Best/Worst Musical Movies

[QueenAnne82]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 9:39am

Best:
Chicago
Rent (prediction)

Worst:
Godspell (poorly done!)
Evita

[Sant]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 10:43am

BEST:
Chicago
The King And I
The Sound Of Music

WORST:
Guys And Dolls
Show Boat (I just didn't like the film version, the one with Ava Gardner)
A Chorus Line
The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas
Updated On: 8/22/05 at 10:43 AM

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 10:45am

Sant, if you haven't already, check out the 1936 Universal SHOW BOAT. It's FAR superior to the 1951 MGM version.

[Sant]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 10:52am

which one is the Ava Gardner one? That's the one I've seen.

[BrdwayObsessed]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 12:00pm

Best:
Chicago

Worst:
Evita
Chorus Line
South Pacific (hated the color gels)

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 12:09pm

Am I the only one that thought they did a great job turning EVITA into a musical picture?

[peach]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 12:13pm

Best:
Chicago
West Side Story
Fiddler on the Roof

Worst:
Another vote for GODSPELL - I love it on stage, but that material just doesn't work on screen. The movie is rather terrible!

[wickedfan]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 12:19pm

Best:
Chicago
West Side Story

Worst:
GOdspell
JC Superstar

And WonderBoy, you're not entirely alone. I thought they did a very good job with the movie version of EVITA also.

[MusicalDirector109]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 12:19pm

BEST:
"The Sound of Music"
"West Side Story"
WORST:
Another vote for "Godspell"
"The Wiz"
I did like the film of "Evita". I think its the best ALW transfer to film

[kate2]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 12:33pm

sound of music = BEST

[manders]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 12:45pm

I thought Tommy was terrible, but I admit I have never seen it on stage so maybe it's just a bad show in general.

[bare_nakedlady]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 12:47pm

I think the movie of JCS is the worst adaptation to film I have ever seen.

[Pippin]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 12:52pm

Best:
Chicago
Oliver
West Side
Damn Yankees
Funny Girl


Worst:
Finians Rainbow
All Rodgers and Hammerstein (Except Sound of music)
Brigadoon
Gigi

[Greg in Dallas]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 1:01pm

I agree with Wonderboy...I too thought they did a great job with the Evita movie, it just did not like Madonna in it.

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 1:13pm

i LOVE Victor/Victoria

[pab]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 1:19pm

I'll go with three of each.

Best:
Hair
West Side Story
Chicago

Worst:
The Wiz
A Chorus Line
Godspell

[VanHassle]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 1:21pm

Best:
Sound of Music
Wizard of Oz
Singing in the Rain
Meet Me In St. Louis
Mary Poppins
The Music Man

Worst:
Tommy
JC Superstar
Grease 2
State Fair (1962 w/ Ann Margret)

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 1:27pm

I'll go with 5 of each:

BEST
WEST SIDE STORY
THE KING & I
CABARET
HAIR
GREASE

WORST:
A CHORUS LINE
THE WIZ
EVITA
FINIAN'S RAINBOW
THE BOYFRIEND

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 1:39pm

Best:
Sound of Music
West Side Story
The Music Man
Oklahoma
The King and I
Show Boat (1936)

Worst:
Godspell
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Phantom of the Opera
Finian's Rainbow

[justme2]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 1:40pm

Sant,

The Ava Gardner Showboat is the 1950's inferior production. The 1936 Showboat has Irene Dunne and Helen Morgan, et al. It is indeed far superior (excepting the "galavanting around" blackface number that Irene does in the 1936 version...*shudders*) version of the show.

Helen Morgan singing "Bill" is one of the treasures of cinema.

[PerforMeg]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 1:40pm

BEST:
-Sound of Music
-Chicago
-Evita
-The King and I
-Guys and Dolls
-Jesus Christ Superstar (it grows on you if you watch it more than once)
-Grease
-Fiddler on the Roof


WORST:
-Sweet Charity
-Hair
-Phantom of the Opera
-Cabaret
-A Chorus Line
-Damn Yankees
-West Side Story-for the following reasons:
- Switching Gee Officer Krupke and Cool,
-adding men to America-because now people think they have to do that in the stage version
-The singing-if you are going to dub the voices anyway why dub them in a lower key???? (Tony)
-Cutting the Somewhere ballet
-Casting actors who are not at all believeable as teenagers (Natalie Wood being the exception)

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 2:10pm

"1936 Showboat has Irene Dunne and Helen Morgan, et al. It is indeed far superior (excepting the "galavanting around" blackface number that Irene does in the 1936 version...*shudders*)"

Why shudder? This number is very typical of the kind of olio routine that would have been seen on show boats in the 1880s.

Hammerstein always intended the number to reappear at the end of the movie done by Kim and the cast of her play, first as a traditional dance then as a hot jazz number. In teh final editing all the modern section was cut, diluting the point but if you listen you still hear the tune unserscoring the first part of the dance.

The 1936 SHOW BOAT is as close as we will ever get to a document of the original production. Wasn't there supposed to be a boxed DVD set containing all 3 SHOW BOAT films?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 2:16pm

"Why shudder? This number is very typical of the kind of olio routine that would have been seen on show boats in the 1880s"

Because it wasn't as socially acceptable in 1936 to show it, even in film (we certainly wouldn't do that today). But I think Cabaret and A Chorus Line are two of the worst. 'Cabaret' hardly resembled the stage show, and save for a few songs purged most of the score as well.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 2:33pm

BEST: Annie

WORST: The remake of Annie


BEST:
Yentl (although it was a little too long)
Star
Chicago
Summer Stock
Singin' In the Rain
Funny Girl
My Fair Lady

WORST:
Phantom of the Opera
The Wiz
JCS
Hair
Moulin Rouge (it was too overdone for me)

[Sant]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 2:39pm

justme2,

thank you!