Kevin,
We can agree, of course, that Melee is humankind's pinnacle achievement. We've been enamored with it, slave to it, and generally in awe of it for more than 15 years now. But what's more, and as it pertains to the point I get around to in about 8-10 paragraphs, is that Melee in my mind stands straight and tall: so unimpeachable of integrity as to be universal. Universal and in a sense impervious.
No matter how you serve up Melee, it still tastes like Melee. It truly does not matter the forum - if I hear that menu screen music I am THERE for it. And that inevitability is among my favorite things about the game. It is unconditional, and that is a very, very peaceful feeling.
This, by the way, is the best way to like something: with open arms and without qualification. But this philosophy stands in fierce contrast to why and how I consume musical theater, which is to say in a manner that is deeply intimate and necessarily transportive. Once that fourth wall is broken I'm just unable to connect.
I'm not proud of this - limiting my musical theater diet wreaks havoc
on my credentials as a superfan. But cast albums (show recordings) are
invaluable escapes for me, the only reliable one these days, which makes them
treasured and very much personal.
So Monica loves when Jonathan Groff geeks out over Sutton, and you love the Gavin Creel / Aaron Tveit duo - both at Miscast. But venturing out into YouTube I risk autoplay, ads, and most terrifying of all the reminder - in the form of view counts and comments - that such a precious commodity can be enjoyed by anyone. With Melee such a possibility is affirming; with musicals it just tastes sour. I'm a fickle, devoted, bratty, elitist in this arena - the way Team Ben behaved circa 2006. I will make attempts to evolve.
So to answer your question on slack from 3 days ago, I was selfishly hoping your discoveries would more closely mimic my own: cast albums on Spotify without so much as a Google search to act as compass.
There's a Dark Souls analogy here just waiting to be explored, but my writing is beginning to devolve from genuine to performative so its time to conclude.
I've mapped out a version of this essay that has many, many illustrative links, culminating in the As We Stumble Along Reprise from The Drowsy Chaperone ... the first 90 seconds of which express so viscerally Why (and How) I Love Musicals ... but I'm realizing that's missing the point, yeah? You won't hear that the way I do. So much of the joy is the discovery, as you are clearly experiencing with your Bonnie Milligan finds.
I think we've all learned a lot.
Chris
Bonus: here is a sentence that I couldn't fit into the essay, but didn't want to omit entirely:
Whereas you can throw Melee from a 6th story dorm room window and it'll be fine, when you are in my musical theater lair you MUST wash your hands before you touch anything.