Some Favorite Musical Characters, Part I: Men Stars

   When it comes to musical movies, we get a good dose of men characters. Whether they are villains or heroes, many of the men of musicals have really interesting stories and lives. Below are my favorite men characters from musicals (Part II will be the women, of course)...

   To start off, what list would be complete without Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof? As a Jew during some antisemitic times in Russia, he is merely trying to (in his own words) "scratch out a simple tune" in his life. He may often bicker with his wife, but deep down, he knows he loves her, even though they never met until the wedding day.
   But it also isn't easy with five children being daughters, all of whom he must marry off without any dowries. Marrying daughters as a poor farmer is not small task!
   Tevye dreams of having wealth to provide for his family..."if I were a rich man..."
   Yet throughout all of the cultural and family changes, Tevye never wavers from his devotion to his faith. He loves his faith and he loves the LORD of the Jews, Yahweh. And even when he is forced from his homeland, he is caring for his family and, for those who have seen the film, continues to scratch out his musical tune.

   Next on the list is Jean Valjean, the famous protagonist from the 1980's musical Les Miserables. Coming out of crime, he finds himself in a relationship with God, his Creator and Lord.
   When you first see Valjean, he is a hardened thief who has certainly not found favor with the police. He does finally leave prison and Providentially stumbles upon a Bishop who shows mercy and love to Valjean.
   After Jean Valjean converts to religion, he runs from his criminal past and becomes a respectable mayor. In otherwords, religion turned his life around, being a major turning point for him.
   But when he indirectly causes the termination of a young woman's job, he discovers this same woman sunk into the depths of the French underworld: prostitution. After realizing how he played a part in this, he takes this woman Fantine to the hospital. Upon Fantine's death, he travels to find a daughter she left behind.
   In a beautiful picture I relate to Christ's sacrificial love and salvation, Valjean rescues little Cosette from the greedy clutches of a guardian inkeeper, Thenardier. Just as Christ rescued believers from gritty sin, Valjean saved Cosette from this gritty innkeeper and his loathsome wife.
   Years later, he finds himself sympathetic with the love Cosette has for a young man named Marius. He rescues this Marius from near-death in the French Revolution. But his criminal life of the past is catching up, as he pursued by the police inspector Javert. To protect the reputation of his daughter (and soon her husband), Valjean leaves his precious adopted girl.
   And still, he finds forgiveness in his God and dies into the glory of the LORD.

   Third, there is the Beast from Disney's classic Beauty and the Beast. One may ask, "How does a monster of a beast show and gain the love of a young woman?" It isn't possible, right? Wrong!
   In the beginning, he is a prideful, arrogant prince who refuses refuge to an old woman. This woman was actually a beautiful enchantress, who curses the Prince and his castle.
   Many years later, Belle, the beautiful daughter of an inventor, comes upon the castle of the Beast. At first, she becomes his prisoner. But soon, she finds that he may not be as bad as she once believed.
   The Beast is one of my favorite Broadway men because of his conflicted nature. Most of my favorite literary characters, actually, have conflicted natures. The Beast is torn between his despair over the circumstances of his life and the love he might feel for Belle.
   You can tell he doesn't want to fall into despair, but in his song If I Can't Love Her, he realizes that the curse may be upon him for all his life.
   But at the end, he does find his dreams come true. Belle's new dreams come true and the two have a true "happily ever after."

   Ah, yes. Who has not heard of The Sound of Music? As one of the most popular plays and movies of all time, this film has great plots, music, and characters. The main man is Capt. Georg von Trapp.
   A former Austrian naval captain, this widower has the difficulty of raising seven children, ages ranging from sixteen ("going on seventeen") to five.
   Still embittered from the loss of his spouse, the Captain treats his children more like navy recruits than, well, children. Apart from his family, he does find a spark of love in Baroness Schraider, a wealthy woman of Vienna.
   On top of all this, he and his children live in Austria during the late 1930's, which is the same time Nazi Germany merged with the Austrian empire. The world he loves is falling under the power to the men whom he despises.
   And yet, despite all odds, he falls in love with the governess of his children, Maria, rather than the wealthy Baroness. The two are, as Anne of Green Gables would say, "kindred spirits."
   Georg has some bitter and grief, but he finds a way to come through. His story in The Sound of Music displays the true power God has put into love.

   Next is Oliver Warbucks from the 70s musical Annie. When one thinks of a Great Despression-era billionaire, you don't usually tend to connect that image with a scrawny little orphan girl. But still, "Daddy" Warbucks adopts "little orphan Annie."
   Warbucks is quite the match for the word "capitalist." He certainly is not in agreement with the democratic President Franklin Roosevelt. But even the love of money can change into something else. For Oliver Warbucks, he finds a fatherly love for Annie.
   Even a billionaire can break their hard exterior for the right people.

   Of course, my list does include the King of Siam from the Oscar-Hammerstein musical The King and I.
   In the words of a song from said-same play, "This is a man who thinks with his heart, his heart is not always wise. This is a man who stumbles and falls, but this is a man who tries. This is a man you'll forgive and forgive..."
   Just as with Capt. von Trapp, the King of Siam lives in a world that is falling into chaos, all around him. The British Empire is continually seeking to grab new territories, scientific progress is at a peak season, and slavery is being eliminated from most of the world. But the King is in turmoil over whether he shall hold to the old ways of Siam (the old ways of his ancestors) or if he will completely join ranks in the new and more modern world.
   Yet with all of his faults, such as a hot temper, once the King pledges his loyalty to something, he is loyal.

   Finally, there is Harold Hill, the title character of Meredith Wilson's musical The Music Man. Hill's is a classic tale of shady backgrounds, but a life that is changed through love and caring for people.
   Harold Hill comes to a smaller town in Iowa, claiming that he is going to start a boys' band for all the school boys of the town.
   Little do the residents suspect, Hill is planning to get their money and fly the coop. His plan is going without a hitch, but then something happens: he meets Marian "the librarian."
   Because of his love for Marian, and also for the rest of the citizens, Harold Hill stays and does bring the boys' band to fruition.

   And these are my favorite musical men. How does your list compare to mine? Comment below.