The musical is back!

Musicals have always been a part of my fandom. As far back as I can remember, I’ve loved musicals with a passion. When I was little, my mom used to play the “The Sound of music” tape all day long. And my favorite movies and songs from that time were all . If I have to tell you the truth, for me, my personal Beethoven and Wagner are , , Oscar Hammerstein II,  Jonathan Larson, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Charles Hart. Yeah. I’m a geek. Deal with it.

Musicals are just magic. They can be elegant. They can be fun. They can be ridiculous. The love stories are always larger than life. The guy is romantic. You can just burst into song and not only will no one think you are crazy, but they’ll all join you because they know the chorus and the choreography. I love how spectacular they are. How grand. The music gives me chills and such pure emotions that I can’t stop watching these movies. And the songs are sheer perfection.

These are some of my favorite movie musicals:

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Young almost-nun Maria, is asked by the head-nun (in order to keep her out of mischief) to go work as a babysitter for the wealthy Von Trapp family. There are 7 kids (yikes!), but one yummy daddy (yay!). At first they are at odds with each other, but Maria wins the kids over by singing and dressing them in their bedroom curtains. One night at a ball, Captain Von Trapp dances with Maria in a scene that is #AllTheFeels. But the cute Captain is engaged to another (damn it!). Lots of comings and goings in between, the hot Captain and the cute nun end up married. But… oh-oh, the Nazis have annexed Austria to the Third Reich. What will the family do? Well… sing and walk towards the sunset and freedom.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

The resident “Ghost” of the Paris Opera House becomes obsessed with a young, ingenue, ballet dancer and tutors her to become the best singer like ever. But he takes his obsession a wee bit far when he kidnaps her. This is probably my favorite musical. I just love it. I’ve seen it live several times. I’ve watched the movie over and over again. I know every single song and word. I still get chills and sort of tear up a little at the very beginning of the play when the chandelier goes up. That moment in the music will never cease to make me emotional. This musical has some of the best songs ever. “Music of the night” is just perfect. And Gerard Butler was hot as the Phantom (whose name is Eric, by the way).

RENT

Based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La bohème and set in New York’s East Village in the 1980′s-1990′s, this is the story of a group of friends that are young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create, always under the threat of HIV/AIDS and drugs. This musical has some of the hardest stories and songs. “One Song Glory” is so sad. You see this young, talented musician who knows he is dying and just wants to write the perfect song to be remembered by. And the song “Will I” is just so… powerful. I always cry during this song.

MOULIN ROUGE

This movie was what musicals should be. Spectacular, glamorous, magical, romantic, over the top, amazing songs, great dance numbers. It tells the story of Christian, a poor writer who ends up in Paris’ Moulin Rouge and falls deeply, madly in love with the beautiful Satine, the star courtesan of the Moulin Rouge. But as Romeo and Juliet, their love is forbidden, for she has been promised to the Duke, the man who holds the deeds to the Moulin Rouge. And he doesn’t like sharing his toys. To make matters even worse, she is sick with tuberculosis and dies. Yup. And they tell you this on the very first line of the movie. Ewan McGregor as Christian couldn’t be any cuter.

CHICAGO

Roxie Hart wants to sing and dance and be famous. How can she manage that in corrupt 1920′s Chicago? Easily, she kills her lover and goes to jail. Bingo. She is an over night star. But another talented murderess won’t stand having her spotlight stolen from her. The costumes and dance numbers are amazing!!!

MAMMA MIA

Apparently Meryl Streep was kind of a slut and slept with 3 guys. Now her daughter, who doesn’t know who her father is, has invited all three possible men to her wedding to find out who was the sperm donor. Yeah… cuz there’s no way that that can possibly go wrong. Well… not in a musical. They all have fun and sing ABBA songs. I dare you not to have the urge to burst out singing and dancing.

LES MISERABLES

If you don’t know the story it’s because you have been living under a rock. Let me tell you then: it’s the story of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who decides to turn his life around. But he is always alert to the risk of being captured again by police inspector Javert. One of his factory workers, Fantine, blames him for her being cast into a life of prostitution. When she dies, he feels responsible and agrees to take care of her illegitimate daughter, Cosette. All this, in the midst of political turmoil and rebellion in France. This musical has some of the most iconic songs: “I dream a dream”, “On my own”, “Red and Black”, “One day more”, “Do you hear the people sing” and “Empty chairs at empty tables”. I swear I cry from beginning to end.

And there are dozens more. From the classics to the new ones. But there’s one that I would kill to see on the big screen: