Top 10 Broadway Musical Parody Videos
Aly Markov
You and I have quite a few things in common. We both like Broadway or theatre in general, and we like parodies. How do I know this? You’re reading this, aren’t you? Dumb and cheesy intros aside, I have compiled my top 10 favourite musical parodies in what I consider to be the best of the best among the few that exist and are available on YouTube. All of which are hilarious, creative, and clever among others that even your non-musical friends may get into!
1. Randy Rainbow – Sorry, You’re Not Hamilton
If I could fill this article with only Randy Rainbow parody songs, I would. But I decided to go with my favourite of the bunch and the one that introduced me to him. Randy Rainbow often goes political with his songs, some if not most are showtunes. This song (to the song of “Alexander Hamilton” from Hamilton) was about the sixteen Tony nominations that Hamilton received while looking at other musicals that were released the same year but didn’t get much if any recognition. He tells anyone else who was nominated to not even bother going unless you’re in the cast or crew because you’re not going to win no matter what. He even goes as far to say that if you won last year, you should give it back so Hamilton can have your Tony as well. It’s definitely worth a watch and is guaranteed to make you laugh after twenty times. #GiveItBackForHam anyone?
2. Todrick Hall – Spell Block Tango
Words cannot describe my love for this parody. I actually sing this a lot more than the original because it’s so catchy! This video is the Disney villains of Cruella DeVille, The Evil Queen, Ursula, the Queen of Hearts, Scar and Maleficent in their version of “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago. The costumes and star-studded cast are amazing as well as the dancers in this Disney-fied parody! Definitely one you don’t want to miss out on watching!
3. Sesame Street – Les Mousserables
Sesame Street’s film parodies are amazing and this is no exception. Les Mousserables is about a French guy named Jon Bon-Bon (played by Cookie Monster) who was sad because he had no cookies. Jon Bon-Bon finds cookies and takes them, but instead of getting caught and going to jail for nineteen years, he wanders around innocently and sees his friends Flantine and her daughter Creamette, Epienine, Enjelfood and a Marius looking guy who’s called “Puppet” according to subtitles. Cookie Monster—I mean Jon Bon-Bon learns about how to tell how they’re feeling through body language and learns to share his cookies after an epiphany of his own rendition of “Who am I?”. An adorable parody anyone at any age who’s a fan of the classic will appreciate. By Aly Markov
4. Trekki and Kate Monster – Popular
This is an ancient video (February 14, 2007 to be exact) that still makes me giggle today. We have Trekki and Kate Monster from the original cast of Avenue Q perform the song “Popular” from Wicked completely in character and it’s amazing. They don’t change the lyrics much but they take turns in singing when they need to and it’s amazing. Though this video is old and very low quality, it’s golden and hilarious.
5. Deadpool Said – Gaston
WARNING: NSFW VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE
This video went viral as it came out around the time the live action film of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast came out (but this counts because Beauty and the Beast was on Broadway). The video involves Deadpool going into a bar and everyone trying to kill him while singing his own version of the song “Gaston”. Spiderman, Black Widow and others also make an appearance to help Deadpool out. It’s overall a hilarious and creative parody and I’m sure you could show this to your non-musical, super hero loving friends no problem!
6. The Original Broadway Hamilton Cast – Sweeney Todd
This video is as legendary as Hamilton himself. The cast perform their song “Alexander Hamilton” but changed the lyrics to resonate with Benjamin Barker’s evolution to Sweeney Todd and the rest of the show. It’s both clever and hilarious how they connect the characters in Hamilton to the ones in Sweeney Todd and I would love to tell you how King George III fits in but you wouldn’t want me to give that away (see what I did there?).
7. Malinda Kathleen Reese ft Jonathan Young – Google Translate Sings: “Hell Fire”
For those of you unfamiliar with Reese’s work, she takes lyrics of a popular song (in this case “Hell Fire” from Hunchback of Notredame) and translates it into multiple languages through Google Translate and back to English then she and her guests sing the newly translated lyrics. There are many other show tunes that she translates but this one takes the cake in the first two translations. If you want to watch the creepiest Disney song to be turned into the most hilarious, watch this video.
8. Jon Cozart ft Thomas Sanders – Vine vs YouTube: The Song
It’s not in the title, but this is actually a parody of Annie Get Your Gun’s “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better”. The video is a battle between Vine’s Thomas Sanders and YouTube’s Jon Cozart. They go through constant debates and disputes of which platform is greater and the video gets better and better showing off what each performer is known for that it’s impossible to compare the two.
9. American Dad – Stan and Francine Go Together Like Grease
WARNING: NSFW LANGUAGE
Though brief, this parody of Grease’s “We Go Together” is fun and hilarious. It comments on the gibberish of the song, brings you back to the scene in the film, and you can’t help but smile when watching it. There are a lot of scenes where Family Guy has musical numbers and each one is amazing, but American Dad doesn’t do parodies or songs as often and this random dance number/parody makes you fall in love with the song all over again while laughing. My only wish is that they finished the whole song!
10. Miscast - Laura Benanti and Christopher Fitzgerald sing "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" from The Sound of Music
Once again this is another channel that takes musicals and makes parodies by “miscasting” the singers. This video does a modern take on the song with Liesl taking a selfie and going on Tinder. They don’t change the lyrics much but they change the meaning and it’s hilarious to see these two play off each other. When you think you know where the video is headed, you find that you don’t and it gets better.
Can you think of any more that aren’t on this list? Let us know in the comments! ---------
Aly is a University student in Canada majoring in Dramatic Arts. She doesn’t know what she’s going to do with her degree, but she doesn’t care as long as she stays involved with the love of her life: theatre.