zoracAnyway, it's invent-a-meme time. We watched Channel 4's 100 Greatest Musicals programme over Christmas, and inevitably it leads to a meme:
The 100 Greatest Musicals
Usual meme rules apply - the ones I've seen are in bold, italics are my comments (snarky or otherwise).
100. Let's Make Love (1960) - And why not... as Barry Norman would say.
99. Miss Saigon
98. Bright Eyes (1934) - burning like fire...
97. The Cotton Club (1984)
96. Lullaby Of Broadway (1951)
95. Breaking Glass (1980)
94. Sholay (1975)
93. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
92. The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (1964)
91. Everyone Says I Love You (1996) - Which I saw on a 'plane...
90. Cry Baby (1990)
89. A Little Night Music (1977)
88. For Me And My Gal (1942)
87. Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
86. There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) - No business I know, anyway.
85. Funny Face (1957)
84. Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
83. A Star Is Born (Barbara Streisand) (1976)
82. Anything Goes - Does the beginning of "Temple of Doom" count?
81. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
80. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
79. All that Jazz (1979)
78. Hedwig And The Angry Inch (2001) - Who knew Harry's owl was a transsexual?
77. Porgy And Bess (1959)
76. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
75. Dil Se (1998)
74. Shall We Dance? (1937)
73. Half A Sixpence (1967)
72. Godspell (1973)
71. Show Boat (1951)
70. Gigi (1958) - Zank 'Eaven zat zis made eet too ze list. A definite favourite with my inner Francophile.
69. The Producers (1968) - I need to see this, for "Springtime for Hitler" if nothing else
68. Kiss Me Kate (1953)
67. Doctor Dolittle (1967)
66. Gypsy (1962)
65. The Jazz Singer (1927)
64. Easter Parade (1948)
63. Jailhouse Rock (1957)
62. Sweet Charity (1969)
61. Scrooge (1970)
60. Top Hat (1935)
59. Funny Girl (1968)
58. An American In Paris (1951)
57. Paint Your Wagon (1969)
56. Meet me in St Louis (1944)
55. Hair (1979)
54. On The Town (1949)
53. Cinderella (1950) - Although I have only the vaguest of recollections of it.
52. Carmen Jones
51. Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
50. Hello Dolly (1969)
49. Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
48. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
47. Summer Holiday (1963)
46. A Chorus Line (1985)
45. A Star Is Born (Judy Garland) (1954)
44. Tommy (1975)
43. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937) - Hi ho, hi ho, 'tis off to work we go, with a bucket and spade and a hand grenade...
42. Starlight Express
41. Carousel (1956)
40. 8 Mile (2002)
39. South Pacific (1958)
38. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - Disney + Tim Burton = Who Knew?
37. White Christmas (1954) - I'm definitely not dreaming of this.
36. Guys and Dolls (1955)
35. Oklahoma (1955)
34. High Society (1956) - Well, did you evah? This is another old favourite, and IMHO deserves to be rather higher up the list than this.
33. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
32. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
31. Blood Brothers
30. Cats (1981-2002)
29. Fame (1980)
28. Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
27. Jungle Book (1967) - Definitely a bear necessity.
26. Annie (1982)
25. Calamity Jane (1953)
24. The Blues Brothers (1980) - Everybody needs a musical to love - or several. As well as the eponynymous brothers, you get James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles - what's not to like?
23. The King And I (1956)
22. Evita (1996) - I do actually have this in my stack of recently-acquired DVDs,
21. Little Shop Of Horrors (1986) - Killer!Alien!Singing!Plant! Steve Martin as a sadistic dentist!
20. Phantom Of The Opera
19. Bugsy Malone (1976) - Yay for splat guns - so much more fun than Nerf guns! Also, the young Jodie Foster effortlessly out-acting anyone and everyone.
18. Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - Never seen it, although I have recorded a track from it - albeit not as a soloist.
17. Cabaret (1972) - This I have seen, both stage show and movie. Visually impressive, and some of the most ... disturbing use of music.
16. Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971) - Oompa-Loompa, dumpity-doo, I've got a little message for you. Oompa-Loompa, dumpity-dee, if you are wise, you'll listen to me. Oh, and Tim Burton remaking with Johnny Depp? Yes!
15. Les Miserables
14. The Lion King (1994) - I may have raved about this once or twice here on this journal. Responsible for more tears than any other movie. Oh, and I really *must* get around to seeing the stage show sometime soon.
13. Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Once More With Feeling - I'll admit that it was a very pleasant surprise to see this in the chart, and so high up (although I would have undoubtedly placed it higher) - especially considering the size of the likely audience compared to the competition. I shall not bore you with further squeeage here.
12. My Fair Lady (1964) - Another classic, this one I came upon only recently, and promptly fell in love with. Also, has much better Cockney accents than an entry a few places higher...
11. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) - This I have also seen both on stage and screen. The former was much more recently, and featured the inimitable Richard O'Brien as the Childcatcher - excellent fun.
10. Moulin Rouge (2001) - Another recent love affair. It's so Big and Colourful and Overt-The-Top and Surreal. I love the use of familiar - and modern - music, most especially the genius of the Elephant Love Medley. Magic.
9. Oliver! (1968)
8. Chicago (2002) - I have to confess that I didn't rate this as highly as other people - perhaps a second viewing is in order.
7. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) - Don't dream it - be it! Yes, I've seen the stage show (twice), and in the theatre with floor show (at least twice), and in costume. Yes, there exists video footage of me doing the time warp. No, I have no shame.
6. Singin' In The Rain (1952) - Yet another great movie - a Hollywood Musical about the making of a Hollywood Musical. Priceless, even without the eponynymous sequence.
5. Mary Poppins (1964)
4. West Side Story (1961) - I have the soundtrack. I know the story and many of the songs. In fact, I've done pretty much everything bar actually seeing it...
3. The Wizard Of Oz (1939) - A veritable tour-de-force of its age, and it stands the test of time incredibly well - although some bits do seem rather twee now, but still good fun.
2. The Sound Of Music (1965) - Surely the Musical's Musical. I didn't actually get around to seeing this until quite an advanced age, but I will freely admit to still loving it. So there.
1. Grease (1978) - ...is the word, as most of the terribly imaginative headlines to stories about this chart point out. Yes, it's a classic. Yes, I've seen a student stage show as well as the movie. A worthy number one? Possibly, but so are many of the other contenders.
Phew! 30% (possibly a bit higher, but if I'm not sure I've seen it, it doesn't really count) - there are a lot of the "classics" that I haven't seen, and plenty of things on that list that I would like to see at some point.
December 30 2003, 09:29:13 UTC 17 years ago
January 4 2004, 05:29:45 UTC 17 years ago