I figured we have a thread on cult movies, so why not musicals! I love them! Well, some of them anyway. I'd be interested in what some of our members favorites are seeing as how we're all music lovers. I think my favorite has to be West Side Story. I love it. It's so perfect in every way. And when they do the fire escape/balcony scene I just lose it. Beyond romantic. I remember studying it in school along with Romeo and Juliet. One of the only times I wasn't bored out of my mind in school.
The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady are also great. Singin' in the Rain was my favorite for a long time and of course The Rocky Horror Picture Show is pretty decent for what it is. Oh yeah, then there's The Wizard of Oz and Grease which I must mention because I've seen them about a million times each. Along with most everyone else I guess! One musical/rock opera I've only seen bits of but looks so interesting to me is Jesus Christ Superstar. Is it any good? I like the idea of it and the songs I've heard are good. Anyway, just wondering if you all are fans of these kinds of movies.

You've started another great thread, Sondra.  Yes, Jesus Christ Superstar is a great musical/rock opera.  I suggest you buy it and enjoy it.  Also, try to see a stage production.....quite common during Christmas season.

I enjoy West Side Story too.  The movie version was fine.  I love Natalie Wood!  Now, get yourself a copy of the original Broadway West Side Story (they sanitized the movie version album).







When you're a Jet,
If the sh*t hits the fan,
You got brothers around,
You're a family man!


Gee, Officer Krupke,
F*ck you!

They have the West Side Story soundtrack on iTunes. I downloaded a couple of songs but I'll have to download the entire album eventually. When I get my dsl fixed! Dial up takes a hundred years for one song.   I love that movie though. Natalie Wood was perfect. I think if they got a Broadway actor they might have overdone it. Too bad they had to tone down the content at that time. Still, perfection. Wasn't the original Maria the girl who sang for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady?

I was actually thinking of buying Jesus Christ Superstar! It just looks really good to me. I guess I'll go for it now! Did you know Ian Gillan sang as Jesus on the original album? For some reason I think that's so funny.

Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to mention Hair. I love that one too. Sort of. Well, I love parts of it. Great songs though.

I like westside story as well.
And I also enjoyed Mamma Mia. If you like ABBA songs, it's really recommandable.
There was (or still is?) a tournee production with a similar story as well, called "Mama - come together". From sweden I think. They have both ABBA and Beatle songs. Thay made a great show out of that ! Actually a friend and I went to see that 4 or 5 times within a year or something  
The lion king has the best costumes I've ever seen. Simply awesome. And the "african" music matches that well.

I'm generally not very keen on them, but I have been surprised a few times over the years. I think the first time I ever went to a theatre for any reason other than a gig, was to see a musical by the great Willy Russell called 'John, Paul, George, Ringo & Bert', with Trevor Eve, Bernard Hill, and a young Barbara Dickson - on the sidelines - playing piano and singing. Shortly after I was lucky to see Tim Curry in 'The Rocky Horror Show'. Lastly I took the wife to see 'Les Miserables' in London about 18 years ago, and was surprised that I didn't fall asleep, especially as it goes on for over 3 hours. Otherwise, I don't bother with them.

I have written detailed features on well over 100 rock movies on my site. Go to http://www.merseybeat.co.uk At the top of the page you click on 'Editorial'. Scroll down to 'Rock And Pop Movies' and you'll find a huge range of musicals.

I have the 'West Side Story' cd because of Buddy Rich, but I dont think i've ever seen it.

I do like 'The Sound Of Music' though. That used to be a yearly thing at home when I was young. We always watched it.

I 'm a bit like BlueMeanie not that keen of them although i enjoyed " The Sound Of Music " , "Grease " and  " The Rocky Horror Picture Show " ive never seen "West Side  Story " .

My favourite all-time musical is 'Oklahoma'. I first saw it at the Odeon, Liverpool, when that cinema was a huge movie temple! I was so amazed because I had not expected to enjoy it so much, I just sat and watched it a second time. I thought I'd enjoy 'Carousel' because it was another Rogers & Hammerstein movie and went to see it at the Futurist. I hated it. Wasn't Mr Snow a creep! Gerry Marsden also went to the Futurist and saw it - and the result was his recording of 'You'll Never Walk Alone', which transformed football anthems in Britain and Europe. I was at a science fiction convention in Kettering and got on a bus with Ron Bennett, editor of the fanzine Ploy to see Oklahoma in nearby Corby. Then, in Kettering itself, 'The King & I' was showing. I wasn't all that keen on 'South Pactific.' The Four Pennies and I were involved in a court case in High Wycombe after a man had raped a girl on a train we were on - and we pulled the communication chord. While we were there we went to see 'The Sound of Music', which was okay. When I was in London I went to see 'The Music Man', again with the Four Pennies' and that was a really good one. Another early musical I saw at the Forum in Liverpool was 'What Lola Wants', called 'Damn Yankees' in America. I really liked that. My favourite after 'Oklahoma' is 'The Pajama Game', a classic. I didn't particularly like 'West Side Story', but that was because I didn't like the casting. I loved the music, but the film was disappointing. An atrocious musical was 'Red Garters.' 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' was fun. My son had been going to showings for some time and took me along to one. Suddenly I found someone had sprayed water over me and threw rice. I got annoyed until I realised everyone was doing it as part of the audience particpation. I also liked the original 'State Fair.'

1. 'A Chorus Line'
2. 'Will Rogers Follies'
3. 'Sweeney Todd'

It's interesting to me that people who have a love for music don't really like musicals. I guess they're not for everyone! You all should try West Side Story. It's near perfect. The concept of updating Romeo and Juliet to "modern times" is just brilliant And it was very well done. You just don't see quality like that anymore. I think it won ten Oscars. Not that that always means anything!

I had forgotten about Damn Yankees. God I LOVED that as a kid. Forgot about The Lion King too. I saw that on Broadway and then again in Los Angeles. I LOVED it on Broadway but for some reason it was mediocre in LA. I wonder why? Mama Mia was also great. That one's a lot of fun! Did they just make it into a movie? I hope it turns out as good.

I love musicals. The Four Pennies loved musicals. Gerry Marsden loves musicals. Paul McCartney loves musicals - he's bought up lots and lots of musicals for his publishing company. One of the first he bought was 'Annie', but I never liked that, I prefer the comic strip!
I think the MPL site has a full list of all the musicals that Paul owns.

Strangely enough, most of the classical musicals are not in the Top 50 biggest grossing musical list, although the list didn't start until 1974 - which obviously explains it.
The top 20 biggest grossing musicals since 1974 are, in order: Grease. Chicago. Hairspray (2007). Rocky Horror Picture Show. Dreamgirls. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Moulin Rouge. The Blues Brothers. Annie. Sweeney Todd. The Phantom of the Opera. Evita. Popeye. Yentl. Funny Lady. The Little Shop of Horrors. All That Jazz. Tommy. Rent. Victor/Victoria.
Across the Universe comes in at 22 and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts club Band at 25.  I hated Evita, Popeye and Yentl, but Moulin Rouge was interesting.

Grease was huge. I don't think any musical will ever beat it. its' the last one that was really great too. Moulin Rouge was annoying, Sweeney Todd was just okay and Evita sucked. Nothing compares to the musicals of the 50's/60's. Fiddler on the Roof was another great one. It's funny that The Blues Brothers is considered a musical. Heh.  

I LOVE MUSICALS!!!
How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
The Producers
Little Shop of Horrors
The Music Man
...are just some

WICKED

Yeah, Wicked's the big one right now. We keep saying we're gonna go see it but still haven't. The commercial for it gets on my nerves like you wouldn't believe. The book's pretty interesting though.

Quoted from Sandra

Wasn't the original Maria the girl who sang for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady?

Carol Lawrence was the Broadway Maria and sang for herself.  It was Marni Nixon who was the singing voice for Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn.  

Audrey Hepburn actually recorded her singing parts for the movie.  Turner Classic Movies sometimes shows that version.  She sang beautifully and I prefer her vocals.

Oh, I like Guys And Dolls too.  Not so much for the music; I like looking at Jean Simmons.

West Side Story is one of my favourite musicals. I always cry at the end when Maria sings the reprise of "Somewhere". So sad. Chicago was great, but I recommend seeing the stage version instead of the movie version. Catherine Zeta-Jones was awesome but the stage version is just so much darker and cool. I also like Cabaret- that's my dream musical to act in. Oh, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes! People forget about that one because it was a Marilyn Monroe vehicle but it had some great songs in it.
And of course we can't miss The Wizard of Oz. I HATE Wicked with a passion. The book is just a lousy fan fic with a bunch of gratuitous porn, and the musical is cheesy faux-Disney mess. (Then again, I like Carrie: The Musical so my taste may not be so reliable)

Ah, so many great musicals, so little time.

Rent was another really decent musical. Another modern update thing. Not QUITE on par with West Side Story though. I haven't seen the movie, but I liked the play when I saw it a few years back. Although you cannot compare it to La Boheme, which it was based on. The beauty of songs like O soave fanciulla and Musette's Waltz make me cry and I don't even understand what they're saying! My mom speaks the language though so she always translates for me...through tears of course!

could we count AHDN, Help!, Yellow Sub and let it be Musicals...?

I DO!!!

Elvis Presley was offered the lead male role in 'West Side Story.' I didn't particularly like the MGM musicals, so I avoided them. Then I saw 'Oklahoma' and was so impressed I didn't leave my seat and watched it twice.  I didn't like 'Carousel', though it was to have an effect in Liverpool because of the song 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. 'The King And I' was okay, 'South Pacific' was so-so, 'The Sound Of Music' was tolerable. I did like the original 'State Fair.' I went to see 'The Sound Of Music' and 'The Music Man' with the Four Pennies. I liked the Music Man' and thought Robert Preston made the film. 'Damn Yankees' was interesting but my second favourite musical to 'Oklahoma' is 'The Pajama Game.'

I must say that I love the Musical genre, unfortunately I haven't seen too many.  On stage I've seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (in NYC), The Lion King, and Spamalot (both in Toronto).  I'd love to see something like Hairspray, or South Pacific, or Phantom of the Opera, or Chicago.  To me the movie versions of some of them are very well done, as in the case of Chicago, but I think when something is a great movie first and then made into a musical (such as the Lion King) it's the most AMAZING thing ever!!!!

Not really a big fan of the concept of musicals, although I can't deny that I really enjoyed the two musicals that I've seen 'live'. I saw "Grease is the Word" in London a long time ago and a Dutch musical called "Ciske de Rat" last year. And I have to say they were both amazing.

Please, reveal the truth about musicals: do artists, actors sing live or is it prerecorded? It very much seems to be prerecorded. I saw Sound Of Music in London and even the children sang ideally, without a single wrong breath. This is impossible. the same is true concerning other musicals I saw and heard.

Quoted from Jane

Please, reveal the truth about musicals: do artists, actors sing live or is it prerecorded? It very much seems to be prerecorded. I saw Sound Of Music in London and even the children sang ideally, without a single wrong breath. This is impossible. the same is true concerning other musicals I saw and heard.

Of course it's all live... I'm sure they wouldn't get away with it if it wasn't...