Posted by Jrand52 @ 06/28/2003 08:32 AM PST

First post - huzzah!

Posted by Jrand52 @ 06/28/2003 08:32 AM PST

How long does this autograph thing go on? Just Saturday and Sunday? When is Dear Reader Susan leaving LA on Monday?

Posted by Laura @ 06/28/2003 09:07 AM PST

I like this one...

Favorites: The Sound of Music, because I absolutely adore Julie Andrews.
My Fair Lady, because the chemistry between Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn is neverending and it just...fits.

Least Favorites: Man of La Mancha. I don't have too many reasons for this, partially because I fell asleep halfway through it. I found it dull and boring and monotonous.

Annie Get Your Gun: I think that the costumes, sets, staging, everything in this movie is bad. Especially the way they sing at the camera or sometimes direct their lines towards the camera. It perturbed me.

Alright, off to see a local production of West Side Story. I'm so jealous, I love that to death, and I would have auditioned if I hadn't been in Grease at the time. Let the jealousy waves begin.

Posted by Sarah @ 06/28/2003 09:12 AM PST

I'll like to add one more category

Guilty Pleasure Musicals:
Best Little Whorehouse
Darling Lili
Hello, Dolly!
Jesus Christ Supestar
On a Clear Day...
Paint Your Wagon
Star!
Xandu

Favorite (IN ABC ORDER)
All That Jazz
Anasastia (Animated w/Liz
Callaway)
The Band Wagon
Beauty and the Beast (animated)
Cabaret
Chicago
How To Succeed in Business...
Little Shop of Horrors
Music Man
Oliver!
Singing in the Rain
Sound of Music
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Victor/Victoria
West Side Story
Wizard of Oz

Least Fav (IN ABC ORDER)
Annie (and TV remake)
Brigadoon (too stage bound)
Bye Bye Birdie-1963
Camelot
Doctor Dolittle
Funny Lady
A Funny Thing Happened...
Goodbye Mr. Chips (A terrible original score, but Peter O'Toole was great in it)
The Happiest Millionaire
Mame
Man of La Mancha (Although Peter O'Toole was great in it)
Scrooge (although Albert Finney was excellent in the title role)
Show Boat (1951)
and
Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies

and any Elvis Presley musical

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 06/28/2003 10:01 AM PST

There is only one answer for best musical film ever: THE FIRST NUDIE MUSICAL.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 06/28/2003 10:39 AM PST

Favorite Movie Musicals:

FLOWER DRUM SONG (great songs and a great cast)

42ND STREET (nuff said)

STAND UP AND CHEER (yes the Shirley Temple movie!)

Murder in the Blue Room (murder mystery/musical!)

Summer Stock (Judy and Gene)

Pajama Party (Is that considered a musical?)

Blondie Goes Latin (Penny Singleton sings and dances...and very well I might add...plus Tito Guizar!)

I can't recall any movie musicals that I disliked off hand. I think that if there are any that I thought I would not enjoy I just didn't watch them.

Posted by MBarnum @ 06/28/2003 11:58 AM PST

Good afteroon!

-I'm back in Richmond for the day since we took off today... And since I'm back in Richmond, I guess that means I must be baking... Peanut Butter Cookies! I decided to try a new recipe from Pam Anderson's "CookSmart", and boy is it good! And very easy to mix up too! -I usually make things with chocolate, and, unfortunately, my roommate can't - or rather shouldn't - eat chocolate since he's allergic to it. -Not violently, thankfully, so he can still sneak a Reese's every now and then. So, I decided to make him something he could eat this time with no worries. -And I even had one too - my carbs for the day. -At least they have peanuts, peanut butter and butter in them - Chet and Eileen would approve of those.

As for movie musicals...

Favorites:
-Singin' In the Rain - I just LOVE the "Moses Supposes" sequence.
-On the Town - I know some people out there hate this movie since it was changed so drastically from the stage version, but this one never fails to bring a smile to my face.
-Chicago
-The Sound of Music
-The Music Man

Least Favorites:
-A Chorus Line
-A Funny Thing Happened...
-Brigadoon - I miss the Meg songs.

-Oh, and... well... I've now had two cookies... :-g

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 06/28/2003 11:58 AM PST

In discussing movie musicals we really should break them down into two types: Movies of Stage Musicals which seem to be judged (at least on this here site) by their faithfulness to the shows they are based on; and original screen musicals which have nothing to be compared with. Does anyone agree?

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 06/28/2003 12:02 PM PST

Ah it's summer outside!

I love warm weather. I guess everybody is out enjoying the day.

Posted by Jennifer @ 06/28/2003 12:20 PM PST

I'm odd.... i like Brigadoon very
much...

other favorites:

THE SOUND OF MUSIC
OLIVER!
HALF A SIXPENCE
MARY POPPINS
SILK STOCKINGS
SEVEN BRIDES.....
SNOW WHITE
JUNGLE BOOK
WIZARD OF AUSTRALIA
HANS CHRISTIAN
ANDERSEN
etc, etc, etc... because they all
make me dream....

Since I want to stay "positive", I
won't mention the ones I don't
care for...

Could it be that noone ever
saw that BLUE BIRD I
mentioned yesterday????

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 12:40 PM PST

Well, I am trapped in my house until show time tonight by this yearly event called Taste of Tacoma. I am sure every city must have one of these, with all the local restaurants having booths at the local park where they sell small tastes of some of their signature foods for $3.00 and a larger meal portion for $5.00 or $6.00. It is a really nice event with lots of music and entertainment. Unfortunately, the park in question is about a block from my apartment, so the bumper to bumper traffic and the parking situation make it himself to go anywhere all weekend. Fortunately, after the show is over tonight and tomorrow, and we have gone for some food, the event will be done for the day and I can get home without a problem.

Which reminds me, I will have to be Errant & Truant from chat tomorrow, which apparently make me round again. DOLLY was supposed to close tonight, but because the run was sold-out, we added an extra matinee tomorrow afternoon. Well suddenly this extra performance has turned into somewhat of a fund-raiser for the Theatre, with all the big donors invited to a reception following the performance. The cast has been asked (?) to please attend and smooze with the big honchos, because contributions are well below average this year. I got my start at this Theatre and I love it dearly, so I agreed to attend. Unfortunately, I won’t get home until around eight.

Today’s Topic:

Favorite Musicals – (in no particular order)

DAMN YANKEES (because it was my first)
FINIAN’S RAINBOW (proof a modern filmmaker can make a musical) GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (just ‘cause)
CHICAGO (with or without “Class”)
CAMELOT (I still cry every time)
SCROOGE (great score, great Finney, but that scene in Hell [?])
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (Garland at her best)
VICTOR/VICTORIA (just about perfect)
WEST SIDE STORY (dated cinematography, but what dancing)
THREE LITTLE WORDS (I will watch it morning, noon, or night)
THE MUSIC MAN (Shirley and Robert and Opie)

Least Favorite Musicals -- (I hate them in any order)

LOST HORIZON (even Bacharach fans booed)
MAN OF LA MANCHA (----------)
MAME (Lucy, where did you go wrong?)
A CHORUS LINE (what the Hell was that?)
ANNIE (the movie version, I liked the TV version)
DOCTOR DOLITTLE (didn’t do much)
XANADU (sorry, I just don’t get it)

Posted by TCB @ 06/28/2003 12:43 PM PST

BLUE BIRD does ring a bell Francois, but I can't quite remember the movie. Was that the film with Jane Fonda and Liz Taylor, or have I totally lost my mind?

Posted by TCB @ 06/28/2003 12:47 PM PST

Yes, it also had Ava Gardner :
1976 I believe....

The two kids were great....

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 01:14 PM PST

All you ever wanted to know
about the 1976 Blue Bird......

Elizabeth Taylor - Mother/Witch
Jane Fonda - Night
Ava Gardner - Luxury
Cicely Tyson - Cat
Robert Morley - Father Time
Harry Andrews - Oak
Todd Lookinland - Tyltyl
Patsy Kensit - Mytyl
Will Geer - Grandfather
Mona Washbourne -
Grandmother
George Cole - Dog
Richard Pearson - Bread
Nadejda Pavlova - The Blue
Bird
George Vitzin - Sugar
Margareta Terechova - Milk
Oleg Popov - Fat Laughter
Leonid Nevedomsky - Father
Valentina Ganilaee
Ganibalova - Water
Yevgeny Scherbakov - Fire
Pheona McLellan - Sick Girl

Director(s):
George Cukor

Writer(s):
Hugh Whitemore
Alfred Hayes
Alexi Kapler - based on the
novel by Maurice Maeterlinck

Producer(s):
Paul Maslansky

Executive Producer(s):
Edward Lewis

Co-Producer(s):
Lee Savin
Paul Radin

Cinematography:
Freddie Young - Deluxe Color

Editing:
Stanford C. Allen
Ernest Walter
Tatyana Shapiro

Music Composer:
Lionel Newman
Irwin Kostal

Set Direction:
Yevgeny Starikovitch

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 01:19 PM PST

DR Francois, I saw the Cukor THE BLUE BIRD. I admired that Elizabeth Taylor played several roles in the film (let's see, she played Light, the mother, the old crone, and seems like one more), but the score was pretty lame (the little bit of it that was retained for the US showing I saw - "The Blue Haloo" was one number I remember) and the whole atmosphere seemed inert, almost dead in the water as they were shooting. It has no spirit, no verve. I always blamed that on the foreign crew/locations and being so far away from the studios where Cukor would have felt at home. I much prefer the Shirley Temple version (but it's not really a musical.)

Favorite film musicals:

THE WIZARD OF OZ
ON THE TOWN
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS
EASTER PARADE
I LOVE MELVIN
IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER
A STAR IS BORN (1954)
FUNNY FACE
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
STAR!
SCROOGE

Least favorites:

MAME
LOST HORIZON
SOUTH PACIFIC (both versions)
A CHORUS LINE
NEWSIES

I'm in the minority here again, but I like the score to DOCTOR DOLITTLE. I think it's filled with wonderful songs, very tuneful and perfect for the film. I think the movie is poorly plotted and badly directed, too long as well, but that score is a great one, I think.

Posted by Matt H. @ 06/28/2003 01:56 PM PST

MattH,

I agree with you; i've always
found that Bricusse's music
and songs are always better
than the films they are for...

How could I forget meet Me In
St Louis and A Star Is Born
???
It's been so long since I've
seen those....

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 02:06 PM PST

My favorites and least favorites have all been mentioned already.

I noticed "Doctor Doolittle" on some "worst" lists. I can see how you might think so based on the seemingly-endless movie. In movie musicals longer is usually NOT better.

But as a soundtrack CD, this one is actually one of my all-time favorites. I think Bricusse's songs are charming, and Rex Harrison puts his numbers over very well.

It's interesting to track Harrison's progress as a singer, from when he first recorded "My Fair Lady" to "Dolittle." Originally, he almost proudly proclaimed himself a non-singer and made a point of speaking most of the lyrics in rhythm. This was due partly to Moss Hart's instruction that Higgins should be "the acerbic edge" of the show, and a stark contrast to the singers and dancers onstage. But by the time of the MFL movie, Harrison has gained considerable confidence as a singer. And in "Doolittle" he's really pretty good. His voice has a slight rasp, left over from a childhood illness. But he'd always had a good sense of rhythm, and he's right on pitch most of the time, as far as I can tell.

A guilty pleasure musical of mine is DeSylva, Brown & Henderson's "Just Imagine" (1930), about a man struck by lightning in 1930 who is awakened in 1980! You know, 1980, when everyone has a number instead of a name, meals are taken in pill form, people soar around in flying cars, and prohibition is still in force -- although it's rumored that light wines and beer will be allowed soon.

The songs are sub-par for the songwriters; not a hit among the bunch. But the concept is so ambitious and the sets, costumes and performances so charmingly dated, that I enjoy it anyway.

"Just Imagine" is a DeSylva/Brown/Henderson song in another favorite of mine, "Good News" (1947). I wonder if they ever intended it to be included in this film, or if the title is just a coincidence.

Posted by Sigerson Holmes @ 06/28/2003 02:06 PM PST

I took too long to type that one. We had the same vibe, MattH.

Posted by Sigerson Holmes @ 06/28/2003 02:08 PM PST

OOOOhhhhh i'm gonna make
more "ennemies" but I've
NEVER understood why the
characters in AN AMERICAN
IN PARIS and FUNNY FACE
are SO HAPPY all the time,
and make them dull to me?!?!

Does Paris do that to people?
-- I SHOULD know, right? --

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 02:16 PM PST

Looking at what everyone else has said, I can't believe I forgot a few of these.

Fav's: Chicago: I loved every single second of it. I left the theater and drove straight to Best Buy and bought the soundtrack. Couldn't say enough about it.
The Music Man (just...because. It's fun.)
Grease: It's the musical that you see when you're little and actually remember the words to. Plus, I was in it this year. I'm biased, what can I say.
Fiddler On the Roof: long, yes. entertaining, yes.
Singin in the Rain: Gene Kelly was adorable, and so was the sidekick *Cosmo in the movie, can't remember his real name* Someone mentioned before, the "Moses Supposes" sequence is awesome.

Least Fav's: Annie- as much as I love the story, it seemed to me that it was just randomly put together, not at all worked on.
Guys and Dolls: Much too cheesy. made me think of the circus for some reason.
Show Boat: Boring, although I do like the father, but that was about it. Oh, Old Man River was great in that too. Probably my favorite moment.

That's it. teehee.

Posted by Sarah @ 06/28/2003 02:39 PM PST

Most of my favourites and least favourites are listed already.
I have always liked "Star" and "Funny Girl". Biggest Disappointments were "A Chorus Line" and "Man Of La Mancha".
Has anyone mentioned "Can't Stop The Music"? No thoughts on "Evita" either!

Thanks François for the "Wizard Of Australia" inclusion.
No mention of "The Fantasticks" either. Another disappointment IMHO.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 06/28/2003 02:41 PM PST

I do believe that musicals like
The Fantasticks and A Chorus
Line are STAGE experiences
and that a movie screen can't
give them justice....

They might work better on TV...
and even then....

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 03:34 PM PST

I saw a terrific "Fantasticks" produced (and shortened) for television (NBC, 1964). It had a dream cast: Ricado Montalban as El Gallo, Bert Lahr and Stanley Holloway as the fathers, Susan Watson and John Davidson. It's only about an hour long and has only a couple of simple sets, but it blows the 1995 movie out of the water with charm and personality.

Sarah, what role did you play in "Grease"? I got stuck with "Eugene" when I was a junior in high school. I burned the argyle socks they made me wear.

Posted by Sigerson Holmes @ 06/28/2003 04:10 PM PST

So many of my favorites have already been mentioned.

West Side Story
Music Man
Scrooge
The Wizard of Oz
Meet Me in Saint Louis
A Star is Born (JG)
Singing in the Rain
The Band Wagon

Sweet Charity is a guilty pleasure, I think as There's No Business Like Show Business (Miss Merman and Miss Monroe in the same movie!)

and many of my non-favorites have been mentioned as well.

Chorus Line
Mame
La Mancha
Xanadu
Grease (I know that many, many people love it but I can't bear it)
Willie Wonka (I like some of the music, but I just don't like the movie)
Hello Dolly
Bye, Bye Birdie (again, I know that lots of folks love this one but I can't get through it - I love the show - it's one of those transfer from stage to screen things I think).

I may actually be at Chat tomorrow. Having missed so many of them and having missed the NYC get together, I do want to show up so my round sides begin to diminish.

I will spend part of tomorrow watching the Pride March in NYC. For the first time in a few years Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will not be walking so since the thing passes right by my street, I think I will be a viewer this year instead of a participant. Should be fun.

Posted by Ben @ 06/28/2003 04:11 PM PST

Thanks Ben. I thought I was the only person around that did not like "Grease". I thought the movie lost every bit of charm that was there in the original stage production (not what they've done to it now). I saw the London production starring Richard Gere!

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 06/28/2003 04:24 PM PST

I said i was going to be
positive, but Ben "gives" me
the opportunity of saying
something negative about
Willie Wonka...

Saw it in its first release, MANY
years ago, and thought it really
portrayed how most teenagers
are/were and could not believe
how UGLY the sets were....

Ben, are you sure that we
weren't separated at birth???
Granted, I only saw Bye Bye
Birdie - the film - on TV, but I
was SO disappointed!!

I don't care too much about
Hello, Dolly! except that I love
the musical numbers, and that
I visited the street set back in
1973...some movie people
had a sort of a "garage sale"
there...so, it's special in a way!

I'm going to listen to the radio
show and your musical report
from NYC, Ben!

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 05:14 PM PST

Call me a prude; I can't stand
the rough language and swear
of the stage version of
GREASE....

Olivia was SO pretty in the
film... but that disco music had
nothing to do with the 50's
right?

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 05:17 PM PST

To listen to Ben and
SHOWTIME on Radio Wales,
click on my name.....

and then on the line "listen to
the latest edition of Showtime"
on the right of Beverley
Humphreys pic....

and have fun!

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 05:29 PM PST

I'm tempted to follow DR WEL's notion here (a change of pace for me), and think in terms of filmed musicals that have been adapted from stage productions, and film musicals original for the medium.

In the original-to-film catagory, I love Goodbye Mr. Chips. It stands as one of the few "concept musicals" made for film. I think the score is wonderful, Petula Clark is radiant, and Mr. O'Toole, while not a singer, does quite well.

On the other hand, Moulin Rouge is painful for me to watch. I still haven't been able to watch the DVD all the way through, mainly because of the frenetic editing. What I have been able to watch struck me as very self-indulgent. Not my cup of tea (or absynthe) at all.

Among stage-to-film adaptations, I have very mixed feelings about 1776. The sequences set in Independence Hall ring very true, and give proof to how great the script and score are. But, when the film breaks away from those august interiors (all right, May through July interiors, they don't get to August), at the very point where I would have expected the film to open up wonderfully, it instead becomes "stagey," lacking in imagination.

By far the worst adaptation turned out to be Maim... er, Mame. Did no one have any idea how to say "NO" to anyone involved in this production? A perfect example is Gooch's Song, where they constantly cut to poor Lucille Ball. She looks drugged! It's awful! She isn't even doing anything, and she can't do even that!

(Der Brucer is protesting this nomination, citing Paint Your Wagon as a worse adaptation, largely because of how radically it differs from the stage production. For me, the film is made watchable due to Lee Marvin's "hail fellow" good cheer at making a total fool of himself. He looks like he's at least having a good time, while Lucy looks stupefied. I stand by my choice.)

As for best adaptation, I'm quite torn. Cabaret takes great material, abandons so much of it, and ends up a film classic. The Sound of Music remains much more true to it's source, never lags, and ends up another film classic. What the heck, screen them together and have a Nazi Musicals film festival, they're both great.

Posted by S. Woody White @ 06/28/2003 06:01 PM PST

To begin with, I would like to thank one and all (I wish I could do it personally) for the wonderful vibes which were sent this way, the female parental unit will be returning home tomorrow. Once again, her doctor is quite taken aback by her speedy recovery.
Now, to make some interesting choices on movie musicals:
FAVORITES:
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
THE FIRST NUDIE MUSICAL
ALL THAT JAZZ
CHICAGO
XANADU
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
YOLANDA AND THE THIEF
STAR!
DARLING LILI (especially the lengthier cut; though the shortened "director's cut" is quite good, too).
THE BANDWAGON
THE KING AND I
TOP HAT
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN
FINIAN'S RAINBOW
FUNNY GIRL
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME
CALAMITY JANE
GOODBYE MR. CHIPS
PAINT YOUR WAGON
DOCTOR DOLITTLE
MARY POPPINS
42ND STREET
VIVA, LAS VEGAS
TOMMY
THE BOY FRIEND
GOOD NEWS
THE WIZARD OF OZ
THE LAST WALTZ
OKLAHOMA!
SHOW OF SHOWS
LES GIRLS
KISS ME, KATE
SILK STOCKINGS
THE HARVEY GIRLS

THE CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR CATEGORY:
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
DAMN YANKEES
THE BROADWAY MELODY (pick one)
CAROUSEL
SOUTH PACIFIC
MY FAIR LADY
MAN OF LA MANCHA
HELLO, DOLLY! (my complaint is with Crawford, not Babs)
CAMELOT
THE LITTLE PRINCE
AT LONG LAST LOVE
MAME
MAN OF LA MANCHA
A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT
HALLELUJAH, I'M A BUM
WONDER BAR
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS*
BABES IN TOYLAND
CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
MOULIN ROUGE
YENTL
*to see how remarkable this film REALLY is, plan a double feature with LAST TANGO IN PARIS. It's as if some of the dialogue from the former has been lifted and set down in the latter!

...AND I CAN'T STAND 'EM:
GREASE
A CHORUS LINE
ANNIE
THE JAZZ SINGER (Diamond, of course)

Posted by td @ 06/28/2003 06:09 PM PST

Forget to mention that I don't like CABARET, but I find NEWSIES fit to be in the "Close, but no Cigar" category. . .

Posted by td @ 06/28/2003 06:11 PM PST

Some of my favorites:
1776 (I like the laserdisc extended version. I think of it as a study in movie editing.)
Chicago
Disney's Beauty and the Beast
The First Nudie Musical
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Little Shop of Horrors (mainly because I have the DVD with the original ending that David Geffen recalled)
Meet Me In St. Louis
The Muppet Movie
Scrooge
Singin' in the Rain
The Sound of Music
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Victor/Victoria

Some of my unfavorites. (I'll admit that my standards are pretty low, so I don't usually dislike most "bad" movies as easily as most people):
A Chorus Line
Mame

A friend of mine has the original edit version of the movie The Fantasticks. It's really amazing how different it is. It is so much better than what was officially released.

TCB, my mom, sister niece and I were going to go to the Bite of Tacoma but it was too hot. My niece and I went to see "Finding Nemo" instead. I thought it was fabulous. It has a well-written script that really touches your heart…and some laugh out loud funny bits. However, I recommend seeing it late at night when there are NO KIDS! Three different children were talking through the whole darn movie and their parents/guardians did nothing to shush them. They were too far away from me; otherwise I would have at least looked sternly at them (the parents/guardians).

Posted by George @ 06/28/2003 06:37 PM PST

Right now it is 90º F in Olympia. That's just too darn hot! (a Cole Porter reference)

Posted by George @ 06/28/2003 06:41 PM PST

How could I forget "Carousel" and "Gigi"? They left an impression (good) when they first were at the cinema and I guess I was at the right age to be impressed. I certainly don't have the same memories of "South Pacific" but I did enjoy "Flower Drum Song" and "The King & I". "Pyjama (Pajama) Game" I also remember enjoying a lot whereas "Damn Yankees" for me did not work.
Of my early favourites on stage and then adapted for film - "Kismet" was a big disappointment.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 06/28/2003 06:42 PM PST

Just checked "dress circle" and noticed "Amour" is now released. I assume this is a "MUST" buy. Does anyone have a copy and an opinion please. I would love to have seen more the show on the Tony Awards.
I hope to have my new "Nine" this coming week. It will save my wearing out the old one.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 06/28/2003 06:57 PM PST

Tom,
I'm crushed!

I recently posted a direct link
on this here site about AMOUR
with sound clips....

I'm crushed!

;- )

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 07:15 PM PST

Oh, something new...
something interesting!!

Click!

www.sh-k-boom.com/amour/

Posted by François @
06/21/200

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 07:24 PM PST

Oh, those Saturday nights!

Posted by François Sinatra @ 06/28/2003 07:27 PM PST

Sorry François. I probably thought you were sending me love when I read your post. I have not been "with it" for the past two weeks. As Connie Francis sang, "I'm Just Looking For Love".

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 06/28/2003 07:42 PM PST

Yes, we have LOVE for sale,
now!

Posted by Cole P. of Dress Circle @ 06/28/2003 07:52 PM PST

Hi there,hope everyone and everything is well with everyone (a blanket statement if I ever heard one)...
I'm a copycat:
BEST:
CHICAGO!! (seen it 6 times already); just love every minute.
CABARET
SWEET CHARITY
PIPPIN (DVD Toronto version)
HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH
ROCKY HORROR (guilty pleasure)
WEST SIDE STORY
42ND STREET
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
HAIR
ALL THAT JAZZ
EASTER PARADE
WIZARD OF OZ
MY FAIR LADY
FIDDLER
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS
GREASE
BELLS ARE RINGING
PAL JOEY
TFNM, of course
VICTOR/VICTORIA
YUCK LIST:
BBB, CHORUS LINE & GUYS & DOLLS(love the shows, dislike the films)
MOULIN ROUGE
XANADU
SOUND OF MUSIC
ANNIE
PAINT YOUR WAGON
GREASE 2
WILLIE WONKA (what the heck?!?)

Posted by KT @ 06/28/2003 07:54 PM PST

Wow--I don't know how I can respond to the topic of the day without forgetting movie musicals that I want to add! But I've made my own little list. My tastes can be quirky and I'm rating this by how much I personally enjoyed the films, not how well-regarded they are or how faithful to their source.

Here goes (and in random order)...this is too hard...

Favorite Original Movie Musical
The Band Wagon
Singin in the Rain
Gigi
An American in Paris
The First Nudie Musical
42nd Street
any Mickey and Judy musical
any Fred and Ginger musical
Mary Poppins
A Star is Born
Gypsy (even though I'm not a Roz Russell fan)
Funny Lady

Favorite Broadway-based musical
Chicago
Kiss Me Kate
My Fair Lady
Oklahoma!
The King and I
The Sound of Music
Oliver
Cabaret
The Music Man
Carousel (always makes me cry)
Guys and Dolls
West Side Story
Babes in Arms
How to Succeed
Funny Girl

Guilty Pleasures
Grease
Annie
Mame (yes I know it's horrible, but I enjoy it anyway..so I'm a freak)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Hello Dolly
The Boyfriend

Least Favorite
Moulin Rouge--I admire it somewhat but I thought it was a jarringly anachronistic MTV-inspired acid trip...inventive but pretentious
Man of La Mancha--having no directing experience whatsoever, I could have done a better job
A Chorus Line
Grease 2
Lost Horizon
The Fantasticks (even though I loved Joel Grey in it and El Gallo was hot)

That's all I can think of for now!

Posted by Maya @ 06/28/2003 07:56 PM PST

Back from day one or one day of the Courts show and a faboo time was had by all. I'll have a complete report in the morning. I will say that I gave Miss Stella Stevens a copy of Kritzerland and told her to read Chapter One (those who've read the book know why).

Posted by bk @ 06/28/2003 08:18 PM PST

How on earth could I have forgotten CALAMITY JANE, one of my all-time favorites. I searched and searched for years and years to get the soundtrack album on LP (long before videotapes were available), and finally got an English import or it with another Warner Bros./Doris musical on the other side. I played that thing until it wore out and by then had found the original LP issued on a 10 inch soundtrack album.

Also needed to include KISS ME KATE in my list and WEST SIDE STORY, too. I probably should have written out the list and worked on it all day and then posted it now. But one gets caught up in the moment and wants to write directly after reading everyone else's lists.

I was glad not to be the only one who appreciated Bricusse's score for DOLITTLE.

Posted by Matt H. @ 06/28/2003 08:41 PM PST

MattH,

I STRONGLY recommand the
recent London stage version
of Dolittle which is exquisitely
sung, with some new material
and has Dame Julie "singing"
for Polynesia....

Footlight has it and it's worth
the amount they ask for!!!

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 08:50 PM PST

MattH 2!!

I believe the English made LP
you're thinking about has the
soundtrack to CALL ME,
MADAM, with Calamity Jane
on the other side.....

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 09:07 PM PST

ME AGAIN! sorry!

...... or, if i'm wrong, it's NOT
Call Me Madam! but PAJAMA
GAME on the other side...

It's available that way on cd.....

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 09:09 PM PST

Welcome to MY show!

Last info was right!

Got confused with this LP
whose cover can be seen by
clicking on my name!

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 09:18 PM PST

Favorite Movie Musicals:
(no particular order or preference)

The Sound of Music - It's perfect entertainment. Prime example of what Hollywood can do to properties that are seemingly stage-bound.
The Unsinkable Molly Brown -- It's fun. classy, elegant and earthy.
The Music Man -- It's magic all the way through.
Gypsy - So sue me! I think it's a wonderful movie and its scoring is phenomenal.
Jumbo -- Lots of fun, great music and it has Durante and Raye!
West Side Story - Brilliant everything.
Gigi -- Brilliant everything.
King and I -- A magical film.
Carousel -- Wondrous and touching.
With A Song in My Heart -- Best biopic musical ever!
There's No Business Like Show Business -- glitz and glorious music and heaps of fun
Meet Me in St. Louis -- Brilliant
everything;
The Pirate -- Just amazingly offbeat Porter and vivid Kelly doing "The Pirate" ballet.
Words and Music -- Glorious kitsch with great music and Ann Sothern's "Where's that Rainbow" is an unexpected delight!
Till the Clouds Roll By -- Fascintaing musical pastiche with a radiant Dinah Shore singing "The Last Time I Saw Paris" and "They Won't Believe Me."
The Band Wagon - Wonderfully musical and wry and entertaining.
Singin' in the Rain -- Brilliant in every conceivable way.
An American in Paris -- Great music beautifully performed; scintillating ballet -- a cinema landmark -- gloriously staged/photographed/performed.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers -- Wonderful original musical that makes me feel terrific;
Kiss Me Kate -- Lots of fun and beautifully choreographed.
Silk Stockings -- Astaire & Charisse, again...ahhh....
Les Girls -- Very smart, chic and unexpectedly fun musical treat from Porter
Broadway Melody of 1940 -- It only needed the Begin the Beguine number to be a classic...but it's a lot more.
Ziegfeld Girl -- Brilliant, underrated film in which Lana Turner and Judy Garland markedly go from "youthful MGM star" to full-fledged stardom. Turner's staircase descent at end of film a major cinematic moment.
The Dolly Sisters -- Great gobs of glitz and Technicolor and great songs.
The Wizard of Oz -- Need I say a thing?
Tin Pan Alley -- Wonderful -- just wonderful! Faye and Grable!
The Gang's All Here -- The BEST use of Technicolor in the 1940s and pretty darned entertaining, too.
Swing Time -- Classic
Top Hat -- Classic
Carefree -- Classic
Shall We Dance -- Classic
Li'l Abner - Tons of fun!
Cabaret -- Genius in all aspects. A landmark of filmmaking virtuosity. Holds its own with all the cinema verite of the 1970s, except that it tops most of them in all departments plus it has great musical performances.
Finian's Rainbow -- Vastly underrated and a glorious preservation of a luminous Petula Clark.
Mary Poppins -- Brilliant
Half A Sixpence -- Flash! Bang! Wallop! Loads of fun!
Goodbye Mr. Chips -- An old-fashioned movie-movie with wonderful melodies (forget the lyrics, for the most part), fabulous performances -- one of the best-produced movies of the 1960s -- and you must always remember: London is London is England is Home!
Funny Girl -- Broadway legend emerges from cocoon into Movie Legend. Probably the greatest Ugly Duckling turns into Swan film ever made.
Hello, Dolly! -- So many things could have been better...and yet it grows better every time I see it.
Funny Face -- Classic perfection.
High Society -- Wonderful!
On the Town -- Sheer joy!
Summer Stock -- Fabulous fluff!
A Star is Born (1954) -- One of the greatest films ever made.
Girl Crazy -- Buoyant, brilliant and hyperkinetic.
Babes on Broadway -- Ditto.
Easter Parade -- Sheer elegance.
Barkleys of Broadway -- Classy, silly, energetic, wonderful!
Grease -- terrific homage to the 50s.
Grease 2( So sue me, but I love some of the musical numbers)
The Fantasticks (an exquisite little film with glorious orchestrations and it's wonderfully imagined, performed, sung (all except El Gallo, who needs to be a much better singer).

Film Musicals that don't do it for me:

A Chorus Line -- Huh?

Man of La Mancha (I love Laurence Rosenthal's scoring but the film is nearly unwatchable)

Lost Horizon (spare me having to watch Olivia Hussey dancing or Sally Kellerman singing and dancing).

All the Columbia Frankie Laine musicals! (Gag me)

Liberace in "Sincerely Yours"
(Oh, please!)

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 06/28/2003 09:49 PM PST

I was in the chorus in Grease. Some people might say it was a dumb role, but I had so much fun that I didn't care. There were about 20 amazing seniors who filled up the leads, and then the rest of the seniors and juniors had the small parts. As the only freshman, I felt loved, haha. The funny thing is that I didn't even get in during first cut. But when all of the older kids dropped it because "chorus wasn't good enough", they asked me and I took it graciously. I figure, I pay my dues as a freshman, and help out in the dept., and when I'm a junior/senior, I'll be the lead, :). We were actually up against another local high school, who was doing the same play, with the same company, at the same times on the same weekend. Buuuuuut, when performance time came arounds, we sold out 3 out of the 4 nights, and they had about half-attendance all 4 nights. Needless to say, we were proud.

Posted by Sarah @ 06/28/2003 09:55 PM PST

Yeah!

Ron, you put us all to shame;
what a list and what
comments!

It always surprises me,
though, that animated features
are rarely considered as
legitimate movies....

Some of them are amongst
the best musicals ever
created, imho!

Posted by François @ 06/28/2003 10:04 PM PST

I really detest the Dr. Dolittle film, BUT I do like some of the score a lot, especially After Today and the beautiful At the Crossroads.

Posted by bk @ 06/28/2003 10:53 PM PST

test

Posted by Mr. Mark Bakalor @ 06/29/2003 02:05 PM PST

Good luck Mark!

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 06/29/2003 02:08 PM PST

Yes, Francois, it was THE PAJAMA GAME which was on the other side of the CALAMITY JANE import LP. Since I already had the soundtrack of the film on a separate LP, I never listened to that side of the album.

Posted by Matt H. @ 06/29/2003 02:09 PM PST

Maya---
You have GYPSY in the wrong category. It was a Broadway musical before it was a film.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 06/29/2003 02:12 PM PST