Three Relevant Stories About Musicians and Musicals

Published: December 5, 2023

Meet the Maybe Man

By Cherry Clark

(Credit to DFree/Shutterstock)

On Nov. 10, the indie pop band AJR released their fifth studio album, ‘The Maybe Man’. On Sept. 11, 2023, AJR revealed the album cover and track list, featuring 12 songs (one less than previously announced). Five singles have already been released. AJR has released four studio albums: ‘Living Room’ (2015), ‘The Click’ (2017), ‘Neotheater’ (2019), and ‘OK Orchestra’ (2021). A teaser on Nov. 12, 2022, left fans speculating about the album’s title, with guesses ranging from ‘The Music Men’ to ‘Ten-Meter Men’. Then, on Aug. 28, 2023, the band unveiled the highly anticipated title: ‘The Maybe Man’.

Originating from New York City, AJR is an indie pop trio consisting of brothers Adam Met, Jack Met and Ryan Met. The band started in 2005, but didn’t see any relative success until 2012 with their single, ‘I’m Ready’. The single was later released with their debut studio album ‘The Living Room’ in 2015.

Dolly Parton’s Rocking New Era

By Izzy Lash

Dolly Parton: actress, singer, songwriter, musician and philanthropist extraordinaire. She’s ruled the country music industry with a smile since her debut in 1967, and 56 years later she’s still singing with her first rock album, “Rockstar”, which dropped a couple weeks ago.

After her debut album titled, “Hello, I’m Dolly,” she experienced success that carried her into the 1980s. Since the 2000’s she received plenty of commercial success and became one of the few artists to receive all four major entertainment awards: Emmy, Oscar, Grammy and Tony. Her most recent release, “Rockstar”, has 30 all new rock songs. It was released on Nov. 17 under Butterfly Records, and is available on all streaming platforms. It even has appearances from popular artists like Lizzo, P!nk, Elton John, Joan Jett and Miley Cyrus.

Her first feature film appearance was in the comedy “9-5”, with a leading role as a secretary, which she sang the title song for. Both the song and the movie received Golden Globe nominations, the movie became a major success and the song topped the charts. Parton was named the Top Female Box Office Star in 1981 and 1982 thanks to the film’s success.

(Credit to DFree/Shutterstock)

Musical Mania

By Cherry Clark

(Credit to Violet Newton)

Heathers the Musical

Mean girls and meaner guys make high school the worst for Veronica Sawyer, certified nerd. Her life suddenly looks better thanks to a lunch table invitation from the Heathers, aka the queen bees of her school. It turns out that when a guy in a leather coat threatens to blow up the school, he means it, no matter how much Sawyer wants to kiss him.

Hamilton the Musical

History buffs, meet your newest obsession. Following the story of the American Revolution, future founding father Alexander Hamilton does his best to make his mark in history. With only slight exaggerations and sometimes uncomfortable situations, Hamilton proves that sometimes not shutting your mouth is a good thing, and sometimes you end up dead.

Beetlejuice the Musical

Lydia can see ghosts, and ghosts can see Lydia, unlike her parents. Partnering up with her new ghost friends to scare her parents out of their new house is a lot greener when the weird guy you threw off the roof offers to help, for a price. If your creepy ghost problem solver offers to marry you, you should always decline.

Wicked

Based off of the “Wizard of Oz,” the musical follows the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda, or Glinda the Good Witch. It follows their adventures together before they became the famous witches, and it explores their relationship and the relationship with the people of Oz, ultimately starting and ending with the death of Elphaba.

Legally Blonde the Musical

Sorority girl, meet law school and bad boyfriends. After a shocking break up, Elle Woods decides to get him back by getting into Harvard Law School and discovers a passion for law. After putting the pink in prosecution, she figures out that you don’t need a man to be a girl boss and graduate top of your class.

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