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Do Movie Musicals Give Musicals a Bad Name?

Posted by: DCollingwood 09:20 pm EST 11/02/15
I was having a discussion with a friend earlier (one I've had a million times before it seems with so many others) trying to defend musicals. I get so annoyed with people when they say, "Oh, I don't really like musicals. I saw _______ or __________ and just thought it was silly. I don't like people breaking into song." I always reply, "Have you ever seen a bad movie? Did it turn you off to movies altogether? How about music? Did The Macarena ruin music and dancing?" Not to mention the lecture that follows about singing due to heightened emotional points in the story, yadda yadda yadda....

I digress. A lot of people have only had exposure to musicals through film and I argue that film just really cannot do justice to the Broadway Musical. I LOVE musicals, I studied them in college, but I really just feel that to get the intended effect you must see a good production on stage. That energy from the stage and from the audience cannot be replicated.

I was originally going to bash movie musicals in this post but then I started to revisit some titles and realized there are actually a lot of truly great ones out there! Some are just plain fun and enjoyable and some of them can give you that same magic feeling of being there live and in person. So I ask you folks, and let's focus on what does work and not what doesn't...what are some of your favorite movie musicals that really shine as examples of the art form and don't tarnish it's reputation?

Some of mine (I'm not counting Disney animated because they are mostly magical and that's not fair):

The Sound of Music
Chicago
Cabaret
The Great Muppet Caper
Mary Poppins
Grease
Funny Girl
Hedwig and the Angry Inch


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