My Book of Broadway

Favorite Characters from Musicals

So I've been inspired to do this from Epius1832 (she is absolutely amazing please go give her a follow if you don't already!) and it is basically what it sounds like! I'm just going to be listing and discusses some of my favorite musical theatre characters!

This will be entirely impossible to make a certain number so it'll just be however many I can think of without the list becoming absurdly long! There may need to be a part two...

Also quick disclaimer these will not be the only characters that I love but I simply cannot list all of them! These will be those that I find specifically spectacular! In no particular order, let's get to it!

~~~~~~~

Jean Valjean - Les Miserables

Jean Valjean is easily one of my favorite characters of all time! Not just from musicals! His story line and characteristics are so inspiring and he is probably my biggest role model in terms of characters. He goes from hating the world and being miserable and cynical to becoming a philanthropist and believing that all men are born with good in their hearts. That is the most important lesson in my opinion and the way he chooses to live his life and see people is truly how I inspire to live mine. He is the true definition of human redemption and the human condition and what truly makes life so special and fragile and goodness gracious I could go on forever!! I have such a special place in my heart for him and I admire him very much.

Erik - The Phantom of the Opera

Shocking I know. I'll keep this brief since I talk about Erik so much but his story line and his character are so deeply effective and fun to analyze which is elevated by the musical since there are so many different actor interpretations. His character is so so so so so so special to me and he will always and forever be one of my favorites.

Jack Kelly - Newsies

Jack Kelly is very important to me solely because he is not a perfect hero. He's not like Enjorlas who leads this whole revolution and shows little signs of giving up even when things seem pretty dim (there's nothing wrong with that) but Jack starts this whole rebellion and he's the guy that everyone looks up to and when the going gets tough, he has a mental breakdown and gives up. I love that! Maybe that's not the type of behavior I should idolize but the greatest thing about Jack is that he picks himself back up and becomes the leader that he should have been all along! Jack is another wonderful example of the true human condition (can you guys see a theme here?) and I think watching him allows us to all feel a little more human as everyone can relate to him. There is not a single person on this earth who cannot relate to the helpless feeling of giving up and losing hope at some point in their lives and I love that Jack is able to embody that and also show that everything can and will turn out okay in the end!!

Pierre - Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

Pierre means a lot to me as well. I have never related to a character nearly as much as I have related to Pierre so I throughly enjoy him in that sense. He is one of the most tragic characters in my mind (until the end of the musical and then he turns to be one of he most hopeful) and there is something very inspiring about him. Very similarly to Jean Valjean, Pierre's circumstance and outlook on life doesn't effect the way he treats others. He is kind and generous and believes that people are good and that they deserve pity. He also reminds me that I need to live life the way that I want to and not be afraid to take 'risks.' 'Dust and Ashes' is such a monumental song because of the dozens of lessons that it conveys within its 6 minute time span! His outlook on people and life and love are very similar to mine and beyond that he is so developed and interesting and the crazy thing is that Great Comet is only based on 70 pages of the novel so I couldn't imagine how developed he is in the novel!