Feature: Go Back to Class with 10 School-Themed Showtunes

With Labor Day in the rearview mirror, students all across the county are now diligently back to work on yet another school year. While students and teachers alike are now settling into their routines of homework and extracurriculars, BroadwayWorld's Jeff Walker and Matt Tamanini are focusing their monthly feature on the showtunes that celebrate the highs and lows of school and learning.

So, grab your Patti LuPone Trapper Keeper and your NEWSIES lunchbox and settle in for our look at how Broadway goes back to school!

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"Book Report" from YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN
by: Jeff Walker | @jeffwalker66

Wise beyond their tender years, with wit and insight, the Peanuts Gang, created by comic strip artist Charles Schultz, became icons for generations of Americans. Charlie Brown and his friends leapt from the funny pages in the mid-1960s into a series of popular animated TV specials and eventually feature films. Composer and lyricist Clark Gesner took the popular characters and a handful of Shultz's strips and fashioned the musical YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN in 1967. The show has become a staple in theatres from coast to coast for performers of all ages, and in 1999, with new songs by Andrew Lippa, the show returned to Broadway in a Tony-winning revival.

One of the show's most memorable musical numbers feature Charlie Brown, Lucy, Schroeder, and Linus working on an especially challenging homework assignment.

Video: The song performed as part of the 1985 Animated Special

"What you Want" from LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt

What do you do when the man of your dreams breaks your heart? Oh my god, you totally study super hard, ace the LSAT, and get admitted to Harvard Law School. In 2007, husband and wife songwriters Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin brought the beloved Reese Witherspoon movie to the stage in a criminally under-appreciated musical, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell.

The original cast featured a who's who of young Broadway luminaries; Tony-nominee Laura Bell Bundy, two-time Tony-winner Christian Borle (have you heard of him?), Tony-nominee Orfeh, Tony-winner Annaleigh Ashford, two-time Tony-nominee Andy Karl, and new Equity president and former Miss America Kate Shindle, just to mention a few.

In this song, despite already having 4.0 average in Fashion Merchandising, Elle Woods puts her proverbial nose to the grindstone and hits the books in order to win back the love of Warner Huntington III.

Video: Laura Belle Bundy, Annaleigh Ashford, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Tracy Jai Edwards and the Broadway cast in the show's MTV broadcast

"Nothing" from A CHORUS LINE
by: Jeff Walker | @jeffwalker66

Sweeping every major theatre award in 1975, A CHORUS LINE really needs no introduction to seasoned Broadway aficionados. Running for 15 years and a remarkable 6,137 performances, A CHORUS LINE flipped the traditional musical on its toes to highlight the backbone of any Broadway show: the gypsies who move from show to show to support the stars and work as a well-oiled singing and dancing machine.

Famously created from a series of workshops lead by auteur-choreographer Michael Bennett, A CHORUS LINE took the real experiences of a group of Broadway dancers, buttressed by a score by Marvin Hamlisch, and wove theatrical magic. Among the dancers featured on "the line," Diana Morales recounts her ill-fated time at the legendary Performing Arts High School in New York City and the formidable teacher, Mr. Carp.

Video: Original Morales, Tony-winner Priscilla Lopez from My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies

"I Wish I Could Go Back to College" from AVENUE Q
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt

Everyone has been there at some point; the real world hasn't quite welcomed you with the open arms that you expected, and you wish that you could go back to a simpler time when you had a set schedule, clearly defined responsibilities, and a meal plan so that you never had to worry about cooking.

Tony-winning Best Musical AVENUE Q follows a group of people, puppets, and monsters as they navigate what it means to be an adult. They deal with issues of life, love, racism, and graphic puppet nudity. In "I Wish I Could Go Back to College," Kate Monster, Nicky, and Princeton wax nostalgic about the pros and cons of what it would be like to return to their college days.

Video: Original Broadway Cast members Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Rick Lyon, John Tartaglia on LIVE! WITH REGIS AND KELLY

"Naughty" and "Revolting Children" MATILDA: THE MUSICAL
by: Jeff Walker | @jeffwalker66

British author Roald Dahl created several memorable character's in children's literature. The mysterious candy maker Willy Wonka; James of "the giant peach" fame; and a giant known for being big and friendly have all delighted readers for many years. Another of his creations is a remarkable little girl named Matilda, saddled with horrid parents and incredible abilities.

Published in 1988, MATILDA paints a picture of an extraordinary little girl who finds the magic within herself while attending Crunchem Hall Primary School. The story was adapted into a beloved film in 1996 starring Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, and Rhea Perlman. Then in 2010 Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly were commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company to adapt MATILDA into a musical that has gone on to become an international phenomenon.

Video: The Original Broadway Cast on GOOD MORNING AMERICA

"Changing My Major" from FUN HOME
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt

For many people, the things that we learn the most during school have nothing to do with reading, writing, and arithmetic. Instead, the most important lessons that we take away are about ourselves. Such is the case in the revolutionary Tony-winning musical FUN HOME. In this autobiographical show, graphic novelist Alison Bechdel chronicles growing up living in a funeral home with her emotionally abusive and closeted-gay father, who commits suicide soon after Alison herself comes out.

Despite the show's heavy subject matter, it also has plenty of humor, and, in songs like "Changing My Major," complete and unmitigated joy. In the song, "Medium Alison" recounts her life-changing, first sexual experience with another woman, Joan.

Video: Emily Skeggs featuring Beth Malone and Roberta Colindrez from The Original Broadway Cast on LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MYERS

"Getting to Know You" from THE KING AND I
by: Jeff Walker | @jeffwalker66

Since THE KING AND I's Broadway premiere in 1951 and the lavish film adaptation in 1956, the musical has rarely been off the boards. Original King, Yul Brynner, continued to star in various incarnations of the show until his death in 1985. Based on the memoirs of a Welsh teacher hired by the King of Siam for his royal children and wives, THE KING AND I has returned to New York with major productions in the late-90s and in an award-winning revival that continues to play Lincoln Center. The score is filled with Rodgers and Hammerstein gems, including the anthem for positive teacher-student relations, "Getting to Know You."

Video: Kelli O'Hara with the current Lincoln Center Revival cast on LIVE! WITH KELLY AND MICHAEL

"A Trip to the Library" from SHE LOVES ME
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt

Ok, technically this one isn't about school; instead it is about the unexpected surprises one might find at the library, and the romantic power of books. It also happens to be a wonderfully comic character tune.

In the song, the illiterate Ilona Ritter ventures into a library, and despite not being at all comfortable there, she meets a charming bespectacled optometrist named Paul, who shares his love of reading with her, and completely turns around her perpetually bad luck with me.

As you likely know, SHE LOVES ME will return to Broadway next spring starring Tony-winner Laura Benanti and Zachary Levi. The Roundabout Theatre revival will also feature Tony-winner (and current Emmy-nominee) Jane Krakowski as Ilona, who will undoubtedly deliver a remarkably charming rendition of this sweet showtune.

Video: Sally Mayes, who was nominated for a Tony for playing Ilona in the beloved 1994 Roundabout revival, at New York's MAC Awards

"Magic Foot" from THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
by: Jeff Walker | @jeffwalker66

In 2005, composer-lyricist-librettist William Finn worked with book writer Rachel Sheinkin and frequent collaborator James Lapine (director) on a hilarious and touching musical comedy, THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE. The title is not a bait and switch; the show presents a middle school spelling bee and all of the dramatic and comedic hijinks that go with it. Several young performers got a boost in their career from the original show: Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lisa Howard, Derrick Baskin, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jose Llana, and Dan Fogler.

Video: Dan Fogler and the Original Broadway Cast

"Nothing Really Happened" from IS THERE LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL?
by: Matt Tamanini | @BWWMatt

In 1982, a small, sweet, quite "memory musical" played 60 performances (including previews) on Broadway. Despite a short Main Stem run, IS THERE LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? has gone on to be a beloved show amongst school and community theatres the world over.

Inspired by Ralph Keyes' book, Jeffrey Kindley (libretto) and Craig Carnelia (music and lyrics) constructed monologues and songs that speak to the universal truths of surviving high school, and what that time in our lives means when we are years and decades removed.

In this song, a women looks back at a night that is very special to her, even though "nothing really happened."

Video: Lisa Brescia, who happens to be married to Carnelia, at January 2009's "If It Only Even Runs a Minute" at the Laurie Beechman Theatre

What other songs would you like to add to the list? Maybe "Marian The Librarian" or "Dear Old Shiz?" Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter at @jeffwalker66 and @BWWMatt.

Jeff and Matt will be back next month with a new showtune special feature. In the meantime, if you enjoyed this list, check out the January feature on the Most Hummable Sondheim Songs, February's Valentine's Day list of Broadway's best Anti-Love Songs, March's Ides themed collection of Shakespeare Inspired Showtunes, odes to April showers and young love, Jeff's collection of Songs of Lust to celebrate May, Matt's Birthday showtune party, July's Bastille Day-inspired Parisian celebration, and August's Dog Days of Summer animal-themed celebration.

Jeff and Matt also write about TV, movies, and theatre in Washington D.C. (Jeff) and Orlando, Florida (Matt).

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