Mothers 'n Musicals

L to R: Me, Sister K, Mom, Sister A

I’ve benefitted from being raised by a great mother and I'm very lucky to live close to her and still have her to call and get advice from. I also have two older sisters and even though they are now mothers themselves - I like to think I got to benefit from their wisdom first. So, in honor of all different types of "mothers" in the world, I wanted to look at some of my favorite mother figures from musicals.

Marmee from Little Women is my favorite traditional mother figure from a musical. She is warm and brave. Marmee, like my mom, is a mother to all girls. Girls with different personalities. Girls who fight, but love each other fiercely. Also like my mom, Marmee has an endless supply of strength. She has to handle worrying about a husband at war, concern about the health of her daughters, but she is still able to stay strong for her family when tragedy strikes. The song "Here Alone" really emphasizes the struggles she's going through while her husband is at war.

I don't know which part is harder,

What I know or what's unknown, 

Or raising little women

When I am here alone. 

Anita is an excellent sister-with-motherly-wisdom character from West Side Story. Anita's counterpart from Romeo and Juliet is Nurse - the woman who raised Juliet - so it's only appropriate that Maria turns to Anita as others would turn to their mothers. Here's a theory I'm going to throw out there - though it's contested in my household - even when Anita is so angry that Maria's new love has killed Bernardo, she still manages to support Maria by the end of "A Boy Like That/I Have a Love" when she and Maria sing together:

When love comes so strong

There is no right or wrong

Your love is your life 

So it's not like she's saying "What Tony did is totes okay with me, sis," BUT I do think she is saying "You know what? I get it. You can't help who you love." Which is pretty dang supportive all things considered.

I know I'm getting to be a bit of a broken record about this show, but one of my favorite my recent examples of motherhood in musicals is seen in the song "Everything Changes" from Waitress. This is the part I cried the most at when I saw the show on Broadway. Jenna is so scared to be a mom, but the moment she actually becomes one changes her almost instantly. She finds courage and self-love. I am not a mother, but that sounds like a pretty relatable situation. And some of the lyrics perfectly describe how I hope to see my children.

I was lost 

For you to find

And now I'm yours, and you are mine 

Here's a little clip for you with a slightly different version than the OBC.


I hope that yesterday you were able to celebrate those in your life that are mothers. Whether those are sisters, mothers, step-mothers, grandmothers or just really good friends that give you a kick in the pants when you need a reality check or a big hug when you're feeling sad. Thanks to all the mothers in my life for showing me who I could be, who I am, and who I want to be.