Valentine’s Day has long since come and gone, but unrequited love still hangs in the air. Those of you who were not showered in candy, flowers or kisses will appreciate the following Broadway shows of past and present, seemingly designed for the unlucky in love:
1. Hairspray: Tracy Turnblad is a big girl with a big attitude and an even bigger love for dance. Her crush on TV personality Link Larkin, member of The Corny Collins Show, intensifies when she wins an audition for the dance show. She overcomes a snobby dance queen and her eccentric mother, racial segregation that leads to a stint in jail and incredibly large hair.
Link turns out to be her prince charming for a happy ending. Those who hate cupid and all his glory will at least delight in the “perfect” girl getting the cold shoulder set to 60’s music.
2. Rent: Mimi and Roger live in the same building and share a growing attraction that Roger resists.
Still upset by his girlfriend’s death, Roger tries to ignore Mimi until they both reveal their battle with AIDS. Their relationship teeter tots precariously when Mimi becomes more heavily involved in drugs.
3. Les Miserables: Set in revolutionary France, Marius and Cosette meet by chance and experience love at first sight. Marius begs his friend, Eponine, to find her again. Eponine, secretly in love with Marius, tries to please him and unites the couple.
When Marius and Cosette are separated again, his thoughts turn to suicide and he leaves for the barricade to fight. Eponine’s devotion reaches a climax when she takes a bullet for him. She confesses her love and makes him promise to kiss her after she dies in his arms.
4. West Side Story: A modern day Romeo and Juliet set in New York’s Westside focuses on racial tensions in the summer of 1957. When Maria, the sister of the Puerto Rican Sharks leader, falls in love with Tony, a white Jets member, both groups are ready to rumble. Despite the hostilities, Maria and Tony bask in the glow of first love until it is cut short one night.
5. Passion: It is 1863 and Clara is having an affair with a soldier named Giorgio. At his new post, Giorgio meets Fosca, the mentally disturbed cousin of his Colonel. She becomes obsessively attached to him, inadvertently sparking rumors of an affair. The result is a love triangle peppered with the usual angst and misunderstanding.
