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That's Entertainment...


As promised I am returning to the "Top 10" format again... this time my favourite cinema musicals... I know that making such a list immediately casts my masculinity into doubt, but who cares. As with my previous list there's a house rule... no animations, or partial animations (I feel another list coming on), which excludes Mary Poppins (which might have been excluded on the grounds of Dick van Dyke's accent anyway)... But that said here's my choice for what it is worth:

1) Singing in the Rain: It's funny, the dance routines are amazing, the songs are memorable, and it takes a huge rise out of the movie industry. What's not to like?

2) High Society: Take a great film like the Philadelphia Story, add some great songs and a wonderful cast, and you got jazz!

3) West Side Story: The only version of Romeo and Juliet I like (despite being a huge Shakespeare fan)... A superb score and book, great dancing and a grittiness that was unseen in musicals up to that point. Brilliant.

4) Calamity Jane: Not exactly an accurate record of the lives of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock, if it doesn't leave you with a smile on your face you need serious pharmacological assistance.

5) Chicago: A great modern musical, using the artifice of the show as the thread holding the film together. All the main characters are superb, the score, lyrics and choreography brilliant.

6) Cabaret: Strangely one where I prefer the stage version to the film, except for the compelling Liza Minnelli and creepy Joel Grey. Whilst Fosse's choreography is superb, a lot of the edginess of the stage show is fudged in the film.

7) Grease: A great, nostalgic feel-good movie with a great soundtrack and Olivia Newton John. What more need I say?

8) My Fair Lady: A great musical with a great cast based on a great play... with a lead actor who can't sing a note, yet is perfectly cast.

9) Fiddler on the Roof: One of the most poignant and powerful of musicals if a little long. Topol made the part of Tevye irretrievably his own.

10) Sound of Music: I'm not one of those who knows every word, but this show's ability to weave together music and romance against the background of the Nazi occupation of Austria, without producing gales of laughter, is no mean feat.

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Comments

jools said…
OH come on ... no Blues Brothers?

Shocking from a man with your taste & style! really VM, I feel quite hurt ...

:O)
Monday, October 19, 2009 9:37:00 AM
Virtual Methodist said…
Actually... you're probably correct there... And because of that the Sound of Music would get the old heave ho!
Probably forgot about it because it doesn't fit the traditional mold.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 2:54:00 AM
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