I was recently made aware of the new soundtrack to ‘Moms the Musical’ which is, produced by Surette and hall, by a friend of mine who tagged me into the post that was announcing the release of their soundtrack on Soundcloud. As you would expect this musical follows the lives to two first time mother who form an unlikely friendship and documents how they connect to other mums through a group chat. Unlike some musicals, despite it being a demo album, is developed into a full musical with 19 fully developed songs all which are around the five-minute mark. The songs, in general, are very character-based and tells the story of each character excellently which helps honestly portray the struggles of parenthood. To me, the soundtrack gives off vibes similar to ‘9 to 5: the musical’ as it focuses on female friendship and motherhood in a hilarious but accurate way. This is an extremely modern show that references new concepts such as Pinterest and group chats in general that also offers an honest perspective into modern motherhood which is in equal part hilarious and emotionally jarring.
I enjoyed the naming of this opening number as it was a reflection of real-life and first the narrative perfectly. “The miracle of life” is the opening number in this show and I think this is the perfect selection as this is officially where motherhood begins. It opens with a very operatic and beautiful voice which was very ornate and creates an exaggerated sense of unbearable love this portrayed a mother enjoyment and love for a child before they are born. But after a while, this changes to a very chaotic and frustrating performance that represented the chose a child can bring. The more chaotic section contains some very strong language which does make of unsuitable for a younger audience which doesn’t appear as much in the rest of the musical which I did find somewhat strange. My favourite lyric from this song would have to be “whether you like it or not this ‘miracle’ is here to stay!” which is a clear reference to people who describe birth as the ‘miracle of childbirth’ but also the frustration and fatigue first-time mothers face in the first few years of children developed. I enjoyed the song “The Huntress” which is a song all about a moms night out in which they mix gin and wine (women after my own heart) after one of them loses their job. This song demonstrates the stress (especially single) mothers are under to provide for their families and when the unpredictable happens.
The song “MIL (Mother In Law)” is a clever and hilarious song that paints Mothers-in-law in a villainous way which is a classic trope used all across tv shows, movies and musicals. One of the most powerful songs in the entire musical is “Sparkling” which was flawlessly performed and heavily emotionally driven number that was very moving to listening to. This song is a reference to the stereotype that mums/women’s place is in the kitchen which is a common theme throughout the show. The titles in these songs are over mother centred such as “Pinterest”, “sparkling” and “mommy and me groups” which has been thought about to tie it with the narrative of the show which is very clever and is something I have not seen before. In my opinion, one of the most important songs on this show is “Pinterest Perfect” which talks about falling into the trap of social media. This generation currently compares themselves to the people they see on social media who supposedly are loving their best loves and seem to have everything sorted in their lives but this is not always the case and is oftentimes a facade. People must stop comparing themselves to fake images we find online and this song goes to inform people of this shock is great. I also really enjoyed the song “Cheers” which is sung by a group of mom’s who are sat at a children party and the despair they are experiencing. I hope that when this song is staged it has broken banners, skewed part hats and flimsy plastic chairs as I believe this would result add to the humour of the song but also be somewhat nostalgic to watch.
Overall this is an entertaining musical that offers an honest look at modern motherhood. To me, it seems very classically broadway with similarities to 9 to 5 as it combines honesty and comedy to provide a very entertaining show. I would rate this show 3.5 out of 5 but as this is a demo album I do not doubt that by the time it reaches its final form it will be a show not to miss!
Rhysreviews 
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