Musical Theatre Dads

Because today is Father’s Day, I decided to talk about the musical theatre dads. There are actually two types of dads in the musical theatre world. There are biological ones and there are the adoptive ones. POSSIBLE SPOILERS

Mufasa

Mufasa is the father of Simba. Not only is he an incredible father, but also an incredible king. His son, Simba, is next in line to be king. He teaches his son incredible life lessons. His time is short-lived thanks to his jealous brother, Scar. However, Mufasa always keeps an eye on his son.

Maurice

Maurice is the father of Belle. While the town may call Belle and Maurice crazy, these two don’t see each other that way. Maurice only wants his daughter safe. Belle doesn’t mind risking her freedom to save her father- that is why she takes her father’s place.

Captain Von Trapp

While it might appear that he doesn’t love his children, he really does. He is only going through a difficult time- due to losing his wife. After hearing his children sing, there was finally happiness in his family again.

Daddy Warbucks

He is one of the adoptive parents on this list. He actually had to warm to Annie at first because he actually wanted a boy to stay with him. But as the story continued, he learned to love Annie more and more. Eventually, he decided to adopt her.

Valjean

This list would not be complete without Valjean. He had to become a father in the most unexpected of ways. Out of compassion for Fantine, one of his former coworkers, he promised to care for Cosette (her biological daughter). Fantine was fired from his factory and had to turn to prostitution. On her deathbed, Valjean agreed to raise her daughter.

Both Valjean and Cosette were broken when they came into each others’ lives. They each taught each other how to love and be loved. Cosette never knew love- she was treated like a servant in the hands of the The Thenardiers. Cosette had hopes she will be rescued. Valjean developed such a strong love for Cosette- she was literally the best part of her life. Due to being an ex-convict, he knew raising her would be difficult. He loved her so much that he went to the barricades to rescue Marius, the young man his daughter loves. Cosette represents light and hope in Les Mis