is a haunting song that foreshadows
08:31the show's coming tragedies.
08:44Vendla Bergman is growing up.
08:53Her mother's refusal to educate her on anything related to her body makes her burgeoning maturity
08:58confusing and frustrating for her.
09:00It's also a counterpoint to the music that comes after.
09:03So much of the score is loud and defiant rock music, but this stripped-down introductory
09:08number gets at the beating heart of it all.
09:192.
09:23Good Morning Baltimore – Hairspray
09:32Tracy Turnblad literally jumps out of bed with an irrepressible positive attitude.
09:37At the start of Hairspray, she's not gonna let social ills or pressures to conform come
09:41between her and her love for her hometown.
09:57Tracy's anthem to Baltimore and all its quirks is the perfect burst of energy to start the
10:02dance-heavy crowd-pleaser about racism and social change in the 1960s.
10:07Dancing past the criminals and rats that litter the streets of her precious city, it's her
10:11enthusiasm for the elements of urban life that other people might run from that makes
10:15her so endearing.
10:31Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:35What Do You Do With A B.A. In English – It Sucks To Be Me – Avenue Q
10:39The perfect I Am song for anyone who's ever felt demoralized by adult life.
10:50Beautiful – Heather's The Musical
10:52Veronica Sawyer details the pressures, disappointment, and tragedies of being a teenager.
11:08To Build A Home – The Bridges Of Madison County – A Farmer's Wife Remembers What
11:13She Gave Up To Come To America
11:14It's Your Wedding Day – The Wedding Singer – An 80s-themed crowd-pleaser
11:32What's Inside and Opening Up – Waitress – Diner Employees Lovingly Complain About
11:37The Routine Of Their Work.
12:08Alexander Hamilton – Hamilton – Lin-Manuel Miranda's opening numbers are dense but
12:13catchy.
12:14In The Heights introduces us to its setting and all its characters in the first few minutes.
12:19Hamilton's even more ambitious.
12:21The show asks a lot of questions at the top of the show.
12:38How does a person who was born into such a desperate childhood get as far as Alexander
12:42Hamilton did?
12:43Why isn't he remembered the way George Washington or Thomas Jefferson are?
12:47Will a wrapped-through musical about a founding father even work?
13:01Given the international phenomenon that followed, it clearly does.
13:05Packed with information and exposition, it's surprisingly easy to follow and primes the
13:09audience on how to listen to the rest of the show's lyrics.
13:25Did your favorite show make the list?
13:27Tell us in the comments.
13:37Do you agree with our picks?
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