MetaFilter posts tagged with musicals

Eleanor Powell

Joe Beese — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:00:02 -0800

Eleanor Powell was born to dance. Ann Miller - who named Powell as the inspiration for her dancing career - credited the popularity of Powell's late-30s films with helping keeping MGM from bankruptcy. The quality of her dancing even intimidated co-star Fred Astaire - who wrote in his autobiography: She 'put 'em down like a man', no ricky-ticky-sissy stuff with Ellie. She really knocked out a tap dance in a class by herself.

Ozmapolitan

crossoverman — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:59:20 -0800

Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high,
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.

The MGM musical version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz turned 70 this week. It wasn't the first time it was a movie, nor the last time it was a movie or a movie musical. You just keep on keepin' on the road that you choose Don't you give up walking cause you gave up shoes Ease on down, Ease on down the road (come on) Many people read politics into the story, some read queer sexualties into it. Adapted as a radio play in 1908, Oz has been sequalised, reinterpreted, reimagined twice as science fiction and Muppet-ised. So if you care to find me Look to the western sky As someone told me lately - Everyone deserves the chance to fly Gregory Maguire's literary reinterpretation is a parallel novel (and the musical a further interpretation on top of that), while Ruth Plumly Thompson followed Baum's 14 Oz books with 19 novels - the bulk of the "Famous Forty" canon novels. Talk of another film. The Wiki of Oz.

Every time I look at you I don't understand

JustKeepSwimming — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:59:48 -0800

Ted Neeley has made an entire career of playing Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar. He starred in the movie back in 1973, and is currently on tour, still playing Jesus at age 65, almost twice the age of the historical Jesus when he died. Like the character he portrays, Neeley has quite the following, but some wonder if he's too old to play Jesus.

Das Kapital - The Musical

Kirth Gerson — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 06:29:23 -0800

You've read the book, attended the seminars and pondered the accumulation of surplus value – now see the musical.

Gore Verbinski... in Hollywood... with Universal.

crossoverman — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:48:52 -0800

Clue : 60 years, the movie, the books, the TV series, the fan site, the musical, the Harry Potter edition, the movie remake.

My Favourite Things

crossoverman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:40:15 -0800

"When Mr. von Trapp finally returned to take over from his father, Johannes, he had had quite a decade: teaching skiing in Aspen, modeling for Ralph Lauren, surfing in Chile and even making People magazine’s America’s Top 50 Bachelors list in 2001. Recently, he sat in a dark office at the Trapp Family Lodge, the inn his grandmother started, trying to decide what to do with some old curtains..."

- the legacy of the Von Trapp family, made famous (but not rich) by The Sound of Music, now with less singing at the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont. Also, the real story of the von Trapp Family at the US National archives.

Grace Chang

carter — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:44:47 -0800

In the 1960s and 1970s Hong Kong had a thriving film industry, dominated by studios such as Cathay Stu dios. One of Cathay's most fabulous stars was Grace Chang (Ge Lan), referred to by some as the Marlene Dietrich of Hong Kong Chinese cinema. Her greatest hit was The Wild Wild Rose (Ye mei gui zhi lian), based on Bizet's Carmen. The showstopper is her version of Habanera (YT). Another popular film is Mambo Girl. Grace Change home page (in Chinese). More numbers on YouTube (descriptions sometimes uncertain due to my lack of Chinese): Wild Wild Rose (?) Mambo Girl Jajambo Jajambo (song and dance version) Flying Car Song ??? More YT clips of Hong Kong in the 50s and 60s I discovered this music after watching some Wong Kar Wai films a while back.

Y Kant Tori Rite Musicals

crossoverman — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:35:19 -0800

"I don't want to be writing for a fuddy-duddy audience." Tori Amos follows up this year's Comic Book Tattoo (a graphic novel adaptation of 51 of her songs) with a musical version of George MacDonald's The Light Princess for the Royal National Theatre.

A Brimful Of Asha

freshwater_pr0n — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:31:05 -0800

Even if you only have a passing familiarity with Bollywood musicals, Asha Bhosle's voice will be familiar to you. As one of the most sought after playback singers in Bollywood, and an accomplished, versatile musician in her own right, she's reputed to have sung over 12.000 songs and may be the world's most recorded artist. She's certainly one of the most beloved.

When? Ella, When?

bookwo3107 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:02:59 -0800

Finally available on CD is the Original Cast Recording of Sondheim's Evening Primrose. Although other recordings of the score have been made available, this is the first time that the original cast will be heard on a publically released recording. Evening Primrose, based on a John Collier short story published in the 1951 collection Fancies and Goodnights, was written specifically for the television anthology series ABC Stage 67. The original film was destroyed, leaving only a kinescope recording of the program available for viewing at the Museum of Television & Radio branches in New York City and Beverly Hills. Of course, thanks to YouTube, at least some of the performance can be seen from home.

Cher Side Story

adrober — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:57:46 -0800

I don't know about you, but I've always thought West Side Story needed a little extra something. Like Cher doing all the parts. (Part two).

No Day But June 1st

crossoverman — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:29:58 -0800

Nearly 12 Years Old, ‘Rent’ Is to Close. The 1996 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical will close its doors at New York's Nederlander Theatre on June 1st. The 7th longest-running musical in Broadway history, it is based on Puccini's La Boheme and is credited with bringing young people to musical theatre and the invention of Broadway Rush ticketing - it sold its first two rows for $20: first in , first served on the day of the performance. Creator Jonathon Larson didn't live to see the phenomenal success of the show, dying from an aortic anuerysm on the morning of the show's off-Broadway premiere. A feature film version was released in 2005 (trailer) starring most of the Original Broadway Cast - who also reunited for a 10th Anniversary show in 2006, raising two million dollars for the Jonathon Larson Performing Arts Foundation and the New York Theatre Workshop where the show was first performed.

Fiddler on the Prairie

joseph_elmhurst — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 11:18:12 -0800

Fiddler on the prairie. The story of a 1970s high school production of Fiddler on the Roof. The school was in Billings, Montana.

Sorry, No Throbbing Gristle

Alvy Ampersand — Thu, 31 May 2007 11:08:50 -0800

Although Industrial Musicals and their jaunty odes to corporate pride and brand loyalty have seen the same fate as the values they espoused (mostly), goofily earnest and undeniable catchy tunes like Exxon's Up Came Oil♫, General Electric's Make a Woman Out of Your Wife♫, and The Monroe Calculator Company's 1660 & 65♫ are still as potent as all get out! [More songs and albums to help you get your gray flannel funk on inside]

"Someone in a Tree" from 1976 Broadway Show, "Pacific Overtures"

grumblebee — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 13:33:30 -0800

"Someone in a Tree" -- an incedibly rare video from the original, 1976 production of "Pacific Overtures." I grew up listening to an L.P. of these same people perform this same song, but I've never before seen them perform it. I grew up in Southern Indiana, so actually seeing a Broadway show was out of the question. But I loved this song, and -- years later -- I read that it was Stephen Sondheim's favorite of all the songs he ever wrote. Today, I found this video on YouTube and it was like finally seeing someone after being blind for years. I still have chills running up and down my spine. Also: Sondheim forum, online journal, and various gems (and bombs) on youtube -- including the man himself teaching a master class and this 12-year-old's spirited performance!

Legally Blonde on Broadway

ThePinkSuperhero — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 15:05:07 -0800

Broadway.com has been doing a video diary of Legally Blonde: the Musical as it moves toward Broadway. See the first rehearsal with director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell, visit a costume fitting, or catch a sneek peek of the show's pre-Broadway tryout in San Francisco. Legally Blonde starts performance in New York City on April 3rd.

matteo — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 10:36:54 -0800

"Ten Favorite Offbeat Musicals" by Jonathan Rosenbaum

You bet your ass there will be profanity on stage

mathowie — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 22:54:03 -0800

Of course, you've seen Get Your War On the comic strip, but have you seen Get Your War On, the Musical? It's playing in Austin, apparently to rave reviews and sold out shows. They even have photos of a performance.

Omit Needless Musicals

ScottMorris — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 16:56:56 -0800

The Elements of Style, the classic writing manual by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, has been produced as a musical featuring the Omit Needless Words Orchestra.

Robocoprock!

mathowie — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 14:44:10 -0800

A couple years ago, they did SILENCE! the musical version of Silence of the lambs, now they're working on "RoboCop The Musical" with this track uploaded as a preview entitled "Murphy, It's You" performed by RoboCop and Anne Lewis.

Dewey Decimal Dance Break

adrober — Mon, 10 Jan 2005 14:16:31 -0800

Library Musical. "Sometimes, you are moved by such a strong emotion that you can only express it through song. As we learn from musical theatre that emotion can swell up anytime: in a corner deli, on a playground, in an open field--and even at the library."

Death is a primitive concept; I prefer to think of them as battling evil - in another dimension!

keswick — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 20:40:50 -0800

"I must congratulate you on your virtuoso performance, my boy. Centauri is impressed. I've seen 'em come, and I've seen 'em go, but you're the best, my boy. Dazzling! Light years ahead of the competition! Centauri's got a little proposition for you. Are ya interested?"

That's right. The Last Starfighter: The Musical. Can a Planet Of The Apes musical be far behind? What other sci-fi flicks would you like to see a musical made of? And why isn't Carrie Fisher's virtuoso performance from the Star Wars Holiday Special on the new DVD set?

Classic Movie Musicals

hama7 — Sat, 13 Dec 2003 17:48:08 -0800

Classic Movie Musicals.

Who's Who In Musicals

MiguelCardoso — Tue, 30 Sep 2003 11:50:22 -0800

A Pretty URL Is Like A Melody: By a waterfall, I'm calling Who's Who In Musicals, diligently compiled by John Kenrick, a wonderful little resource.

SILENCE!

ColdChef — Fri, 18 Jul 2003 18:26:26 -0800

Silence of the Lambs: The Musical - Featuring the showstopping tune "If I Could Smell Her..." Ummm...you know what? Just click the link.