NationStates Jolt Archive

Musicals are fun. Bollywood is even more fun.
There are too many good musicals to make a poll, so this time around you do not get the endorphin-rush of casting a virtual ballot. Still, I figured it would be fun to discuss what people's favourites are and why.


I have an ulterior motive for this thread. My sister wrote a musical, and had her students perform it. If you go to my Youtube channel (It is in my signature) you can watch it. She literally spent all night getting it posted, so it would be funky if you could take a gander. It is all about Canadian history, so you can see the events that made us the funny people we are today. I bet you never guessed we were once big on the whole Ethnic Cleansing thing... So, if you get a moment, please go check it out. It is called Canada: A People's Rock Opera.


Anyway, as far as mainstream musicals go, I enjoy pretty much anything Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote, particularly Phantom Of The Opera and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. I have yet to see Starlight Express, but it sounds really nifty. It is pretty difficult to beat the sheer colour of Bride And Prejudice, although Jodhaa Akbar got pretty close at one point. I also liked the Disney version of Rogers And Hammerstein's Cinderella (The one with Brandy and Whitney Houston). Then again, I really liked The King And I... Can anyone really best having Sinatra AND Brando in Guys And Dolls?

Ah, frak, I guess I just like pretty much all musicals...

Musicals, you say? Well, I'm slightly more partial to opera, but I've seen The Sound Of Music. But that's hardly surprising, it's difficult to find someone who hasn't seen that persistent classic. It has been a while since I last saw a Bollywood movie, they can be fun when consumed with moderation.

If you want a slightly different musical, try The Wayward Cloud (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445760/). A little warning: this Taiwanese movie is for a mature audience only!

Hmm...

My experience with musicals is unfortunately limited, so I wouldn't be able to refer to anything out of the mainstream.

That said, I think Rocky Horror Picture Show would have to be pretty high on that list.

More of an opera person myself. Nothing like sharing a bag of Minstrels and giggling with an attractive friend over the suggestive bits of Carmen.

Good times.

Quadrophenia and Tommy. The best there is.

A Quick One While He's Away
Rael
Wire and Glass
All of those are fantastic as well.

Carmen, as Pan-Arab Barronia mentioned, I like that as well. and Aida.

I'm a Sondheim fangirl. I'm not sure any other show will ever be quite so mind-blowingly fantastic as Sweeney Todd (the musical, featuring lead actors who can actually sing, NOT the movie).

Phantom of the Opera will always be my favorite musical/Broadway production.

And I have a friend who was in a Bollywood production once.. they love grabbing Westerners off the street for that sort of thing!

I'm a Sondheim fangirl. I'm not sure any other show will ever be quite so mind-blowingly fantastic as Sweeney Todd (the musical, featuring lead actors who can actually sing, NOT the movie).

Gah, there's nothing wrong with the movie. You're just one of those "You can't ever re-make something I like, or I'll say it suuuuucks!" elitist jerks.

:wink:

RENT, Grease, West Side Story

I liked Guys and Dolls. That's about it. Most of the rest annoy me, too much singing.

Yes, I'm aware that's kind of the point.

Gah, there's nothing wrong with the movie. You're just one of those "You can't ever re-make something I like, or I'll say it suuuuucks!" elitist jerks.

:wink:

Um, no. Helena Bonham Carter really, really can't sing. Johnny Depp can at least vaguely carry a tune, but he doesn't come close to having the powerful baritone that role requires. Alan Rickman's singing skills were such that they cut every musical moment of the Judge's they possibly could. Further, the entire freaking chorus was missing. The film style was lovely, Tim Burton is a great director, and I genuinely enjoyed the movie, but musically that adaptation was terrible.

Okay, I have something really cool to share.

The local summer performing arts school is finishing up a run of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat tonight. These are high school students, I want to put that out there right now. This is easily the best high school production I've ever seen. They're doing the music at about 1.5 times the normal tempo. The Ishmaelites show up in a Delorean. Portions of the stage stairs (built up as wide as the stage about 20 feet in the air) lift up for extra entrances or slide forward. They built moving platforms to push actors across the stage. Potiphar rides a Segway. They shoot off fireworks at the end of every show, making the park a no-fly zone for 15 minutes.

Did I mention that these kids have done 17 shows and still act like it's opening night? They're never bored, and they're constantly engaged with each other, the music, and the audience.

That is a musical worth seeing. Not because of the show, but because of the performance.

[/shameless Trollwood plug]

That sounds pretty nifty, Dalmatia Cisalpina!

My sister was in a performance of Dreamcoat a few years ago. It was a great show, although there were no fireworks. She sang Those Canaan Days, and was in the other Israelite-numbers. It is possible that I know almost the whole musical from listening to the practice tape over and over and over. Haha, good thing I really liked it!

My neighbor wrote musicals that were never published, but she invited friends and neighbors in for dinner parties, followed by reading / singing of her shows.

She had one called "Mannequin" that was set in a department store, on the day of a state visit by royalty. I have no memory of the details of the show except for her wonderfully silly song, "I Am The Queen of Anasthesiasia". Delightful, and great name. Shoulda used it for NS.

I miss her. Those were fun days.

I'm a fan of the classics - An American in Paris, Singing in the Rain, almost anything by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Unfortunately, living where I do, most of the good stuff never gets out here on the stage. We did get Cats and Phantom of the Opera, and I saw the touring show of The King and I (with, for the first time ever, an Asian man playing the King of Siam!), but the good Sondheim stuff and other contemporary works just never get here.

I'm not a musical fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I still enjoyed Singing in the Rain and I usually watch White Christmas during the Christmas season. There's a really long and boring song-and-dance number I wish my family would let me skip, though.

Rocky Horror Picture Show is without a single doubt my favourite musical.

Bollywood? For reals? I hate Bollywood, everything i've watched has so far come across as self-indulgent sexist crud. Although how much of that could be said of Hollywood...

Gosh how to pick just one musical. I cannot deny that i've been the most consistently in love with Chicago, although i've got a fond spot for Hello Dolly AKA "This is the musical that never ends..." and you'd be a monster not to get a little swept up with Cpt. Von Trapp singing eidelwise ;)

I'm a fan of the classics - An American in Paris, Singing in the Rain, almost anything by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
I pretty much want to live the life of Danny Kaye's character in Call Me Madam... Those old musical flicks are great.

For Bollywood (well, Tamil equv. thereof) I Have Found it was simply wonderful, even had the beautiful Pooja Batra in a bit part.

Otherwise, Paint Your Wagon is the finest musical ever for at least two reasons.

I don't know if Victor/Victoria counts as a musical, but I love it.

Also Camelot the musical.

Les Miserables FTW

Not worth watching if it ain't live on stage.

My sixth grade music class was nothing but a vehicle for my teacher to indulge in his great love of musicals. Basically you got an A for watching movies for a semester.

I adore Rent and I'm really looking forward to seeing Wicked this year.

I haven't seen some of the classics - like Phantom, so I can't talk much about them. I like most of the classics I've seen, whether in movie form or on stage.

Um, no. Helena Bonham Carter really, really can't sing. Johnny Depp can at least vaguely carry a tune, but he doesn't come close to having the powerful baritone that role requires. Alan Rickman's singing skills were such that they cut every musical moment of the Judge's they possibly could. Further, the entire freaking chorus was missing. The film style was lovely, Tim Burton is a great director, and I genuinely enjoyed the movie, but musically that adaptation was terrible.
yeah but

having seen the most famous version--with angela lansbury as mrs lovett and george hearn as sweeny--the singing was excellent but the acting and staging couldnt hold a candle to johnny depp and helena bonham carter.

your criticism of their singing was very correct. only the younger players could sing and they cut out half of their lines/songs from the play. that seemed unnecessary. and to leave out the freaking title song! they could have at least put it in the closing credits for gods sake. otherwise the chorus is to stagy for a good film version.

[QUOTE=The Coral Islands;13893714]Musicals are fun. Bollywood is even more fun.
[QUOTE]

Redundant. Bollywood IS Musical.

They had songs in LOC Kargil, dear lord. Can you imagine tossing a few musical numbers into "The Longest Day", "A Bridge Too Far" or "Sands of Iwo Jima"?

yeah but

having seen the most famous version--with angela lansbury as mrs lovett and george hearn as sweeny--the singing was excellent but the acting and staging couldnt hold a candle to johnny depp and helena bonham carter.

your criticism of their singing was very correct. only the younger players could sing and they cut out half of their lines/songs from the play. that seemed unnecessary. and to leave out the freaking title song! they could have at least put it in the closing credits for gods sake. otherwise the chorus is to stagy for a good film version.

Len Cariou (from the original Broadway production) is even better than George Hearn, but Angela Lansbury is just freaking amazing in that role. I want to be Angela Lansbury when I grow up. :tongue:

And agreed, I saw no reason the chorus couldn't have at least sung in the opening and/or closing credits. It was rather silly to cut them out. There were other directorial decisions I disagreed with (the massive changes to the Beadle's character, the fact that Johanna and Anthony never, you know, TALKED before deciding to elope, and the really quite stupid cut of Sweeney's brief encounter with the beggar woman at the very beginning of the show are three easy examples), but in general I think Burton did a lovely job - just not musically. Seriously, folks, if you saw that movie and liked anything about the music, go buy yourself the original Broadway cast recording and listen to how fantastically great it is when done right. :)

My favorite musicals, are, in order: Fiddler on the Roof, Sweeney Todd and Jesus Christ Superstar (As performed by the Alameda Civic Light Opera, I don't like the movie of JC superstar).

Favourite musical? Dr Horrible, obviously.

Sweeny Todd !

Chess. It's pretty awesome.

Les Miserables will always be my favorite musical.

For Bollywood (well, Tamil equv. thereof) I Have Found it was simply wonderful, even had the beautiful Pooja Batra in a bit part.


Is that Koi Mil Gaya?

I like Stephen Sondheim; his music is probably the best. Visually, I like watching Bugsby Berkeley (sp?) dance scenes. Very trippy.

The Producers or Spamalot

I grew up watching my parent's perform Gilbert and Sullivan musicals (well technically operettas) and these will always hold a special place in my heart. Not to mention that as long as you accept the whole farsical premise, they are actually very enjoyable musicals to watch.

This said, I also love Les Miserables, which I am desperate to actually see live on stage at some point.

not much my thing, but i'll go with hair and catz.

=^^=
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