The 10 Best Musicals
Posted: December 28th, 2009 | Filed under: Pop Culture | 131 Comments »
OK, so this is off-topic — whatever the topic happened to be before — but I had the misfortune of seeing “Mamma Mia” on television the other day. To say I loathed that movie would be a dramatic understatement. It was one of the worst movie experiences of the last few years.
Here’s the thing: I didn’t go into this thing blind. I like musicals. I like ABBA. I love Meryl Streep. I saw Mamma Mia off Broadway. This seemed to me an absolute sure thing. I mean, it’s just a goofy musical with a ridiculous story and ABBA music — even if it’s bad, it’s good right?
No. It was so bad it was hideous. It was painfully bad. Nobody could sing. And everybody in the movie clearly KNEW that nobody could sing. The choreography was apparently designed for a second grade class musical in Gallipolis, Ohio. And Sainted Meryl — who I love, who I think is always good — was so bad that I thought that, to be fair, they should have taken away one of his Oscar nominations. And as bad as she was, I’ve never seen anyone look a uncomfortable on film — including people in home movies — than Pierce Brosnan. You almost got the feeling that nobody told him this was a musical until he arrived.
Brosnan: “Hey, uh, I just got here and they’re telling me I’ve got to sing.”
Agent: “Yeah, right Pierce. I told you. It’s a musical.”
Brosnan: “No, I don’t think you did tell you that.”
Agent: “Sure I did Babe, what did you think? It’s called Mamma Mia.”
Brosnan: “I thought you said it was an Italian thing.”
Agent: “No, I’m sure I told you — musical. I mean, it’s Meryl Streep. This is big for us.”
Brosnan: “I’m sure you didn’t tell me. I don’t sing.”
Agent: “OK, listen, I’ll be honest with you. The offers haven’t exactly been flowing in lately. Now get in there and start crooning.”
Man, did I despise that movie. And I would not have mentioned it but, then I happened to go on Keith Law’s blog and noticed that he ranked his Top 10 musicals. Here they are — you can go to his blog to read comments.
10. Mary Poppins.
9. Moulin Rouge!
8. Aladdin
7. Holiday Inn
6. Royal Wedding
5. White Christmas
4. Once
3. The Music Man
2. My Fair Lady
1. Singin’ in the Rain
Now, there is no way I can allow Keith Law to have a list of the 10 Best Musicals out there and not put out my own list. And I feel it’s especially important just to get that bad taste from Mamma Mia out of my mouth. So here goes.
10. Hairspray
The Travolta version — it was my daughters’ favorite non-High School Musical musical.
9. My Fair Lady
I always thought this was extremely overrated; but it’s my mother’s favorite so it makes list. Top Hat would probably be my choice — I should have a Fred Astaire movie in here somewhere.
8. Oklahoma
The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye; Shirley Jones and not Julie Andrews is queen of movie musicals in my book.
7. Grease
My daughters’ favorite musical WAS Hairspray, until they saw Grease. I’ve got chills, they’re multiplyin’.
6. Beauty and the Beast
A tale as old as time; have you ever heard David Ogden Stiers actually talk without doing a voice? It’s quite jolting. He’s from Peoria — and to hear that flat Illinois accent from Winchester is jarring. Especially because he ha done dozens of other voices (he’s the narrator in Beauty and the Beast, the voice of Dr. Jumba in Lilo and Stitch, the southern mayor in Doc Hollywood). This has almost nothing to do with Beauty and the Beast, which is great.
5. Fiddler on the Roof
A bird may love a fish, but where would they make their home?
4. West Side Story
When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet through and through, from your first cigarette to Mark Gastineau!
3. The Sound of Music
Corny, ridiculous, silly, but it’s inexcusable to not have it on the Top 10 list.
2. The Music Man
I have seen Music Man on Broadway twice. And it’s not even close. Nobody but Robert Preston has pulled off the many sides of Professor Harold Hill.
1. Singin’ in the Rain
Well, Keith nailed that. Best musical that ever was.
Loading ...
Shirley Jones over Julie Andrews in a landslide (if we voted for queens, which we don’t).
I suppose nobody’s going to think much of me saying Les Parapluies de Cherbourg really belongs on such a list?
Singin’ In The Rain is, agreed, the best musical movie, but I don’t think it’s the best musical. That belongs to West Side Story. A fine point, perhaps, but an important distinction.
circle me, riff.
Is Porgy And Bess an opera? If not, it’s #1 and by a clear margin. If you don’t get chills up your spine when sitting in a darkened theatre and hearing the first note of Summertime then you’ve been born without a soul.
Opinions on most of the rest are based on movie versions and I’d rank them in this order —
The Music Man (a work of genius)
Anything Goes (most fun)
My Fair Lady (Audrey Hepburn, the most beautiful woman to ever appear in movies)
Guys And Dolls
Fiddler On The Roof
Singin’ In The Rain
Grease
The Sound Of Music
Oklahoma
And an honourable mention to Oliver!
Leaving Rocky Horror off this list is criminal.
THE BLUES BROTHERS!
Man, do I hate musicals. Sorry, they’re just not my thing. Still, I read this entire post, which is more than I can say for your various Springsteen odes.
If Operas count, then Powell and Pressburger’s “Tales of Hoffmann” would get my vote.
In no particular order…
Pajama Game
Oliver
West Side Story
Grease
Singing In The Rain
Music Man
Guys and Dolls
Porgy and Bess
Roar of the Greasepaint Smell of the Crowd
South Pacific
Little Shop of Horrors. Just sayin..
1. Popeye
2. Willie Wanka and the Chocolate Factory
3. Annie
#2
Actually, the Umbrellas of Cherbourg is an opera, not a musical…so in fact I think very much of you saying that :-p
Always hated Sound of Music, and didn’t like Hepburn in My Fair Lady.
Always loved Singin’ in the Rain
A few others
Cabaret
Fame (when I was young)
7 Brides (more for the dancing. Tamblin was great in this one and West Side)
On The Town
Funny Girl
All that Jazz
Wizard of Oz
Topsy Turvy (Gilbert and Sullivan)
what? no Damn Yankees?
You all missed a big one:
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Even Sondheim told Parker it was the greatest musical of the 90’s.
Just for clarification, we are only talking about MOVIE musicals, yes?
Joe, I love your stuff, but I have to disagree on this one.
The first time I saw Mamma Mia, I began the movie thinking, “This is terrible.” But as the movie progressed, I found myself smiling more and more. By the end, I loved it. I now own the DVD and have watched it multiple times.
For full disclosure, I LOVE musicals. I wish my life were a musical. One of those small, ‘wouldn’t it be cool’ things for me would be to be able to break into song about something and have everyone around me know the lyrics to the song I am making up *and* be able to join in a perfectly choreographed dance. But that’s just me.
@Tim #16
I was going to make almost that exact comment, only I was thinking it was Neil Simon instead of Steven Sondheim.
Of course, my musical list would be short since I’ve probably seen fewer than ten musicals–movie or otherwise–in my life so far.
South Park: BLU
Kiss Me Kate (gets extra credit for it’s Baltimore setting)
The Producers (having loved the original movie, I thought they absolutely bombed with the new musical movie version. Ugh.)
I’m sure I’m missing one or two, as well. But like I said, a short list.
“I didn’t think Meryl Streep was the right choice.”
“Let me tell you something – Meryl Streep is ALWAYS the right choice.”
Meryl Streep was way too old to play that part, it should be played by a woman in her 40’s. And the Male actors where way to old as well, they should have been in their 40’s and Streep’s female friends were way too old, they should have been in their 40’s. Then it would all make sense.
Plus they should have gotten people who could actually sing and dance.
Does Phantom of the Opera not count? I guess I need a clarification on that point. Because it seems to me to be a no-brainer for the top three, let alone top ten. Great story meets Andrew Lloyd Webber.
And I will stand up for my daughter and say High School Musical – the first one – was actually really good and engaging.
I think a poll of which musical left off your list is the best would be fun.
The Wall.
That is all…
Got to agree with Brian – THE BLUES BROTHERS! That and Singin’ In the Rain are my two favorite movies forever and always.
Guys and Dolls will always be my favorite. Nathan Detroit, Sky Masterson, Big Julie…if ever there was a man’s musical, this is it.
“I got the horse right here…”
I don’t think it’s been a movie, but Miss Saigon was the best thing I ever saw on Broadway. (Love that helicopter.)
I love Mamma Mia. There’s no obvious reason why I should. I’m not an especially big fan of musicals, though I do like some. I don’t think I’ve ever disagreed with you on something more, Joe. I think it’s exactly what you expected it to be. Goofy fun. And I did not get AT ALL the impression that Streep or Brosnan were uncomfortable. On the contrary I think it plays like they all know it’s a goof and are just having fun with it. In fact, that’s what sucked me in. They seem like they’re having such a blast, it’s infectious.
I do have to agree with John Q on one point though. The adults are too old, except for Colin Firth. We’re told the character of Sophie is 20. And she was clearly conceived during the wild, halcyon days of the adults’ youths. Well, except for Colin Firth, all of the adults were pushing 60 when the movie was filmed (and the actress playing Sophie was about 22). Meryl Streep is 38 years older than the actress who played Sophie. Her wild days with the 3 lovers in a brief time span were her late 30s?
Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and the dude from Good Will hunting can all play a bit younger than they are, and the actress playing Sophie can play a bit older, but the age gap between Sophie and her mom is meant to be about 20 years, and you cant get 38 down to 20.
In spite of that flaw, I still love it. But I’ve always had a thing for Meryl Streep. She looks so amazing in The River Wild…
Two personal favorites:
Into the Woods – The dark side of fairy tales, the second act is scary, creepy, philosophical, engaging and awesome.
Sweeney Todd – I guess I love Sondheim and violence.
Other potential top 10 nominees:
Wicked
Chicago
South Pacific
Show Boat
Really any Rogers/Hammerstein is probably worth a mention.
If Les Miserables is considered a musical than that as well
These are all just suggestions. Your list is great Joe, keep up the great posts.
Let me put a caveat on violence, it was supposed to have I guess after it. It’s not like I go around beating up people in everyday life or something like that.
Just admit it, Jon H., you’re a strike buster straight out of the Carnegie School of Workforce Encouragement.
Two lists, one for movies, one for stage. Both have a bit of a presentist bias- but the cold fact is that everything except the dancing in Fred Astaire movies are virtually unwatchable, and the golden age musicals were rarely tight.
Movies:
10. Hairspray
9. Holiday Inn
8. My Fair Lady
7. Little Shop of Horrors
6. The Little Mermaid
5. Mary Poppins
4. The Wizard of Oz
3. West Side Story
2. Beauty and the Beast
1. Singin’ in the Rain
Stage (unranked, because it’s too painful to do):
Assassins
Parade
West Side Story
The Music Man
Sweeney Todd
Sunday in the Park with George (Act 1 only)
The Drowsy Chaperone
Urinetown
South Pacific
My Fair Lady
Have to cast another vote for Kiss Me Kate; the 2000 Broadway revival was particularly good.
I am also inordinately fond of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Howard Keel was phenomenal here (as he was in the Kiss Me Kate movie, too … the golden age of MGM musicals was something else).
@25 – Bingo!
Not sure how any self-respecting man could leave Guys and Dolls off of a top 10 musicals list (if any self-respecting man were to do a top 10 musicals list!).
My wife had enjoyed the stage version of Mamma Mia a few years back and sometime last year got the dvd of the movie for her and our daughter to watch. I was doing something unimportant on the computer, in the same room as the TV, and became an accidental viewer. When Pierce Brosnan began to sing I gave him about a dozen bars then went outside, in the rain and dark, to get the ear protectors I wear when mowing the lawns. To these I attached an A4 sheet of paper so that not only was the sound removed, the vision was obscured. Uncomfortable but necessary.
Worst musical ever. And by a street. Worst cast movie ever. A woman pushing 60 (I’ll be generous), conceives a daughter when in her 20s, and that daughter is now in her early 20s. Cut me a break. And not a voice that can carry a tune among the lot of ‘em.
Streep, Brosnan and the others mailed it in, took the money and ran. It’s a better than even money bet that Joe’s Brosnan/Agent conversation actually took place.
Addenda to my earlier list . . .
Cabaret (it’s close to 40 years since I’ve seen it but still, no excuse for leaving it off)
Damn Yankees (probably 50 years but again, no excuse)
And my what-are-you-thinking-fellow-commenters list . . .
Pajama Game (ridiculous from start to half-way through, when I gave up . . . but no way was it going to improve)
Kiss Me Kate (again, ridiculous throughout, plus Ann Miller is unwatchable)
And the guy who didn’t like Hepburn in My Fair Lady — are you a eunuch?
I’m on Bill C’s side, and actually own Mamma Mia (I know, I know…).
But I do think the movie is simply ridiculously fun It’s not meant to be taken seriously, and the actors are very aware of the fact that most of them can not sing. Pierce actually did an awesome interview with Jon Stewart where he talked about how he, in fact, didn’t realize he would be singing at first, and was absolutely stunned when he found out that he had to sing. But then he decided hey, what the heck, and made a go of it.
It’s definitely overly dramatic in parts (the winner takes it all and the finale of take a chance on me kind of go way way over the top), but otherwise I chuckled a bunch of times and loved seeing Meryl and company goofing around on screen. I understand that some people don’t like it, and that’s fine. But I’m always going to love the film, especially the scene where all the ladies are dancing on the dock before Meryl gets pushed into the water. Just a heckuva lot of silliness, and I always felt like they were all having fun.
The Producers, anyone?
My kids were young when “Beauty and the Beast” came out on video — they had these things called “VHS tapes” then. It got many views, and I never got bored with it. Did you notice that the story goes from fine spring day to dreadful snowstorm that night?
Also, if you haven’t seen the picture of the young Meryl Streep in Vanity Fair this month — wow. A link: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/01/meryl-streep-portfolio-201001#slide=1
Yes, two daughters, actually.
I thought Pierce Brosnan’s inability to sing was the best part of the movie by far….it was so freakin’ horrible it was hilarious. He strains to “hit” a note, you gotta laugh! “When you’re gone….how can I…even try…..to go on!”
Donna and Dynamos were all too old though…..no young guy is going to go nuts over Christine Baranski! Yikes. Unless he’s looking for her cash.
The Blues Brothers!!!
Seriously? A top 10 list of musicals, and the only Sondheim is the *lyrics* to WSS? Did these have to be in movie form or something?
It’s funny — i can’t stand a single movie on that list, but i’ll go see anything by Sondheim. Anything. Seriously — no Assassins? No A Little Night Music? No Sweeney Todd? No Company?
Buddy Boy, I say fists, chains, knives, guns, puns.
But no Spinal Tap?
I’ll limit myself to stuff not mentioned already.
I’m floored that we’re 40 comments deep and not one person has mentioned Rent.
Does it totally hold up? No, but parts of it were still stirring when it closed and at the time it opened it was hair-raising.
Passing Strange is a fantastic show and there’s an extremely faithful Spike Lee film version of it that you can Netflix.
If you’re in NYC or visiting soon I very strongly recommend Fela.
There’s a sizable “I hate musicals” crowd out there and I tend to think that most of them just haven’t seen the right shows yet. For sheer entertainment value a great musical is as good as it gets (but a bad musical is worse than the worst movies).
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School
The South Park movie
obviously, i am anti musical. but i do thank you for not including any andrew lloyd weber schlock on your list.
I’ve never actually seen the movie version of Mamma Mia! start to finish, but I’ve probably seen the whole thing in ten to 15 minute chunks on HBO, and I’ve seen it off Broadway. I have one huge problem with the movie that I just couldn’t get past. Amanda Seyfried’s character is 20 years old. Meryl Streep is 60 years old and looks every bit of it. We’re to believe that Meryl Streep was sleeping around and then got pregnant and then was devastated when she was disowned by her family and this all happened when she was 40 years old? Why didn’t they get Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie or someone like that? The movie still would have been bad, but at least it would have made some narrative sense.
I’m 55 years old. I have never seen a musical. And I’m ok with that.
Have to agree with Jon H (#29): Into the Woods is brilliant.
And come on people, more love for Oliver! It’s by far my favorite musical, mainly because it is impossible to see that show and not walk out with all of the songs stuck in your head for a week. Just some really catchy tunes.
Oh, Rent stinks. Almost completely unwatchable. My friend took me to see it when it was new and I was really excited, but it was an excruciating experience. I can’t remember a musical I have ever hated more. I feel like the first part of the backlash.
My dad never went to movies after he married my mom (who very much wished otherwise), and would never voluntarily watch a musical, but for some reason he took us to see Oliver at some huge PanaCinemaWideScopeScreen in Paramus NJ. I was about 13 and way too sophisticated for such mindless tripe. And I was blown away. I have seen it since, and it holds up incredibly well. Top 10 lists are wildly personal, since there are so many things that go into a good musical. The dancing in Seven Brides is the best I’ve seen on film, and Howard Keel is incredible, but the story is, well, kinda hard to take… The Sound of Music cannot be the best because it has the worst musical song ever, Edelweiss, that no human can watch without cringing. Nope, I too vote Oliver for having it all. Great tunes, fine acting, good bad guys, great sets, and a gorgeous female lead.
I think Singin’ in the Rain just edges West Side Story for the top spot. I’d throw in some White Christmas and Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast. The Music Man cuz it’s ma’s favorite and South Pacific cuz it was grandpa’s favorite. I’ll give some love to Oliver! which is a pretty good movie. Grease too. And I need some filler, hmmm. My tentative list:
Singin’ in the Rain
West Side Story
White Christmas
South Pacific
Oliver!
Chicago
Guys and Dolls
The Music Man
Beauty and the Beast
The Sound of Music
I believe that a glaring omission for the B’way musicals is Hair. Movie was an abombination.
Best musicals ever B’way and Movie with an outstanding OPS (Overall Points for Songs) has to be West Side Story. Apologies to Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein but you were in the deadball era.
Just went past Gallipolis, OH on Saturday. Seems funny to see it mentioned here.
I’m not a very big fan of musicals so I know I don’t have very much expertise in this area. However, I find it hard to believe that Nightmare Before Christmas doesn’t get support from ANYONE. Maybe it’s the hangover effect from the holidays, but NBC deserves some credit.
Did Poz just mention Mama Mia, Grease and Hairspray in the same post? Is this sports haven becoming a metrosexual hangout?
Cabaret is an absolute must. It would be a great movie even without the singing, but then you add Liza…..
Love The Blues Brothers and Guys & Dolls.
Singing in the Rain is undoubtedly the best; the combo of the singing and the dancing can’t be beat.
Best baseball musical: Take Me Out to the Ballgame, with Sinatra and Kelly.
On further review, what counts as a musical? Maybe Cabaret is out because all the singing/dancing takes place in a normal context for such activity, in this case on stage in a club. But if that makes it not a musical, Once (which I loved) is out too.
I’m deathly afraid of Mamma Mia. I think I’d rather eat haggis with whipped cream and a rotten egg than endure viewing it.
I just watched Once and loved it, but I would not call it a musical. No one mentioned Dancer in the Dark. Not a happy movie, but certainly a musical and deserving recognition.
Just for the record, both Joe’s post and the Keith Law post he was referencing are about MOVIE musicals. I know many of you talking about broadway realize that and are just mentioning stage musicals because, hey, when else will you get the opportunity on this blog. But several of the “what, no love for Sondheim” posters clearly don’t realize it’s a post about movie musicals only.
I don’t know about ranking them 1-10 but my 10 favorite movie musicals would be:
The Wizard of Oz
Paint Your Wagon
Mamma Mia
Fiddler on the Roof
1776
Aladdin
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
The Muppet Movie
Mary Poppins
Moulin Rouge
Only reason I’m leaving The Blues Brothers off is that it seems different to me. It’s a movie with great music but the music isn’t really part of the plot. They’re mostly musical asides. I mean, the whole movie is just an excuse to get those numbers in the film and it’s a great film, but it just doesn’t quite fit the category to me. But if it does count I would have to include it and bump Paint Your Wagon which is mostly only on my list because of the novelty of Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin in a musical.
Hard Day’s Night has to be there.
Stage: Phantom, Wicked, Mamma Mia, Little Shop of Horrors, Buddy
Film: Damn Yankees, Rocky Horror, Holiday Inn, The Producers, (Zero Mostel version),
Into the Woods.
H.M. Fair Lady, Guys and Dolls, Aida, Blue Man Group, Hair.
Undecided: the should be x rated 9 Songs
Ben, I’m a little late here, but I LOVE “Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” Good call. (I haven’t seen Demy’s other musical, “The Young Girls of Rochefort”; have you? Any good?)
Funny, I recently had this conversation with my dad; I’m surprised he hasn’t posted here yet. Anyway beyond the top two I don’t know that I could put them in order, but here are 10 off the top of my head:
Cabaret
Singin’ In the Rain
The Band Wagon
Umbrellas of Cherbourg (opera, musical, seems like nitpicking)
Pennies from Heaven
Swing Time
Saturday Night Fever (it counts, doesn’t it?)
Wizard of Oz
Oliver (I’m happy to see some love for this here — I like everything Carol Reed ever did)
Fiddler on the Roof
Think Mamma Mia! would have gone better under the original title:
“My Mom was a Huge Slut…Seriously, a HUGE Slut. Let’s Sing About It!! Yeeay!!”
Agree with #57 – although I loved The Blues Brothers, I think it really doesn’t fit the definition of a musical, as the music (for the most part) isn’t actually part of the plot. (Exception being the Aretha Franklin number in the Soul Food Cafe).
Gotta include Chicago in this list – and need to consider Paint Your Wagon, if only for the novelty/bizzareness of Clint Eastwood crooning.
Worst movie musical: Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Wife and I walked out after 15 minutes of sheer revulsion.
A strange musical which I saw recently that enchanted me: Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang. Me O’l Bamboo is worth the 1st 45 minutes to sit through.
Rochelle, Rochelle.
Muppet Treasure Island was robbed, I tell you, ROBBED!
I have a morbid fascination with 1776. My wife thinks it is weird, and is appalled every 4th of July when she finds me watching it on TCM.
I don’t know if it is Top 10 material, but it is one of my favorites, if for no other reason than watching John Adams dance has to be the height of unintentional comedy.
First, Sound of Music is more likely one of the 10 worst musicals ever made than one of the ten best. You should read Pauline Kael on this movie which she regards not just as bad but as evil.
As a lover of musicals, willing to watch my favorites over and over again, I can not really pick just 10 as some arbitrary number for “best”. One of my criteria is the “squirm” count. Most musicals have at least one scene when it is difficult to avoid gagging or squirming at the saccharine quality. But this is my list:
1. Gigi: The perfect movie musical, pure fluff (although you can find substance in it if you like), witty, lilting and beautiful in every aspect. Not one squirm moment.
2. Singin’ in the Rain: Maybe the greatest of all, but there are at least one or two squirm moments when Kelly gets serious about the romance.
3. The Bandwagon
4. Guys and Dolls
5. Kiss Me Kate
6. Hairspray (Travolta entry)
7. The Music Man: Robert Preston is fabulous.
8. Cabaret
9. Easter Parade: Too often overlooked, but Astaire and Ann Miller are terrific. Too bad it had Lawford to stop the action whenever he appeared.
10. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: Howard Keel was a wonderful performer.
Others on my list include Chicago, My Fair Lady, Hans Christian Anderson, Top Hat, American in Paris, On the Town, Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, Saturday Night Fever, Fiddler on the Roof. I am sure I am omitting some.
I’m a little upset that these musicals are mostly based off of the movie versions. I don’t know if there’s a movie of “Into the Woods” or “Les Miserables”, but they make my list, no questions asked. The “Phantom of the Opera” movie was terrible, but the stage show is very compelling and entertaining.
And two more to add to the list of non-movie musicals:
Avenue Q
Spring Awakening
Joe: if you’ve never seen Avenue Q, see it. As soon as you can. It’s coming to Kansas City in the next few months (don’t bring the young ones).
Spring Awakening is incredible. I saw the tour version this past summer, and I still run through the soundtrack on my iPod probably about once a week. Beautiful music, amazing show.
1. Tommy
2. Quadrophenia
/list
take off white christmas, keith! ugh. it’s an inferior remake of holiday inn! if you need some danny kaye, the clear choice is the court jester. that is all. (of course i doubt you read all the comments on joe’s post about your post)
The first three are in order the rest are not.
1. Singing in the Rain
2. Fiddler on the Roof
3. Oklahoma
Top Hat, Sound of Music, Music Man, On the Town, Moulin Rouge, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and all the rest with Grease my least favorite.
I love musicals
Morgan @ 68:
“I’m a little upset that these musicals are mostly based off of the movie versions.”
Do you understand that Joes’s original post is ONLY about musical films?
Just a few good ones on stage that hadn’t been mentioned:
The Pirates of Penzance
Camelot
Brigadoon
H.M.S. Pinafore
Hello, Dolly!
I don’t know if they make my Top 10 (Camelot does), but they’re at least more watchable than the wretched Mamma Mia!
Come on, this is a sports blog and no one has named Stan the Man as their top choice? Oh wait, it says musicals. Never mind.
75 comments about musicals?
I agree with the Blues Brothers, good call.
In the same vein does “A Hard Day’s Night” count too?
I also like the musical version of A Christmas Carol.
“I like life, life likes me”
Absolutely, positively have to include 1776 on the movie list. If you’ve never seen it, rent it.
And if Poz disses Julie Andrews again, I may have to drop him a notch on my top 10 list of sportswriters/bloggers. I got in a huge fight with my older brother about which one of us would get to marry her when we grew up. It still pains me that I lost. I’ve always closed my eyes during her big scene in Victor Victoria because I prefer to preserve the image of Maria Poppins.
Why the knock (I guess it was a knock…?) on Gallipolis, OH? If it were not for that lovely little place where would we go to find all of those great Bob Evans breakfast joints?
It kind of bothers me that so many guys here really know their musicals.
No love from anyone on the grandaddy of movie musicals, Yankee Doodle Dandy?
Hmmm, this one’s a toughie. I love Law’s inclusion of Once, though I’m unsure where that falls in the blurry line between “music movies” and “musicals”. I’ll include it though.
10. The Little Mermaid
9. Once
8. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
7. Moulin Rouge
6. The Wizard of Oz
5. West Side Story
4. Beauty and the Beast
3. Singin’ in the Rain
2. Fiddler on the Roof
1. The Lion King
West Side Story by a Secretariat-like gap over whatever you want to put second.
Two underrated musical movies: 1-Hair, which had the misfortune of coming out in 1979, about 10 years after it was the hot thing. Treat Williams is excellent. 2-Across the Universe, which had the misfortune of coming out about 40 years after The Beatles were the hot thing. It’s pretty goofy (most musicals are) but fun.
It’s guys showing their feminine side—good for us!
For Joe’s sake someone should do a musical with Pedro Martinez, Stan Musial and Albert Pujols. It would top Joe’s list, especially if Tim Raines and Bert Blyleven had supporting roles.
I concur about Gigi, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Chicago, West Side Story and OLIVER
being on my top list.
Joe, I agree with #27 (Bill C.). Mamma Mia was just pure fun—no thinking or logic involved, but Meryl Streep could read the phone book and I would be enthralled.
Just to throw some more names out there:
An American in Paris (my preference over Singing in the Rain and, though I understand I’m in the minority on that, Gene Kelly deserves enough love to have two musicals in consideration)
High Society (Bing and Frank are great, Grace Kelly sings charmingly poorly)
Jesus Christ Superstar (don’t ask me to explain – Webber is awful – but I am a sucker for this)
I’ve enjoyed a lot of the old classic musicals, which I was raised on, but in the end my absolute favorites are far more modern.
Are we ranking the MOVIE or the movie’s MUSIC? Has anyone clarified? If it’s the movie itself, I’ll go with
1. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
2. Labyrinth
3. Dancer in the Dark
4. Cabaret
5. Jesus Christ Superstar
6. Sweeney Todd
7. Little Shop of Horrors
8. the Muppet Movie
9. Pennies from Heaven
10. Godspell
11. Singin’ in the Rain
I love Singin’ in the Rain. It was the greatest movie musical ever, I’d agree. I just don’t think it is anymore.
If anyone ever makes a movie of Urinetown or Shock-Headed Peter, and does a decent job of it, those would surely rank.
Oh, and Fame has to be at least 10th for me. Even though the great Pauline Kael rejects that opinion with her usual eloquence.
Wow. It took until posts 84 and 85 to mention the numbers 1 thru 9 musicals: Jesus Christ Superstar. And then of course the Wizard of Oz would round out the top 10. I walked my daughter down the aisle this summer to Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Well, before I read this post my first thought was that I didn’t know 10 musicals, but I guess I do. The more important question is…have I seen 10 musicals? Well, since you read my first thought I guess you know that answer to that.
Joe, if you don’t mind a little red pencil:
And Sainted Meryl — who I love, who I think is always good — was so bad that I thought that, to be fair, they should have taken away one of his Oscar nominations.
C’mon, Mamma Mia was not so terrible. As one character on a popular TV show said this year after hearing Streep’s role in this musical get hammered: “Meryl Streep could play Batman.”
If there’s a poll on this coming up, sign me up for Oklahoma and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
I find “Grease” to be one of the most insufferable pieces of garbage to ever exist. There isn’t one single redeeming quality for me, and I like John Travolta.
Every single horrible song from that movie makes me want to commit horrendous murders.
That said, how on earth do more people not love “Moulin Rouge!”? It’s a visually stunning film, the acting is tremendous, and it’s a wonderful story. The songs are pretty darn good, too. I’m surprised it’s not higher on some of these lists.
My girlfriend loved Mamma Mia! and wants me to see it sometime (I’ve been completely skeptical every single time she mentions this). I saw the last 15 minutes or so when I visited here a bit earlier than she was expecting, so I got to see Brosnan sing. Her and her mom say that it’s weird seeing him sing, but he wasn’t bad. I fully disagree, I’ve never cringed or wanted to laugh harder in my life when listening to someone sing. Apparently his James Bond training didn’t prepare him for singing.
Oh, and from West Side Story: “I’m not anti-social, I’m only anti-work!”
I guess I should complain to the KLaw Blog, but how do you summarily dismiss the Muppet Christmas Carol??? I grew up on the Albert Finney musical (movie loft on channel 38, for any New Englanders in the crowd), but the Muppet Christmas Carol is amazing.
And no one wants to mention bloody High Society!
What???? No Xanadu? No Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band?
Bad Bee Gees. Bad Frampton.
All right, if Keith Law is including Once and Joe isn’t then it can only mean he hasn’t seen Once.
And the lack of love for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which is straight up a musical even if we’re blurring the lines to get Once in there, is appalling. Hedwig is the shit.
Wicked. Wicked. Wicked. Wicked. Wicked.
I don’t care the other 5 – most of what you’ve chosen is great. But for me, this is the ONLY choice.
Story
Glad to see Law had “Once” on his list.
Does Help count as a musical?
Singing in the Rain
Fiddler on the Roof
And I didn’t see this mentioned but it was alot of fun. A bollywood movie called
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India – Not sure how much of the history was correct but great underdog movie and made me appreciate Cricket.
Moulin Rouge! would be one of my least favorite musicals.
No love for Paint Your Wagon:)
A couple of “Music Man” mentions here, including my dad (there you are!) … Gotta say Preston alone might put that one over the line for me. It’s certainly one of the 10 great performances in a movie musical.
Another honorable mention: “It’s Always Fair Weather.” Very witty, bittersweet script, some terrific dances.
I debated whether I should mention “Cabin in the Sky,” which I saw recently and liked a lot. I guess some might find it offensive.
Movies – Only comment here is tat there are too few now. Once is the best in a long time.
Stage – It’s incredible to me that no one to this point mentioned “Man of La Mancha”, which I would have to rate in at least top three; or on a lesser level (but still great) “Ragtime”. I’d even have to throw in Purlie.
Both – anothervote for “1776″
@Ben#2: Yay Cherbourg!!!! I’d forgotten how much I loved that. Thanks for reminding me.
movie musicals, in no particular order:
Once
Chicago — saw it on the big screen ten times (!) and my dvd is now wearing out because my two-year-old daughter watches cell block tango over and over again, studying the dancing. She almost has it nailed. Catherine Zeta Jones? Who knew she had THAT in her?
Guys and Dolls — Sue me, sue me.
Grease
Sound of Music
Singin in the Rain
The Music Man
Fiddler on the Roof
West Side Story
Moulin Rouge
Hairspray with Travolta? Meh.
I loathed Mamma Mia when I first saw it on the big screen. Such a let down from the stage musical (which ROCKED) and WHO has trouble making Greece look gorgeous? Apparently these people. But Mamma Mia has grown on me on DVD. Not for the story, God no. In fact, the writing and the lame editing are what drive me crazy, and if you were to watch it again, Joe, I bet that you would find that that is what is truly bugging you, too. Because the actors can’t all sing but man, they went for it. All in, all of them. And I love that part of it. Meryl-freakin’ Streep. Awesome. (She rocked in Postcards from the Edge, too). The charm in it is that everyone has just thrown themselves in, heart and soul. Colin Firth on the boat with a guitar in his hand, his voice breaking a little when he says “quite spontaneously.” Pierce, Colin and Stellan bopping while Donna and the Dynamos perform? As adorable as the rest of the movie wanted to be. But they were stuck with that lame writing and the lame pacing and the missed opportunity for awesome dance numbers. And yeah, fix the story so that, if you are committed to these actors, it isn’t this constant irritation — the photos make it look like the 70s, the old folks are certainly spry but NOT 40, and I love Baranski, but that’s because she’s ridiculously funny when you cut her loose (not something a horny 20 year old would be chasing after) … it looked like a party to shoot it, though.
Dishonorable mention: the movie version of A Chorus Line. Wow. The poster child for “please don’t ruin my favorite stage musical by making a movie out of it.” I’m a little ill just thinking of it.
Make it two in a row for Man of La Mancha!
And now I’ve got Dulcinea in my head. Awesome. A good ear worm for a change.
When I was a kid, after my parents got divorced, my mom went on this quest to get my brother and I some exposure to culture (after her twenty years with my dad and nothin’ but sports, on tv, live, all the time), so she took us to what felt like a million live shows all around LA. We hung onto the sports, but added in the good stuff from mom’s quest. My stage faves:
Man from La Mancha
A Chorus Line
Chicago
Mamma Mia
Evita
Into the Woods
Fiddler on the Roof
A Little Night Music
My girlfriend’s top ten musicals. (She does them.) In no particular order. “Not the movie versions. They’re usually bad.”
10. Cabaret
9. Hair
8. Little Shop of Horrors (good movie version)
7. Jesus Christ Superstar
6. West Side Story (Good movie version)
5. 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
4. Into the Woods
3. Big River
2. Once on this Island (I have no idea what this is)
1. Sweeney Todd (my girlfriend hates the movie…i thought it was good, but i never saw it.)
“Singing in the Rain” is a great musical movie, but we’re only counting ones that have legitimate stage versions.
I like Guys & Dolls.
Hard to believe that neither of you named porgy and bess or cabaret which I would have thought would make any “expert’s” list.
West side story, Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Fiddler on the roof should make most everyone’s list if they saw them and actually like musicals
I’d pick the rest of my 10 from any astaire musical, sound of music, gigi, music man, jc superstar, hair and chorus line.
Way too hard to just pick 10 for me
It’s been said before but I would most certainly argue that “The Blues Brothers” deserves a spot on any list of “best musicals”:
It’s got a good storyline
It’s got a great cast
It’s got comedy
It’s got drama
It’s got singing
Oh boy, does it have singing
It’s got dancing
Did I mention the singing?
It’s got choreography
It’s got about a gablillion cop cars getting wrecked
And the SINGING!
Any cast that includes Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Cab Calloway is a musical force of nature.
Finally, the scene on Maxwell Street that features the “street musicans” being led by one of the most legendary of bluesmen, John Lee Hooker, is possibly the finest three minutes of music captured on celluloid. As they were standing in the background listening to Hook and company belt out “Boom Boom Boom Boom” in its bluesy majesty, Elwood leaned over to his brother Joliet Jake and put the scene into its properly respectful perspective:
“Yep.”
That’s my argument.
Can’t argue with “Singin’ in the Rain” as No. 1. I’d put “Wizard of Oz” as No. 2.
My question/comment: Does “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” count as a musical? Great music and great movie.
What’s next, favorite romantic novel?
When I saw the topic, and then when I saw KLaw’s list, I just hoped that you wouldn’t make the rookie mistake of not choosing the best musical ever at #1.
But you came through in the clutch. “Singing In The Rain” is the Babe Ruth of musicals. The rest can fight over places 2-10.
And personally, I like your list better than Klaw’s; his is excellent, but let’s face it, he doesn’t possess a sappy bone in his body. His leaving out the ultimate sap-fest “The Sound of Music,” was inexcusable.
I am a big fan of both the wizard of oz and blues brothers, but I don’t think either of them really qualify as musicals.
They do of course if the definition is “there was music in it.” But not if the definition requires the music to be a part of plot (such as it is) advancement or expression of a characters thoughts/feelings during a plot (such as it is) advancement. Some of the worst music ever written was done for musicals and to fit into a plot device, so the definition doesn’t include good music either, though the best of them do have better music of course.
In Wiz, the music is intro and seque only really and there isn’t all that much of it either. Only Ding Dong the Witch is Dead cou8ld qualify as a musical type song IMO.
As for blues brothers, well there certainly was a lot of music and all of it was good and done by truly talented people. But none of it was really plot related except in the sense that as the 2 went from place to place to advance the plot, they found people singing at every stop.
just my $.02 of course
What about Bye Bye Birdie? Does this say something about me?
I’m not a musical guy. I’ll stop to see Preston singing about the evils of pool and Ron Howard awaiting the “Wellth Fargo wagon” a comin’ down the street. I’m not going to go out of my way to see it. But I’ll stop if it’s on.
The stopper, though, if there is one, is the young Ann-Margret in BBB. When she struts her stuff in the utter finger-snapping coolness of Got a Lot of Livin’ To Do? Awesome.
Does this say something about me?
Musicals, not the movies:
10.) Chicago
9.) Fiddler On The Roof
8.) La Cage Aux Folles
7.) Company
6.) The Sound of Music
5.) Les Miserables
4.) Jesus Christ Superstar
3.) Hair
2.) Sweeney Todd
1.) West Side Story
Films:
10.) Chicago
9.) The Wizard of Oz- The songs altogether are not that great.
8.) On The Town
7.) Showboat
6.) Porgy & Bess
5.) Singin’ In The Rain
4.) Hedwig & The Angry Inch
3.) Cabaret
2.) West Side Story
1.) The Sound of Music
Animated musical films:
10.) Anastasia
9.) Lady & The Tramp
8.) Cats Don’t Dance
7.) Hercules
6.) The Little Mermaid
5.) Pinocchio
4.) Aladdin
3.) Beauty & The Beast
2.) The Lion King
1.) Fantasia
I am so MEH toward musicals, it’s not even funny. They’re entertaining on the stage, and barely palatable on a movie screen.
However, I did enjoy Singin in the Rain when forced to watch it in dance class in 10th grade…
This movie really, really (really) upset me, as well. Especially when recent movies like Dreamgirls (Jennifer Hudson) and Hairspray (Nikki Blonsky) showed them the way.
The talent is out there.
I love Preston in the Music Man, and in The Last Starfighter. Same character, different make-up and time period.
IMO, a list of best movie musicals must have both Cabaret and The Band Wagon in it. And I don’t think “Once” is anymore a “movie musical” than Blues Brothers is. They are movies with music.
As #16 and #19 pointed out, it’s disturbing that South Park, Bigger, Longer, & Uncut wasn’t mentioned.
I am returning “The Machine” for this transgression.
JK, I haven’t even seen seven of the movie-musicals you have listed, but I do have a hard time imagining they are better than South Park’s. I hope they are, for when I watch them.
JD, what it does is say something about Ann Margret
Oh and about the enjoyment that you and I get from watching her. Heck I even went to a presley “musical” that had her in it.
I can’t believe there is no love for Once More With Feeling.
I’ll just deal with the typos here because it’s late (and I *LOVE* musicals). This paragraph has two of them: And Sainted Meryl — who I love, who I think is always good — was so bad that I thought that, to be fair, they should have taken away one of his Oscar nominations. And as bad as she was, I’ve never seen anyone look a uncomfortable on film
Meryl Streep deserves even more accolades that we’ve been giving her, given all HIS Oscar nominations were won for actress categories. And “a uncomfortable” should be “as uncomfortable”.
Musicals will be different if you mean movies rather than plays. I’d pick Zero Mostel in “Fiddler on the Roof” as the best musical play I ever saw, but I wouldn’t put the movie in my top ten.
I’ll sleep on it before answering, but I think “Tommy”, “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, and “The Pirates of Penzance” all deserve consideration as movies that I don’t think anybody mentioned. Boy, can Linda Ronstadt sing. On my list of musicals I’ve seen performed live will go “Pippin” and “Fellowship” and you won’t be likely to ever see “Fellowship”. It was a musical parody of the movie “Fellowship of the Ring” done by a bunch of mostly rank and file Hollywood actors (the guys who make $6,000/year acting but are still hoping for their big break) that clearly not only loved the movie but also made fun of themselves for being such Tolkien loving nerds. It remains the only play I’ve seen performed live twice with the same cast. If they do another sing-along show, I’ll try to make it three times. http://www.fellowshipthemusical.com is their official web site. I have the CD (listened to it just last week for about the tenth time) but evidently it’s also available from iTunes. So if you liked “Bored of the Rings” almost as much as “Lord of the Rings” (and you’re reading about musicals) it should be worth a listen. My favorite song is “Lament of the Ring”, the duel between Frodo and Boromir for control of the ring, but “It’s A Hobbit Thing” and “Happy Birthday Bilbo” are both plenty of fun, and “Home’s Never Too Far Away” is just a great song.
I know, I know, we’re baseball nerds here, not fantasy nerds. But maybe I’m not the only one who is both.
graphite @34: My father hated Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady”. He had seen the Broadway play with Julie Andrews, which was the biggest Broadway show of all time (at the time) and he hated that the producers did not cast her (she had no movie experience yet)*. (Andrews was 19 when she started on Broadway in “The Boy Friend”, 21 when she starred in “My Fair Lady”). My dad also hated that Hepburn couldn’t sing (they used the incomparable Marni Nixon for her songs)**.
* Because she didn’t get to do My Fair Lady, she starred in “Mary Poppins” instead, winning the Best Actress Oscar. Audrey Hepburn was not even nominated for “My Fair Lady”. It was one of the worst casting decisions ever made by Hollywood, although since I cannot imagine anybody else doing Mary Poppins, it worked out all right for us filmgoers.
**Marni Nixon sang Maria in “West Side Story” and Anna in “The King and I”. She was uncredited in the movies for singing in “My Fair Lady” (and “West Side Story” and “The King and I”) but different regulations apply to soundtracks and she is credited on the albums. It wasn’t exactly a secret in Hollywood (I grew up in LA).I’ve heard rumors she ghosted others where the producers put in some nasty secrecy clauses and had no soundtrack, but I can’t say for sure.
Hollywood has done a lot of nasty high tech things to movies made from Broadway. If you watched the biopic of the Three Stooges on ABC a few years ago, seeing a Foley board meant they didn’t really need to slap each other loud enough to be heard in the last row of seats. There’s hardly a movie made without minor enhancements to sound effects, and I’m sure many an actor is grateful. It’s not as bad as seeing sausages or laws made, but there are very few actors who really do everything you see on the screen. Even my wife’s favorite (Jackie Chan) use green screen these days. Chan says that you can always tell the difference between green screen and real stunts. In green screen, the actors are screaming. In real drops (such as he did in most of his films) the actor is holding his breath and concentrating on the landing.
By the way, we saw Sherlock Holmes yesterday. I’m guessing it was the first movie that filmed the rehearsals of extensive action sequences and then played them in the movie as Holmes’s plans for the upcoming fight sequence. Maybe that only amused me, but I’ve come to terms with my weirdnesses.
Okay, here are my lists:
Top six musicals seen live:
6. Man of La Mancha
5. Cats (in London)
4. Fellowship
3. Little Shop of Horrors
2. Pippin
1. Fiddler on the Roof
Cats in London with an aisle seat on the turntable for our ten year old daughter was about as good an experience as a father could give his daughter. The show in LA was not as meaningful. Plus I preferred the more subdued staging in London.
Fiddler on the Roof with Zero Mostel was an experience. Nobody else compares.
I have seen a lot more than six live musicals, but decided that really only six were worthy of my HOF. Many others were fine and entertaining, but not good enough.
Top fifteen movie musicals (based largely on whether I bought the soundtrack or the music on the soundtrack and how often I listened to it):
Top Hat (was there ever a better song than Cheek to Cheek?)
15) Allegro Non Troppo (best short animated sequence ever was the Valse Trieste from this movie, and I say that having loved the opening to “Up”. It’s Fantasia without being stuck with Disney sensibilities)
14) The Pirates of Penzance*
I have to leave Penzance on my list. This is IMO the most successful filming of any Gilbert and Sullivan play, even though they stole some songs from other plays and played merry havoc with the book. If it were not for Gilbert and Sullivan basically perfecting the art form, we wouldn’t have Broadway musicals. And I’ve never heard Mabel sung better.
13) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (so I really REALLY like Zero Mostel; is that a crime?)
12) A Hard Day’s Night (yes, I think everybody else forgot this one too)
11) Jesus Christ Superstar
10) Fantasia
9) Amadeus (don’t tell me it’s not a musical; it’s probably the most musical movie ever made)
7) The Rocky Horror Picture Show
6) Singing in the Rain
5) Yellow Submarine (best animated musical ever; I’m sorry, but even though I’ve seen all of Disney’s animated musicals, most of them with my kid, none of them hold up without the associated memory of doing something nice with the kid)
4) An American in Paris*
3) Little Shop of Horrors
2) Mary Poppins (first video tape I bought)
1) The Music Man
Was there ever a better song writer than George Gershwin? The parallels between him and Mozart are erie. Both died very young. Both mastered every popular form of music of their time. Both wrote great works both short and long. No other composers come to mind who did it all and did it all so well.
Boy, I wish there was a Preview option here. Well, here goes…
Well, 8 followed by ) turns into
here.
And now I’m bummed. I thought I’d gotten everything considered, and even threw in the first mention of “Yellow Submarine” and then it turns out I forgot “Nightmare Before Christmas”. Sigh.
June 2008 I sang the role of The Wizard in The Sierra Chamber Singer’s performances of songs from The Wiz, The Wizard of Oz, and Wicked. I love “The Wizard of Oz” but it just has too few songs for me to really rank it as a musical. Yes, Garland singing “Over the Rainbow” may be the best movie song ever, but what else does it have that’s worth remembering? Follow the yellow brick road? Scrub scrub here? Owe-ee-owe?
Oh, the Wizard of Oz has other memorable songs. “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” is pretty iconic. The Munchkinland song is pretty cute. But I agree it’s a little like Duck Soup or A Night at the Opera in the sense that there are songs but the songs aren’t the movie.
I’m a Singin’ in the Rain fan. I cry at The Sound of Music and I love the other movies of Rodgers and Hammerstein films, particularly Oklahoma! and South Pacific. I love Guys and Dolls, Brigadoon and Seven Wives for Seven Brothers.
On the other hand, the films of My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof and Camelot have all always left me cold, in part because they kept casting the wrong people in key roles. Topol is still playing Fiddler, and he’s a wonderful man, but we should have Zero in the film version. I’m not going to get near the casting of the female leads in the other two, except to say that I love Mary Poppins despite Dick Van Dyke but Julie Andrews should have been on another set doing My Fair Lady.
I loathe musicals, but for some reason if Hello Dolly is on, I find myself drawn to watch every bit of it.
Noooo Joe….I don’t feel kicked in the gut nausea, like by some of the stat geek in the basement stuff, but….you like ABBA but don’t like Mamma Mia? The juvenile approach was a lot of what made it, for me.
http://claytonandtheresa.com/FilmFour/MammaMia.htm
Phantom of the Opera
Richard Aronson @ #123
Fair enough comment on Audrey Hepburn. I just have a thing about her.
I remember the controversy at the time, with all commentators saying that Andrews got shafted. But the people putting up the money obviously decided they needed a marquee star. While all those commentators would have been au fait with the Broadway cast, the general movie-going public in the US wouldn’t have had much of a clue about Andrews, Harrison, Holloway and the others.
Hepburn wasn’t too convincing in the gamine scenes but, boy, did she scrub up well. There has never been a better-looking woman on screen than Hepburn in the ballroom.
Perhaps I lean toward musicals with music from my era, but I loved Tommy, Hair, Hard Day’s Night, Jesus Christ Superstar, Blues Brothers, and Help. The two funniest and enjoyable musicals I ever saw were My Fair Lady and The Music Man. When they make the Wicked movie, that will move into my top 10 – it was great in the theater. Add West Side Story and Singin’ in the Rain and you’ve got 10 musicals I could watch repeatedly. Curb Your Enthusiasm made me go back and watch West Side Story, and though corny, it has some funny songs.