Being a heterosexual male, I find most musicals boring and cheesy. However, there is an exception: Paint Your Wagon, a western musical with Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood. Everyone should check it out, if they haven't already.
I got all nostalgic when I came across this on YouTube the other day. Although I can't remember much about the rest of the film, I always liked the part with King Louie. The animation looks just as well as any of these modern 3-d films.
Alt Focus: All musicals are for drama geeks and girly men. This is truth. I've tried to make through a few, but it just isn't possible. The songs almost always suck, the story is usually some sort of feel good crap, and does it really get any more ridiculous than a bunch of people spontaneously bursting into song? The only exception is the musical that aired as an episode of Buffy. That was awesome. The rest not so much.
Stephen Sodenheim's Into The Woods is far and away my favourite musical. I've seen half a dozen different versions of it, it's brilliantly funny and macabre. Basically all the main Grim Fairy Tale character unite under a banner to find their happy endings. They find them. Then, the second act begins and the killing starts. Although not hardcore and still family-friendly, it's extremely humorous and coal-black at its core. Sodenheim of course is most famous for Sweeny Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street I saw Wicked at the awesome Apollo Victoria theatre in London UK. A great production, but not as spectacular as I thought it would be. Webber has a few good ones, but most of his "More is Better" middlebrow operas suck, especially Starlight Express, in which enduring I would compare watching 90 minute close-ups of vomit while on acid listening to the most atrocious disco music ever recorded. To see that musical is to see the inner ring of Hell with no looking back. Rent is a power anthem for squeegee kids and bi-curious girls who wear dresses with combat boots. Overrated to say the least, and if you pay attention to the plot you'll notice that it's atrociously one-note. Two thumbs down. I want to know absolutely nothing about Book Of Mormon, because it will come to Toronto and I will be there. I want to savour every surprise because the hype for it is pretty much "100% awesome". Not exactly a musical, or a play, but it's packed with music and it's a rehearsed act is Blue Man Group: How To Be A Megastar. These guys are unbefuckinglievable. What an insane amount of entertainment these guys throw into their show. Hilarious, AWESOME fucking music and creative beyond comprehension of the mind (all instruments are hand-made from other items and these guys play them with staggering energy). If they ever come to a city near you, for God's sake go see them. Pure fun.
I'll put up Streets of Fire. It's close enough to a musical for me. Plus, I defy you to name one other musical that climaxes with a sledgehammer fight between hero and villain. Although, to be fair, I haven't seen RENT. So I could be completely wrong on that count. I've always had a soft spot for Rock and Rule as well. Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Debbie Harry, Earth Wind and Fire, and Cheap Trick? Pleas and thank you.
Though Dr. Horribles sing along blog was a lot of fun (good call by hotwheels I had forgotten about it), I have enjoyed a few musicals on movie format over the years, but have to say the absolute best I ever saw has to be.... EVIL DEAD : The Musical. When I first heard of it I thought it was a well set up prank website, then it came to Calgary, well shit that was that I booked a flight stayed at my brothers place met some friends and have never laughed that hard in years, it was some of the funniest and well put toghether absurdity I had ever seen. I would like to see JErsey Boys and Avenue Q some day as well though.
FOCUS: Jesus Christ Superstar (the 2001 "reimagined" production) is my favorite musical. I only have it on DVD, but it still beats Grease and Titanic, both of which I have seen in person. The music (Heaven On Their Minds) and themes (Judas in a sympathetic light, Jesus as more human than deity) really resonate with me. I honestly have more faith in this version than I do in the original document.
I love musicals! Especially the ones where they talk all foreign: I graduated from musicals awhile ago and moved on to opera. Not being a snob, just saying that Mozart kicks Andrew Lloyd Webber's ass. That said, I laughed, I cried, I lost my sanity (and my soul to the Old ones) the first time I saw "A Shoggoth on the Roof". Tentacles! PS. And Sondheim can suck my dick. All his shit sounds the same. The guy's written one thing, repeatedly, for the past 40 years.
I've seen a surprising number of musicals due to the fact that my hometown is quite close to NYC and my older sister is a nut who a watches pretty much every show that comes out on broadway every year. I've seen: West Side Story, 42nd Street, The Producers, Lion King, Hairspray, Rent, Cats, Movin' Out, Billy Elliot, Bombay Dreams, Phantom of the Opera, Jersey Boys. I'm Pretty sure I'm forgetting some. I tend to enjoy the ones with huge numbers and lots of of that "whoa" factor, which is odd because I usually hate that sort of thing in other circumstances. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I do know that I disliked Cats and Movin' Out. Cats just seemed a little ridiculous. Movin' Out was a bit much in that there was no spoken dialogue at all. I didn't know this beforehand so I just went in and set down. Around intermission time I realized there wasn't going to be any spoken word and if you hadn't read the plot summary in the playbill you would inevitably get lost. I realize interpretive song and dance has its place in the art world, but it is a bit much for me. Just seems like self-flagellation. I'll leave those kinds of plays for the bigger drama geeks. Most of those shows, though, were extremely well done and the talent of the performers is always awe-inspiring; it seems like even the background dancers are ridiculously good looking and ridiculously good singers and dancers. The ability to put on a flawless live show is incredible to me. All that being said, outside of the actual show, I absolutely LOATHE show tunes. I don't know how people listen to that shit on their on their iPods or in the car.
The first musical I saw was Cats when I was 8 and even then I knew it was an abomination of musical theater. I saw the Producers when it first came out with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick and it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I also saw American Idiot recently and was it just me or was every line grossly overacted? Was that supposed to be the point?
It makes no sense to me, or anyone else for that matter. I hate musicals. Despise them. Literally, I would punch my wife in her face if she turned this shit on and expected me to watch. Now here's the part that's weird. I love music. I've been a musician all my life. I love movies, LOVE movies. I also love certain science fiction movies. See where this is going? I have absolutely no problem suspending disbelief when it comes to 'Star Wars,' 'Star Trek,' 'The Matrix' and other sci fi flicks. But ask me to suspend disbelief that a bunch of people will suddenly break into song, and synchronized choreographed dancing on a city street. Sir, that is one bridge too far. I know, weird.
My parents have loved musicals forever, so when I was younger I was taken along to several of them. In typical teenage angst style, I didn't want to go, thought it would be horrible, put my best "i'm pissed" face on, etc. Turns out a lot of them were fun to see. I saw Phantom of the Opera when Michael Crawford joined back up, Jesus Christ Superstar when Ted Neeley joined back up (he was a little old, but hey it was still good) among several others. The best by far was Sweeney Todd. I agree the Tim Burton version was crap compared to the original on stage.
Right, are we talking stage musicals here, or movie musicals? I have no taste for the former, but I'll occasionally watch one of the latter on TV. I'm surprised none of you have mentioned this classic, which is still goddamn running in movie theaters! Still funny, and the movie has some pretty well-known (now) actors in it... Hilarious and fucked up.