All of them! We have to accept the fact that the characters are going to sing when things get too emotional.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
SOUTH PACIFIC, accepting people who don't look like you do into your own life
INTO THE WOODS, accepting the imperfections and painful realities of life and one's responsibilities to oneself and one's community
FUN HOME, accepting that you, under other historical conditions, might be just as ****ed up as your parents
FALSETTOS, accepting that "everyone hates their parents."
FOLLIES, accepting just being dressy when you are no longer juicy or, if you can't afford to be dressy at that age, accepting being neither dressy nor juicy
Updated On: 1/23/14 at 08:17 AM
I agree that that's either a major or minor theme in many musicals.
West Side Story
Hairspray
Show Boat
Wicked
So many ...
"THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA"
Er... accepting a sociopath?
The Scottsboro Boys
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
Once On This Island - the dark-skinned peasant girl is shunned by the fair-skinned rich "beauxhommes".
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
Ragtime
And the one that started it all: OKLAHOMA!
If "acceptance" means tolerance of diversity, then ALL the R&H musicals (and their imitators) are basically built on that theme. Best12 is right that Hammerstein starts the trend with SHOW BOAT.
Acceptance could mean both learning to accept yourself or others accepting you.
But by that definition, wouldn't every American musical be included? Hell, even MY FAIR LADY becomes a story about class acceptance in American hands.
My Fair Lady is an excellent example and one I was thinking of initially, but when I am O/P, I like to keep the slate clean and let others contribute.
I wouldn't say Pippin, Spiderman or Cinderella etc are about acceptance.
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