Straight Guy Likes Musicals?

I'm listening to Tool's "Ænima" as I write this. It has nothing to do with my blog, but there you go. Maybe it'll add a layer of WTF to the proceeding blog...

I saw "Chicago" today. You know, the musical? What's that? You've never seen it? The hell is wrong with you? It's awesome!!! Okay, so it's not super-fucking awesome, but it's good fun, and that's important. Some people seem to think it strange that a straight male such as myself happens to enjoy musicals. For many, musicals are for the exclusive enjoyment of women and gay guys. I suppose I'm an exception to that rule. I enjoy them. Not all of them. But then again, I don't enjoy every movie ever even though I call myself a "film lover". I suppose I've never understood why there should be this exclusivity when it comes to anything, let alone musicals. Perhaps, in this case, I enjoy them because I grew up childhood best friend of a flaming homosexual who introduced me to musicals. But I don't think that's the real big reason. Sure, it's part of it, but not the BIG part. Watching "Chicago" today, I had a revelation when I thought to myself, "Why do I like this shit?" For the record, I say "this shit" with the utmost respect and love for musicals. It's not derogatory in anyway (which should be rather obvious at this point, but I thought it best to point it out anyway, so there's no room for misconception). Anyway, I think I enjoy musicals because, aside from the catchy songs, everything about a musical is over-exaggerated and WAYYY over the top. More often than not, it borders on the absurd, and I'm all about the absurdity of anything and everything. In "Chicago" many of the reasons for the women being in jail are overreactions to certain situations. The set of the whole show is virtually non-existant, instead, relying on the performers and a few small props (chairs mostly, and some ladders). Oh, and there's this giant platform where the backing band sits (which isn't seen all that often in musicals) and the performers run through the band throughout the performance. But that platform is painted black. So all you have to look at is a more or less blank stage filled with people dressed (barely) in black clothes. But the dancing and the singing are all over-the-top and over-exaggerated so much so that you really don't notice any of that. Right there is something else that I admire about musicals, "Chicago" specifically. Back in my "younger" days, I was a theater nerd (that in and of itself probably plays a part in my love of musicals), so I appreciate that there's so little on stage, but what little there is is very lively and never boring. In other words, they take very little to create something much, much larger. I'm a fan of a single person/small group doing something in a new way that makes them seem like a much bigger thing than they are.

Also, the snappy songs. I've only seen "Chicago" three times total (including the movie) and I remember most of the songs, if not by name, then by music and lyrics. For this muddle-brained man-child, that's a big deal--a very big deal. Really, it has nothing to do with the songs so much as the fact that I love being able to recall something without having to commit that much effort and time to. When you're a mush-brain like me, it takes a lot of both time AND effort to remember the simplest things.

It is the opinion of this Rambling Hobo that many people are missing out when they discount musicals as anything but a good time. Sure, it's not everyone's thing, but there are many people out there who would benefit in some way by taking a chance on musicals.