If you know me, you probably know that I'm really, really into musicals. I'm lucky enough to live in a city where I can both see local community theaters, as well as the famed Hollywood Pantages less than an hour away. I was also fortunate enough to study for a short while in London, and enjoy the discounted West End tickets on weekday afternoons.

Now, one of my absolute favorite musicals is Heathers. For the uninitiated, Heathers is about Veronica, who's trying to keep a low profile and survive until graduation at Northshore Westerberg High. She joins and later goes up against the Heathers: Heather Chandler, Heather Duke, and Heather McNamara. Then shenanigans happen that I don't want to spoil. Even if you don't want to watch the whole thing, just listen to Candy Store or Dead Girl Walking, Barrett Wilbert Weed's vocals are amazing throughout.

Like many musicals, Heathers isn't an original work - it's based off the 1989 movie. Which admittedly I still haven't seen. But in the realm of musicals, Heathers is one of a group of musicals known as teen musicals. Other musicals in this category include Dear Evan Hansen, Beetlejuice, Be more Chill, The Prom, High School Musical, Percy Jackson, and Mean Girls. These are all musicals about, well, teenagers. They definitely vary in story and quality, but this core trait has led to most of these having a fanbase mainly made up of teenagers, or more specifically, lots and lots of theatre kids.

But my opinion and the opinions of a bunch of 13-18 year olds doesn't really matter, does it? So what do the critics of broadway think of these musicals? Heathers was never nominated for any Tonys, as it was an off-Broadway production, but two of the most popular, Mean Girls and Dear Evan Hansen, both received at least 8 nominations. However, while Dear Evan Hansen won 6, including Best Musical, Mean Girls didn't receive any.

Why Dear Evan Hansen did so well critically compared to Mean Girls is still not clear to me. Especially since there was so much more competition in the 2016-17 season compared to the year before. I still wholeheartedly believe that Come from Away and The Great Comet are better musicals overall compared to Evan Hansen. But if I had to guess, it would have to do with the mental health topics Evan Hansen explored, as well as its status as an original musical. Musicals based on existing IPs tend to do worse during the Tonys, which is a shame as many (such as Beetlejuice, Waitress, Anastasia) are very different from their source material.

Although both of these and Heathers were both released when I was in high school, I didn't give them a listen until I was in college, by definition no longer a teen. Yet these musicals continued to resonate with me. I didn't have to deal with cliques or college applications or any of these problems the characters were facing, but could still appreciate their stories. As a college student, presented with a whole different set of challenges and anxieties, it was interesting reflecting on the four years of my life where my biggest concern was to get into the school I'm currently attending. It's also funny to watch actors in their late 20s pretend to be younger than me.

I really, really miss musical theater. With respect to everything else in the world, it's not the biggest thing in the world, but for myself and many others, it was a really important escape to somewhere where bursting into song was a valid way of dealing with your feelings, where ridiculous plots were uplifted by incredible songs.

Ah well. I guess I'll just rewatch the Hamilton proshot.