Follow me under the cut for more.
Special mention here to Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog. They didn’t quite make the cut into the elite three but if you are into musicals and haven’t seen them they come highly recommended!
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Once More With Feeling
Joss Whedon is somewhat of a genius and the different types of episodes that he challenged himself with on Buffy always led to ground-breaking work. It’s difficult for a television show to have a musical episode and make it work. Very few have tried and even fewer have delivered. The Scrubs musical stands out as a success while the Sanctuary musical teeters between what could have been amazing but was ultimately mediocre.
Once More With Feeling is fantastic. Upon returning from the grave our heroine sings of a listless life while those around her face their own personal demons in song. Joss has a knack for including a lot of his characters personalities in the music and lacing everything with both humour and a sense of tragedy. The musical episode is highly acclaimed, enjoyable on repeat viewings and has lead to fans taking to the stage to produce their own versions. I saw one at the Murdoch University here in Western Australia. Make no mistake, it was utterly terrible but it was pretty great to see that the love for this 40-minute detour through the musical escapades of the Scooby Gang had found such a stronghold in people’s hearts.
2. Rent
Once More With Feeling is fantastic. Upon returning from the grave our heroine sings of a listless life while those around her face their own personal demons in song. Joss has a knack for including a lot of his characters personalities in the music and lacing everything with both humour and a sense of tragedy. The musical episode is highly acclaimed, enjoyable on repeat viewings and has lead to fans taking to the stage to produce their own versions. I saw one at the Murdoch University here in Western Australia. Make no mistake, it was utterly terrible but it was pretty great to see that the love for this 40-minute detour through the musical escapades of the Scooby Gang had found such a stronghold in people’s hearts.
2. Rent
Rent is a musical I stumbled upon when it was made into a movie. The film adaptation featured all but two members of the original stage production and director Chris Columbus had such respect for the source material that he strove to make sure it worked on the screen. He cut scenes and songs that were made unnecessary by the way that narrative is told in film and made sure that the viewer always got a sense of place and time through the amazing sets, costumes and live action in New York City. This is something that has never completely convinced me in recent film adaptations such as Les Miserables and to a lesser extent Hairspray.
Rent follows the story of a group of friends in New York in 1989, living under the shadow of AIDS. It explores friendship, life, acceptance and diversity. The songs are wonderful and the musical boasts one the most diverse casts in terms of gender, race and sexual orientation. The story is deeply moving; discussing the way the AIDS virus eats lives without discrimination and leaves wounds, but that life itself is always worth fighting for and living.
I became so attached to this film that when the stage show came to Perth and featured a number of non-theatre rose-to-fame-on-Australian-Idol cast members I just couldn’t bring myself to see it. Rent isn’t just about delivering a song, the characters are deeply important to the narrative and making them believable and sympathetic is of far greater importance than merely hitting the high notes.
Rent still moves me to tears and only gets better with repeat viewing.
1. Wicked
Rent follows the story of a group of friends in New York in 1989, living under the shadow of AIDS. It explores friendship, life, acceptance and diversity. The songs are wonderful and the musical boasts one the most diverse casts in terms of gender, race and sexual orientation. The story is deeply moving; discussing the way the AIDS virus eats lives without discrimination and leaves wounds, but that life itself is always worth fighting for and living.
I became so attached to this film that when the stage show came to Perth and featured a number of non-theatre rose-to-fame-on-Australian-Idol cast members I just couldn’t bring myself to see it. Rent isn’t just about delivering a song, the characters are deeply important to the narrative and making them believable and sympathetic is of far greater importance than merely hitting the high notes.
Rent still moves me to tears and only gets better with repeat viewing.
1. Wicked
Wicked is one of my favourite things in the entire world. Seriously. For years before I had seen the stage production a friend had found the story and soundtrack and we poured over this thing in the way that young people do. We imagined what it would be like to see it on stage. Some years later a different friend found a bootleg copy and since none of us were going to America to see it on Broadway any time soon we sat through this terrible copy just so we could finally get a taste of what the production was actually like. A couple of years ago the Australian run came to Perth and I went many times and laughed and cried and dragged people along. It was more magnificent than I could have hoped for.
Wicked follows the story of the two witches of Oz; Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West. The women meet at school where they share a mutual hatred before that turns to respect and develops into a close friendship. The audience quickly see that there is more to the story than meets the eye and Elphaba isn’t simply wicked.
The musical is based on a book called Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. While the musical isn’t as quite political as the book there is certainly a very strong political undertone and the viewer is encouraged to question perceptions of good, evil, right and wrong. The story largely focuses on the friendship between the two women, which is a breath of fresh air for many people who would like to see more of that in film, television and theatre.
Stephen Schwartz’s music is powerful and moving as he takes us on a journey of growth and self-discovery. Defying Gravity is still one of the most spectacular emotional displays I have ever seen in anything and For Good (the song the witches sing to each other at the end) comes in at a close second.
The green lady is flying back into Melbourne in May next year so make sure you check Wicked out. You won’t be disappointed.
Wicked follows the story of the two witches of Oz; Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West. The women meet at school where they share a mutual hatred before that turns to respect and develops into a close friendship. The audience quickly see that there is more to the story than meets the eye and Elphaba isn’t simply wicked.
The musical is based on a book called Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. While the musical isn’t as quite political as the book there is certainly a very strong political undertone and the viewer is encouraged to question perceptions of good, evil, right and wrong. The story largely focuses on the friendship between the two women, which is a breath of fresh air for many people who would like to see more of that in film, television and theatre.
Stephen Schwartz’s music is powerful and moving as he takes us on a journey of growth and self-discovery. Defying Gravity is still one of the most spectacular emotional displays I have ever seen in anything and For Good (the song the witches sing to each other at the end) comes in at a close second.
The green lady is flying back into Melbourne in May next year so make sure you check Wicked out. You won’t be disappointed.
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