These musicals made the world turn once with their unique music and acting, and now they’re back to make you want to be in the room where it happens. 

Hamilton

  From “My Shot” to “The Room Where It Happens,” Hamilton is a very popular Broadway show that touched the hearts of everyone, winning a Tony, Grammy and being the 2016 Pulitzer Prize winners for drama and having an innovative musical blend of R&B and rap. Hamilton is a hip-hop based musical written and directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who plays the title character in the original Broadway recording. The musical, which takes place in the late 1700s, follows Hamilton on his rise to political fame. He survives through tragedies and heartache, from falling in love with Eliza Schuyler, played by Phillipa Soo, to fighting in the American Revolution and founding the Federalist party. Hamilton’s songwriting has such emotional weight that gives life to the characters on stage, highlights the historical impact and showcases the seven years of incredible writing that brought it all into one masterpiece. 

Mean Girls

  Did you see Mean Girls? I heard that the musical was so fetch! Mean Girls is the musical that fittingly brought the teenage “gossip-culture” experience to the world of drama. In 2024, Mean Girls: The Musical Movie was released after the touring show Mean Girls: The Musical came to Charlotte’s Blumenthal Theater. That year, the show set sail to the stage of East Meck’s Silver Auditorium. The musical follows a quirky teenager from South Africa, Cady Heron, who takes her safari adventure to the halls of North Shore High. When all seems unfair, the queen bee of the school, Regina George, gives her a bus ride to the top. The musical adaptation adds a great depth to the story and makes it more lively with each song having its own feel while also using a cohesive theme throughout the soundtrack. The musical highlights the idea of being mindful of the people you surround yourself with and staying true to oneself.

Back to The Future

  Taking us back in time to a classic ’80s film turned musical, Back to The Future: The Musical is a great way to introduce nostalgia and ’80s culture to the world of theater fans and non-theater fans alike. Back to The Future rewrites its main character, Marty McFly, as an awkward, music-loving teenager who only wants to pursue his dreams of becoming a musician. It was only a matter of time, however, before his father, George McFly, tells him that dreams are hard to follow. Marty goes on a journey back in time by accident trying to save his friend Doc, a scientist, as they try to find a way to get Marty back to the present (1985) to return everything to normal. But in a turn of events, Marty gets stuck and ends up going for a whirl trying to survive the past to get back to the future. The musical aspects of the show are a reflection of the ’60s and ’80s while still keeping a modernized feel to the music. Back to The Future is a very successful blockbuster movie, so adding it to the many film-turned-musicals that contribute to the Broadway world creates a bigger audience for both theater kids and movie watchers to enjoy.