(Photo Courtesy of Zach Faust)
Zach Faust is the Executive Producing Director at Faust Theatre in Kansas City, Mo. Involved in theater since the age of five, Faust has performed in well over 100 productions and has been professionally acting, directing, producing, and choreographing since graduating high school in 2015. He pursued his dream and founded Faust Theatre in 2016—a venture that has been hailed as one of the “Best Upcoming Production Companies” by BroadwayWorld and KC Applauds. The Scoop reached out to Faust to find out what he believes are five oft-overlooked musicals in the world of show business.
“William Finn has written several underrated musicals that are still well-known but rarely produced, but none more than Falsettos. It’s an entire sung-through musical about a non-traditional Jewish family; a man divorces his wife and leaves his child for another man, then forces them all to live together in harmony. It explores Jewish stereotypes, sexuality, familial relationships, psychology, and love (among other things). It’s the perfect blend of comedy and drama. The music is challenging, the story is engaging, and the musical is beautiful.”
“This musical re-imagines the infamous ax-wielding Lizzie Borden as a rebellious, rock-induced wild child. It’s very much a rock concert rather than traditional musical theater. With the scope of everything covered, you forget that it’s only a four-person musical. It intrigues the audience with some amazingly smart lyrics and goes through the journey of Lizzie’s mind as she slips further and further into the dark recesses of her soul, explaining how she was physically and sexually abused.”
“Before there was Legally Blonde and Heathers, Laurence O’Keefe spent his time composing Bat Boy, a musical based on tabloid headlines about a boy found in a cave, escaping, then being pursued by government officials. The musical is just as weird as it sounds; this ‘bat boy’ is adopted by a relatively ‘normal’ Parker Family as they try to integrate him into the society of the narrow-minded town of Hope Falls by teaching him human interactions and naming him ‘Edgar.’ The musical speaks volumes about our society through the vessel of Hope Falls and their unrequited hatred towards anything different. The show is filled with campy acting, contemporary rock and gospel music, and has a comically bizarre love story. Such a tale of loving your neighbors, forgiveness, keeping your vows, and a multitude of morals deserves to be seen by more.”
“You probably know Bock & Harnick from the success of a different musical, one that has become a staple in musical theater: Fiddler on the Roof. But, Fiddler was actually a musical to challenge the box office breaker, Hello, Dolly!, which had smashed every other production on Broadway at the time—including She Loves Me. The musical tells the story of a man and woman who work together at a Hungarian perfumery and, despite being constantly at odds with each other, are unaware that they are each other’s pen pals met through a lonely-hearts ad. Adapted by the 1937 play, Parfumerie, She Loves Me inspired the movie You’ve Got Mail starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.”
“Coincidentally, it’s one of the most-produced musicals in high schools and community theaters, so one might think that it’s ‘overdone’ and probably doesn’t deserve to be on an ‘underrated list.’ However, the reason I list it here is, regardless of how cute it can be and how funny it is, the heart of the show and its characters are severely overlooked. Each kid is a Freudian delight, vying for the chance to win the Spelling Bee against audience members brought up onstage, accompanied by three just as quirky adults. On the outside, it’s colorful and whimsical, but the musical is a cautionary tale about the effects parents can have on their children; some parents are supportive, some are neglectful, and some are downright horrifying. These are all the things kids deal with at home–although we often don’t speak about what goes on behind closed doors. William Finn does a fantastic job of setting joyous music to some dark undertones in his lyrics. Though the show is brilliant in comedy, it packs a punch when the audience hears what the kids are really spelling out to them.”
