Who doesn't love it when in the middle of the movie the lead guy starts singing about how much he loves a girl, or when a sidekick goes into a good ol' choreographed hoedown? Musicals are a wonderful and fun way to tell a story with words, instruments and dance. Here's some of my favorites:
1. Babes In Toyland- (1961) Roy Bolger, Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello. An old one but a good one! Tom the Piper's son and Mary Quite Contrary are going to be married. But evil Barnaby wants to marry Mary. He hires henchmen to kidnap Tom, drown him and steal Mary's sheep so she's forced to marry him. The henchmen double cross him and sell Tom to gypsies instead enabling him to escape. Then in trying to find Mary's sheep, they get lost in the woods and end up finding Toyland and helping the toymaker make his deadline in making toys for the children. Uber-cute. For the young at heart. Fun songs and bright colors and childhood comes flying back to your mind! I wanted to be Mary and marry Tom and have sheep and make toys...and I still do, whenever I revisit this classic.
2. Mamma Mia- (2008) Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried. Rockin' soundtrack! This one is about a girl, Sophie, who is days away from her wedding. She's found her mother, Donna's, diary from the year she got pregnant with Sophie. It specifies 3 men who could be her possible father. She's sent them each a wedding invitation, unbeknownst to her mom. Quite a shock when three men from her past just happen to come to her small Greek island hotel on the eve of Sophie's wedding. But which one is Sophie's dad? Songs by ABBA make this a fun one to watch. Donna's friends/former band members are fun and a bit crass. And Donna and Sophie's journeys in learning about themselves and each other is touching. Just try and stop yourself from getting up and dancin'!
3. Newsies- (1992) Bill Pullman, Christian Bale, Ann-Margaret. A Disney musical based on the New York City newsboys strike of 1899. Jack Kelly is 'newsie', a young orphan boy living his entire life selling 'papes'. The more sold in a day, the more money you have to live. Everyday these young men go up and down streets saying whatever headlines will get papes sold...even if they're highly exaggerated. David and Les Jacobs go out and start selling when their father loses his job in order to help the family out. They make friends with Jack and his crew. But when William Randolph Hurst, owner of the newspaper ups the cost of the papes to the newsies but not to the paying customer, the boys' meager livings are cut into. What are they supposed to do? Strike! With the help of a reporter they try to find a way to make the greedy newspaper owner give them back their rights. Rousing numbers like 'Seize the Day' and 'Santa Fe' you'll cheer for this rag-tag team of young newsies!
4. The Music Man- (1962) Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, (2003) Matthew Broderick, Kristin Chenoweth. Such a fun musical! A con-man music 'professor' Harold Hill comes to River City, Iowa selling his band instruments. With his winning ways, enthusiastic words and persuasive manners he gets the whole city into a frenzy of anticipation to hear their boy's band play...just one thing, Harold is not a band leader...and there is no band. He's just waiting for the money to come in before he leaves town...breaking boy's hearts and angering townspeople. Why not, he's done it in every other town he's gone to? The catch is that he didn't intend to fall in love with the prim Marian Paroo, librarian and piano teacher and one of the only skeptics in the town. That is until she too catches the spirit of the town's enthusiasm and joins in believing in Harold...even though she has proof that he's a con-man. How can Harold leave town now? I love the old version with Robert Preston...the quintessential Harold Hill. But I love Kristin Chenoweth in the new one, a believable and fun and beautifully gifted singer for the role of Marian.
5. Summer Stock- (1950) Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. This is a little known musical. Jane is a farmer, born and bred. Her younger sister, Abby never had any desire for it and left. Jane's farm isn't doing so well when she suddenly finds it overrun with actors...the group her sister joined. Abby volunteered their farm for the spot to put on the musical the group has been trying to produce, with Abby in the starring lead. She's got a man now, too...the charming Joe Ross, producer of the musical. Jane hesitatingly agrees to the situation with the stipulation that the actors help with the farm work. I'm pretty sure she regrets that soon enough. But the musical rehearsing isn't going so good. Abby's turned into a prima donna and the male lead has left as well. That leaves Joe and Jane to fill in, if they want it to succeed. Not a blockbuster musical in all, but I LOVE Gene Kelly and the way he and Judy Garldn's character fall in love accidentally and the wonderful dancing make this one I enjoy watching.
6. Les Miserables- (2012) Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried and Anne Hathaway. In case you've been living under a rock, let me explain this blockbuster musical and it's new award winning screen version. It's the story of redemption. Jean Valjean is paroled after 19 years on a chain gang for stealing a loaf of bread for food. He meets a priest who turns his world around when he gives him a chance and a new outlook at life. Skipping parole, Jean changes his name and becomes an honest and prosperous man. However, he is hunted by the police investigator, Javert. Without meaning to, he allows one of his workers, a girl named Fantine to be fired, resulting in her prostituting herself in order to get money to send to the people raising her daughter. When this comes to his attention, Jean promises to find the child and care for her as his own before Fantine dies. Again being chased down by Javert who wants him to suffer for his escaping parole, Jean escapes, finds the girl Cosette and raises her as his daughter. She is grown now and meets Marius and falls in love, but Marius and his friends are fighting for a new revolution for a better life for the people of France. Jean saves Marius's life and in the end dies knowing he'd done everything he could to be a better man. Incredible acting! I loved getting to see the faces of the people portraying these roles, which you don't get with the stage version. Some of the singing is not the best, but the acting makes up for it in my opinion.
7. Cinderella- (1997) Brandy, Whitney Houston, (1965) Leslie Ann Warren, Ginger Rogers. This Roger and Hammerstein musical is magic. Such fun songs like: In My Own Little Corner, Ten Minutes Ago, Impossible and the Stepsister's Lament are engaging and funny. The exaggerated story of Cinderella and her Prince Charming in musical form. The older version has bad costumes and sets and is fun to watch just for that. It also contains one or two songs that are different from the newer version. The newer version is also updated with many different ethnic races being part of the cast. This may be a musical that makes you feel like a child, but in my opinion we need a bit more of that as adults. Get lost in the fairy tale in a fun new way.
8. Saturday's Warrior- (1989) Erik Hickenlooper. Oh, the classic corny Mormon musical. Another nostalgic choice. Who doesn't love the story of Jimmy, the wayward oldest brother of 7 siblings who loves his wheelchair bound twin sister Pam with all his heart but does not have her faith. Jimmy chooses to leave his family and strike out on his own. He's reunited with his family through tragic circumstances in the end. Meanwhile Wally and his missionary companion finally have a convert in Todd, who comes home and promptly hooks up with Julie, Wally's girl who waited for him on his mission (or not). The pre-mortal life is pictured in this film so you first get to see the characters as who they are and how they think life will be like, then see them as different people because of their circumstances in their earth life. It's interesting to see how life isn't always like how we think it will be. Though this movie probably isn't exactly accurate in doctrine, it's still a fun show. And check out the 80's hair and clothes!
9. Once Upon A Mattress- (2005) Carol Burnett, Matthew Morrison, Tracy Ullman and Zooey Deschanel. This is such a wacky and silly musical that I've always loved it. I am a bit sad that the movie cut out the part of the minstral, but all in all it's a pretty good version. Tracy Ullman is a bit old for Winnifred, though. This is the musical story of the Princess and the Pea. In a kingdom far away there is a law that no one can marry until the prince (a mamma's boy named Dauntless) gets married. The problem: the evil queen, played by Carol Burnett, loves her baby boy and doesn't want him to get married. So every princess who comes around applying for the role of bride is subjected to a rigorous test, which is always rigged by the queen so they always loose. The King is a mute and gets pushed around by his loud wife. Now Lady Larkin has just learned that she's expecting a baby, so she needs to marry Sir Harry before people notice. Harry goes off to find a princess and comes back with Winnifred or as she prefers to be called 'Fred'. She's the princess of a swamp land and is very strange. Dauntless falls for her as soon as she swims across the mote because she's so excited. The Queen is horrified by this new girl and tries to come up with the worst test so she'll have no chance of passing: sleeping a night on 20 mattresses with a single pea at the bottom of them. If she feels the pea she has royal sensitivity, but if she doesn't she's out. It's a rousing good time full of fun songs and dance numbers.
10. The Harvey Girls- (1946) Judy Garland, John Hodiak. Another lesser known musical. This one is about a girl named Susan who comes out to the midwest as a mail order bride. But when she gets to her destination she finds that her husband to be is nothing like his beautiful letters. She finds she's been tricked: the letters were really written by the local saloon owner Ned who was trying to help him out. Now she's stuck in an unknown town with no money and no husband. She joins the Harvey Girls. They work at a restaurant that caters to the train travelers. But someone doesn't want the Harvey Girls there. Trouble abounds and Ned comes to the rescue. A cute story.
Here's today's selections. Have fun at the movies!
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