Musical Madness

Four months ago, we (Meredith Beisel, Marketing and Development Apprentice and Sarah Kiker, Dramaturgy Apprentice) decided that in March, Olney would hold its first-ever MUSICAL MADNESS via social media. Since then, some things have happened. Namely, the novel coronavirus. Little did we know, the real March Madness would be canceled. The absence of action on the court has only inspired us further to create a competitive and engaging “replacement” for the real March Madness. If you are a sports person, we hope that you will ignite that same competitive spirit here. 

In this competition, 16 musicals will go head to head to determine—once and for all—which musical is best. In order to create a fair and balanced bracket, we chose pairs of musicals in the first round that have an innate rivalry. We ended up with 8 categories: 

• Musicals named after Hair Products: Hairspray vs. Grease 
• Musicals with Pies: Waitress vs. Sweeney Todd
• Musicals about Orphans: Annie vs. Oliver
• King of New York vs. King of the Jungle: Newsies vs. The Lion King   
• Musicals with Uncontrollable Plants: Little Shop of Horrors vs. Into the Woods (because... you know...the beanstalk?)
• Musicals about 19th Century France: Phantom of the Opera vs. Les Misérables
• Musicals set in New York: West Side Story vs. Rent  
• Musicals featuring Jesus: Jesus Christ Superstar vs. Godspell  

There are multiple ways to participate in our competition.  

• Follow OTC on Instagram to vote in the polls. We will post the polls to our story. Voting will take place on the following days:
  • Monday: Stage Right Round #1
  • Tuesday: Stage Left Round #1
  • Wednesday: Quarterfinals
  • Thursday: Semifinals 
  • Friday: The Finals 
• Download the bracket and play along at home. Which musical do you think will win?