The Watchers: Broadway’s Anthems of Witness
- Waymon Hudson
- Nov 22
- 5 min read
Broadway loves a power ballad... but every so often, a song arrives that isn’t just powerful.
It’s sacred.
These are the songs where music becomes memory.
Where harmony becomes resistance.
Where the act of simply surviving becomes a kind of prayer.
Think of:
“You Will Be Found” – Dear Evan Hansen
A collective voice rising to hold someone who can’t hold himself.
“I Know Where I’ve Been” – Hairspray
A march, a hymn, and a generational cry for dignity.
“Ring of Keys” – Fun Home
A queer child witnessing themselves for the first time.
“Make Them Hear You” – Ragtime
A call for justice echoing across generations.
“Light” – Next to Normal
A family vowing to keep going, together.
These are Broadway’s witness songs: moments where the characters aren’t just singing to the audience…
They’re singing for the ones who came before.
And the ones who will come after.
The Queer Spiritual Core of Speakeasy
In Speakeasy: A New Musical, the song The Watchers is the heartbeat of the show.
Not the romance.
Not the spectacle.
Not the rebellion.
The witnessing.
It’s the song where Merc and Miss Addie, two queer people from different generations, backgrounds, and wounds, recognize each other.
Really see each other.
And what they see is struggle heartbreak…
But also purpose.
“We Watched. We Waited.”
The Ones Who Stayed So Others Could Run
Throughout the show, both Merc and Addie are the ones who stand at the edges of the stage... literally and metaphorically.
Merc:
The glittering emcee.
The heartbeat of the Velvet Boot.
Loved by everyone, seen by no one.
Addie:
The quiet rebel.
The steady truth-teller.
The woman who raised Jules to question everything.
They are the watchers of the story.... the queer elders-in-training.
The mentors.
The protectors.
The ones who endured so the next generation could break free.
And in this song, they open their wounds to each other.
And what could have just been supporting characters take center stage as leads.
Breaking Down the Song: Lyric by Lyric
MISS ADDIE: “I’ll be punished, I’ll be blamed… but unashamed.”
Addie’s verse is the grief of someone who once loved boldly.... and paid the price.
She speaks of Lena, the woman she loved when she was younger
“She gets to choose, she gets to fly, Not everyone gets that goodbye. I kissed a girl, what life I craved. She danced like fire, called me “brave.” I couldn’t run, I let love fade… But still I watched. And still I stayed.”
It is the story of queer Black women erased from history, spoken aloud in a way rarely seen on Broadway.
MERC: “I became the air he breathed.”
Merc’s verse mirrors hers, a man who loved someone who never saw him fully.
“I loved a boy who wouldn’t see... So I became the air he breathed. I stayed close, kept holding light, ‘Cause even stars need help at night. I watched my own dreams fade and fray… Because I watched. Because I stayed.”
This is queer longing turned inside out: love as service, love as sacrifice, love as silent survival.
A Sacred Refrain: “We stitched our names into the seams.”
Here, the song turns communal.
We are the watchers in the wings.... We prop hearts, we mend strings. The ones who know the world won’t bend.... But dare to hope it might for them.
This becomes not just their story...
but every queer person’s story who has stayed, survived, or carried someone through.
A queer hymn.
A whispered revolution.
Where Their Stories Intertwine: The Spoken Confessions
This is the moment the air changes.
MERC (barely a breath) sings not only his story, but Addie's too, seeing the parallels in their lives:
“I loved him… but never loudly.”
“She kissed me… but never publicly.”
ADDIE (whisper into a belt) sings back her story intertwined with his:
“She said run. I said no.”
“He said stay. I let him go.”
Two lives.
Two generations.
Two wounds.
And for the first time, they don’t carry them alone.
The Transformation: Witnessing Each Other Sparks Their Own Courage
By the end of the song, something shifts.
Addie, who believed her chance at love ended decades ago, sees Merc fighting for his.
Merc, who has always loved from the shadows, sees Addie urging Jules to run toward hers.
They realize:
They didn’t stay out of weakness.
They didn’t hide out of shame.
They watched because the world wasn’t ready.
They stayed so someone else could rise.
And now?
Now they choose something different.
For themselves.
And this sparks Addie's transformation from quiet rebellion to loud revolutionary as she finds community, and maybe love, in the Velvet Boot.
The Watchers as Queer Broadway Anthem
At its core, The Watchers is an anthem of:
✨ Queer lineage
✨ Chosen family
✨ Intergenerational survival
✨ Quiet rebellion
✨ Sacred queerness
✨ Fierce, tender witnessing
If All That I Am is Merc’s personal liberation…
The Watchers is the liberation of the community.
This is the song that tells the truth:
Queer people didn’t just fight.
They carried.
They stayed.
They witnessed.
They protected.
They endured.
And they dared to hope that the next generation wouldn’t have to.
🎧 Listen Now
🎧 “The Watchers”: Full lyric video now live!
📺 Watch all the “Behind Broadway” video episodes: Step into the spotlight behind the spotlight. Behind Broadway is your backstage pass to how musicals really work, from iconic song structures to emotional arcs, queer storytelling, and the hidden craft that makes theater magic. Whether you’re a theater kid, a casual fan, or a future Tony winner in disguise, welcome to the show behind the show.
Read more Behind Broadway Breakdowns:
Learn about classic broadway song structure and Jules' character arc in Speakeasy:
Read the arc on Broadway's Soft Boys, Masculinity, and Rome's arc in Speakeasy:
Check out Merc's arc in Speakeasy and look at Queer Broadway, longing, and love,:
And follow Addie's journey as we explore rebellion, freedom, and breaking the mold:
This Is Speakeasy
Speakeasy is a bold, queer, jazz-drenched musical set in a 1920s underground nightclub where rebellion is a love language and music is a lifeline.
Created by Waymon Hudson (that’s me!), it’s a reimagined Romeo & Juliet with drag queens, bootleggers, and big Broadway heart.
Come inside.
The music’s playing.
And your truth belongs here.
👉 Speakeasy: A New Musical
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