The best musical of all time?

Best Movie Musicals
1.

"Singin' in the Rain"
2. "The Bandwagon"
Note that Cyd Charisse is in both films opposite the two greatest


dancers in film musicals ever.
3. "An American in Paris"
4. "Gigi"
5. "West Side Story"

OK- Fred Astaire WAS

the greatest dancer, but I always wanted to look like Cyd Charisse. Can't I vote for her, too?

Phoenix, I think you

really are Cyd Charisse and you are fooling all of us! Actually, I had meant to add Ginger

Rogers to the poll although I kinda, oops, didn't do it correctly.

In the meantime, hello, welcome,

salutations, hey how ya' doin'! jes

Jes,

I just

added Ginger Rogers. ;-)

BTW I voted for Fred

but Gene was always my very favorite. When I was a kid I wanted to be Gene Kelly and even figured out the most basic move of

tap dancing so I could follow allong at least a bit of the time.

My favorite musicals are (the order can change any

day):

1) Singing in the Rain

2) 7 brides for 7 Brothers

3) My Fair Lady (this could easily be number 1,

it's at least #2 but I'm too lazy to move it up).

<Just realized that I spent more time defending my reason for

not moving it than it would have taken to move it but I remain obstinate>

4) Fantasia 2000

5)

Fantasia

6) West Side Story

7) The Sound of Music

8) Animals are Beautiful People

Thanks for adding Ms.

Rogers!

The Sound of Music is just fantastic. I love that it's based on a true story (I

love that in pretty much any type of picture) but I also love the thematic music. That is, the underlying currents you get,

like when they're escaping from the Nazis and in the background you hear a subtly altered (pretty nervous-sounding,

actually) version of 'So Long, Farewell' - taking that song out of the realm of cutesie-pie kids' number and turning it

into a real metaphor for departure.

West Side Story should be on pretty much anyone's

short list, far as I'm concerned. It really gives a lot of class to the genre by its connection to Shakespeare. I also think

the Jets and the Sharks are an amazing invention. They really make dancing 'cool' in a way that the scenes in

Hair, for example, didn't seem to accomplish.

Add Hair to my list!

I hate dancing in all but the tap dancing age but Hair was funny!

It might not be the

greatest, but I loved, "The King and I". The scene where Deborah Kerr teaches Yul Brynner to dance is a gem!

I liked that one as a

kid, dunno how much I'd like it now.

Was Lost Horison Found a musical?

Where were you as

children? Did nobody watch Mary Poppins?

I was a young child

when I saw Mary Poppins. And it's hardly ever rerun on TV (at least, around here, that is). But

Singin' in the Rain is shown at times. I mean, Oklahoma isn't

even shown around here. Hmm, I wonder if there would be an audience for a Musical Movies Channel on TV?

hey

Jes


(phoenix 32890)

I think that there might very well be a

demand for these types of films but wether or not there is, I think that "the king and I" was an amazing film and showed the

world as it was back then. naive and real.

What the world thought of the English at that time was not a good

opinion,with the globalization thing and all, but the portrayal cast forward in the movie was excellent.

what is the

best "musical"you have ever watched?

I think I need to

re-view a lot of these films. I saw a lot of them when I was a teenager/young adult and they weren't 'cool'. But I would

definitely like to see them now (in no particular order) -

* The King and I
* Oklahoma
* 7 brides for 7

brothers
* Carousel
* West Side Story
* Singin' in the Rain (but that's been on, so I can pass on it right

now)
* Mary Poppins (was on in the past year)
* Hair
* Gypsy
* My Fair Lady
* A Funny thing Happened on the

Way to the Forum (this is on TV a lot)

I haven't seen Moulin Rouge - any good? It's going to be on pay-per-view and

I'm wondering whether to order it (keep in mind my husband is still in the 'musicals aren't cool' stage, although he will

admire athletic and intricate dancing, such as Gene Kelly in Singin').

Aside from Moulin Rouge, no one seems to want

to do a live-action musical. I realize it must be harder these days to find people who can sing, dance and act (they just

don't churn 'em out like they used to), but here are a few:

* Sarah Jessica Parker
* Matthew Broderick
*

Nathan Lane
* Bebe Neuwirth
* Donna Murphy
* Bernadette Peters
* Jonathan Pryce

You can probably add

Madonna to the mix, although I don't believe she's sung on Broadway (she was on Broadway or maybe off-Broadway, several

years ago, in David Mamet's play, Speed the Plow).

Plus there must be several hopefuls out there who would play

supporting roles, plus folks who've made their careers on Broadway who would love to break into film.

So, as Andy

Hardy used to say, "Hey kids, let's put on a show!"

Ross Hunter of the

Rock Hudson/Doris Day comedy fame made a musical of "Lost Horizon" with a rather banal Burt Bacharach score. The sets were

redressed backlot built for "Camelot" and later used in the "Kung Fu" TV series. The costumes were really hilarious -- it

was a box office a critical flop. It does have a following but I don't know how I could seriously place it in a position

other than in the ten worst musicals.

i love love love the old time musicals like Kiss Me, Kate - love that Shakespearian connection. singing dancing witty writing ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

"Kiss Me Kate" is one of the best adaptations of a Broadyway musical and to be fair, movie musicals should be divided into adaptations and created for the movies. Curiously, some movie musicals have also found their way to Broadway like "Victor Victoria." In this way, my choices on best musical adaptations of stage versions are:

1. "West Side Story"
2. "Cabaret"
3. "My Fair Lady"
4. "Oliver"
5. "On the Town"
6. "The Music Man"
7. "Finian's Rainbow"
8. "The Sound of Music"
9. "Carousel"
10. "Bells are Ringing"

I'm anxious to see how they bring off "Chicago" and so far it looks good. I've always wondered why "City of Angels" never found its way to the screen as it's about movie making, specifically black-and-white detective film noir.

There's been some great adaptations of Broadway musicals on television:

An oldie: "Wonderful Town" with Rosalind Russell

More recent: "Gypsy" with Bette Midler (better than the film version with Roz). "Annie" (far superior to the John Huston debacle) and now we are going to get "The Music Man" with Mathew Broderick and according to his wife, it's a winner (like her present middrift condition). Ah, well, there is "Sex and the City."

OOoh, "Brush up your Shakespeare" is probably my Dad's favorite song!

Jes - i think i love your dad!

Well, he's on vacation with my Mom, so I'll have to tell him when he gets back.