Welcome to the Musicals Thread, the Avocado’s space for anything and everything related to musical theatre! Every month I’ll post a discussion prompt, but please feel free to comment on other topics, from new discoveries to old favorites. If you have ideas for future prompts or would like to write a feature for the thread, let me know!
I spent last week like Amalia Balash at the beginning of Act 2 – sick but still trying to push through and do my work. Sadly no handsome baritone brought me a carton of ice cream, though my dad did get me a milkshake.
The other musical I can think of that plays illness for laughs (at least until that reprise) is Guys and Dolls, with Adelaide’s psychosomatic cold and flu symptoms the result of her increasingly prolonged engagement to Nathan.
Otherwise, we have our Fantines, our Foscas – and our Diana Goodmans struggling mainly with mental rather than physical health (though to quote Nellie Bertram, “The mind is part of the body”, and Next to Normal in particular highlights the effects of the material – drugs and other treatments – on the immaterial).
Which musical(s) dealt well/poorly with issues of health and wellness? Are these issues that should receive more attention in this medium?