New musicals have been taking over the classics in many people’s opinions. Since the 90’s many new musicals have hit the Broadway stage and taken the world by storm. Wicked, Chicago, and Hamilton have all been chart topping with record sales and hit soundtracks. Old musicals have been in music billboards as well, “Hello, Dolly” by Louis Armstrong was a number one hit in 1964, though no one else wanted to record it.

Wicked, the hit Broadway musical and soon to be movie began as a book, a prequel to the Wizard of Oz book that became a movie. The story is centered around Elphaba, a green skinned Witch from Oz and her journey to becoming the eventual Wicked Witch of the West. The full title of the book is Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The original Broadway cast featured stars such as Idina Menzel (Elphaba) and Kristin Chenoweth (Glinda).

Chicago is set in the roaring twenties, just when vaudeville acts are at their prime. In the opening scene and number, it’s revealed that Velma Kelly has killed her scene partner and sister Veronica. Aspiring star Roxie Hart is sent to jail for the murder of her boyfriend after attempting to convince her husband to take the fall. Their court cases are the focus of the show, since one officer said that Roxie’s trial could end up being a “hanging case.” Richard Gere, Renee Zellweger, and Catherine Zeta-Jones all star in this manipulative, backstabbing movie.

Hamilton is the life story of Alexander Hamilton, the “ten dollar founding father” himself told in a new hip hop style, and the first rap/hip hop musical. The opening number details Hamilton’s life up until he came to New York to go to college and join the revolution. He then meets Aaron Burr, John Laurens, Marquis de Lafayette, and Hercules Mulligan and they fight together in the Revolutionary War. The musical runs from then up until just after Hamilton’s death at the hands of Aaron Burr in a duel between the two of them over Burr’s honor. The heart-wrenching closing song, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” tells the story of Eliza Hamilton after the death of her husband.