Six Musicals That Are Perfect For The Holidays

As we wind down to the last two weeks of December (oof), I wanted this week to be about musicals. As I was doing research I found that there are no non-adaption Christmas musicals, so this whole list will be musicals that are based off of IP's. Until we get an original Christmas musical, these musicals below are the ones I'll be recommending for the festive season. So, here are the:

6: How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Picture it, It's 2007, we won't have a recession for another year. It's the year of High School Musical 3 and Crank That, Soulja Boy, and the holiday season was introduced to the world's second Seuss Musical. 

How The Grinch Stole Christmas debuted on the Broadway stage in November 2007 starring Patrick Page (of Hadestown, Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Golden Age and Shakespeare fame) as the grumpy tiny hearted green monster that lives on top of Mt.Crumpit. Though its run was cut short to the stagehand strike, it gained more traction as it toured through the US and UK. The songs are pretty great, and the ones they kept from the original '69 version is peak holiday spirit. I totally recommend it. I don't however, recommend the 2020 live version. Steer away from that like a can of Who-Hash. 

5: Elf The Musical

Following a similar vein in 2010, Elf The Musical had a better life on the Broadway stage than the Grinch. It debuted twice on the stage with various reaction, mostly positive. It has changes that makes it into a modern adaptation to the 2000 Will Ferrell movie. The songs are catchy and it will get stuck in your head. The changes they made I think is better than the movie. I recommend it wholeheartedly, and I pray to the elves above that CBS/NBC/Fox does not turn this into a live TV musical.

4: White Christmas

Based on the 1954 movie of the same name, White Christmas the musical follows the same premise as the movie and have the same names. The new added songs are in the spirit of the movie and Christmas time. It's a really good musical for the holidays. Despite average reviews on Broadway, it won the two Tony Awards in 2009 for best orchestration and choreography. Go see it if you haven't. It's very charming.

3: Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn is what you get if you take the original movie and pretty much overhaul it so it follows a similar time-step as the movie rather than have it be a walkthrough with songs. They axed multiple songs which one of them thankfully was the notorious song done in blackface, and added songs that not only enhance the story and characters but are great songs to play alone without the whole musical.

When the show was opened on Broadway it was revered for its choreography which yes, it is amazing! Show me another show that tap dances while jumping rope, and I'll argue it doesn't do it as well as Holiday Inn. It's Tony Award and Drama Desk awards were all for its choreography. I recommend it all month long for the holiday!

2: A Christmas Story

Before Dear Evan Hansen and Greatest Showman, Pasek and Paul did A Christmas Story: The Musical. Following the story of the 1983 movie, A  Christmas Story The Musical is a great musical adaptation. It's even not so bad as a live TV musical...Matthew Broderick aside. The songs are great, catchy and is in tune with the characters. You believe that these are words the characters would sing because their emotions are too great to simply monologue about them. 

It debuted 2012 on the Broadway stage and survived 8 national tours around the US. As previously mentioned, in 2017 NBC released the tv live musical which wasn't half-bad and introduced Ana Gasteyer as a beltress to the max with a new song which I desperately wish was apart of the original musical. If you haven't listened to it, I highly highly recommend it.

1: A Christmas Carol (Alan Menken version)

Because I wouldn't be me if this version didn't make high on any Christmas list of mine. If you haven't heard of this musical I will say, you more than likely did, because it was adapted into a movie in 2004 starring Kelsey Grammar and Jason Alexander. I recommend checking that out, it's really cool. Alan Menken's A Christmas Carol debuted in 1994 and ran annually in Madison Square Garden until 2003. It follows the same story as the 1894 book by Charles Dickens, and has added songs by the incomparable Lynn Ahrens (of Seussical, Anastasia, and Ragtime fame, just to name a few). The songs are amazing, especially Marley's song Link by Link. The musical was revered and survived 10 years of stage performances before closing. In 2016, The UK had a similar run until it was halted and finished in 2020. If you haven't checked it out, please do it! It's soo good!

That’s all I got for this week, you guys! Let me know which holiday musical is your favorite and which you wish was on this list.