Historical Musicals

I recently approached the leader of one of our local theatre companies (Live Oak Theatre,) with the idea of writing a musical on the American Revolution. She seemed to like the idea. So now what I have to do is begin historical research for the musical. My idea is to have the musical set in Boston, possibly in 1770. I’ve been inspired by musicals such as the Frank Wildhorn musical Jekyll and Hyde, and the first musical I was ever in, a musical called Who Will Call Him King of Kings?

I think it’s important to try to make historical stories as accurate as possible. That’s one reason I’m interested in doing this musical. Probably the most popular musical on the American Revolution today is the Broadway musical Hamilton, and while I can’t deny the merit of some of its music (You’ll Be Back is very catchy,) it’s not an accurate portrayal of the Founding Fathers (who use words such as the F and S words.) There needs to be a musical that portrays events and people accurately, and this is a chance to make one. The first step, as I said earlier, is to research the events and people the musical will be about. It will be a bit of a lengthy process, but, if all goes well, it will be worth it.