Thirty (one) Songs for Thirty Years!
Tomorrow I turn thirty.
You know how if you say a word enough times it starts to lose it's meaning and you start questioning if it is even a word or if you spelled it right?!? That's kind of what thirty has felt like to me. You spend your early birthdays looking towards the big milestones - at 16 you can drive, at 18 you can vote, and at 21 you can drink. But the day after your 21st birthday seems to be when the countdown to 30 starts.
I've gone back and forth between dread and acceptance about turning 30 since turning 21. I think movies and TV shows can make you feel certain ways about the idea of turning older, but aside from the white eyebrow hair I found on Saturday, the idea of turning 30 has kind of started to feel exciting!
It also helps that, a sweet, angel faced girl at an audition a month ago guessed that I was 21 - so...I mean...
Anyway, as a fun birthday celebration, I created a playlist of 31 songs from 31 musicals to celebrate all the years I've been on this Earth (I'm counting my birth year when I was zero years old - hence 31 songs). The list is chronological - so that means song 1 is from a show that opened on Broadway in 1988, song 2 opened in 1989 and so on. The only exceptions I gave myself were 2016 and 2017. These two are revivals, but that's still technically the year they opened on Broadway (again) and the music was too good to pass up!
Also, since I made up the rules - I can break them.
1988 - "Nobody's Side" from Chess
- I first heard about Chess in high school and it's been a weird ride ever since - it contains some of my favorite and one of my most hated songs in the same show.
1989 - "Sun and Moon" from Miss Saigon
- Watch this clip - Lea Salonga is the only person I can think of that deserves to be two Disney princesses.
1990 - "Mama Will Provide" from Once on This Island
1991 - "Hold On" from The Secret Garden
- This is my favorite audition song. It's also a good "get-your-crap-together!" song.
1992 - "Someone to Watch Over Me" from Crazy for You
1993 - "I Think I Can Play This Part" from The Goodbye Girl
- Martin Short was nominated for a Tony for this show - this song is really cute.
1994 - "Loving You" from Passion
1995 - "Le Jazz Hot" from Victor/Victoria
1996 - "Will I?" from Rent
- Rent is the show that made me realize I love musicals so I could've chosen any song, but everyone loves a round and the harmonies in this are so good for my soul.
1997 - "Dressed in Your Pyjamas in the Grand Salon" from Titanic
- This whole show is great and this song is kind of silly, but I think Maury Yeston doesn't get the credit he deserves.
1998 - "This Is Not Over Yet" from Parade
- "Natalie suggested a song from Parade? How shocking!" -No one ever.
1999 - "I Never Knew His Name" from Civil War
2000 - "A Wild, Wild Party" from The Wild Party
- This song is a tiny bit blasphemous, but it gets stuck in my head all the time.
2001 - "Without Love" from Hairspray
2002 - "Follow Your Heart" from Urinetown
2003 - "As Long As You're Mine" from Wicked
2004 - "Once Upon a Time" from Brooklyn
- I don't think this show ever got an OBC so this is kind of an acoustic-y version.
2005 - "Here I Am" from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
2006 - "Bride's Lament" from The Drowsy Chaperone
2007 - "Legally Blonde" from Legally Blonde
- I don't care what the haters say - I love this show and this is one of my favorite songs.
2008 - "Love You Didn't Do Right By Me" from White Christmas
- I relate to this song and role so much.
2009 - "I Miss the Mountains" from Next to Normal
2010 - "Pulled" from The Addams Family
2011 - "If the World Should End" from Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
- This is the only good song from this show.
2012 - "Gold" from Once
2013 - "Land of Lola" from Kinkyboots
2014 - "Beautiful" from Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
2015 - "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story" from Hamilton
2016 - "I'm Breaking Down" from Falsettos
- Truth be told, I used to think Stephanie J. Block seemed like a mean diva, but then I watched this and now I love her. (She also sang her ending money note with half a banana in her mouth - what? Amazing.)
2017 - "Move On" from Sunday in the Park with George
- I wrote about this masterpiece of a song here.
2018 - "I'd Rather Be Me" from Mean Girls
- This song gets better every time I listen to it - it's as applicable to a high schooler as it is to me. Good job, Tina.
I'd love to see what my friends would choose for their birth year lists - let me know what you'd choose!
It also helps that, a sweet, angel faced girl at an audition a month ago guessed that I was 21 - so...I mean...
Also, since I made up the rules - I can break them.
1988 - "Nobody's Side" from Chess
- I first heard about Chess in high school and it's been a weird ride ever since - it contains some of my favorite and one of my most hated songs in the same show.
1989 - "Sun and Moon" from Miss Saigon
- Watch this clip - Lea Salonga is the only person I can think of that deserves to be two Disney princesses.
1990 - "Mama Will Provide" from Once on This Island
1991 - "Hold On" from The Secret Garden
- This is my favorite audition song. It's also a good "get-your-crap-together!" song.
1992 - "Someone to Watch Over Me" from Crazy for You
1993 - "I Think I Can Play This Part" from The Goodbye Girl
- Martin Short was nominated for a Tony for this show - this song is really cute.
1994 - "Loving You" from Passion
1995 - "Le Jazz Hot" from Victor/Victoria
1996 - "Will I?" from Rent
- Rent is the show that made me realize I love musicals so I could've chosen any song, but everyone loves a round and the harmonies in this are so good for my soul.
1997 - "Dressed in Your Pyjamas in the Grand Salon" from Titanic
- This whole show is great and this song is kind of silly, but I think Maury Yeston doesn't get the credit he deserves.
1998 - "This Is Not Over Yet" from Parade
- "Natalie suggested a song from Parade? How shocking!" -No one ever.
1999 - "I Never Knew His Name" from Civil War
2000 - "A Wild, Wild Party" from The Wild Party
- This song is a tiny bit blasphemous, but it gets stuck in my head all the time.
2001 - "Without Love" from Hairspray
2002 - "Follow Your Heart" from Urinetown
2003 - "As Long As You're Mine" from Wicked
2004 - "Once Upon a Time" from Brooklyn
- I don't think this show ever got an OBC so this is kind of an acoustic-y version.
2005 - "Here I Am" from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
2006 - "Bride's Lament" from The Drowsy Chaperone
2007 - "Legally Blonde" from Legally Blonde
- I don't care what the haters say - I love this show and this is one of my favorite songs.
2008 - "Love You Didn't Do Right By Me" from White Christmas
- I relate to this song and role so much.
2009 - "I Miss the Mountains" from Next to Normal
2010 - "Pulled" from The Addams Family
2011 - "If the World Should End" from Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
- This is the only good song from this show.
2012 - "Gold" from Once
2013 - "Land of Lola" from Kinkyboots
2014 - "Beautiful" from Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
2015 - "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story" from Hamilton
2016 - "I'm Breaking Down" from Falsettos
- Truth be told, I used to think Stephanie J. Block seemed like a mean diva, but then I watched this and now I love her. (She also sang her ending money note with half a banana in her mouth - what? Amazing.)
2017 - "Move On" from Sunday in the Park with George
- I wrote about this masterpiece of a song here.
2018 - "I'd Rather Be Me" from Mean Girls
- This song gets better every time I listen to it - it's as applicable to a high schooler as it is to me. Good job, Tina.
I'd love to see what my friends would choose for their birth year lists - let me know what you'd choose!
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