There have been quite a few posts about musicals in the past few months. Monday Musicals will return in a few weeks to be sure. This post requirement is a bit strange, it doesn't say "Favorite" musical, it says "Best" musical. Musicals have held fast to a format over many decades, though the successful ones continue to evolve in small ways to adapt to their own time. The best musical, in my opinion of course, is West Side Story. Taking the Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet, bringing it to New York City, and rather than having two families fighting, it's rival gangs of poor white Americans and poor immigrant Puerto Ricans. The Jets and the Sharks fight over territory and attempt to stay out of trouble and stay away from the police. Put to the music of Leonard Berstein, with the longest and best Overture among musicals, it's gorgeous music, that has amazing lyrics by the incomparable Stephen Sondheim. You can't beat that. Here's a scene I love. Enjoy.
4 comments:
WEST SIDE STORY is amazing, to be sure. But, I don't think it was as good as ONCE! That movie was perfect!
Hey cool - I just mentioned this film on the podcast this week.
For my money though, the best musical I've seen is MOULIN ROUGE! That film is so damned hyper and so lavish...it's like a jukebox drenched in every can of paint in the store and fuelled with Red Bull.
Sebastian - too funny you'd mention Once, I was discussing it with friends this weekend and had a hard time remembering why it was good, so I must rewatch it.
Hatter - can't wait to listen. Great description of Moulin Rouge too.
I'm a particularly big fan of the choice they made with 'Juliet' in the end. I think it makes the story superior to Romeo and Juliet because of it.
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