Musicals on wars — Page 3

If anyone can get their hands on a recording of JOHNNY JOHNSON, please do so. It's Kurt Weill's forgotten gem. The music is stunning.

It's been mentioned, but it takes place during WW1. Its title was inspired by the fact the name appeared on United States casualty rolls more often than any other.

I wish Encores would bring it back. It's a great show for today's America. It's very, very anti-war.

Wow, I never saw that I was responded to. Touche, Evita doesn't really cover WWII.

I wonder if we could throw in Aida, since it's sort of about the wars between Nubia and Egypt?

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I have a recording of Johnny Johnson on LP. With a very young Burgess Meredith singing the title role.

And the Masada/Warsaw Ghetto musical that Musicalkid refers to has just opened in London under the title Imagine This to considerable controversy.

You can even add White Christmas.

If you ever have the opportunity to see Letters From Nam, do so. It has some really beautiful music and the story is based on a group of young men who served together in Viet Nam and the letters they wrote home to their friends and family.

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Parade begins during the Civil War with a Confederate Soldier about to leave for battle and saying goodbye to his Lila. The action fast forwards fifty years and we see an older actor playing that same Confederate Soldier only fifty years older and missing his left leg (or is it his right?). Basically, one of the underlying themes of the show is that the South is still healing from the wounds of the Civil War.

The Life and Caroline or Change both have references to Vietnam. Caroline's oldest son is stationed in Vietnam and Queen's lover/pimp, Fleetwood is a Vietnam vet going through flashbacks and addicted to cocaine and they talk about how he hocked his Purple Heart and Fleet tells one guy, "I didn't see you in the jungle." So these shows aren't necessarily about war but war is certainly a theme.

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The recently shuttered London show Marguerite
King Of Hearts

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Updated On: 12/2/08 at 10:28 PM