My Favorite Musicals
This is my list of my personal favorite musicals, that i've seen. There are still a lot that I haven't seen and I plan on seeing. As usual, they're not in order because it's just too hard to put them in order because I love each and every one of them a lot. I might have cheated a little bit by actually putting the ones that i just can't get enough of more towards the top. So enjoy, and get ready for a lot of cheesy one-liners/hooks in every description!
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- DirectorRob MarshallStarsRenée ZellwegerCatherine Zeta-JonesRichard GereTwo death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.I could watch this movie over and over again. It's probably the musical i've watched the most, Grease is in that category too though. Catherine Zeta Jones gives a stellar performance, the introduction to the movie with Velma singing "All That Jazz" still gives me chills to this day. Why do i love it so much? because it gives you enough room to breathe between each song, and each song is unique in it's own self, and you get a new look in each performance. And just the story is amazing, i love it all!
- DirectorRandal KleiserStarsJohn TravoltaOlivia Newton-JohnStockard ChanningGood girl Sandy Olsson and greaser Danny Zuko fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?GREASE! oh man! This movie and I go waay back. I started watching this movie at age 6 or so..every time i watch it I get a giant, smile on my face. Every song reminds me of when I used to play "Summer Nights" on repeat on my CD player (I'm so cool). Speaking of "Summer Nights", that entire scene goes into my top 5 musical moments. It's just so beautifully put together and it's just so cute I can't take it. I get into the cheesiness of the movie each time, sure the plot is a little stereotypical/sexist but wasn't every movie in the 70s like that? Plus, it takes place in the 50s, so it was even worse in that time. Whatever, I'm trying to say that when i watch Grease I fill with joy, and it's one of my favorites of all time.
- DirectorJerome RobbinsRobert WiseStarsNatalie WoodGeorge ChakirisRichard BeymerTwo youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.For some reason a lot of people don't list West Side Story like anywhere when a "top musical" conversation is brought up. I don't know why because it's a great one. Especially when you think of Natalie Wood as Maria and the music. It's not perfect, but then again is any musical really "perfect"?
- DirectorJim SharmanStarsTim CurrySusan SarandonBarry BostwickA newly-engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must seek shelter at the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-n-Furter.It's probably the edgiest of the musicals, and one of the most energizing. Rocky Horror is known for it's crowd shouting and object throwing, that's where the picture show part comes in. It's a crazy ride if you ever go to see it in theaters or on stage, it's one of the loudest. Obviously, the best part of the movie is Tim Curry's "Frankenfurter", he's just a really fun and crazy transvestite from Trans-sexual Translyvania.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsBarbra StreisandOmar SharifKay MedfordThe life of Fanny Brice, famed comedienne and entertainer of the early 1900s. We see her rise to fame as a Ziegfeld girl, subsequent career, and her personal life, particularly her relationship with Nick Arnstein.If you don't like Barbra Streisand then you won't like Funny Girl. Funny Girl centers around Fanny Brice, played by Miss Streisand herself. It's really hard to just say why this one is so good, if you haven't heard "Don't Rain On My Parade" by now then you were probably living under a rock. She's just so good at this part, and i'm not just saying that because she played Fanny on broadway too, but simply because she has so much energy on stage and she looks like she's having so much fun.
- DirectorStanley DonenGene KellyStarsGene KellyDonald O'ConnorDebbie ReynoldsA silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsRosalind RussellNatalie WoodKarl MaldenBased on the Broadway hit about the life and times of burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee and her aggressive stage mother, Mama Rose.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJulie AndrewsChristopher PlummerEleanor ParkerA young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.Sound of Music is another musical that I grew up with, yes I grew up with the music of "Greased Lightning" and "My Favorite Things". Julie Andrews is one of my people i look up to/icons, she glows in this movie like she did in Mary Poppins or any other movie she did. Another musical that I love the story of, this is definitely one of my favorite things.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsAileen QuinnAlbert FinneyCarol BurnettA spunky young orphan is taken in by a rich eccentric, much to the chagrin of the cantankerous woman who runs the orphanage.
- DirectorBob FosseStarsLiza MinnelliMichael YorkHelmut GriemA female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsAudrey HepburnRex HarrisonStanley HollowayIn 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.The Wizard of Oz is one of those movies that you just know, it's so popular for scaring the sh*t out of kids and those god damn ruby slippers. The wonderful land of Oz was introduced to me probably at around age 4 or 5. I was obsessed, of course..at that age who wasn't? My favorite part of the movie was never Dorothy, Toto, or any of the "good guys", mine were the witches. It was probably a little strange to see a 5 year old cheering when the Wicked Witch Of The West appeared. Still to this day, my favorite part of the whole movie is the chunk where they have to get the broomstick, it's just so dark and beautiful. Plus I can never get enough of those flying monkeys!
(I didn't decide to mention the new "Oz, The Great and Powerful" because I didn't think it was worth mentioning, it's a prequel, and it's just not as good compared to this one). - DirectorSidney LumetStarsDiana RossMichael JacksonNipsey RussellAn adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience.Oh, The Wiz. I hate to say it, but when I saw this film for the first time I hated it. I just didn't agree with any of it. I like to think it was due to the fact that I was a weird little 5th grader when I saw it and I still loved Wizard of Oz. But watching it again, I realized what they were going for..of course when i saw it again I actually knew what broadway was, and I was in love with MJ. I remember people always referencing The Wiz to "the black oz" or "the mo-town version of oz" it was sorta racist but I just ignored it. It's definitely a more artsy and different take and I love it pretty much as equally as I love the '39 Oz.
- DirectorFrank OzStarsRick MoranisEllen GreeneVincent GardeniaA nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsJudy GarlandJames MasonJack CarsonA film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.
- DirectorFrank PiersonStarsBarbra StreisandKris KristoffersonGary BuseyA has-been rock star falls in love with a young, up-and-coming songstress.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsJulie AndrewsJames GarnerRobert PrestonA struggling female soprano in 1934 Paris finally finds work after posing as a female impersonator, but it complicates her personal life when a visiting Chicago gangster finds himself inexplicably attracted to the seemingly male performer.
- DirectorGene KellyStarsBarbra StreisandWalter MatthauMichael CrawfordMatchmaker Dolly Levi travels to Yonkers to find a partner for "half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder, convincing his niece, his niece's intended, and his two clerks to travel to New York City along the way.I don't know why I always forget about Hello, Dolly! but i do. It's kind of nice because every time I see it brought up I get a sudden joy of remembering it exists. Hello, Dolly! is yet another Barbra Streisand musical with basically her just singing the whole time. I'm not complaining though, Babs is about as good as it gets when it comes to performing. And hey! she actually ends up getting married in the end of the movie..for once (finally! she's happy). The movie brings more joy than logic to me, and I think that's what it does. It's a fun ride!
- DirectorRobert LewisStarsBing CrosbyDonald O'ConnorZizi JeanmaireBill Benson and Ted Adams are to appear in a Broadway show together and, while in Paris, each discovers the perfect leading lady for the plum female role. Each promises the prize role to the girl they selected without informing the other until they head back across the Atlantic by liner - with each man having brought his choice along. It becomes a stormy crossing as each man has to tell his find that she might not get the role after all.
- DirectorBill CondonStarsBeyoncéJamie FoxxEddie MurphyA trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.I always think of Dreamgirls..or at least wonder if this is like a fictionalized version of how Destiny's Child happened. Probably not, but hey I can think it! Dreamgirls in a nutshell is the story of three women who are really good singers and want the spotlight and finally after someone hears them doing backup one day they give them their own act! (Yaay!) And eventually one of the three (Beyonce) becomes a fame hungry biatch and I don't want to give away the whole movie now. Dreamgirls is another musical with so much energy and drama in it, that you just wanna dance and cry at the same time. Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce are obviously very good, and Jamie Foxx again, as usual is amazing..as is Eddie Murphy. I would credit the third dreamgirl but she's honestly in it for like two seconds and some sh*t goes down for her later on and we never see her after that.
- DirectorAdam ShankmanStarsJohn TravoltaQueen LatifahNikki BlonskyPleasantly plump teenager Tracy Turnblad teaches 1962 Baltimore a thing or two about integration after landing a spot on a local TV dance show.I would love to say I have seen the John Waters version of Hairspray..but unfortunately I haven't. This was the first Hairspray I ever saw, and naturally I loved it. It's packed with stars and Nicki Blonski who is amazing, and you get none other than Zac Efron as some really hot dude, pretty much like always. So i suggest you don't "stop the beat" and watch Hairspray!
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJohn SavageTreat WilliamsBeverly D'AngeloClaude Bukowski leaves the family ranch in Oklahoma for New York where he is rapidly embraced into the hippie group of youngsters led by Berger, yet he's already been drafted. He soon falls in love with Sheila Franklin, a rich girl but still a rebel inside.Hair is another all time favorite of mine..i mean that classic nude scene..it's priceless! But i hate the movie. Sorry i'm not sorry. I'm like the people that hated Les Miserables when it came out it just didn't stick with me like the stage play did. It's not as effective, they kill off some characters that didn't originally die. For me none of it fit. It's so focused on this hippy life that it forgets to get inside the characters. Hair the original broadway is amazing..movie not! So you should go on youtube and search for it or something, I don't know.
- DirectorRobert IscoveStarsBrandy NorwoodBernadette PetersVeanne CoxAlthough mistreated by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters, Cinderella is able to attend the royal ball through the help of a fairy godmother.Guilty Pleasure Musical#1. This is a HUUUGE guilty pleasure movie for me. I watched it when I got sick when I was little..and in middle school I called it "black Cinderella". It makes it even better that it was a tv movie and it starred Brandy, Whitney Houston, and Bernadette Peters. What a great cast, oh my god everyone's going to go see this because of Whitney Houston (sorry Brandy, not this time)..but no. Like no one saw this movie..it didn't help that it was on tv..and it kind of sucked. You would think with Bernadette Peters you would get top notch. But nope, even she's pretty meeeh. Whitney Houston..does what she does, she sings and makes magic stuff come out of her fingers, and that hair, oh yeeah. It's kind of a sh*t hole of a movie..but it brings me back to lying on the couch, barfing and wondering why the stepsisters looked like they were in their late 30s.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsGerard ButlerEmmy RossumPatrick WilsonA young soprano becomes the obsession of a disfigured and murderous musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opéra House.Phantom of the Opera is one of the best stage musicals around, it's beautifully told and put together. Now the movie? I don't know, could have been better. But the songs are still really good. I just think the male leads were really miscast..i mean Gerard fu*king Butler, are you joking me right now? But Emmy Rossum shines, as usual. Her voice, oh sh*t her voice, it's beautiful, I can't take it. It's still worth a watch but i would go see it in New York first if i were you.
- DirectorChris ColumbusStarsTaye DiggsWilson Jermaine HerediaRosario DawsonIn New York City's gritty East Village, a group of bohemians strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.Again not the greatest example of stage to screen, but it works. There are a lot of problems with it, but there are also a lot of good things..so just get over it.