We’re starting a new series on this week’s Dress Circle (7/23 7:00 p.m.) as we look at “I Want” songs. An “I Want” song appears in many musicals and is usually within the first 20 minutes or so. It lets the audience know the inner-workings of a character, usually the lead, and generally establishes the reasons for why that character does what he or she does throughout the evening.
This program looks at some of the songs that literally say “I Want” in their titles and span quite a few years. We’ve got songs such as “I Want to Be There” from “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “I Want the Good Times Back” from the stage version of “The Little Mermaid,” and “I Want to Go Home” from “Big.”
Lesser-known musicals include “Golden Boy” and the song “I Want to Be with You,” “Love Live” and “What More Do I Want?,” and “Wake Up and Dream” with “I Want to Be Raided by You.”
Other musicals include “Peg,” “High Wide and Handsome,” “Fame on 42nd Street,” “Mama, I Want to Sing,” “Grand Hotel,” and “No, No Nanette.”
Join us for the first of three evenings looking at musical “I Want” songs that’ll help us get into the minds of some musical theatre characters in a variety of entertaining ways.