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Post by Alexa Rosenbaum

Though I always loved music growing up, my first and truest love will always be musical theater.  I’m happiest when I am sitting in a theater seeing a show or belting out Broadway tunes in my car, and I am always trying to find ways to incorporate showtunes into music therapy sessions.  Below are 5 songs from Broadway musicals that are well known and recognized by many, theater-goers or not.

1) Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’

This catchy tune is from the musical Oklahoma!, which opened on Broadway way back in 1940s and was later made into a movie starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones.  This song’s lyrics and repeating chorus work well as a greeting song and the lyrics can be adapted to fit the time of day or routine of the client.

2) Getting to Know You

The King and I first premiered in 1951, and just this year won a Tony Award for Best Revival after this amazing performance at the ceremony.  The character who sings this song, Anna, is a teacher, but the same sentiments can apply to music therapists as well. This song could also be used as a greeting for a group, particularly during the first session when you are meeting all of the clients.  It could also be adapted to help learn clients’ names and build rapport with the members of the group.

3) My Favorite Things

While other little girls grew up idolizing the Spice Girls and Britney Spears, when asked who my role model was as a child I always answered Julie Andrews.  I continue to worship Julie to this day, and one of her best performances is in the role of Maria in Sound of Music, a musical that was adapted into the well known 1965 film.  This is a tune that most people will recognize and many will know all of the words to.  This song can be used to get to know clients and works well as a “mad-libs” type fill-in-the-blank songwriting intervention.

4) Tomorrow

I grew up watching the 1982 version of this Annie, and I am amazed that my parents didn’t go crazy when I sang every song from this musical on repeat around the house.  This musical has been adapted as a movie several times, most recently in 2014 starring Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx.  As annoying as this song may get over time, you can’t deny that this is a catchy little tune.  “Tomorrow” could also be used as a a silly mad-libs style songwriting activity and could also be used to end a session and ensure that everyone has it stuck in their head for the rest of the day.