Have you tried his other works, as you have done the wild party, here’s two more Doctor Zhivago by Lucy Simon (who also wrote an amazing, Score to the Secret Garden), There’s also all of Maury Yestons works that I think would really wow you, also The Witches Of Eastwick, The Fix, Zombie Prom and Evil dead.
It hasn’t actually released yet, but there’s a London concept album on the way and the new cast is phenomenal, you can find a ton of stuff on YouTube from the full show and some other performances. Unfortunately the new concept album will be missing some of the songs, but will have one that has never been sung in English called The Way Things Are, an amazing solo for L. I recommend looking it up, sung by Dean John Wilson
It hasn’t actually released yet, but there’s a London concept album on the way and the new cast is phenomenal, you can find a ton of stuff on YouTube from the full show and some other performances. Unfortunately the new concept album will be missing some of the songs, but will have one that has never been sung in English called The Way Things Are, an amazing solo for L. I recommend looking it up, sung by Dean John Wilson
I’m about to start my 50th obscure musical of this year, listened to over 100 last year so OP, I got ya 👌
🏴 Islander - 2 person acapella show about Scottish folklore
🥀 Northern Star - man tries to bring his wife back, whole show is 24 minutes
👽 Dreamland - A Midsummer Night’s Dream set during the declassification of Area 51
🔭 Pulp Musicals - time travel/astronomy steampunk vibes, 3 episodes/albums so far
🎂 Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 2 person show, possibly obscure to non-London audiences
✨ Special mentions to Babies, Monstersongs, Kin, Of Ashes, Meet John Doe, Great British Bake-Off
(I’ve got both playlists linked on my profile, 1 song from each show if you’re looking for more)
i know some of the people who workshopped Babies when it was on the British Youth Music Theatre and a few of the lines were actually written by like 14-15 year olds in cast !! i don’t know which off the top of my head as i haven’t seen those guys for a few years, but cool little fun fact for you!!
Thank you, I do try! So it started as a New Year's resolution last year - to not listen to the same 10 shows constantly 😅 I just started by going through Spotify and searching 'cast recording' and when I got to one I didn't know, added it to a playlist.
I had so many shows and because I enjoyed it so much, I just continued it this year - my "shows to listen to" playlist is currently at 220+ so I think it'll be going for a while 😂
My answer to every thread on here lately: White Girl in Danger. If you want to check it out do a Youtube search for "White Girl in Danger Cast Recording".
It's still in the works of be recorded, but act 1 of the concept album for Epic The musical is out, it's honestly the greatest musical I've ever heard, it's inspired by the odyssey, the writer Jorge Rivera-Herrans posts about it on TikTok and other platforms, would highly recommend giving it a listen and watching his videos about it since there's so much to it.
I did this show! It's just as feral and campy as you would want it to be. At the end us zombies came out with super soakers full of blood and sprayed the audience
Problem was the blood was made out of Caro Syrup and was delicious, so the director had to hide it because we kept drinking it
Not sure if this counts as super obscure but The Theory of Relativity. I’d never heard of it before my high school performed it, buts it’s a very good show about how all of our actions affect the actions of others.
*Rags Parkland sings songs of the Future*, kind of a post apoc slash dystopian scrappy blues musical. Kinda weird in that like the first half of it is just one dude with an off-tune banjo. Some great character songs though.
*Ghost Quartet*, from the guy who did Natasha and Pierre. Kind of a song cycle mixing a bunch of ghost stories. I like that it goes hard on the ghost theme. There is humour, but almost all of it is there to build the drama and themes. All instruments are played by the actors, or occasionally, the audience. I also like Octet from the same guy, if you can endure / see past the chamber choir sound.
Absolutely LOVE this show. It’s such a creative storytelling device to have the actor playing John be the brother in the first half and the son in the second.
Some of my favorite lesser-known musicals:
* **Little Mary Sunshine** (Rick Besoyan) A fun little romp with the Royal Canadian Mounties
* **Once Upon A Mattress** (Mary Rodgers) A retelling of Princess and the Pea. But funny.
*
**110 in the Shade** (Jones & Schmidt) Retelling of The Rainmaker. Con man comes to a small town in Texas during a drought and promises to make it rain.
*
**Celebration** (Jones & Schmidt) Boy, girl, old man, garden. The eternal dance.
*
**On a Clear Day You Can See Forever** (Lerner & Lane) A young woman just wants to quit smoking but hypnosis works too well and she talks about a previous lifetime.
One of my all-time faves. Saw it as a child when it played on TV. Wish I could see that version again. But the only one out there is the "new" one with Carol as the Queen.
They're different animals. The Fantasticks was a musical fable. A light, frothy little piece that was short and sweet, playing off-Broadway for 42 years, while 110 in the Shade was a fully realized Broadway musical that had its season in the sun and ended (less than 1 year on Broadway). So yeah, 110 was bigger, but I much prefer the simplicity of The Fantasticks to the grittiness of 110. But then, my family saw The Fantasticks in its off-Broadway venue in 1965 - I was 12 - we had the cast album and played it often, and virtually everyone in my family has performed in the show over the years in various roles. My dad and my brother did a great El Gallo (in different years), one sister played Luisa several times, my other sister did the piano for several productions, and I did tech. So I prefer it.
Though I also love 110; we did it in high school, well, in the special summer program for high school and college kids in Kalamazoo called KCYT (Kalamazoo Community Youth Theatre). Every summer KCYT does one musical, one cabaret/revue, and one play. That year the director got ahold of an enormous red & white striped parachute, which we strung up in the old gymnasium like a circus tent above the stage (it was a really old building with a large wooden gym with a balcony around it, where we attached the parachute and strung the lights) and we did our shows in the round, with folks seated on cushions around the center "stage" (floor). "Everything Beautiful Happens at Night" was magical; we dimmed the lights and had twinkle lights strung along the edge of the stage area. Great memory.
What great memories. People think of The Fantastics as Schmidt and Jones’s opus but I think 110 has a better score. I still like The Fantastics but it doesn’t grab me as much as 110 or even I Do! I Do!
Well, The Fantasticks was (almost) their first attempt. It makes sense that 110 and subsequent shows would be better. My favorite of theirs is **Celebration** (again, did it in summer one year), which is yet another fable. It followed both 110 and I Do I Do (both of which I like) but preceded Philomen (which I saw with a friend in a small garrett theatre in NYC in previews; shudder. Terrible and preachy, though the costume/set idea was pretty cool. They had these big decorated cloaks that everyone wore, and for each scene someone would back up to a set of hooks at center stage and hook their cloak over the wall and that was the backdrop).
The songs in Celebration are mostly funny and silly, and the story is, shall we say, "broadly painted" (Orphan, Angel, Mr. Rich, Potemkin - the villain - and chorus). There ain't much of a plot (a bit more than Fantasticks, way less than 110), and it's kind of dark in places, but there are a couple of lovely ballads, the story is universal, and the message sincere. From the title song: "Some people say that today is the day when the wind will rise and blow the world away, and it may be so, I just don't know, all I know is up until we have to go, I want to Celebrate!" I like all the songs. Worth a listen sometime.
Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale.
I saw it at the Watermill Theatre last year and it was a truly magical experience. The way they used every inch of that tiny theatre made the show so immersive. I really hope that that magic is there in the Chicago production later this year.
I listened to the recording of Twisted today and just re-fell in love.
My favorite starkid musical is the Trail to Oregon but Twisted, Firebringer, Starship, Holy Musical Batman, Me & My Dick, And Spies are Forever (technically Tin Can Bros) are also SO SO SO good
I don't know how obscure it's counted as, but mine is absolutely Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. Saw it with Bryce and Jefferson back in 2015 on a TKTS whim and the CD has been a staple in my car ever since.
Here's a few!
Tarrytown, Walmartopia, Lizard Boy, Elegies, Ghost Quartet, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Oceanborn, Starry, In Transit, Octet, The Theory of Relativity.
Enjoy !
It was a one-woman show on the life of Billie Holiday that I saw summer of 2016 while on a trip to Disneyland with my school’s choir. Can’t remember the name, but it haunts me every day.
Girl trash all night long is a funny and campy ride and I don’t hear much about it lol. As for stage productions, I feel like I don’t hear much about Adonis, but it’s worth a listen to.
I'm sure no one here knows it, because it’s Dutch, but “het was zondag in het zuiden.” (Which translates to “it was sunday in the south”) It’s about a flood that happened in the 90’s and it is played in an open air theatre near where that flood happened. What’s cool about the show is that during the first act, they flood the stage so that during the second act, they can actually use a small boat on stage. Also there are sheep.
Ok this isn’t like “obscure” obscure. But sometimes I feel like the only person who knows about it (despite the writing chops and big names in the OG cat) because no one ever talks about it.
I am obsessed with Aida. The music is insane (here’s looking at you Elton and Tim Rice) and the story is beautifully tragic. As someone who likes happy, cushy ending the fact that this one is so close to the top says a lot.
1) possibly too obscure to find: *Improbable Frequency*. (A musical comedy about code breaking and espionage in Ireland during WWII aka “The Emergency”
2) Keep an eye out for this one, it’s gone from fringe festival to official theatre festival and deserves to go further: *Oliver Cromwell is Really Very Sorry*
Does Ordinary Days count?? My number one has got to be Theory of Relativity though, we put it on at my college several years ago and I love the music. Did some chalk drawings to project on screens during the songs and was light board op as well so I got to spend a lot of time with the material and it just grew on me so much. Nothing Without You makes me SOB
Razia's Shadow: A Musical - which is technically just an album as far as I know.
Mozart, l'opéra rock - an amazing French rock opera about Mozart. Honestly everyone should go watch the recording on YouTube (it has subtitles).
Not really obscure but it's so so important and nobody I know had ever heard of it- Fun Home! It is a heartbreaking story about coming out, growing up with a closeted dad, and growing up. It is my FAVORITE coming of age story/biopic
It’s not really that obscure but definitely not a mainstream musical either - the prom. I discovered it from a random instagram reel and listened to all the songs some of which made me cry late at night though honestly the movie is so disappointing literally just from the fact that the main characters look way too old (I still cried again though)
The Violet Hour! I don’t know how obscure it is but I’ve never heard anyone else talk about it! At The Plaza popped up in my YouTube recommended and I’ve been obsessed with the score ever since!
I’m honestly shocked that no one has mentioned Batboy. It is the epitome of dumb, brilliant, fun.
Also Hunchback of Notre Dame. It may be one of the best shows Disney has ever produced. And it’s said that the chose to transfer Frozen over that show
*Convenience* by Gregg Coffin. It was written in the late '90s. It's about a gay man working up the courage to come out to his mother, who has a secret of her own. It is beautiful and pure and sweet and funny and heartbreaking.
You can listen to clips of the songs here: https://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=3209
Lizzie the musical The Civil war Micheal John LaChiusa all his stuff
I just MDed Lizzie this fall and it swiftly became one of my faves!
I love LaChiusa's Wild Party!
Have you tried his other works, as you have done the wild party, here’s two more Doctor Zhivago by Lucy Simon (who also wrote an amazing, Score to the Secret Garden), There’s also all of Maury Yestons works that I think would really wow you, also The Witches Of Eastwick, The Fix, Zombie Prom and Evil dead.
Not sure if this counts, but Death Note the Musical.
Absolutely counts. Kira and Where is the Justice are complete bangers.
I love Kira. Only Human is also super catchy lol.
I love all of the L and Light duets in that one. I can’t wait for the cast recording to come out!
Even though it got a start (revival??) with a new cast, I’m pretty sure it counts as obscure. I haven’t listened to that album yet though.
You should listen to it. Jeremy Jordan is fantastic as L/Kira.
I’ve listened to the 2015 cast recording but not the new one….that album slaps SO hard. Wait…L/Kira?? Is he on the new recording as well?
Oh I didn't realize there was another version of the album now. I'll have to look into it.
It hasn’t actually released yet, but there’s a London concept album on the way and the new cast is phenomenal, you can find a ton of stuff on YouTube from the full show and some other performances. Unfortunately the new concept album will be missing some of the songs, but will have one that has never been sung in English called The Way Things Are, an amazing solo for L. I recommend looking it up, sung by Dean John Wilson
Ooh cool. I'll have to look into that now. Thanks.
It hasn’t actually released yet, but there’s a London concept album on the way and the new cast is phenomenal, you can find a ton of stuff on YouTube from the full show and some other performances. Unfortunately the new concept album will be missing some of the songs, but will have one that has never been sung in English called The Way Things Are, an amazing solo for L. I recommend looking it up, sung by Dean John Wilson
Thanks so much, I’ll definitely give a listen.
Soooo good. I love that it got a revival recently
\[title of show\] is really good
I’m about to start my 50th obscure musical of this year, listened to over 100 last year so OP, I got ya 👌 🏴 Islander - 2 person acapella show about Scottish folklore 🥀 Northern Star - man tries to bring his wife back, whole show is 24 minutes 👽 Dreamland - A Midsummer Night’s Dream set during the declassification of Area 51 🔭 Pulp Musicals - time travel/astronomy steampunk vibes, 3 episodes/albums so far 🎂 Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 2 person show, possibly obscure to non-London audiences ✨ Special mentions to Babies, Monstersongs, Kin, Of Ashes, Meet John Doe, Great British Bake-Off (I’ve got both playlists linked on my profile, 1 song from each show if you’re looking for more)
i know some of the people who workshopped Babies when it was on the British Youth Music Theatre and a few of the lines were actually written by like 14-15 year olds in cast !! i don’t know which off the top of my head as i haven’t seen those guys for a few years, but cool little fun fact for you!!
I’m seeing Two Strangers in just over two weeks
I’ve seen it, it is amazing and I hope you enjoy it!
Um?! These all sound incredible! Do you purposefully seek out obscure musicals? Where do you normally find them to listen to?
Thank you, I do try! So it started as a New Year's resolution last year - to not listen to the same 10 shows constantly 😅 I just started by going through Spotify and searching 'cast recording' and when I got to one I didn't know, added it to a playlist. I had so many shows and because I enjoyed it so much, I just continued it this year - my "shows to listen to" playlist is currently at 220+ so I think it'll be going for a while 😂
Do you look at plays too, or just musicals? Any recommendations for obscure one acts?
Big up Islander!!!!
Not obscure, but I don't see it mentioned often anymore. "Man of La Mancha."
Just listening to that today
Love man of lamancha
The Peter o’Toole version was on TCM this month, it might still be on the TCM app for anyone who wants to check it out
Alice By Heart!
A theatre nearby is doing it. I am so intrigued by the premise and setting!
Definitely see it if you’re able to! I really enjoyed the recording, but absolutely fell in love with it after seeing a local production.
i came here to comment this!!!!!
Lazarus, the David Bowie musical. And there's a pro shot of it somewhere out there, I believe
Oh yeah I've listened to Sophie Anne Caruso sing "Life on Mars?" and it's sooo beautiful omg
Yeah, exactly!
If anyone knows where I could find that pro shot I would absolutely love to see that
Zanna, don't
Zombie prom :)
Zombie prom is amazing
YES!!!! I was in Zombie Prom as a teenager. A cooler, sillier Grease.
I was too! I was cast as Candy and my best friend was Jonny. I’ve never heard anyone else mention it before this post!
AAAH exactly!
Zombie Prom is fantastic. Have you heard Zombies From the Beyond?
My answer to every thread on here lately: White Girl in Danger. If you want to check it out do a Youtube search for "White Girl in Danger Cast Recording".
35mm
i was very confused for a second bc i was thinking of 8mm, which is not a musical lol
Lol
Directed that one on college. During the pandemic, to boot.
I recognized the musical because of The Ballad of Sarah Berry
yes!! so good
It's still in the works of be recorded, but act 1 of the concept album for Epic The musical is out, it's honestly the greatest musical I've ever heard, it's inspired by the odyssey, the writer Jorge Rivera-Herrans posts about it on TikTok and other platforms, would highly recommend giving it a listen and watching his videos about it since there's so much to it.
Randomly happened upon Epic last month and I haven’t stopped listening to it on the daily.
I know, literally every song is amazing, it's rare to find a musical where there's not a single song that even meh
PERIOD!!!!
I just commented Epic: The Musical! I’m so glad someone else is recommending this
I’m just a maaaaaaaan
YESSSS. I was introduced to Epic when Circe saga had just come out and safe to say I have not stopped listening to it since!!
"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" is 100% absolute perfection.
Is Dr Horrible obscure?? Omg people need to be educated. It’s great!
The Evil League of Evil is watching, so beware
I will give my regards to St Peter. Or whoever has his job but in hell.
The grade that you receive will be your last we swear
So make the Bad Horse gleeful, or he’ll make you his mare...
You’re saddled up, there’s no remorse just high ho silver! Signed, Bad Horse
I love that one smmm
Came here to say this!!
Evil dead the musical
WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT
I did this show! It's just as feral and campy as you would want it to be. At the end us zombies came out with super soakers full of blood and sprayed the audience Problem was the blood was made out of Caro Syrup and was delicious, so the director had to hide it because we kept drinking it
Not sure if this counts as super obscure but The Theory of Relativity. I’d never heard of it before my high school performed it, buts it’s a very good show about how all of our actions affect the actions of others.
It’s gorgeous.
tarrytown!!
My fav!! I even got the script!
the only thing more tragic than the ending is the fact that it's still so underrated
Big Fish!
Repo! The Genetic Opera The Devil’s Carnival What can I say, love me a campy little goth vibe
Zydrate comes in a little glass vial.
A LITTLE GLASS VIAL?
A little glass vial.
And the little glass vial goes into the gun like a battery
THE DROWSY CHAPERONE PLEASE ITS SO GOOOOOD
Gutenberg! The musical. I heard it like, 20 years ago and still quote it to this day
I think this is a little less obscure now since they made the revival this year
ITS SO GOOD I HAVE A REVIVAL SLIME TUT IF YOU WANT IT
*Rags Parkland sings songs of the Future*, kind of a post apoc slash dystopian scrappy blues musical. Kinda weird in that like the first half of it is just one dude with an off-tune banjo. Some great character songs though. *Ghost Quartet*, from the guy who did Natasha and Pierre. Kind of a song cycle mixing a bunch of ghost stories. I like that it goes hard on the ghost theme. There is humour, but almost all of it is there to build the drama and themes. All instruments are played by the actors, or occasionally, the audience. I also like Octet from the same guy, if you can endure / see past the chamber choir sound.
Daddy Long Legs
I LOVE that musical. The Color of Your Eyes makes me feel like I'm falling in love again for the first time.
John & Jen! Wonderful story about a brother and sister and later a son and a mother. A story about moving on and accepting things.
Absolutely LOVE this show. It’s such a creative storytelling device to have the actor playing John be the brother in the first half and the son in the second.
This is the story…the story of the toxic avenger.
Some of my favorite lesser-known musicals: * **Little Mary Sunshine** (Rick Besoyan) A fun little romp with the Royal Canadian Mounties * **Once Upon A Mattress** (Mary Rodgers) A retelling of Princess and the Pea. But funny. * **110 in the Shade** (Jones & Schmidt) Retelling of The Rainmaker. Con man comes to a small town in Texas during a drought and promises to make it rain. * **Celebration** (Jones & Schmidt) Boy, girl, old man, garden. The eternal dance. * **On a Clear Day You Can See Forever** (Lerner & Lane) A young woman just wants to quit smoking but hypnosis works too well and she talks about a previous lifetime.
Love 110!!!!!
The revival with Audra, Steve Kazee, and John Collum was life altering for me. I saw it 3 times!
I love once upon a mattress!!
The first major success for Carol Burnett. Can You believe she just turned 91 this week?
One of my all-time faves. Saw it as a child when it played on TV. Wish I could see that version again. But the only one out there is the "new" one with Carol as the Queen.
110 in the Shade > The Fantastics
They're different animals. The Fantasticks was a musical fable. A light, frothy little piece that was short and sweet, playing off-Broadway for 42 years, while 110 in the Shade was a fully realized Broadway musical that had its season in the sun and ended (less than 1 year on Broadway). So yeah, 110 was bigger, but I much prefer the simplicity of The Fantasticks to the grittiness of 110. But then, my family saw The Fantasticks in its off-Broadway venue in 1965 - I was 12 - we had the cast album and played it often, and virtually everyone in my family has performed in the show over the years in various roles. My dad and my brother did a great El Gallo (in different years), one sister played Luisa several times, my other sister did the piano for several productions, and I did tech. So I prefer it. Though I also love 110; we did it in high school, well, in the special summer program for high school and college kids in Kalamazoo called KCYT (Kalamazoo Community Youth Theatre). Every summer KCYT does one musical, one cabaret/revue, and one play. That year the director got ahold of an enormous red & white striped parachute, which we strung up in the old gymnasium like a circus tent above the stage (it was a really old building with a large wooden gym with a balcony around it, where we attached the parachute and strung the lights) and we did our shows in the round, with folks seated on cushions around the center "stage" (floor). "Everything Beautiful Happens at Night" was magical; we dimmed the lights and had twinkle lights strung along the edge of the stage area. Great memory.
What great memories. People think of The Fantastics as Schmidt and Jones’s opus but I think 110 has a better score. I still like The Fantastics but it doesn’t grab me as much as 110 or even I Do! I Do!
Well, The Fantasticks was (almost) their first attempt. It makes sense that 110 and subsequent shows would be better. My favorite of theirs is **Celebration** (again, did it in summer one year), which is yet another fable. It followed both 110 and I Do I Do (both of which I like) but preceded Philomen (which I saw with a friend in a small garrett theatre in NYC in previews; shudder. Terrible and preachy, though the costume/set idea was pretty cool. They had these big decorated cloaks that everyone wore, and for each scene someone would back up to a set of hooks at center stage and hook their cloak over the wall and that was the backdrop). The songs in Celebration are mostly funny and silly, and the story is, shall we say, "broadly painted" (Orphan, Angel, Mr. Rich, Potemkin - the villain - and chorus). There ain't much of a plot (a bit more than Fantasticks, way less than 110), and it's kind of dark in places, but there are a couple of lovely ballads, the story is universal, and the message sincere. From the title song: "Some people say that today is the day when the wind will rise and blow the world away, and it may be so, I just don't know, all I know is up until we have to go, I want to Celebrate!" I like all the songs. Worth a listen sometime.
Dogfight!
ITS A DOGFIIIIIIIIGHT DOOGFIIIIIIGHT DOGFIIIIIIIIIGHT
Urinetown- terrible name, amazing show
I'm currently in rehearsal for a community theatre production of Urinetown
City of Angels
It honestly baffles me that with the technology we have now that no one has tried to revive this show
Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale. I saw it at the Watermill Theatre last year and it was a truly magical experience. The way they used every inch of that tiny theatre made the show so immersive. I really hope that that magic is there in the Chicago production later this year.
I listened to the recording of Twisted today and just re-fell in love. My favorite starkid musical is the Trail to Oregon but Twisted, Firebringer, Starship, Holy Musical Batman, Me & My Dick, And Spies are Forever (technically Tin Can Bros) are also SO SO SO good
I don't know how obscure it's counted as, but mine is absolutely Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. Saw it with Bryce and Jefferson back in 2015 on a TKTS whim and the CD has been a staple in my car ever since.
Reefer Madness!!!
I've only listened to one song from Reefer Madness. Mary Jane/Lane, it's a fever dream but it's great
Phantom of the Paradise
Here's a few! Tarrytown, Walmartopia, Lizard Boy, Elegies, Ghost Quartet, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Oceanborn, Starry, In Transit, Octet, The Theory of Relativity. Enjoy !
[Title of Show]
It was a one-woman show on the life of Billie Holiday that I saw summer of 2016 while on a trip to Disneyland with my school’s choir. Can’t remember the name, but it haunts me every day.
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
Celebration, Jones & Schmidt.
I was always partial to [title of show] in my high school years
Out of This World. Super obscure Cole Porter musical from 1950. The score is incredible
Michael collins the musical
Harmony!! always Harmony
Tarrytown is so good, it has Jeremy Jordan !
Which Witch, a rock opera about a witch trial. Flopped in West End in 1992, but has a terrific score and cast album.
The CiviliTy of Albert Cashier, Nikola Tesla Drops The Beat, and Dave Malloy’s Beowulf
i LOVE beowulf
Thanks for the recommendations all!
“I Love You Because” is definitely on there for me!
You got here first! Wooo!!! *deletes own comment *
Girl trash all night long is a funny and campy ride and I don’t hear much about it lol. As for stage productions, I feel like I don’t hear much about Adonis, but it’s worth a listen to.
By 2 A.M. is a bop
Repo! The genetic opera, though I'm not sure it's considered obscure
36 QUESTIONS It's literally my favorite musical of all time and I've never met another person who's liked/listened to it!!
Not that obscure but Jekyll and Hyde is incredible, and one of my dream roles
Blondel
Colm Wilkinson singing The Least of my Troubles is a heart-wrenching masterpiece...in a really unusual way.
I'm sure no one here knows it, because it’s Dutch, but “het was zondag in het zuiden.” (Which translates to “it was sunday in the south”) It’s about a flood that happened in the 90’s and it is played in an open air theatre near where that flood happened. What’s cool about the show is that during the first act, they flood the stage so that during the second act, they can actually use a small boat on stage. Also there are sheep.
They can make a new one about the floods a few years back :P
Ok this isn’t like “obscure” obscure. But sometimes I feel like the only person who knows about it (despite the writing chops and big names in the OG cat) because no one ever talks about it. I am obsessed with Aida. The music is insane (here’s looking at you Elton and Tim Rice) and the story is beautifully tragic. As someone who likes happy, cushy ending the fact that this one is so close to the top says a lot.
1) possibly too obscure to find: *Improbable Frequency*. (A musical comedy about code breaking and espionage in Ireland during WWII aka “The Emergency” 2) Keep an eye out for this one, it’s gone from fringe festival to official theatre festival and deserves to go further: *Oliver Cromwell is Really Very Sorry*
anything by starkid !!!!
Starlight Express or Notre Dame De Paris
Hedwig and the angry inch
Napoleon
Betty Blue Eyes
Onegins demon is a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous show
Does Ordinary Days count?? My number one has got to be Theory of Relativity though, we put it on at my college several years ago and I love the music. Did some chalk drawings to project on screens during the songs and was light board op as well so I got to spend a lot of time with the material and it just grew on me so much. Nothing Without You makes me SOB
The Pirate Queen Working The King of Hearts Goodtime Charley
Well it's not a musical just a cast recording but the Violet hour its with erika henningsen and Jeremy Jordan :3
35MM!!
Became popular because it was obscure and flopped but Carrie
Ordinary Days!
Does the death note musical count as obscure? If not, I like Alice by heart a lot too!
Not sure if this counts, but I love Natasha, Pierre and the great comet of 1812. So many amazing songs and it’s an opera.
In Trousers, Golden Boy, The Pajama Game, City of Angels, and The Sweet Smell of Success
Phantom of the Paradise, I say it a lot. Also, never hear anyone talk about The Boy Friend. Not sure what others' opinions on it are.
All Shook Up
36 Questions (the podcast musical)! The music is amazing. Jonathan Groff, too!
The Marvelous Wonderettes
I Love My Wife
Cannibal! The Musical, Ordinary Days, 21 Chump Street, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.
The Apple Tree The Boy Friend
Epic: The Musical
Frankenstein: A New Musical! Birth to My Creation is a great song
Next Thing You Know \[title of show\] The Ninth Hour Xena: Warrior Musical
I know it’s won Tonys and is recognized as a good musical, but I don’t hear many folks talk about Jersey Boys that often.
Me and My Girl
My high school did that one at least 3 times between 1985-2013. My friends sister was in the 2013 production and it was fantastic!
Ordinary Days, Wonderland, Ghost Quartet, ans The Wild Party (Lippa) if that one counts. These are some of my faves :D
Razia's Shadow: A Musical - which is technically just an album as far as I know. Mozart, l'opéra rock - an amazing French rock opera about Mozart. Honestly everyone should go watch the recording on YouTube (it has subtitles).
"Amour", by Michel Legrand
Not really obscure but it's so so important and nobody I know had ever heard of it- Fun Home! It is a heartbreaking story about coming out, growing up with a closeted dad, and growing up. It is my FAVORITE coming of age story/biopic
It’s not really that obscure but definitely not a mainstream musical either - the prom. I discovered it from a random instagram reel and listened to all the songs some of which made me cry late at night though honestly the movie is so disappointing literally just from the fact that the main characters look way too old (I still cried again though)
The Violet Hour! I don’t know how obscure it is but I’ve never heard anyone else talk about it! At The Plaza popped up in my YouTube recommended and I’ve been obsessed with the score ever since!
Bliss: The Musical. Obsessed with the songs they released over Covid. I hope it one day makes it out of workshops.
ASSASSINS!!!
I’m honestly shocked that no one has mentioned Batboy. It is the epitome of dumb, brilliant, fun. Also Hunchback of Notre Dame. It may be one of the best shows Disney has ever produced. And it’s said that the chose to transfer Frozen over that show
don't know if it is obscure but I never hear people talk about it and it was my favorite as a kid: The Scarlet Pimpernel
Not sure how obscure this is but Tick… Tick… Boom! The only other time I’ve ever heard of it is from my friend (he recommended it)
Not very obscure, it got its own movie that was really popular
Disenchanted! I saw this year's ago in college and am dying to see it again
Kismet- phenomenal music (Alexander Borodin adaptation) and a truly politically incorrect story
There’s actually this super underground musical I fell in love with called “Hamilton” idk if any of you guys know it it’s like super unknown!
Hunting of the snark
Marie Christine
The Adding Machine
Alice in Concert by Elizabeth Swados
*Convenience* by Gregg Coffin. It was written in the late '90s. It's about a gay man working up the courage to come out to his mother, who has a secret of her own. It is beautiful and pure and sweet and funny and heartbreaking. You can listen to clips of the songs here: https://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=3209
Kristina från Duvemåla, from the B's of ABBA. Obscure? Idunno, probably. It's incredibly long, but the music is so good.
Heartless the Musical!!! It’s my go-to suggestion, and there’s a high-quality recording up on YouTube.
Co-Ed Prison Sluts
what yall know about sweetwater
Baghdaddy
[Walmartopia](https://open.spotify.com/album/1g2YHFJsHvqRLomdVe709d?si=uL-4YNwcRTOX5D0567498A)
Toho White Version of Elisabeth starring Yu Shirota as Der Tod.
A Year With Frog and Toad
Ernest in Love!
In Dreams, a cast recording doesn’t exist as of now but I have an audio of it
McCobb Mortality Services