Six character musicals are awesome!!
Upon watching ride the cyclone for the first time, crazy musical, check it out if you haven't, it struck me that there seems to be a thing of musicals that focus on six main characters and their backstories, set in a fixed setting with an episodic "each character gets one song in turn with the others providing backup as the other people in their life" style
I am talking about ride the cyclone, the 25th annual Putnam county spelling bee, and six the musical. Each follows this style exactly, with some notable differences
Oh also each is a competition. The telling of the backstories is either a part of the competition, or independent of it. In the case of six and rtc, the competition is a fabrication, for the characters and the audience, it was never about who wins, because to pick a winner would be to compare the value of people, which is not okay. And learning this fact is the entire point of the musical. For six, this is a powerful message about feminism and historical revisionism, that historical figures, and particularly women, deserve to be researched, retold and understood each in their own right, independent from men and free from comparison. For rtc, this is (I think, I haven't entire unpacked it yet) a message about life and the value of every life, that no one matters more than anyone else and it is important to be empathetic and selfless. The ending for six is a celebration where the queen's all come together, no longer fighting and are stronger as a whole made up of powerful and unique individuals. Rtc meanwhile, is something of a solemn surreal acceptance, this has been a game and now it is over and the kids are moving into the afterlife, but also not, it is also happy in a bittersweet way, because life starts again and life goes on, spinning around and around. And they have lived, even if they died as children, they each had a life, we can see that now, we understand it, we've watched their songs, and it's sad, because they all deserve to keep living the path that they have created, they all have a dream, gay dude never got to kiss a man, Ukranian dude never got to see his girlfriend, bossy girl never got to become all that she was working and wanted to be. Cat boy and rainbow girl are content. But in that understanding, we also know that they have lived, and that their lives have been meaningful, even if short. In that, there is a strength and an acceptance. It seems unfair, but isn't all childhood death unfair. And they have lived, to feel otherwise would be to invalidate the time and experiences that they had, which were complex and strange and wonderful. And entirely their own.
And speaking of children and their life experiences. Spelling bee does much the same. Except without the death. It's ending also shifts the focus away from the competition itself, removing itself from the entire framing device and driving force of the play to focus on growth and learning. This is a very nice beginning, and so, even if only one child can "win" they each gained a valuable lesson and experience through the spelling bee. Olive made a friend and gained self worth, leaf had fun and found that he can be good at something, Marcy learnt to lose and discovered that she has power in her own life, chip experienced a sexual awakening, shwartsy learnt that life can be complex, and reaffirmed her own morals, and William Barfe won the spelling bee, proving that he can do something and be a winner, and he gained a friend. It similarly explores each characters history, but also their present of learning and their future. These are complete children and characters and people, and the bee is simply a conduit for learning and life, helping them to grow into a kind, strong, complex, smart person, full of beautiful life experiences.
And they stay friends and stay in touch, and they all live. And notably, this one includes outsider roles, who help the kids to learn and perhaps grow on their own as well. Or simply love the experience.
So in short, not that this has been short in any way, this is a brilliant style of musical, and one that has been repeated a strange number of times. Each time it is structurally similar, using a competition as a narrative and framing device to explore history and develop character, until said competition is dropped and realised to be truly unimportant, returning the focus to the six wonderful complex characters and their growth and stories. Each is tonally different, with a different purpose and mechanism, and different characters. Drawing parallels or super close comparisons would be reductive. These are 18 unique characters, (except for leaf and catboi, they're kinda similar) (shwartsy/parks and bossy girl) and I would love to see some of them as friends.
I don't think any of them strictly copied the others, but the similarities are amusing, and make for a fun comparison.
Anyway, if you read this far, thanks! And what do you think? Do you have a favourite character from each?? Do you prefer one musical over the others? Is this song awesome? Would you use your seed to have the sexy cat ladies??
