Best Modern Film Musicals

[zakelwe]

Just watching Grease with my 8 year old and after 30 years it still is fantastic

She likes singing along, dad likes singing along and Olivia Newton John in those black spray on trousers.

You can't beat Mamma Mia as well, some of the songs sound like they could be written by an actual popular music group rather than Walt Disney!

Both are fantastic.

When my daughter goes to bed I'll finish it off with Nine Songs, for the music of course.

Andy

Edited by zakelwe on Thursday 9th December 19:16

[Eric Mc]

"Grease" modern? It was written in 1973, performed on stage in 1975 abd made into a movie in 1978.

I am a big musical fan (mainly because I like acting in them rather than watching them) but I have NEVER really liked "Grease". I love real 1950s rock and roll but "Grease" to me was always a pastiche of true Rock and Roll as seen through some sort of 1970s filter..

[Dare2Fail]

South Park The Movie or, going back a bit, The Blues Brothers.

[Streetrod]

"Dream Girls" and "Hairspray"

[Ed5995]

Little Shop of Horrors, Phantom and Evita.

[shirt]

tommy, a real wtf film on the first few viewings. just when its starting to feel normal, jack nicholson does a number.

[Eric Mc]

Ed5995 said:

Little Shop of Horrors, Phantom and Evita.

Little Shop of Horrors - 1982
Phantom of the Opera- 1985
Evita - 1976
Tommy - originally written around 1968. Filmed in 1975. Stage show (eventually)1992.

Define "modern".

Edited by Eric Mc on Thursday 9th December 23:13

[shirt]

yes but tommy features ann margaret frolicking in baked beans, ergo it is timeless.

[Zad]

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Rocky Horror Picture Show. A musicals no good if it isn't camp.

[Eric Mc]

Zad said:

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Rocky Horror Picture Show. A musicals no good if it isn't camp.

Come on folks, hardly any of the shows being mentioned are "modern". The Rocky Horror Show was put on originally in 1975 (and flopped) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show was made in 1979 (and was initially unsuccessful too).

I would class "modern" as any show less than 10 years old and, to be honest, very few brand new shows have appeared in that operiod. Most of the new shows performed on stage since 2000 have been "tribute" shows or "greatest hits" type shows - which are hardly original, especially from a new music point of view.

I have performed in almost 40 shows over the past 25 years and the "slightly modern" show which stands out head and shoulders above any of them from a pure quality of miusic point of view is "Chess" (1985). Unfortunately, the story is a mess.

[Uriel]

Dancer in the Dark, without question. Perhaps not for your 8 year old though!

[Halb]

Little Shop of Horrors
Best Little wehouse in Texas
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
that one by Woody Allen using non singers?

edit
South Park and Blues Brothers are also great, these are my fave moderns.

Disney make good musicals as well.

Edited by Halb on Friday 10th December 08:54

[Eric Mc]

How can shows that are over 30 years old be looked on as "modern"?

[Mikeyboy]

Moulin Rouge.

If modern is anything in the last 20 years that is. Bugsy Malone if you're going back a bit further.

I also think the true sign of a good musical is one where you come out knowing and humming one tune at least. For that reason Wicked has to be one of most cacophonous and awful things I have ever seen on stage. Not helped by having read the book before I saw it either.

[Eric Mc]

Mikeyboy said:

Moulin Rouge.

If modern is anything in the last 20 years that is. Bugsy Malone if you're going back a bit further.

I also think the true sign of a good musical is one where you come out knowing and humming one tune at least. For that reason Wicked has to be one of most cacophonous and awful things I have ever seen on stage. Not helped by having read the book before I saw it either.

I don't particularly rate musicals based on old hits - even if I like the hits themselves.

To me, a proper musical is a self contained piece with a plot and storyline driven and enhanced by the music that has been specially written for it.

Too many of the most recent musicals have been cobbled tyogether to just capitalise on nostalgia or popularity of a pop group. It's a very cautious approach to producing shows and extremely stagnant and unoriginal.

Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 10th December 10:45

[Halb]

Eric Mc said:

How can shows that are over 30 years old be looked on as "modern"?

Modern in style and content as opposed to the classics.

[shirt]

Halb said:

Eric Mc said:

How can shows that are over 30 years old be looked on as "modern"?

Modern in style and content as opposed to the classics.

agreed.

i can watch things such as moulin rouge, but would gladly slit my wrists to avoid rodgers & hammerstein et al.

[Mikeyboy]

Eric Mc said:

Mikeyboy said:

Moulin Rouge.

If modern is anything in the last 20 years that is. Bugsy Malone if you're going back a bit further.

I also think the true sign of a good musical is one where you come out knowing and humming one tune at least. For that reason Wicked has to be one of most cacophonous and awful things I have ever seen on stage. Not helped by having read the book before I saw it either.

I don't particularly rate musicals based on old hits - even if I like the hits themselves.

To me, a proper musical is a self contained piece with a plot and storyline driven and enhanced by the music that has been specially written for it.

Too many of the most recent musicals have been cobbled tyogether to just capitalise on nostalgia or popularity of a pop group. It's a very cautious approach to producing shows and extremely stagnant and unoriginal.

Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 10th December 10:45

I can see your point Eric but I think that considering the poor quality of the music in modern musicals like Chicago and Wicked I would rather have a cobbled together set of music than that noise.

[Eric Mc]

shirt said:

Halb said:

Eric Mc said:

How can shows that are over 30 years old be looked on as "modern"?

Modern in style and content as opposed to the classics.

agreed.

i can watch things such as moulin rouge, but would gladly slit my wrists to avoid rodgers & hammerstein et al.

I am still not sure what you mean by "modern" style. Perhaps you are drawing a distinction between what we might call a "rock", "pop" or "country" based musical as opposed to one based on "classic" music styles.

Even then, there is often extreme blurring of the genres within a show. I am currently rehearsing "Jesus Chtrist Superstar" with my company and, even though it is labelled as a "rock opera" (and is now 40 years old), the way the music is written and arranged you can tell that it is distinctly classic in structure. "Chess" as mentioned befiore, even though written by Tim Rice and Benny and Bjorn from Abba, shares more in common with Bach and Beethoven than "Dancing WQueen" or "Mama Mia".
The music in Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" is probably the most complicated and difficult I have ever come across - and I have performed in a few full scale operas.

And don't dismiss Rogers and Hammersein too much. I admit that The Sound of Music is a bit sickly, but in some of their earlier musicals they actually tackled quite difficult and serious issues, such as redemption (Carousel), sexual perversion (Oklahoma), racism and war (South Pacific).

I am happy to try virually any musical - although I don't like them all. I find them more fun to be in than sitting watching them.

[Eric Mc]

Mikeyboy said:

Eric Mc said:

Mikeyboy said:

Moulin Rouge.

If modern is anything in the last 20 years that is. Bugsy Malone if you're going back a bit further.

I also think the true sign of a good musical is one where you come out knowing and humming one tune at least. For that reason Wicked has to be one of most cacophonous and awful things I have ever seen on stage. Not helped by having read the book before I saw it either.

I don't particularly rate musicals based on old hits - even if I like the hits themselves.

To me, a proper musical is a self contained piece with a plot and storyline driven and enhanced by the music that has been specially written for it.

Too many of the most recent musicals have been cobbled tyogether to just capitalise on nostalgia or popularity of a pop group. It's a very cautious approach to producing shows and extremely stagnant and unoriginal.

Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 10th December 10:45

I can see your point Eric but I think that considering the poor quality of the music in modern musicals like Chicago and Wicked I would rather have a cobbled together set of music than that noise.

There you go - I love Chicago (although the original 1975 version is better than the current rewritten stage version and the movie).