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The responses I got include, "I'm not sure," which isn't very helpful. But other responses were "They are so catchy!" and "because we all secretly wish we were in one and like west side story could sing and dance our life." Is this why we love musicals? Because they portray another reality, one where you can go crazy and sing your heart out, and no one would think it was weird like they would if you did that in real life? Maybe that element adds our wonder and our awe to musicals, because they encapsulate another completely different society, one where you can express your inner-most feelings through pure music and song. And music is one of the best ways to express your soul. Research studies have been done on this subject, such as "Deeper than Reason: Emotion and its Role in Literature, Music, and Art" by Jenefer Robinson.
To deal more with Carly's topic, I think that another reason music numbers in musicals invoke our wonder is because they encapsulate a specific moment in time for those characters. Like the above song from Frozen, the song allows the audience to better understand Elsa and her situation and her emotions that she's going through at that moment. Songs in musicals always further the plot along. Today we take this for granted, but it didn't always used to be that way. It started with Rogers and Hammerstein. They were the ones who wrote the now famous musicals Oklahoma, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. The revolutionized the musical industry but having the musical numbers not just be side shows to the main event, but had them be integral to the plot of the play itself. Because of this, songs from musicals now have an inborn history to them. In Wicked, each song has its own background and story, and it allows the meaning of the song to surpass much further than just the song itself. This, I think, can create a sensation of awe.
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