Singing an "I Want Song"

In musical theater, there are many types of songs that serve different purposes in the development of the musical. Some songs are designed to charm the audience, while others are for characters to declare their love for each other. However, the “I Want” song is one of the most common and identifiable song types in a musical. In this guide, we will explore the purpose of the “I Want” song in a musical and how to perform these songs.

Terminology

• Analysis: Process of examining the pieces of the text in order to better understand it.
• Characterization: The development of the character through tactics and moment-to-moment choices in the piece.
• Composer: the writer of the music.
• Objective: The desired goal of the character.
• Protagonist : the leading, or one of the main, characters in a play.
• Reprise: the repetition of musical material heard earlier in the show.
• Stakes: the intensity of the drama happening in the scene or song.
• Target: the person that a character is aiming their speech/song towards.