So you still haven’t been able to score tickets to the Broadway megahit Hamilton: An American Musical. But no worries, catch an earful of the pop-music-meets-musical-theater style of Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda at Beck Center for the Arts’ production of Bring It On: The Musical Feb. 10-26. Miranda co-wrote the music for the 2011 production about high school cheerleading competitions loosely based on the 2000 movie of the same name. The Beck Center musical director David Pepin — who filled the same role during Bring It On’s Broadway run — fills us in on his favorite tunes from the show.
“What I Was Born To Do”
The up-tempo opening number introduces us to protagonist high schooler Campbell and her dream of creating a championship cheerleading squad. Mixing singing, rap and synthesizer beats, the song sounds as suited to Top 40 radio as the theater. “It sort of reminds me of a Kesha tune or a Lady Gaga song,” says Pepin. “It just has this driving force, and it really speaks to the energy of a high school.”
“One Perfect Moment”
Originally a huge cheer routine, the Broadway show’s director and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler changed the production, giving this moment to Campbell. During the solo ballad, Campbell gives herself a cheer-worthy pep talk. “It’s this gorgeous number that happens literally 15 minutes into the show where she’s just standing alone onstage, letting us into her world,” says Pepin.
“It’s All Happening”
Written by Miranda, this Act 2 opener shows Campbell and her new friend Danielle recruiting students for a new cheerleading squad. The song is interspersed with the hip-hop styling Miranda would later use in Hamilton. “The message is really cool,”says Pepin. “It’s all happening because we’re all doing this together. You see all different colors, races, belief systems and those people coming together.”
Cheer Up for Beck Center’s Bring it On: The Musical
The Lin-Manuel Miranda co-written musical oozes with pep and pop music.
