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10 of the best musicals to watch in a row
Movie musicals can be delicious or they can completely destroy your entire existence and crush your soul. There is very little in between. While movies have become musicals and vice versa, there are some pretty brilliant musicals that any fan of the genre would love. Especially if they just want to get lost in a good musical.
From the last adaptation with tick, tick… BOOM! Classics like Cabaret and more, let’s take a look at the world of musicals and some of the best that have come out of it. And don’t worry, I haven’t included Cats or the film versions of Wretched Where The Phantom of the Opera so that you can breathe easily.
Image credit: Netflix.
Rocket man
Rocket man should have instantly become a live musical using Elton John’s music the minute the movie was released. But alas, this is not the case. Always, Rocket man is one of the greatest musicals ever to be made. Following the life and career of Elton John and told through a fantastic lens, the film Dexter Fletcher is a look at the music we all know and the men behind it.
With Taron Egerton as Elton John, Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin, and Richard Madden as John Reid, the film only works for Elton’s World. We know so much about the musician because of his willingness to share his struggles with the world and the film does a great job of exploring what led to the Elton John we know today. The use of Elton and Bernie Taupin’s music plays both in the scenes and serves to show us the emotional arcs of the characters.
Image credit: Paramount Pictures.
tick, tick… BOOM!
Lightning in a bottle by Lin-Manuel Miranda with tick, tick… BOOM! based on the musical of the same name. Written by Jonathan Larson (creator of To rent), the musical features Larson as a character. And played by Golden Globe winner Andrew Garfield, the film does an incredible job giving fans of Larson a glimpse into his other work while showing fans a full version of the musical.
To be completely honest, it’s a perfect adaptation from musical to movie when it comes to how it’s shot. Rarely have there been any successful musicals made into movies that weren’t movies in the first place (watching you Hair spray and the most recent version of West Side Story). So to see a musical translated on screen so perfectly is amazing and it is thanks to Miranda’s vision and understanding of the musical. Truly one of the best movie musicals of the last few years and of all time.
Image credit: Netflix.
Red Mill!
When it comes to “jukebox music”, no one does it better than Red Mill! the film. The 2001 film made audiences fall in love with Christian (Ewan McGregor) and Satine (Nicole Kidman) through the music of David Bowie, Paul McCartney, iconic Marilyn Monroe, and more. Set in France, the film is about freedom, beauty, truth and love in the world of Bohemia and has since been made into a Tony Award winning musical.
So what does Red Mill! job? He embraces chaos. He knows it’s a bit of a mess and he knows he’s using it to move the story forward and it works. Frankly, it always works better than the stage musical (in my opinion). The movie bottled some weird magic that we were missing in our music-loving hearts and made it work and sort of made Elton John’s “Your Song” even better by blackmailing Ewan McGregor.
Image credit: 20th Century Fox.
Sing in the rain
A classic for a good reason, Sing in the rain has become a staple for musical theater fans due to its beautifully staged numbers, choreography and love story. Yes, we know Gene Kelly was mean to Debbie Reynolds (even though they were rumored to be friends after the fact) because of the dancing, but there is always something so magical about this movie. Don Lockwood (Kelly) was a big silent movie star, but when talkies took over, they quickly realized his onscreen partner didn’t have a voice for the movies.
Kathy (Reynolds) begins dubbing Lina Lamont’s voice and befriends Don and his best friend Cosmo until she begins to fall in love with Don. It’s a classic musical love story and the one that got us Gene Kelly to literally sing in the rain and for that I will always have a soft spot for this movie.
Image credit: MGM.
Mamma Mia: here we go again
The first one Mom mia the movie is a good adaptation of the musical to the music of ABBA but it’s not the best. Not by far. This title goes to the hit of the summer Mamma Mia: here we go again it’s pure madness bottled up in one movie in the best possible way. When Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) needs help opening a hotel and finds herself pregnant, she remembers her mother Donna (played by Lily James when she was young in this movie and Meryl Streep in the original) and how she came to Greece and started her life there with Sophie.
Donna is deceased, but we see her affair with Sophie’s three potential fathers as a new college graduate trying to figure out her life in Greece with Sophie these days trying to get everyone to the opening despite the ruining weather. his plans. It’s frankly a perfect movie that seemed pointless but was beautiful and unmatched.
Image credit: Universal Pictures.
In the heights
Musical comedy In the heights brought Lin-Manuel Miranda’s unique Broadway style to the stage in 2008 and it was finally brought to life onscreen by director Jon M. Chu who showed us the struggle of the Washington Heights community trying to keep their homes in midst of an ever-changing New York landscape and gentrification. Starring Anthony Ramos as Usnavi, the musical focuses on a neighborhood all having dreams bigger than the few blocks they inhabit in Washington Heights and how they try to make them come true.
Vanessa wants to move downtown to start her fashion career, Nina is afraid to tell her dad school was too overwhelming for her, Benny wants to be with Nina, and Usnavi wants to go back to the Dominican Republic despite everyone else. in his life (by most) telling him to stay in New York. It’s gorgeous, so New Yorker, and it’s one of Miranda’s best work.
Image Credit: Warner Bros.
A star is born
Can i count A star is born like a musical movie or is it just a movie with music? Too bad he’s on the list. This specific version being the 2018 with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Jackson Maine (Cooper) meets Ally (Gaga) when he stumbles drunk in a bar and hears her sing “La Vie en Rose”. From there, their romance is filled with fights, addiction, and more emotional issues that they’re prepared for, but they try to hang in there even if the odds seem against them.
This is not the first time that we have told this story, nor even the third. But there is something about this version that is absolutely breathtaking in a way that has made me think since seeing it. I loved Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson’s version as a kid, but watching Gaga and Cooper fall in love while singing “Shallow” is just amazing.
Image credit: Universal Pictures.
Across the universe
There hasn’t yet been a musical featuring Beatles music on Broadway. There was Rain which was a fake version of the Fab Four songs but it’s not the same. And it’s shocking when we were given the perfect gift in Across the universe. Set during the Vietnam War, Jude (Jim Sturgess) travels to America to try to find his father and discovers a world there with Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), brother Max (Joe Anderson) and more.
It’s a perfect mix of Beatles songs we know and love with references to other classics and contains some of the finest covers of songs like “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “Blackbird” that exist today. . Julie Taymor got this beautiful look at the world in the 1960s mixed with our love for the Beatles and it’s still one of the best movies out there.
Image credit: Sony.
Once
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova have us Once like a little movie about Guy (Hansard) meeting Girl (Irglova) and the two falling in love slowly (understood?) through music despite the couple not working out. Their song “Falling Slowly” became a staple in the movie and it continued with its own musical adaptation on stage, but it’s such a simple and beautiful story told on screen that just hits your heart and stays with you.
The 2007 movie is adorable and you fall in love with both Guy and Girl as they start to learn from each other and through their music you can feel the pain they both have. lived in their life while hoping that the two can figure out the love out for themselves. Once isn’t an easy movie to watch, it will make you sad, but it has one of the prettiest soundtracks and is well worth it.
Image credit: Summit Entertainment.
Cabaret
The musical Kander and Ebb Cabaret is a dark music fan’s dream. That is to say, I love him. Set during the rise of WWII, the musical is set in Berlin and the film takes the same setting. With Joel Gray as emcee and Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles, the movie is a pretty good adaptation of the musical. But even if there are changes, it still works because Cabaret as a spectacle in itself is phenomenal.
Based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood, the show plunges us into the world of cabaret seen in Berlin mixed with rising tension in Germany. It’s bold, pushing the boundaries, and one of the few shows that works with different adaptations because so many people can still look to Cabaret and find importance in the messages transmitted. The film is now a bit outdated but a nice look at the show and its power and it is well worth the detour.
Image credit: 20th Century Fox.
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Image Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
Featured Image Credit: Universal Pictures.
Rachel Leishman is a New York-based writer. She specializes in yelling about her favorite properties. A true Leslie Knope, she adores her fictional characters and probably knows too much about Harrison Ford’s career.
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