I don't watch a whole lot of musicals, which is strange for a musical nerd like myself, but here are my top 5. You'll all probably disagree and that's ok. Let me know in the comments what your favorite musical is.
Coming in at Number 5 I'm going with West Side Story. The classic Romeo & Juliet story, but told through teenagers in gangs. With my favorite songs being "Gee, Officer Krupke" and "Jet Song". I wasn't a big fan of the adaptation (the new movie) but I understand if you were. The energy these two songs create is really nice. With the Krupke song showing how it just goes in a big circle and nobody really wants to help or take responsibility. While Jet song is showing that they want to be the family that helps each other even though they're all kids just trying to survive.
Number 4 is gonna have to be Newsies. Let's be honest we've all caught ourselves screaming at least one of their songs in our car. If not then you're missing out. A band of mischievous, yet intelligent kids get together to stop the news company from not paying them what they're worth. The story combined with the awesome ensemble really carries this show for me.
Number 3 Dear Evan Hansen. The songs are absolutely phenomenal, while the story for me falls a little short. Evan Hansen is an anxious, isolated high-school student who's aching for understanding and belonging. He then goes on a journey of "self-discovery" when a letter he wrote for a writing exercise falls into the hands of the parents of a kid (Conner) who took his own life. The issue for me is the fact that the whole time they try to make Evan a good guy, but he's constantly lying and manipulating the people around him, even if he does have social anxiety it's not ok how much he lies and manipulates.
Coming in at Number 2 is Hamilton. What a story this is. Tells the story of, well, Hamilton. The songs... bangers. The ensemble... where did they find these people. The cast... I mean they're just perfect. So what could be better than the story about our founding fathers.
At Number 1. Something Rotton. Something Rotten takes place in 1595 London, England. The Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel are trying to find success by writing plays, but are outshined by the rock-star playwright of the Renaissance, William Shakespeare. The songs are so good. There's witty banter with great comedy. It has nods to other musicals and the ability to be so creative with the dance and ensemble is unbelievable. It's very underrated and I highly recommend it.