The Great Musical

Tonight we're going to do a short little entry about one of my favorite things... the musical. Not all musicals are good though, some are just plain annoying. So far, the ones I've grown to love are along the lines of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Sweeney Todd, Phantom of the Opera, Nightmare Before Christmas, dark things that are more of an acquired taste. Then again there are the bright airy things like Across the Universe, Chicago and Moulin Rouge. Moulin Rouge is an interesting film, only a couple of the songs are written for the film. The rest are a blend of old and newer songs remixed to fit in with the setting. A lot of people don't realize this unless they're really paying attention. It's a mix of Elton John, Sting, The Beatles, Gloria Estefon, Phil Collins, even Nirvana can be found in this movie if you look hard enough. I don't mean that the three movies mentioned above are bright and airy like happy little disney movies but they're different from the ones mentioned in the beginning. Those involve Tim Curry in drag singing about transvestites, a demon barber who exacts revenge by hacking into peoples necks and walking skeletons and zombies questing for Christmas. Anyway, a musical is a fun thing to watch if it's done properly, I mean Rocky Horror just wouldn't seem right if it was Arnold Schwarzenegger running around in women's undergarments singing "in just seven days I can make you a man." Its actually kind of scary how well Tim Curry plays the role...

One musical that I could never really sit through was Cry Baby. At first I thought it a spoof movie, a joke on musicals, then I found out it was serious. I don't know why I think it's silly and I know if anyone ever reads this they'll attack me but maybe I'll get more readers that way. Anyway, it just seems a little weird, the way the movie plays out. It's just a little too cliche, good girl falls for bad boy, all live happily ever after. Reminds me a little of Grease. Grease was a good one but I don't like how Sandy has to change her appearance for Danny to love her. If he really loved her he would have just accepted her, poodle skirt and all. I know that's not how it plays out in real life but that's another blog for another time. The music of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a bit of rock and dance, Sweeney Todd is dark at some points but cheery in others, Nightmare Before Christmas is just fun and interesting, Chicago's music is 1920's jazz... Oh, how could I have almost forgotten one of the best!?! The Labyrinth. One of Jim Henson's masterpieces featuring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. I don't think Jennifer Connelly actually does any singing in that one... just Bowie and a ton of goblins, but it's still awesome!

I'm getting tired seeing as it's 10:22 pm where I live and this is turning into a long dragging ramble so I'll end it here. I apologize for any and all spelling errors. I'm typing on my laptop and it doesn't have spell check and the spell check offered here doesn't catch everything. Goodnight! -Katie