# Puny humans, help me understand and appreciate musical theatre! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642 "2006-11-24T14:52:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/1 "2006-11-24T14:52:54Z")
I’ve been trying to expand my cultural horizons beyond the tentacle monster genre recently. I’ve read up somewhat on the history of the broadway musical, and I’ve seen the following film adaptations, in that order: - My Fair Lady - The Sound of Music - Evita (the one with Antonio Banderas) - The King and I - Chicago (with Catherine Zeta-Jones) - Rent I really them all except for Evita(didn’t like the music) and The King and I(Music was OK, but the plot was odd and didn’t end conclusively). If I ever have time, I need to find myself some dancing lessons so I can sing and dance along. Questions: 1. I understand in the older productions, the music is dubbed on later. What about with the newer ones like Chicago and Rent? 2. Is anyone hotter than Rosario Dawson’s Mimi Marquez? 3. What next? I’ve got South Pacific ready to go as soon as I find time. Comments welcome! ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/2 "2006-11-24T14:54:38Z")
Ahem, that should be I really LIKED them all, of course. Also, forgot to add Grease to the list (which I also enjoyed). I haven;t gotten around to watching the sequel yet. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/3 "2006-11-24T15:00:04Z")
[QUOTE=kawaiitentaclebeast] I’ve been trying to expand my cultural horizons beyond the tentacle monster genre recently. I’ve read up somewhat on the history of the broadway musical, and I’ve seen the following film adaptations, in that order: [/QUOTE] Watch _Little Shop of Horrors_ with Rick Moranis (and Steve Martin, Bill Murray, John Candy, and Christopher Guest in small parts). It’s the best of both worlds for you: a Broadway musical WITH tentacle monsters! ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/4 "2006-11-24T15:08:58Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] Watch _Little Shop of Horrors_ with Rick Moranis (and Steve Martin, Bill Murray, John Candy, and Christopher Guest in small parts). It’s the best of both worlds for you: a Broadway musical WITH tentacle monsters! [/QUOTE] One of the funniest movies of the '80s too. And Exhibit A for people who see crap like _Cheaper by the Dozen_ and wonder why everyone thought Steve Martin was so great. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/5 "2006-11-24T15:19:53Z")
West Side Story Jesus Christ Superstar, the original movie (not the video remake). It’s somewhat dated but still fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/6 "2006-11-24T15:43:16Z")
_South Pacific_ sucks – you can skip it. I was coming in to say _West Side Story_, but **Annie Xmas** beat me to it (natch). If you like your musicals a little surreal, try _All That Jazz, Moulin Rouge!_, and _Hedwig and the Angry Inch_. Hm. Except only the last is an adaptation of a stage show. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/7 "2006-11-24T15:56:41Z")
Rocky Horror Picture Show. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/8 "2006-11-24T16:05:12Z")
Sorry, posting in the morning my memory was a little hazy. but I have actually already seen both West Side Story and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Both were enjoyable, albeit I didn’t really “get” Rocky, and I guess I didn’t like either enough to remember. 😛 I will track down a copy of Little Shop of Horrors post-haste. Jesus Christ and Moulin Rouge too. So many musicals, so little time, oh my… ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/9 "2006-11-24T17:04:21Z")
[QUOTE=kawaiitentaclebeast] 2) Is anyone hotter than Rosario Dawson’s Mimi Marquez? [/QUOTE] Uh, dood? Musical theatre is so _not_ about hot babes. Despite their prominent presence. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/10 "2006-11-24T17:13:59Z")
Who are you, her mother? I needed a third point to make a list and that was all I could think of at the time, Okay? Maybe I’ll stick to Hi Opal next time. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/11 "2006-11-24T18:06:51Z")
Check out _Anything Goes, Fiddler on the Roof,_ and _Oklahoma_ if you can find them, and _Little Shop of Horrors_ is also a favorite, though it’s been mentioned above. Finally, if you’re in a place where you can see musical theatre live, do it; it’s infinitely better shown in the medium it was written for. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/12 "2006-11-24T18:12:15Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Uh, dood? Musical theatre is so _not_ about hot babes. Despite their prominent presence. [/QUOTE] I disagree – if they’re there, they’re there! I’d love to see a live performance of Wicked because I enjoy the soundtrack, and I think Idina Menzel (even with green skin) and Kristen Chenoweth are hot as hell. And it’s hard to get more smolderingly sexy than Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly in Chicago! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/13 "2006-11-24T18:54:45Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] I disagree – if they’re there, they’re there! I’d love to see a live performance of Wicked because I enjoy the soundtrack, and I think Idina Menzel (even with green skin) and Kristen Chenoweth are hot as hell. And it’s hard to get more smolderingly sexy than Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly in Chicago! [/QUOTE] Well yeah, of course…then there are those that don’t get into the movies (like Marin Mazzie or Sutton Foster). I’m just saying that if you ask 100 men why they watch musicals, probably damn few will say, “because the women are so hot.” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/14 "2006-11-24T19:59:28Z")
One of my very favorites is “The Music Man.” So singalongable. Oh, and “Guys and Dolls” is wonderful. I’m into happy musicals, not tragedies, so the “West Side Story” type leaves me cold. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/15 "2006-11-24T20:05:36Z")
**Singin’ In The Rain** , is that considered musical theater, or just a musical? How can movies be musical theater, er, theatre, anyway? In any case, I highly recommend that one. I always think I don’t much like musicals, but I’ve liked most of the ones mentioned here already, especially **Chicago, Jesus Christ Superstar, My Fair Lady, Little Shop of Horrors, West Side Story** and **All That Jazz**. And I’m looking forward to the movie of **Dreamgirls**. [QUOTE=kawaiitentaclebeast] 2) Is anyone hotter than Rosario Dawson’s Mimi Marquez? [/QUOTE] I haven’t seen **Rent** but Nicole Kidman in **Moulin Rouge!** has to be at least equal. I’d go gay for Satine! (though I would make sure she has a complete physical first) She’s a most beautiful hooker with a heart of gold. (Warning that **Moulin Rouge!** is very different from all these others. It’s a period film, but very stylized and somewhat surreal, and it uses modern, sometimes very mainstream, music to help tell the story. It’s one of my all-time favorite films, but it has to be accepted on its own terms, and those terms are often very convoluted and sometimes even goofy. It’s one of those movies you either Get, or you Don’t. And before anyone jumps on my ass, I don’t mean Get as in “understand” but rather, Get as in, it fits well into your psyche. For those who dislike it, MR is a square peg trying to fit into a round slot in their brain. There’s nothing wrong with that. But the movie isn’t bad because of it. Not that anyone has said the movie’s bad…yet…but it is a Love It or Hate It film.) ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/16 "2006-11-24T20:12:36Z")
[QUOTE=kawaiitentaclebeast] Also, forgot to add Grease to the list (which I also enjoyed). I haven;t gotten around to watching the sequel yet. [/QUOTE] Don’t. Trust me. Don’t. Have you seen **Meet Me in St. Louis**? Good music and a couple of completely psychotic little girls to liven things up. Very little dancing, though. **Gypsy** with Natalie Wood is another good one. ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/17 "2006-11-24T20:13:22Z")
_Call Me Madam_ Irving Berlin and his favorite, fabulous leading lady, Ethel Merman, who was never more glorious than in this movie. _Oklahoma!_ The Hollywood film from the 1950’s isn’t bad but if you can, get the tape of the 1999 London stage production with Hugh Jackman as Curly (it’s the role that made him a star) and Shuler Hensley, who is superb as Jud. _Top Hat_ Irving Berlin again, this time with his favorite leading man, Fred Astaire. If you don’t respond to Fred dancing to “Cheek to Cheek” with Ginger Rogers, give up - musicals aren’t for you. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/18 "2006-11-24T20:16:17Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] I’m just saying that if you ask 100 men why they watch musicals, probably damn few will say, “because the women are so hot.” [/QUOTE] You may have a point there. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/19 "2006-11-24T21:44:49Z")
Have to agree with **Marlitharn**. Avoid _Grease 2_. You’d think Michelle Pfeiffer, Lorna Luft, Adrian Zmed, Sid Caesar, Dody Goodman and Eve Arden could camp a movie up enough to make it enjoyable. Not even that galaxy of camp stars can pull this off, though. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642/20 "2006-11-24T21:51:40Z")
Let’s see…_South Pacific_ has some really good songs (I’ve had “Happy Talk” running through my head for three days now), though I’m not sure if anything got cut from the movie version. There’s a concert performance with Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell that I really, really wish had been an actual fully staged version. Reba’s a perfect Nellie, and Mitchell manages to at least equal Ezio Pinza as Emil. There are some really excellent current Broadway shows going, but even with the new resurgence of movie musicals, I doubt we’ll be seeing _The Drowsy Chaperone_ in multiplexes anytime soon. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puny-humans-help-me-understand-and-appreciate-musical-theatre/381642.md?page=2)