So You Want To Get Into… Musicals

Because, let’s face it, at the moment we all need something cheerful and escapist to distract us from the absolute horrorshow that is everything right now. And what better way to forget your troubles than to lose yourself in some filmic entertainment during which people inexplicably begin singing and dancing? There isn’t a better way so don’t try and come up with one. Nope, not that. Uh uh, you’re wrong.

As always, this is a personal tour through the stuff what I have seen and liked so if it’s missing something you consider a classic, well, I’m gonna be inside for a while so I’ll probably get around to it. Also, disclaimer number two, I am not a fan of The Sound Of Music so you’re not going to see that mentioned any further. No, I don’t care if it is your favourite, I do not care for it. Look, if it’s that important to you, go write your own post about musicals. Yeesh. Also, Annie makes me want to vomit up my own skeleton.

The Stone Cold Classic
If you’ve never really been a musical fan, here is one that is almost certainly guaranteed* to at least make to you think it about it. The one that is probably the most accessible of the major musicals is Singin’ In The Rain. It’s an absolute smash of a film - Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor are all on top form and Jean Hagen doesn’t get enough credit as the dreadful Lina. If you don’t come out of that wanting to dance like Gene Kelly, you might want to check that your heart hasn’t been replaced by a lump of flint. After that, I’d suggest a quick hit of The Wizard Of Oz or, if you’re in the mood for more Gene Kelly, An American In Paris. You also can't go far wrong with Grease in terms of sheer volume of catchy songs - pretty much every track is a winner on that one.

The Sherman Brothers
Song-writing brothers Robert B and Richard M Sherman have probably had a much bigger impact on your childhood than you realised. They wrote the songs for (deep breath) Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Jungle Book, Bedknobs And Broomsticks, The Sword In The Stone, The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh and The Aristocats (plus irritating theme park earworm It’s A Small World After All - we can ignore that one). I’d be happy with any one of those as my legacy to have penned all of those is an amazing feat, especially the enduring popularity of some of them.

Let’s Get Culty
I love all of the above musicals but there are plenty of cult musicals that are amongst my most watched films. Rocky Horror Picture Show and Little Shop Of Horrors are must watches for me (and Little Shop over Rocky, I have to say) but I’m also a big fan of Shock Treatment, the little known sequel to Rocky Horror which features amongst others Barry Humphries, Ruby Wax and Rik Mayall and is a satire of reality TV about twenty years too early. Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s early student musical from their pre-South Park days Alferd Packer: The Musical (or Cannibal: The Musical as it is now known) is a firm classic amongst a small group of my friends but you also can't beat South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut or Team america: World Police for OTT musical fun. Also, while it may be an Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical, the 70s film version of Jesus Christ Superstar is so 70s that I think it qualifies under the "cult film" label (plus it's the only one of his musicals that I really enjoy).

Modern Musicals
The musical was a little dormant for a long while but has started making a comeback again in recent years. Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd and the Disney adaptation of Into The Woods brought some Stephen Sondheim back to the big screen. La La Land got a lot of attention but I didn't care for it. Of the recent musical revival though, it is The Greatest Showman that's the biggest smash for me. I’ve talked about it before. Let’s just say that I heartily recommend it and you can head off and watch it now if you haven't before (or even if you have - go on, you know you want to).

The Muppet Movie (1979)
Everything about this film is great but especially Paul Williams’ songs. My standard go-to mood enhancer.

Look, there are plenty more great musicals out there that I haven’t even mentioned - My Fair Lady, The King And I, Bugsy Malone, the Disney run of Little Shop’s Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin**) - the list goes on. Just get out and start watching.


*Not a guarantee.
**Traditional animated, not CGI version - haven’t seen the CGI versions and can't say that I’m bothered to.