I think about this from time to time, and have to agree with the poster below that BEN FOLDS is top of list for this kind of thing. He has a William-Finn-like energy to both his music and his lyrics (which, may not guarantee commercial success, but a devoted following). Incidentally, he worked with Sara Bareilles as a judge on some sort of acapella reality competition show which was probably right around the time she was composing material for "Waitress."
While they're big names and would likely never stoop to musical theatre, I think ADELE, TAYLOR SWIFT, and ED SHEERAN have the compositional chops to create something decent. Perhaps P!NK, too, though I see her going for the Alanis JLP jukebox route.
JANELLE MONAE seems like a great idea. I'd also be interested in full original scores by JON BATISTE, MIKA, LAWRENCE, REGINA SPEKTOR, and LAKE STREET DIVE.
A lot of non-theatrical outfits have released concept albums (a collection of songs around a certain theme; not like an ALW "concept album," which feel more like "proof-of-concept albums"). It seems like just another small step to get to a song cycle like Guettel's "Myths & Hymns" or Finn's "Elegies" or JRB's "Songs For A New World." |
