I think we should 100% try and make pro shots more available, but also think we should adapt musicals that could have stuff added onscreen (beetlejuice or heathers comes to mind) where you can use effects and such not available on stage. Or transitions between scenes like the ones in Tick… Tick… BOOM. I’m honestly surprised we haven’t gotten a beetlejuice movie musical adaptation announcement yet (there’s probably some legal stuff idk about.)
Don't do a full adaptation of Beetlejuice or Heathers. They were ALREADY great films. Do a pro shot, like you said. Anything that was already a great film I am against making into another film. But I love to see pro shots of them. And it is SO MUCH cheaper. They don't need to reach as big an audience to make a profit. I'd be OK with adding a handful of special effects to a pro shot if necessary, though that might ruin the magic of it feeling as close to live theater as you can get.
well my problem with proshots is they are shot like they are a soap... its a stage show.. make the proshot a bit more like theater experience... more wide angles. more full stage shots. less close ups.. i mean look at the waitress proshot...
@@jaquesmerde9146 Haven't seen it yet. It had such a limited release. But I'll watch it on streaming soon. I've been a fan of Adrienne Shelley since the 90s.
Here's something I find baffling: Barbie has musical numbers. The dance numbers were all over the trailers. There was a special "I'm Just Ken" trailer leading up to the release. The dance/musical numbers have been huge. Also, Netflix's Matilda had that big dance craze from its trailer, and Wednesday's dance sequence drove it to be an incredibly successful show (its what inspired me to actually watch it). And yet, musicals don't sell? Maybe it's just how the music numbers are being sold. I don't know.
People don't like musicals because of perception, not because they dislike music in movies. They think characters are going to be singing every line incomprehensibly and it's gonna be cringy over-dramatic stuff.
its the stigma against musicals as a whole. if you were to label Barbie as Barbie:the musical, i guarantee EVERYBODY who went dressed up to the showings would have never boughten tickets.
@fatduckross I get where that comes from, but since the audience weren't really aware they were getting a musical, should we be surprised? Sadly, the box office doing well here might mean that more advertising will go this route. It seems like it will take a cultural shift to make musicals mainstream again.
@@fad23 I agree, the movie didn’t advertise itself as a musical & a lot of people were surprised. But in a public setting, that doesn’t warrant booing and interrupting other people’s experience. And yea, It is unfortunate how they did the advertising. Like a musical was ashamed it was a musical. I think every theatre person expected this reaction from non-theatre people seeing the film :(
I saw Mean Girls last night. The theatre wasn’t full, but the people there seemed to enjoy it! One thing that annoys me (The Color Purple did this too) is how they change the music to be less Broadway and more Pop. The music sounds so different and for me takes away from the power of the storytelling. I’ll continue to support, but these projects would be so much better with the proper support.
Totally agree!!! Between new arrangements, vocal choices, and (i think, unnecessary!) autotune overuse definitely takes away from the overall storytelling
@@Kath_Steeledo you think they will do this to the music when Wicked comes out? Also, two of my fave musicals are 1776 and Doris Day’s Calamity Jane. Have you seen either of those?
I was not aware that Wonka was a musical, until I started to see things about how people were surprised it was a musical. They really hid that fact in the trailers.
Had I known it was a musical I would have gone to see it in a theater, versus my initial reaction of "Do I really want to see Hugh Grant as an oompa-loompa? No."
You were not aware Wonka was a musical? Willy Wonka. With two movies previous to it who have had well known musical numbers? Must've been a shock to you.
I kind of expected Wonka to be a musical considering the other movie versions of Willy Wonka are musicals. I was actually surprised with how much I liked Wonka and the songs!
I’m sad that we can’t just advertise movie musicals for what they are. When In the Heights came out it was my first return to a movie theater since the pandemic and I went on a first date. The guy actually thanked me because it was something he NEVER would have seen but really enjoyed (he listened to the soundtrack after and I believe saw it again). I have no idea what would encourage people to try seeing these movies but I hope the attitude changes. I love a good (or sometimes even a mediocre) movie musical. I don’t want them to go the way of the dodo because they’re not profitable. 😢
I always speak to the screen when someone says that In the Heights underperformed exactly that. It was a hard situation, and bad timing, perhaps. We will never know for sure. But West Side Story lack of a big star might have affected the pushing away besides the whole "we just don't know why the actor that plays Tony is kinda absent" Ansel debacle. However, I appreciated the preference for quality instead of celebrity. I also wonder. If musicals underperform, why we stll make them? I love them, don't get me wrong. But if they are sooo horrible, why studios just don't just record the theaters performances and release them? Wouldn't that be cheaper? I am not a professional, so I could be terribly wrong.
Disney’s adaptation of “Into the Woods” is a prime example of this! I remember heading into the theater to see it as people were coming out and hearing a lot of “I had no idea that was a musical!” 😂 If you are not into MT, you wouldn’t have known since the trailers left most of the songs out. The funny thing is it’s mostly ALL sung! 🤣
I honestly don’t need them to be that good as long as they’re fun. Everyone is critiquing the new mean girls musical movie, but I think all that matters to me is if it’s fun and I have a good time seeing it on screen again.
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN was ripped apart in movie reviews. But people still went to see it. ‘Word of mouth’ shot that film to the top. There were showings specifically so the audience could sing along as lyrics were shown on screen. If a musical is good there’s an audience for it. I had found the soundtrack CD at TARGET a week before the movie came out. So I had listened to the songs many times before I went to the movie. The songs were brilliant. Modern songs the sounded like songs from the time period of the film.
We saw Mean Girls on Broadway 4 times, it’s such a fun show! My musical theatre friends & I rented out a theatre for a private screening. We sang along like it’s Broadway Karaoke Night & used popcorn as confetti. We’ve done this for every other movie musical release, it’s now our tradition.
The worst thing about musicals is when they "sing" regular dialogue. When i check out in the grocery store i dont sing "debit please" nor do i, when getting a haircut bust out with "just square the back" also so many numbers i hear have little to no appeal as a piece of music. Its really poorly written or simplistic to a maddening, almost laughable degree.
i think we need more stuff like Hamilton. where it’s just a production on stage, recorded and sold. I saw the Waitress one yesterday and it was awesome!
Pro-shots, are sadly, very hard to pull off from a logistics standpoint. You have to negotiate special contracts for every performer, rights deals are a mess, and royalties become a thing for all the performers. You also have to film it over several nights, which can throw off the actual theater situation to some degree, so it creates a ton of logistics issues that a lot of producers don't want to deal with (SAG gets involved then you have multiple unions now potentially fighting about it, as well) That said, I agree, I love them and I want more of em, but they aren't going to happen as much as we want them to.
@@michaelhill8697 i have heard that about pro shots! but isn’t there a work around where you would have something classified as a single location movie where the stage is the single location? and not have an audience there to not have to shoot it over multiple nights?
It's really such a shame that West Side Story underperformed. My mom and I ran to the nearest theater that still had it late in its run, and absolutely loved it. The entire cast was phenomenal, but I can see how the casting of a lot of Broadway alums and not really many big stars contributed to its loss of money, even while making a spectacular film. They don't know how to make musicals more mainstream in the right way, and it really sucks when we know studios are capable of gems like these but won't make them because they aren't profitable.
unfortunately I do think the pandemic and time of release affected it a lot. I remember I was quite nervous to go just because the world was still in a weird spot. It might've been the first movie I saw in theatres after covid
@@sabahk That, and debuting against Spider-Man: No Way Home. As I said in a comment above, maybe they should have combined the two. I'd have killed to hear Dr. Strange yelling "POW!!!" a lot.
tbh i think the reason people weren't expecting it as much was because of timothee chalamet being cast. I didn't know he sings until then and people see him as more of a regular actor
I think one of the major reasons Wicked is garnering so much attention is because of its cast. Films like Mean Girls, Wonka and The Colour Purple have more or less B-List actors comprising their casts; yes Tina Fey, Timothee Chalamet and Halle Bailey are all very well known, but the Wicked cast has a global pop music sensation: Ariana Grande. The hype already building around her portrayal of Glinda, attracts her entire fanbase who might not have otherwise been interested in MT. She also not only has experience in musical theatre as seen in 13 (which builds hype around her "big return to musical theatre"), but we know she's a fantastic vocalist, which is not always the case with famous people in movie musicals (cough cough Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia cough cough). Additionally, Jonathan Bailey playing Fiyero has attracted a whole other audience from Bridgerton. These more mainstream actors are setting Wicked up to be both commercially successful but also, possibly good. EDIT: To those saying that the cast of The Colour Purple aren't B-list actors, I just wanna clarify, and say that I agree with you. Taraji P. Henson, Fantasia, H.E.R, Corey Hawkins, the list goes on; they're all A-list actors. The difference between them and the cast of Wicked is that their appeal is more specific to Americans. Ask anyone from Australia or New Zealand (where I'm from) whether they've heard of some of the cast of The Colour Purple and they most likely wouldn't as celebrity culture only exists here as an extension of American media (I'm not sure if the same can be said for other countries outside the US, but this is just my experience). Ariana Grande's popularity is a lot less secluded to the States. For reference, while Fantasia has sold over 3 million records worldwide as of 2023, Ariana Grande has sold over 100 million. Additionally, Jonathan Bailey of Bridgerton who will be playing Fiyero in Wicked, leads (according to Television Stats) the 118th most popular show online as of January 14th. Danielle Brooks of Orange Is the New Black who will be playing Sofia in The Colour Purple led the 338th most popular show online. It's important to take into account that OITNB released its final season in 2019, while Bridgerton is in its 2nd season and counting, so these rankings are indicative of recent topical releases, however, that's exactly my point; GLOBAL (and that's the keyword here) audiences are more likely to invest in projects with actors and performers that have widespread and/or recent appeal rather than those from older and/or more niche appeal. So yes, whilst the cast of The Colour Purple can be considered A-list actors, their reach is a lot less widespread and topical than the cast of Wicked.
I agree except the actors in the color purple aren’t necessarily B-list within the black community. The Color Purple just has a smaller audience because non black audiences are less likely to support or watch black centered content.
@@avainspired Yeah which is so sad. All the performances was really good in the musical movie. But since it is black centered, some people might just not watch it, which is stupid.
The Color Purple didn't really hide that it was a musical it has many shots of them dancing and songs from the musical playing. Also the cast gives it away - most of the leads are well known singers and or have been in singing roles before. I get that the singing isn't highlighted as much but you can tell.
I think why I was hesitant on watching the color purple is it felt like I have seen it already. While the songs will be different, it looked a lot like the original film and felt it wasn’t needed to be made, in my opinion. I am still interested in seeing it, but not at the top of my list.
@@gabrielleduplessis7388 it feels different. the original is dark but the Broadway musical is closer to the book and doesn't feel as heavy. the new movie feels lighter and doesn't showcase so much abuse
I just saw Mean Girls yesterday and my biggest critique is that it didn't feel like it had its own identity. It felt like a movie musical trying to not be a musical. I mean they spoke through some lyrics that were in the Broadway show. Just sing it!
I agree. I think it was the extreme use of TikTok. They used TikTok as a framing device to work a lot of the songs in, which made it kind of feel like they were afraid of making it too musical. Singing and dancing on TikTok are common. Bursting into song in regular life is not. I’m able to suspend disbelief and imagine a world where people sing and dance, but many people cannot. Also they cut a lot of the more theatrical sound that you’d find on Broadway, making the songs more accessible to the “I only like Hamilton” crowd.
That's so true. I saw it last night and was baffled at how many songs were cut short or completely ommited. It seems like they were trying to remake the original with a sprinkle of the musical lol
@@sarebear7777 I also think one of the issues is they cast a Cady who didn’t have the vocal chops. She was fine for what she was given, but some of the changes were clearly to accommodate her voice.
@@PelafinaLievre I'd say the same for Karen and Gretchen as well. Like what they did was fine, but in comparison to the og Broadway cast, was a bit lackluster 😞 and the rewriting of Meet the Plastics (although fine as its own piece) along with the rewrites/rearrangements of both their solo songs, all just show that they didn't have solid vocalists to do what was needed Still enjoyable, but sad that they basically only trusted 3 characters to sing
@@annalunelli13 I do think the Meet the Plastics rewrite was partially because the introduction of Karen and Gretchen is “theater-y” while they could tweak the music for Meet Regina. Karen did well with Sexy. I just noticed it with Cady because I compared It Roars with What Ifs. The vocal style of the movie song is completely different, a sweet and gentle sound compared to the more powerful vocals of the Broadway song. Also they gave her part in Revenge Party to Damien because it’s another song that requires a strong voice.
Notification Squad! I liked Wonka, In the Heights and West Side Story equally! All had their pros and cons. Same with Tick Tick Boom, Matilda and The Prom. I was hoping to see The Color Purple by now but it’s not playing anywhere closer to my house. But I mainly prefer musicals on stage more than on film
I’ve already seen like half of the mean girls movie musical on tiktok and honestly im kinda disappointed that they didn’t advertise it as a musical? And the fact they pretty much cut the entire musical list from the movie is even sadder :(
As someone who loves musicals, and went and saw In The Heights 3 times in theaters, I think this new marketing strategy is working very well. I think people have a misconception about what happens in musicals, and seeing/ hearing people sing in a trailer feels too much like a concert or a live show that's not live. Marketing the dialogue, and maybe some quick dance numbers makes it look more like a movie rather than an extended performance. They are selling movies after all. Because of that, I personally had no idea Wonka was a musical, and it was a delightful surprise. I've seen that now 3x too. I'm not that interested in seeing Mean Girls, but it's already made back its budget, which is significant. So, yeah, I think this strategy is extremely smart and working to perfection.
Isn’t it possible that the reason movie musicals are underperforming the past few years is because people stopped going to theaters in general? Because the pandemic put people off leaving the house?
I would love more proshots of musicals, but because I am Brazilian and the musical theatre scene here is not as popular as Broadway/WestEnd, the only way I can LEGALLY watch a musical is when they are adapted into a movie. The proshots of "Hamilton" and "Come From Away" were amazing and available here via streaming (but it took a few days for them to make subtitles available). "Waitress", for example, is not available for brazilian audiences. Even the "Mean Girls" film is not in theatres in my city, I'll watch it when it comes out on Paramount+. I know it's disappointing when a musical adaptation is bad (talking to you, "Dear Evan Hansen"), but as a brazilian musical theatre kid, I can only enjoy them as a movie. A proshot would not be as profitable as movie adaptation (Waitress made 5 million dollars at the box office), so the next best thing is a movie. Unless you're from London or New York (or if you're rich), that's all we have. So, I hope they keep making movie versions of musicals because without RENT I don't think I would've even come out of the closet...
Oh my god, yes! I managed to see it, but in my city there's a single session each day, in a 'special' theatre room that has less seats and is more expensive than the rest. I wonder if the negative reception on the internet from the trailers and people being mad it was a musical (like the few who found out) made the theatres not want to invest
I saw Mean Girls Wednesday and Friday night, and I’m just now realizing that that means I’ve now seen the movie as many times as I’ve seen the musical on Broadway, which doesn’t feel real considering that I feel like I’ve got the whole Broadway musical committed to memory. I have to wonder what the movie could have been if they’d intended to put it in theaters from the start, instead of originally announcing it as a paramount plus original. I wish they’d adapted more of the musical. While I was watching it, I got the feeling like they were reluctant to actually commit to it being a musical. Renee Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey gave great vocal performances, but otherwise the music felt like an afterthought they could not speed through fast enough.
I actually really liked the Mean girls movie, and even my best friend who didn't want to watch it because he doesn't like musicals ended up a Renée Rapp fan lol I guess that's a rare case, but I'm happy, we're going to watch it again next monday
I’m optimistic about the Wicked film. It has some clear differences: it’s actually still running on Broadway, it’s become a Broadway anchor show meaning most “normies” have seen it at one point when visiting NYC, and last but not least they have Ariana Grande- who has so much mainstream appeal. These other ones recently lack a lot of those elements (not to mention I think the timing is off- given global events of the past four years, the exuberance of musicals isn’t super palatable to the general masses, at least temporarily)
I missed you, Kat! I really missed seeing your content! Recently I came out as bisexual and have been crushing on Timothèe Chalamet and Reneè Rapp as well as Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Sophia Woodward, Annaka Fourneret, Jason Maybaum, Milo Manheim, etc. I hope you can accept me.
I am obsessed with movie musicals, especially Disney ones. My favorite Disney movie right now is Encanto. I love all of the songs on the soundtrack. Also, I recently saw Wonka in theaters, and when I heard the first song and I realized it was a musical, I got really excited. I’ve always loved music and watching movies in general, so when they are put together, it just makes me so happy..
My (not-so-professional) theory is that hiding the musical theatre aspect of movie musicals is doing more harm than good. Mislabeling will only result in attracting the wrong audience, leading to negative reviews when the movie is released in theatres. These low reviews then turns away anyone else who would have otherwise gone to see. Additionally, theatre people are turned away by the fact that production companies are hiding their show’s theatre origins. A great example is the viral clip of the audience booing at a Mean Girls screening when Cady starts Stupid with Love.
I was SHOCKED when Timothée Chalamet started singing because I did not go into this movie expecting a musical (that being said in was the best movie of 2023 for me)
It was not as bad as I expected it as a movie! But I feel like if I went in thinking it was musical, I don’t know if I would’ve thought it was as good. It’s a really good movie! But I don’t know if I would say it was a good musical. Still enjoyed it though!!!
@@iHeardYourVoiceInADream yeah the songs weren’t what one would expect from a true musical but it was such a fun movie with equally fun songs that I didn’t mind
I think in the heights and west side story didn’t perform well because they were released during Covid. A time people were still not really going to theaters. Also west side story has all the controversy surrounding ansel elgort. Which made their press tour so much smaller than what it could have been.
Another thing Wicked has going for it, both for pressure purposes and excitement, is that some of us have been waiting for 15 years for it. Not kidding. I first saw an IMDB page for it in high school and I’m in my 30s. Back then it was still theoretically possible for Idina and Kristen to reprise their roles.
Also can't wait to hear you talk about Hazbin Hotel when it comes out next week!! Idk if you know about it but OMFG the Broadway talent they have in this cast is spectacular!!!!
Honestly Wonka proved that the recipe (pun very much intended) still works, sure i didnt know it was one when i went in but it brought that family fun that hasnt been done nearly as well for a long time
I saw Wonka recently and really liked it. I didn’t think I would enjoy it but was pleasantly surprised! But it was so weird to see trailers on tv that didn’t mention it was a musical or have any of the songs, especially when I knew it was a musical. It’s an odd marketing strategy for sure. If they know musicals do so poorly with audiences how are they still green lighting them? I wonder if people think musicals are cringe comes from the DEH movie and the drama around it. And I say that as a DEH fan. There certainly is a perception that musicals are lame which is so sad!!
I didn't really like Mean Girls the movie musical. I was baffled at how many songs were cut short or completely ommited. It seems like they were trying to remake the original with a sprinkle of the musical, lol. I like how they revamped Someone gets Hurt. It worked very well.
I feel like there’s no “used to” make big money movie musicals. I feel like there are always just a few hits that hit hard (Chicago, Moulin Rouge, LaLa Land) and then there’s the rest (Phantom, Rent, In the Heights) and Hollywood can’t seem to figure out the formula to determine how to make them all hit.
I have a love for stage production and film musicals. The both have pros and cons, but I feel movie musicals can be a doorway to talk and get folks into maybe consider seeing some musicals in the original form of being on stage. But if you like one over the other that’s fine. Musicals are just my favorite thing to constantly learn about and explore. Even the bad, gritty and funny.
This is my way of seeing it because I can’t afford to see it on broadway. Would it be like a pro shot? Absolutely. I’m glad my first intro to Hamilton was the pro shot. Slime tutorials aren’t enough.
The thing is when the mean girls movie was first announced it was gonna be released directly to paramount plus but for some reason they decided to release it in theaters instead
I just saw Mean Girls (2024) and I thought it was great. I could hear a lot of people laughing and reacting positively. It seemed like everyone was enjoying it and having a good time.
Haven't seen Mean Girls the movie Musical (because movie tickets are expensive and I'd want to find people to go with me) but I'm debating whether I want to even bother because it seems like they took out most of the things that made the musical fun. They're so focused on hiding it's a musical and making it main-stream appealing that I'd probably only see it for Renee Rapp and Auli'i Cravalho. I listened to the soundtrack and a lot of Cady's songs from the original were among my favorites. They took most of them out, a lot of her parts in the songs are gone, It Roars has been replaced and Stupid with Love has changed massively. Might see it one day just for World Burn because...Renee Rapp.
As someone who watched it for Reneé and Auli'i, I'd say they both made it very worth it, not just vocally, but their entire performances in their solo songs were really good (obviously Reneé has more of those) and the rest imo was fine, enjoyable enough even if you might miss the original songs or stronger vocal performances from the rest of the girls. Jaquel was also wonderful. I'd recommend you to watch it if/when you're able, I had a great time
I just saw Mean Girls. It was beyond my expectations in the sense that it integrated original songs from the musical in an okay way. I was mostly sad that the music was leaning more into the pop genre, rather than sticking with a musical theatre style.
The info on whether or not a movie is advertised as a musical makes sense. However, I wonder if that backfired on the Color Purple (an AMAZING movie!) and Mean Girls because people have thought that they were just remakes and not adaptations of the shows. So for those, it’s a double-edged sword: turn people off with “yet another remake of a movie that did not need to be remade” or with the fact that it’s a musical. With West Side Story, everyone knows that the original from the 50s is a musical (but imagine the opposite: something that was originally a musical adapted to no longer be a musical?), and with In the Heights, I think they were betting on the LMM/Hamilton effect, and of course he is known for being the Broadway guy now. I’m also curious to see how the Mean Girls movie impacts its West End production. It hasn’t opened yet, but the movie comes out in the UK next week. I wonder if it will hurt or help?
Personaly I love movie musicals. Pro shots work but a lot of them feel shaky unless there professionaly done :). I would love to see a professional Pro shot in theaters
I would love more pro shoots. I used to watch a few live streamed ballets at the cinema when they where like £6 a ticket now looking at £20 a ticket which i cant justify when i can sometimes see a live touring show for 20. But live streams oh to be able to watch beetlejuice which will probably never come to the uk whould be amazing. One of the best tv musical shows that was ahead of its time was galavant, i often watch it again and again
Absolutely, and you've hit on a critical point. I'm fascinated by movie musicals and I'm delving into a rather provocative topic for a future episode: the notion that enthusiasts of musical theatre, myself included, might unintentionally be doing a disservice to this art form. I've observed a trend on TikTok where people are commenting on how the energy conveyed through music in films has evolved. Specifically, Mean Girls. Interestingly, when I brought my husband along to watch it, he found the film adaptation more palatable and easier to engage with, which really got me thinking. This reminds me of the dynamic between beloved books and their cinematic adaptations. While some fans celebrate the transition from page to screen, others are left disappointed by the reinterpretation. This, to me, underscores the unique skill set of a screenwriter: the ability to faithfully translate a story from book to film, making the hard decisions about what needs to be altered to resonate with viewers who aren't familiar with the original work. On my channel, Performance Perspective, I often emphasize the importance of direction in movie musicals. Many of these films present their musical numbers in a style reminiscent of music videos, which can sometimes make these moments feel detached or superficial rather than integral parts of the narrative. Achieving the right balance, where a character's portrayal feels authentic and relatable while also capturing the boundless expressiveness of stage performances, is not easy. As members of the musical theatre community-or should I say, cult?-we have a responsibility to critique film adaptations constructively. Our goal should be to champion these adaptations towards success. Yet, if we remain fixated on comparing them to their stage counterparts, we risk stifling their potential. Personally, I'm on a quest to discover how to make a movie musical truly resonate. Simply transplanting a stage production to film misses the chance to broaden the narrative's horizons. Consider how films like "Chicago," "The Last Five Years," “Dream Girls” and "Tick, Tick... Boom!" have paved the way. Moreover, movie musicals have the power to inspire audiences to explore the original shows, much like how a film adaptation can drive people to read the book it was based on.
Don’t see anyone mentioning Matilda movie musical. I wonder how well it did at the box office with a younger target audience? I think they did a fabulous job with the big numbers and I think the story was actually much easier to understand than the stage version. The movie magic really added to the story!
I saw Wonka with my siblings, and when the film started, I turned to my sister and said "Is Timothee Chalamet going to sing?" It hadn't occurred to me until that moment that the film could be a musical, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's just weird marketing choices so that studios can hopefully make more money. Like hiding the fact it's a musical is going to do anything.
Don't know how effectively it will be translated to the stage. La La Land IMO was the perfect movie/musical. Great cast, direction, story line, soundtrack, cinematography, and choreography. Even half of these elements makes a successful production. La La Land had all of them. The planetarium scene, City of Stars, as well as For the Ones Who Dream (Mia's Audition) shall live forever. A love letter to LA and homage to the glory days of the Hollywood MGM musical. It should have definitely won a Best Picture Oscar.
Nooo. I love movie musicals! I say keep them coming lol. I have personally liked and loved a lot of the movies musicals that have recently come out. I also think Wicked is gonna be huge and make so much money or at least I hope so!
Saw the new Mean Girls movie today and I found it disappointing. It just felt like a musical that didn't want to be a musical. So many of the songs felt rushed, cut down, and drained of energy (or just completely altered for no reason). Plus practically all of the act 2 songs were cut out, making it feel like the movie forgot it was a musical halfway through. If you are going to make a musical than you need to go all out with it instead of this half ass thing they did. Stop catering to the people who don't like musicals (cause as long as people are singing they will always hate it anyway) and make it a big bombastic experience.
The films that you mentioned earlier in the video came out before covid and the Advent of streaming services. The current vibe is that most people are only going to spend money on what they consider to be the ideal theatrical, and musicals are pretty hard to sell on that front. Even Broadway is far more niche than it use be and only ever hits the masses once a big show like Hamilton comes along to put the spotlight on it. Speaking of Hamilton, film version of Disney plus was so successful that it managed to beat out many films during award season, so that just proves that it depends on those big musicals.
I was complaining that those three movies felt like they were trying to hide that they were musicals! That being said, I think it's telling that the best "movie musicals" I've seen in the last year or two were Waitress and Come From Away. (In the Heights was fantastic and I hate that it didn't get more love)
I really liked the movie musical of Matilda, even though it was nowhere NEAR as good as the actual stage production. However, I kept seeing videos of people upset that it had “so many songs.” Um guys? It’s a musical. Of course it has a lot of songs. And they even took out like 5 songs for the movie adaptation! I don’t know what people are expecting when they see a musical but I guess they aren’t expecting that there are going to be a bunch of songs…. 🤷🏻♀️
If you saw the recent Matilda not knowing it was a musical, you’re not too bright. Revolting Children was everywhere in the advertising and Hortensia went viral.
Interesting video. Thanks! I love how you mention how movies in the "olden days" were 7 buckis! I'M OLD! I remember when they were 3 bucks!!!! hahahahaha
Two things. If we’re going to have more movie musicals, only Lin-Manuel Miranda should make them. Tick tick boom is one of my favorite movies of all time hugely due to the fact that his creative vision looked AMAZING! I think it’s the best movie musical ever made! The other thing is, this is why I’m terrified of the Wicked movie. I feel like they took way too long to make it first of all and second of all, the reason people love it is because of what it looks like ON STAGE. I just don’t know how well a film is going to translate this also, all the Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater drama I feel like it’s ruining the movie
I went to see Wonka with family not knowing it’s a musical and everyone liked it. It’s doing well in the box office, so unfortunately the sneaky marketing worked.
My brother didn’t know it was a musical and he liked Wonka as much as I did. Before seeing it I avoided the soundtrack except for Pure Imagination because I was anxious to see if the music was going to make or break the momentum.
Thank you for these links. It is a shame the trend is to keep movies being musicals on the DL. I do wish movies could reign in their focus and not make it have to be such blockbuster-level profits. Definitely excited for Wicked! Let's hope it can be the best of both worlds (cues song).
Honestly I really enjoyed Wonka and was not surprised when it was a musical. It was very frustrating how Mean Girls was hiding that it’s a musical adaptation.
I saw Mean Girls last night & a few people would laugh/giggle every time a song started then when the last song started the girl and guy behind me let out a huge sigh. I mean I already knew it was a musical bc I've kept up with the stories and headlines but not everyone is like me. Me & my friends were talking about it the other day & then when we talked about the music one of our friends was like "wait songs? It's a musical?" Even though we were talking about a movie & musical she didn't know it was a movie musical 😂😂 Kath: We have 3 movie musicals in theatres at the moment Me: 3? What? Then you said The Colour Purple & I remembered Australia doesn't get it until the end of the month I feel like we can't compare In The Heights & West Side Story bc it was during Covid times like didn't In The Heights in America get it in cinemas & streaming around the same time? Then also West Side had Ansel Elgort & also people were iffy about going to cinemas during that time too
the first trailer for mean girls has tiny hints that it’s a musical but it definitely wasn’t advertised as one. I also think the stage production isn’t super well loved (i personally love it) so they probably wanted to avoid that negativity
I’m in the middle of rehearsing my first Shakespeare, Cymbeline, (playing Caius Lucius as a badass female military general) and we had our first full run tonight. Watching this was a lovely way to relax
i saw the new mean girls movie musical and it was really good. They kept lots of jokes from the movie and musical. the only thing im sad about is they took out 3/4 of meet the plastics, one of the BELOVED songs (and one of my favorites.) Auli'i cravahlo was amazing and so was renee rapp. i just dont like that they made stupid with love softer than the broadway version. I also liked that they made it diverse without bringing much attention to it. Honorable mention Someone gets hurt reprise, world burn, sexy and revenge party :)
from what i can tell mean girls was originally supposed to be a paramount plus original, it was pushed into theatres as a mix of the writers strike causing a lack of movies actually made for cinemas, and paramount plus not being able to afford another flop because it would probably send them under
i was casually chatting with a girl i just met at the theater for mean girls- she asked me what i was there to see and i told her mean girls, and she told me it threw her for a loop that it was a musical- just shows how the marketing was on this!
I will always love a good movie musical. I do feel we need to go back to make more original ones to keep it fresh. I did see Wonka and I loved the originality and creativity that went into it while paying homage to the original film. I also liked that while Timothy chalamet did not have the best voice, the biggest theatre voice in the world wasn’t needed here. It fit the role, in my opinion. Spielberg made me love West Side Story. Just chef’s kiss all around.
I mean for someone who loves musicals but doesn’t have access to almost any musicals cause I don’t live in the USA and here musicals aren’t really invested in, I want them to keep being made. But I also find it weird how they are being marketed recently
i think one of the problems of musicals being unpopular is studios being aware of that fact and acting in accordance to it. they started hiring people who have experience elsewhere (writing, directing, composing, arranging, performing, anything) in order to try and create something that a general audience will like, but the people they're hiring don't know much about how musicals actually work so we end up with worse quality movie musicals. problems that the general public have with musicals like characters randomly bursting into song which "takes the them out of the story" are heightened because people who have no experience with creating musicals don't know how to do something like smoothly transition from speaking to singing, or even know that it's something that has to be done. studios think that hiring people who are familiar with pop culture will solve their problems but it just makes it worse because they literally aren't hiring people who know what they're doing. i think the trend started in 2012 with les mis and the free tempo thing they did. also, i always see people saying things like "i hate musicals but actually i do like [a few popular/good movie musicals]" but i don't think they actually hate musicals they just hate bad musicals (and also don't realise that hating musicals is like hating all movies and includes everything from annie to sweeney todd). average people still love classic and renaissance disney films even though most of the popular ones are musicals. WSS 2021 and ttB! weren't financial successes but I'm pretty sure i remember seeing non-theatre people saying that they really liked them! studios think that being trendy is what will get people seeing musicals but, really, people just want to see something that's good, which can only be achieved when studios stop shying away from what the something is.
I went to watch Mean Girls on Wednesday at the prescreening with my Theatre Friends. Were doing Mean Girls in the spring and we all seemed to enjoy it even though they cut some songs. But Mean Girls was and is a phenomenal movie highly recommend.
this is so true. i’m a theatre kid so I LOVEEE musicals, but my friend isn’t. we went to see wonka and we didn’t know it was a musical until the first song was performed… 💀
i watched Mean Girls on friday and i'm so disappointed because the musical numbers were so short, you can see that from the short length of the songs (I still can't get over the fact that Meet The Plastics is only 1 minute long). it's like the studios are afraid to do a full musical like we used to have, with lots of performances and big musical scenes.
In the Heights was such a pleasure to watch in theaters. The only reason I haven’t gone back to watch it is because the grandma dies. That part made me so sad.
Mean girls was originally supposed to be on Paramount+ so they were given the budget, equipment, and time span to shoot the movie for the streaming service. They filmed for about 1 month, which is a terrible amount of time, and I don’t know how long pre and post production was. it was changed it a few months ago to be a theatrical release. I haven’t seen the movie yet but I hope the quality is good but I wish they were given the higher budget to produce the product.
I will say TV musicals series have been killing it lately. Schmigadoon, as u said, is amazing, crazy ex girlfriend is always fun to watch, and animation has been doing great job incorporating music into story telling. I highly recommended Centaur world, helluva boss, and hazbin hotel. All them are stacked with broadway voices I’m sure you’d enjoy.
I grew up watching movie musicals and didn't really see a musical live until adulthood. I keep hoping we'll get a new Singin' in the Rain, Little Shop of Horrors or Grease. I feel like we're approaching the movie musical drought of the late 80s. This puts me in mind of Moulin Rouge and how that film seemed to reactivate musical cinema. What was it that made that movie resonate so differently than now?
I feel like this, RUclips video is already out of date since many movies when they are now known as musicals they end up doing well because of theater kids end up going to see it and then highly recommend it to people who we know. Enjoy musicals at least a little bit.
I do think that even if it's not profitable, movies should absolutely be totally frank about being a musical because I personally think there's a musical out there for everyone, but when someone are already sceptical towards musicals, being surprised about something being a musical seems like a way to just make them even more annoyed by musicals. I also feel part of the problem is that musicals as a genre works best either on stage or as an animated movie, because then there is already the suspension of disbelief because it's on a stage or because it's animated, so you leave some expectations of realism behind in a way that doesn't happen quite as easily when there's a movie musical. So while I'm always pleased about new musical movies, I feel that more proshots is a better way to adapt musicals because, even as a person who absolutely loves musicals, musical movies most often is like "I really like them on first viewing, but then I find things that annoy me on repeated viewings" because there are often underwhelming factors that make me feel like the musical works so much better on stage. With that said I still love West Side Story, In the Heights and Tick Tick Boom from 2021 and the thing that they have in common is that they were very honest about being musicals and also focused on that in the marketing and to me, that makes me feel that even if they did underperform financially (something I find sad), they will also be remembered more fondly in time because the people that do love them expected musicals that were proud to be musicals and got what they wanted.
I was a plus one to an early access screening to Wonka and had no clue it was a musical movie. The first scene was a song and I was so frustrated. But I ended up enjoying the movie I just wished they would have advertised it as a musical movie.
Color Purple took a different approach than what you’re saying. All of the color purple trailers literally had non-stop music. Also, if you haven’t seen it, I recommend it 10/10. it’s incredible and the best one of the three that are out now.
I blame the audience for In the Heights' failure. That movie was amazing. I would hate to see such movies disappear simply because the same audience that ate up "Mamma Mia" was too short-sighted to show up for a film featuring performers with actual musical gifts. Maybe ITH wasn't enough of a train wreck to suit them; I dunno.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
🌻The first 100 people to use my promo code KATSTEELE40 will get 40% off their first order of Hungryroot at bit.ly/3Rvacje
I think we should 100% try and make pro shots more available, but also think we should adapt musicals that could have stuff added onscreen (beetlejuice or heathers comes to mind) where you can use effects and such not available on stage. Or transitions between scenes like the ones in Tick… Tick… BOOM.
I’m honestly surprised we haven’t gotten a beetlejuice movie musical adaptation announcement yet (there’s probably some legal stuff idk about.)
This Netflix had a pro shot of Newsies that was fantastic
Agreed!! - coming from someone who lives farrrr away from Broadway and West End.
Don't do a full adaptation of Beetlejuice or Heathers. They were ALREADY great films. Do a pro shot, like you said. Anything that was already a great film I am against making into another film. But I love to see pro shots of them. And it is SO MUCH cheaper. They don't need to reach as big an audience to make a profit.
I'd be OK with adding a handful of special effects to a pro shot if necessary, though that might ruin the magic of it feeling as close to live theater as you can get.
well my problem with proshots is they are shot like they are a soap... its a stage show.. make the proshot a bit more like theater experience... more wide angles. more full stage shots. less close ups.. i mean look at the waitress proshot...
@@jaquesmerde9146 Haven't seen it yet. It had such a limited release. But I'll watch it on streaming soon. I've been a fan of Adrienne Shelley since the 90s.
Here's something I find baffling: Barbie has musical numbers. The dance numbers were all over the trailers. There was a special "I'm Just Ken" trailer leading up to the release. The dance/musical numbers have been huge. Also, Netflix's Matilda had that big dance craze from its trailer, and Wednesday's dance sequence drove it to be an incredibly successful show (its what inspired me to actually watch it).
And yet, musicals don't sell? Maybe it's just how the music numbers are being sold. I don't know.
People don't like musicals because of perception, not because they dislike music in movies. They think characters are going to be singing every line incomprehensibly and it's gonna be cringy over-dramatic stuff.
Barbie should have been a full blown musical
The thing is, matilda was done really faithfully. This works for the musical knowledgeable audience, Mena girls is so far away from what it used to be
its the stigma against musicals as a whole. if you were to label Barbie as Barbie:the musical, i guarantee EVERYBODY who went dressed up to the showings would have never boughten tickets.
same with Disney movies
Hollywood’s aversion to movie musicals is also so interesting considering that just about EVERYTHING was a musical back in its golden age!
I saw mean girls Thursday night. I actually heard someone explaining to their friend that it was based off a Broadway musical during the second song
omg that’s so wild
@@Kath_Steelei saw a video of a crowd booing and gasping when they started singing😭
@@moritzgradesI saw that too, I got secondhand embarrassment for the people booing…
@fatduckross I get where that comes from, but since the audience weren't really aware they were getting a musical, should we be surprised?
Sadly, the box office doing well here might mean that more advertising will go this route. It seems like it will take a cultural shift to make musicals mainstream again.
@@fad23 I agree, the movie didn’t advertise itself as a musical & a lot of people were surprised. But in a public setting, that doesn’t warrant booing and interrupting other people’s experience.
And yea, It is unfortunate how they did the advertising. Like a musical was ashamed it was a musical. I think every theatre person expected this reaction from non-theatre people seeing the film :(
I saw Mean Girls last night. The theatre wasn’t full, but the people there seemed to enjoy it! One thing that annoys me (The Color Purple did this too) is how they change the music to be less Broadway and more Pop. The music sounds so different and for me takes away from the power of the storytelling. I’ll continue to support, but these projects would be so much better with the proper support.
Totally agree!!! Between new arrangements, vocal choices, and (i think, unnecessary!) autotune overuse definitely takes away from the overall storytelling
@@Kath_Steele The autotune drives me nuts!
@@Kath_Steeledo you think they will do this to the music when Wicked comes out? Also, two of my fave musicals are 1776 and Doris Day’s Calamity Jane. Have you seen either of those?
I was not aware that Wonka was a musical, until I started to see things about how people were surprised it was a musical. They really hid that fact in the trailers.
Had I known it was a musical I would have gone to see it in a theater, versus my initial reaction of "Do I really want to see Hugh Grant as an oompa-loompa? No."
@@RCKimmel to be fair. He did great as the oompa loompa.
The editing around it was goo
You were not aware Wonka was a musical?
Willy Wonka.
With two movies previous to it who have had well known musical numbers?
Must've been a shock to you.
No offense but every adaptation of wonka is a musical
I kind of expected Wonka to be a musical considering the other movie versions of Willy Wonka are musicals. I was actually surprised with how much I liked Wonka and the songs!
I’m sad that we can’t just advertise movie musicals for what they are.
When In the Heights came out it was my first return to a movie theater since the pandemic and I went on a first date. The guy actually thanked me because it was something he NEVER would have seen but really enjoyed (he listened to the soundtrack after and I believe saw it again).
I have no idea what would encourage people to try seeing these movies but I hope the attitude changes. I love a good (or sometimes even a mediocre) movie musical. I don’t want them to go the way of the dodo because they’re not profitable. 😢
I always speak to the screen when someone says that In the Heights underperformed exactly that. It was a hard situation, and bad timing, perhaps. We will never know for sure. But West Side Story lack of a big star might have affected the pushing away besides the whole "we just don't know why the actor that plays Tony is kinda absent" Ansel debacle. However, I appreciated the preference for quality instead of celebrity.
I also wonder. If musicals underperform, why we stll make them? I love them, don't get me wrong. But if they are sooo horrible, why studios just don't just record the theaters performances and release them? Wouldn't that be cheaper? I am not a professional, so I could be terribly wrong.
I just discovered thst Mean Girls WAS supposed to be a Paramount+ premiere, but it tested well enough that they opted for a theatrical release
Disney’s adaptation of “Into the Woods” is a prime example of this! I remember heading into the theater to see it as people were coming out and hearing a lot of “I had no idea that was a musical!” 😂 If you are not into MT, you wouldn’t have known since the trailers left most of the songs out. The funny thing is it’s mostly ALL sung! 🤣
At least the actual movie wasn't AWFUL...Mean Girls, on the other hand...
Omg I remember that!!!
Into The Woods was all singsongy in the trailer and is literally directly from an original musical.
Into The Woods was all singsongy in the trailer and is literally directly from an original musical.
Into The Woods was all singsongy in the trailer and is literally directly from an original musical.
I love movie musicals, so I’d like for them to still be made
I have a complicated relationship with them! But I would be open to them
Same here, if there's any good ones, I'd definitely watch it especially for the soundtrack only. I knew Broadway shows through the movies
I honestly don’t need them to be that good as long as they’re fun. Everyone is critiquing the new mean girls musical movie, but I think all that matters to me is if it’s fun and I have a good time seeing it on screen again.
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN was ripped apart in movie reviews. But people still went to see it. ‘Word of mouth’ shot that film to the top. There were showings specifically so the audience could sing along as lyrics were shown on screen. If a musical is good there’s an audience for it.
I had found the soundtrack CD at TARGET a week before the movie came out. So I had listened to the songs many times before I went to the movie. The songs were brilliant. Modern songs the sounded like songs from the time period of the film.
@@cards0486 I listened to the songs ahead of time too. But I didn’t expect to enjoy the movie so much.
We saw Mean Girls on Broadway 4 times, it’s such a fun show! My musical theatre friends & I rented out a theatre for a private screening. We sang along like it’s Broadway Karaoke Night & used popcorn as confetti. We’ve done this for every other movie musical release, it’s now our tradition.
that is ssssooo cute, love that for you!
The worst thing about musicals is when they "sing" regular dialogue. When i check out in the grocery store i dont sing "debit please" nor do i, when getting a haircut bust out with "just square the back" also so many numbers i hear have little to no appeal as a piece of music. Its really poorly written or simplistic to a maddening, almost laughable degree.
i think we need more stuff like Hamilton. where it’s just a production on stage, recorded and sold. I saw the Waitress one yesterday and it was awesome!
The Waitress proshot was sooo well done!
Pro-shots, are sadly, very hard to pull off from a logistics standpoint. You have to negotiate special contracts for every performer, rights deals are a mess, and royalties become a thing for all the performers. You also have to film it over several nights, which can throw off the actual theater situation to some degree, so it creates a ton of logistics issues that a lot of producers don't want to deal with (SAG gets involved then you have multiple unions now potentially fighting about it, as well)
That said, I agree, I love them and I want more of em, but they aren't going to happen as much as we want them to.
Also, if ever there was a cast that should have one of it: Sweeney Todd last year was AMAZING.
@@michaelhill8697 i have heard that about pro shots! but isn’t there a work around where you would have something classified as a single location movie where the stage is the single location? and not have an audience there to not have to shoot it over multiple nights?
It's really such a shame that West Side Story underperformed. My mom and I ran to the nearest theater that still had it late in its run, and absolutely loved it. The entire cast was phenomenal, but I can see how the casting of a lot of Broadway alums and not really many big stars contributed to its loss of money, even while making a spectacular film. They don't know how to make musicals more mainstream in the right way, and it really sucks when we know studios are capable of gems like these but won't make them because they aren't profitable.
the fact that i got extremly sick when i wanted to see it but so true i ay its newsies but west side story lol
unfortunately I do think the pandemic and time of release affected it a lot. I remember I was quite nervous to go just because the world was still in a weird spot. It might've been the first movie I saw in theatres after covid
@@sabahk That, and debuting against Spider-Man: No Way Home. As I said in a comment above, maybe they should have combined the two. I'd have killed to hear Dr. Strange yelling "POW!!!" a lot.
I think it odd that anyone wouldn't think Wonka is a musical considering that it's being sold as a prequel to a film that's also a musical.
tbh i think the reason people weren't expecting it as much was because of timothee chalamet being cast. I didn't know he sings until then and people see him as more of a regular actor
@@sabahkwell I'm actually surprised by his singing he has good singing voice
@@taliagmail.com2005And so was I
I think one of the major reasons Wicked is garnering so much attention is because of its cast. Films like Mean Girls, Wonka and The Colour Purple have more or less B-List actors comprising their casts; yes Tina Fey, Timothee Chalamet and Halle Bailey are all very well known, but the Wicked cast has a global pop music sensation: Ariana Grande. The hype already building around her portrayal of Glinda, attracts her entire fanbase who might not have otherwise been interested in MT. She also not only has experience in musical theatre as seen in 13 (which builds hype around her "big return to musical theatre"), but we know she's a fantastic vocalist, which is not always the case with famous people in movie musicals (cough cough Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia cough cough). Additionally, Jonathan Bailey playing Fiyero has attracted a whole other audience from Bridgerton. These more mainstream actors are setting Wicked up to be both commercially successful but also, possibly good.
EDIT: To those saying that the cast of The Colour Purple aren't B-list actors, I just wanna clarify, and say that I agree with you. Taraji P. Henson, Fantasia, H.E.R, Corey Hawkins, the list goes on; they're all A-list actors. The difference between them and the cast of Wicked is that their appeal is more specific to Americans. Ask anyone from Australia or New Zealand (where I'm from) whether they've heard of some of the cast of The Colour Purple and they most likely wouldn't as celebrity culture only exists here as an extension of American media (I'm not sure if the same can be said for other countries outside the US, but this is just my experience). Ariana Grande's popularity is a lot less secluded to the States. For reference, while Fantasia has sold over 3 million records worldwide as of 2023, Ariana Grande has sold over 100 million. Additionally, Jonathan Bailey of Bridgerton who will be playing Fiyero in Wicked, leads (according to Television Stats) the 118th most popular show online as of January 14th. Danielle Brooks of Orange Is the New Black who will be playing Sofia in The Colour Purple led the 338th most popular show online. It's important to take into account that OITNB released its final season in 2019, while Bridgerton is in its 2nd season and counting, so these rankings are indicative of recent topical releases, however, that's exactly my point; GLOBAL (and that's the keyword here) audiences are more likely to invest in projects with actors and performers that have widespread and/or recent appeal rather than those from older and/or more niche appeal. So yes, whilst the cast of The Colour Purple can be considered A-list actors, their reach is a lot less widespread and topical than the cast of Wicked.
I agree except the actors in the color purple aren’t necessarily B-list within the black community. The Color Purple just has a smaller audience because non black audiences are less likely to support or watch black centered content.
@avainspired AGREED. I wouldn't consider anyone in The Color Purple "B List".
@@avainspired Yeah which is so sad. All the performances was really good in the musical movie. But since it is black centered, some people might just not watch it, which is stupid.
Lol, Timothee is not a B list actor? And what matters in pictures is actors. Not overglorified pop stars because they're famous?
The Color Purple cast was not comprised of B List actors and it's pretty wild to see that written here .
The Color Purple didn't really hide that it was a musical it has many shots of them dancing and songs from the musical playing. Also the cast gives it away - most of the leads are well known singers and or have been in singing roles before. I get that the singing isn't highlighted as much but you can tell.
I think why I was hesitant on watching the color purple is it felt like I have seen it already.
While the songs will be different, it looked a lot like the original film and felt it wasn’t needed to be made, in my opinion. I am still interested in seeing it, but not at the top of my list.
@@gabrielleduplessis7388
it feels different. the original is dark but the Broadway musical is closer to the book and doesn't feel as heavy. the new movie feels lighter and doesn't showcase so much abuse
@@jadeparker2597 ok. That makes me more intrigued. I guess I have to wait it is on streaming services since I missed mu chance in theaters.
I just saw Mean Girls yesterday and my biggest critique is that it didn't feel like it had its own identity. It felt like a movie musical trying to not be a musical. I mean they spoke through some lyrics that were in the Broadway show. Just sing it!
I agree. I think it was the extreme use of TikTok. They used TikTok as a framing device to work a lot of the songs in, which made it kind of feel like they were afraid of making it too musical. Singing and dancing on TikTok are common. Bursting into song in regular life is not. I’m able to suspend disbelief and imagine a world where people sing and dance, but many people cannot.
Also they cut a lot of the more theatrical sound that you’d find on Broadway, making the songs more accessible to the “I only like Hamilton” crowd.
That's so true. I saw it last night and was baffled at how many songs were cut short or completely ommited. It seems like they were trying to remake the original with a sprinkle of the musical lol
@@sarebear7777 I also think one of the issues is they cast a Cady who didn’t have the vocal chops. She was fine for what she was given, but some of the changes were clearly to accommodate her voice.
@@PelafinaLievre I'd say the same for Karen and Gretchen as well. Like what they did was fine, but in comparison to the og Broadway cast, was a bit lackluster 😞
and the rewriting of Meet the Plastics (although fine as its own piece) along with the rewrites/rearrangements of both their solo songs, all just show that they didn't have solid vocalists to do what was needed
Still enjoyable, but sad that they basically only trusted 3 characters to sing
@@annalunelli13 I do think the Meet the Plastics rewrite was partially because the introduction of Karen and Gretchen is “theater-y” while they could tweak the music for Meet Regina. Karen did well with Sexy.
I just noticed it with Cady because I compared It Roars with What Ifs. The vocal style of the movie song is completely different, a sweet and gentle sound compared to the more powerful vocals of the Broadway song. Also they gave her part in Revenge Party to Damien because it’s another song that requires a strong voice.
Notification Squad! I liked Wonka, In the Heights and West Side Story equally! All had their pros and cons. Same with Tick Tick Boom, Matilda and The Prom. I was hoping to see The Color Purple by now but it’s not playing anywhere closer to my house. But I mainly prefer musicals on stage more than on film
I’ve already seen like half of the mean girls movie musical on tiktok and honestly im kinda disappointed that they didn’t advertise it as a musical? And the fact they pretty much cut the entire musical list from the movie is even sadder :(
Bummer
wait already?! thats crazy 💀
As someone who loves musicals, and went and saw In The Heights 3 times in theaters, I think this new marketing strategy is working very well. I think people have a misconception about what happens in musicals, and seeing/ hearing people sing in a trailer feels too much like a concert or a live show that's not live. Marketing the dialogue, and maybe some quick dance numbers makes it look more like a movie rather than an extended performance. They are selling movies after all. Because of that, I personally had no idea Wonka was a musical, and it was a delightful surprise. I've seen that now 3x too. I'm not that interested in seeing Mean Girls, but it's already made back its budget, which is significant. So, yeah, I think this strategy is extremely smart and working to perfection.
“My name is Kat and I really like musicals.”
The anti Paul
Isn’t it possible that the reason movie musicals are underperforming the past few years is because people stopped going to theaters in general? Because the pandemic put people off leaving the house?
Maybe, but there have been other movies in the same time frame that were quite successful so idk
I would love more proshots of musicals, but because I am Brazilian and the musical theatre scene here is not as popular as Broadway/WestEnd, the only way I can LEGALLY watch a musical is when they are adapted into a movie. The proshots of "Hamilton" and "Come From Away" were amazing and available here via streaming (but it took a few days for them to make subtitles available). "Waitress", for example, is not available for brazilian audiences. Even the "Mean Girls" film is not in theatres in my city, I'll watch it when it comes out on Paramount+. I know it's disappointing when a musical adaptation is bad (talking to you, "Dear Evan Hansen"), but as a brazilian musical theatre kid, I can only enjoy them as a movie. A proshot would not be as profitable as movie adaptation (Waitress made 5 million dollars at the box office), so the next best thing is a movie. Unless you're from London or New York (or if you're rich), that's all we have. So, I hope they keep making movie versions of musicals because without RENT I don't think I would've even come out of the closet...
Oh my god, yes! I managed to see it, but in my city there's a single session each day, in a 'special' theatre room that has less seats and is more expensive than the rest. I wonder if the negative reception on the internet from the trailers and people being mad it was a musical (like the few who found out) made the theatres not want to invest
I mean...Wonka hit $500 million and is still going strong, so clearly there's a market for this stuff.
You started talking about Cats and I was just waiting for "Do they have people teeth?" LOL
I saw Mean Girls Wednesday and Friday night, and I’m just now realizing that that means I’ve now seen the movie as many times as I’ve seen the musical on Broadway, which doesn’t feel real considering that I feel like I’ve got the whole Broadway musical committed to memory. I have to wonder what the movie could have been if they’d intended to put it in theaters from the start, instead of originally announcing it as a paramount plus original. I wish they’d adapted more of the musical. While I was watching it, I got the feeling like they were reluctant to actually commit to it being a musical. Renee Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey gave great vocal performances, but otherwise the music felt like an afterthought they could not speed through fast enough.
I actually really liked the Mean girls movie, and even my best friend who didn't want to watch it because he doesn't like musicals ended up a Renée Rapp fan lol I guess that's a rare case, but I'm happy, we're going to watch it again next monday
I’m optimistic about the Wicked film. It has some clear differences: it’s actually still running on Broadway, it’s become a Broadway anchor show meaning most “normies” have seen it at one point when visiting NYC, and last but not least they have Ariana Grande- who has so much mainstream appeal. These other ones recently lack a lot of those elements (not to mention I think the timing is off- given global events of the past four years, the exuberance of musicals isn’t super palatable to the general masses, at least temporarily)
I missed you, Kat! I really missed seeing your content! Recently I came out as bisexual and have been crushing on Timothèe Chalamet and Reneè Rapp as well as Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Sophia Woodward, Annaka Fourneret, Jason Maybaum, Milo Manheim, etc. I hope you can accept me.
I am obsessed with movie musicals, especially Disney ones. My favorite Disney movie right now is Encanto. I love all of the songs on the soundtrack. Also, I recently saw Wonka in theaters, and when I heard the first song and I realized it was a musical, I got really excited. I’ve always loved music and watching movies in general, so when they are put together, it just makes me so happy..
Well it's a prequel to the og film which was a musical so ofc wonka would also be a musical
My (not-so-professional) theory is that hiding the musical theatre aspect of movie musicals is doing more harm than good. Mislabeling will only result in attracting the wrong audience, leading to negative reviews when the movie is released in theatres. These low reviews then turns away anyone else who would have otherwise gone to see. Additionally, theatre people are turned away by the fact that production companies are hiding their show’s theatre origins. A great example is the viral clip of the audience booing at a Mean Girls screening when Cady starts Stupid with Love.
I was SHOCKED when Timothée Chalamet started singing because I did not go into this movie expecting a musical (that being said in was the best movie of 2023 for me)
It was not as bad as I expected it as a movie! But I feel like if I went in thinking it was musical, I don’t know if I would’ve thought it was as good. It’s a really good movie! But I don’t know if I would say it was a good musical. Still enjoyed it though!!!
@@iHeardYourVoiceInADream yeah the songs weren’t what one would expect from a true musical but it was such a fun movie with equally fun songs that I didn’t mind
I just love the fact that you wore a Mean Girls Tshirt in your Hungry Root promo shot. On Wednesdays we wear pink!
Good catch 😉 so fetch! 💅
I think in the heights and west side story didn’t perform well because they were released during Covid. A time people were still not really going to theaters. Also west side story has all the controversy surrounding ansel elgort. Which made their press tour so much smaller than what it could have been.
Two equally beautiful films messed up by the marketing
I love it when you mention Cats because I love the "do they have people teeth" clip 😂😂😂
Another thing Wicked has going for it, both for pressure purposes and excitement, is that some of us have been waiting for 15 years for it.
Not kidding. I first saw an IMDB page for it in high school and I’m in my 30s. Back then it was still theoretically possible for Idina and Kristen to reprise their roles.
The second you said Cats I was waiting for Paul to pop up!🤣🤣🤣
Also can't wait to hear you talk about Hazbin Hotel when it comes out next week!! Idk if you know about it but OMFG the Broadway talent they have in this cast is spectacular!!!!
Honestly Wonka proved that the recipe (pun very much intended) still works, sure i didnt know it was one when i went in but it brought that family fun that hasnt been done nearly as well for a long time
I saw Wonka recently and really liked it. I didn’t think I would enjoy it but was pleasantly surprised! But it was so weird to see trailers on tv that didn’t mention it was a musical or have any of the songs, especially when I knew it was a musical. It’s an odd marketing strategy for sure. If they know musicals do so poorly with audiences how are they still green lighting them?
I wonder if people think musicals are cringe comes from the DEH movie and the drama around it. And I say that as a DEH fan. There certainly is a perception that musicals are lame which is so sad!!
Seeing DEH on stage was good enough for me. The pandemic didn’t put me in the mood for revisiting the story. That’s why I skipped the movie
I didn't really like Mean Girls the movie musical. I was baffled at how many songs were cut short or completely ommited. It seems like they were trying to remake the original with a sprinkle of the musical, lol. I like how they revamped Someone gets Hurt. It worked very well.
I feel like there’s no “used to” make big money movie musicals. I feel like there are always just a few hits that hit hard (Chicago, Moulin Rouge, LaLa Land) and then there’s the rest (Phantom, Rent, In the Heights) and Hollywood can’t seem to figure out the formula to determine how to make them all hit.
All because Hollywood is run by greedy idiots these days
I have a love for stage production and film musicals. The both have pros and cons, but I feel movie musicals can be a doorway to talk and get folks into maybe consider seeing some musicals in the original form of being on stage.
But if you like one over the other that’s fine. Musicals are just my favorite thing to constantly learn about and explore. Even the bad, gritty and funny.
This is my way of seeing it because I can’t afford to see it on broadway. Would it be like a pro shot? Absolutely. I’m glad my first intro to Hamilton was the pro shot. Slime tutorials aren’t enough.
The thing is when the mean girls movie was first announced it was gonna be released directly to paramount plus but for some reason they decided to release it in theaters instead
I just saw Mean Girls (2024) and I thought it was great. I could hear a lot of people laughing and reacting positively. It seemed like everyone was enjoying it and having a good time.
Haven't seen Mean Girls the movie Musical (because movie tickets are expensive and I'd want to find people to go with me) but I'm debating whether I want to even bother because it seems like they took out most of the things that made the musical fun. They're so focused on hiding it's a musical and making it main-stream appealing that I'd probably only see it for Renee Rapp and Auli'i Cravalho. I listened to the soundtrack and a lot of Cady's songs from the original were among my favorites. They took most of them out, a lot of her parts in the songs are gone, It Roars has been replaced and Stupid with Love has changed massively.
Might see it one day just for World Burn because...Renee Rapp.
As someone who watched it for Reneé and Auli'i, I'd say they both made it very worth it, not just vocally, but their entire performances in their solo songs were really good (obviously Reneé has more of those) and the rest imo was fine, enjoyable enough even if you might miss the original songs or stronger vocal performances from the rest of the girls. Jaquel was also wonderful. I'd recommend you to watch it if/when you're able, I had a great time
Save your money… I streamed it and just ended up turning it off. It’s awful.
I just saw Mean Girls. It was beyond my expectations in the sense that it integrated original songs from the musical in an okay way. I was mostly sad that the music was leaning more into the pop genre, rather than sticking with a musical theatre style.
Just saw Mean Girls tonight. Incredible work! Would almost say it was better than the stage.
I felt the same way. I just missed the big dance number with all the lunch trays.
I like movie musicals but yeah i don't like this trend of trying to hide it because that turns people off even more.
I'm not pissed that it wasn't advertised as musical because I already knew since January 2023 that wonka would be a musical movie
The info on whether or not a movie is advertised as a musical makes sense. However, I wonder if that backfired on the Color Purple (an AMAZING movie!) and Mean Girls because people have thought that they were just remakes and not adaptations of the shows. So for those, it’s a double-edged sword: turn people off with “yet another remake of a movie that did not need to be remade” or with the fact that it’s a musical.
With West Side Story, everyone knows that the original from the 50s is a musical (but imagine the opposite: something that was originally a musical adapted to no longer be a musical?), and with In the Heights, I think they were betting on the LMM/Hamilton effect, and of course he is known for being the Broadway guy now.
I’m also curious to see how the Mean Girls movie impacts its West End production. It hasn’t opened yet, but the movie comes out in the UK next week. I wonder if it will hurt or help?
Personaly I love movie musicals. Pro shots work but a lot of them feel shaky unless there professionaly done :). I would love to see a professional Pro shot in theaters
I would love more pro shoots. I used to watch a few live streamed ballets at the cinema when they where like £6 a ticket now looking at £20 a ticket which i cant justify when i can sometimes see a live touring show for 20.
But live streams oh to be able to watch beetlejuice which will probably never come to the uk whould be amazing.
One of the best tv musical shows that was ahead of its time was galavant, i often watch it again and again
Absolutely, and you've hit on a critical point. I'm fascinated by movie musicals and I'm delving into a rather provocative topic for a future episode: the notion that enthusiasts of musical theatre, myself included, might unintentionally be doing a disservice to this art form. I've observed a trend on TikTok where people are commenting on how the energy conveyed through music in films has evolved. Specifically, Mean Girls. Interestingly, when I brought my husband along to watch it, he found the film adaptation more palatable and easier to engage with, which really got me thinking.
This reminds me of the dynamic between beloved books and their cinematic adaptations. While some fans celebrate the transition from page to screen, others are left disappointed by the reinterpretation. This, to me, underscores the unique skill set of a screenwriter: the ability to faithfully translate a story from book to film, making the hard decisions about what needs to be altered to resonate with viewers who aren't familiar with the original work.
On my channel, Performance Perspective, I often emphasize the importance of direction in movie musicals. Many of these films present their musical numbers in a style reminiscent of music videos, which can sometimes make these moments feel detached or superficial rather than integral parts of the narrative. Achieving the right balance, where a character's portrayal feels authentic and relatable while also capturing the boundless expressiveness of stage performances, is not easy.
As members of the musical theatre community-or should I say, cult?-we have a responsibility to critique film adaptations constructively. Our goal should be to champion these adaptations towards success. Yet, if we remain fixated on comparing them to their stage counterparts, we risk stifling their potential. Personally, I'm on a quest to discover how to make a movie musical truly resonate. Simply transplanting a stage production to film misses the chance to broaden the narrative's horizons. Consider how films like "Chicago," "The Last Five Years," “Dream Girls” and "Tick, Tick... Boom!" have paved the way. Moreover, movie musicals have the power to inspire audiences to explore the original shows, much like how a film adaptation can drive people to read the book it was based on.
Don’t see anyone mentioning Matilda movie musical. I wonder how well it did at the box office with a younger target audience? I think they did a fabulous job with the big numbers and I think the story was actually much easier to understand than the stage version. The movie magic really added to the story!
It did pretty well in the UK where it had a theatrical release. Pretty sure it was in Netflixs top 10 around the world for quite some time too.
I saw Wonka with my siblings, and when the film started, I turned to my sister and said "Is Timothee Chalamet going to sing?" It hadn't occurred to me until that moment that the film could be a musical, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's just weird marketing choices so that studios can hopefully make more money. Like hiding the fact it's a musical is going to do anything.
I was ready for the music but my brother wasn’t. To my surprise, he enjoyed the movie as much as I did
Don't know how effectively it will be translated to the stage. La La Land IMO was the perfect movie/musical. Great cast, direction, story line, soundtrack, cinematography, and choreography. Even half of these elements makes a successful production. La La Land had all of them. The planetarium scene, City of Stars, as well as For the Ones Who Dream (Mia's Audition) shall live forever. A love letter to LA and homage to the glory days of the Hollywood MGM musical. It should have definitely won a Best Picture Oscar.
I’m anxious to see how it’ll translate to the stage myself
girl we miss you!! love to see you making another video
Nooo. I love movie musicals! I say keep them coming lol. I have personally liked and loved a lot of the movies musicals that have recently come out. I also think Wicked is gonna be huge and make so much money or at least I hope so!
same I would be very sad if they stopped making movie musicals
Saw the new Mean Girls movie today and I found it disappointing. It just felt like a musical that didn't want to be a musical. So many of the songs felt rushed, cut down, and drained of energy (or just completely altered for no reason). Plus practically all of the act 2 songs were cut out, making it feel like the movie forgot it was a musical halfway through. If you are going to make a musical than you need to go all out with it instead of this half ass thing they did. Stop catering to the people who don't like musicals (cause as long as people are singing they will always hate it anyway) and make it a big bombastic experience.
The films that you mentioned earlier in the video came out before covid and the Advent of streaming services.
The current vibe is that most people are only going to spend money on what they consider to be the ideal theatrical, and musicals are pretty hard to sell on that front.
Even Broadway is far more niche than it use be and only ever hits the masses once a big show like Hamilton comes along to put the spotlight on it.
Speaking of Hamilton, film version of Disney plus was so successful that it managed to beat out many films during award season, so that just proves that it depends on those big musicals.
I was complaining that those three movies felt like they were trying to hide that they were musicals! That being said, I think it's telling that the best "movie musicals" I've seen in the last year or two were Waitress and Come From Away. (In the Heights was fantastic and I hate that it didn't get more love)
The proshot of Come From Away was good. But don’t make me a huge fan
💜thx for another fantastic vid, Kat!💜💜💜
I really liked the movie musical of Matilda, even though it was nowhere NEAR as good as the actual stage production. However, I kept seeing videos of people upset that it had “so many songs.” Um guys? It’s a musical. Of course it has a lot of songs. And they even took out like 5 songs for the movie adaptation! I don’t know what people are expecting when they see a musical but I guess they aren’t expecting that there are going to be a bunch of songs…. 🤷🏻♀️
If you saw the recent Matilda not knowing it was a musical, you’re not too bright. Revolting Children was everywhere in the advertising and Hortensia went viral.
Interesting video. Thanks! I love how you mention how movies in the "olden days" were 7 buckis! I'M OLD! I remember when they were 3 bucks!!!! hahahahaha
Two things. If we’re going to have more movie musicals, only Lin-Manuel Miranda should make them. Tick tick boom is one of my favorite movies of all time hugely due to the fact that his creative vision looked AMAZING! I think it’s the best movie musical ever made! The other thing is, this is why I’m terrified of the Wicked movie. I feel like they took way too long to make it first of all and second of all, the reason people love it is because of what it looks like ON STAGE. I just don’t know how well a film is going to translate this also, all the Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater drama I feel like it’s ruining the movie
I went to see Wonka with family not knowing it’s a musical and everyone liked it. It’s doing well in the box office, so unfortunately the sneaky marketing worked.
My brother didn’t know it was a musical and he liked Wonka as much as I did. Before seeing it I avoided the soundtrack except for Pure Imagination because I was anxious to see if the music was going to make or break the momentum.
I literally already knew it was a musical before going to see it
Thank you for these links. It is a shame the trend is to keep movies being musicals on the DL. I do wish movies could reign in their focus and not make it have to be such blockbuster-level profits. Definitely excited for Wicked! Let's hope it can be the best of both worlds (cues song).
Honestly I really enjoyed Wonka and was not surprised when it was a musical. It was very frustrating how Mean Girls was hiding that it’s a musical adaptation.
Neither was I! And that marketing trick was why I changed my mind about seeing the movie
I already knew wonka was musical movie since January 2023
Movie musicals are made for me! 😂 My musical love started with movie musicals, so I go see them all, often 3 times in the movie theater. ❤
My musical love started with movie musicals too
same the very first musical movie I watched as a kid was sound of music
@@taliagmail.com2005It’s a semi holiday viewing tradition for me. And Julie Andrews was the number one reason I enjoyed it the first time.
The Color Purple movie musical is amazing. Me and my friend cried like multiple times throughout the movie
"Do they have people teeth?" "See ya later, Barone." the musical theatre internet cult greatest hits.
I saw Mean Girls last night & a few people would laugh/giggle every time a song started then when the last song started the girl and guy behind me let out a huge sigh. I mean I already knew it was a musical bc I've kept up with the stories and headlines but not everyone is like me. Me & my friends were talking about it the other day & then when we talked about the music one of our friends was like "wait songs? It's a musical?" Even though we were talking about a movie & musical she didn't know it was a movie musical 😂😂
Kath: We have 3 movie musicals in theatres at the moment
Me: 3? What?
Then you said The Colour Purple & I remembered Australia doesn't get it until the end of the month
I feel like we can't compare In The Heights & West Side Story bc it was during Covid times like didn't In The Heights in America get it in cinemas & streaming around the same time? Then also West Side had Ansel Elgort & also people were iffy about going to cinemas during that time too
the first trailer for mean girls has tiny hints that it’s a musical but it definitely wasn’t advertised as one. I also think the stage production isn’t super well loved (i personally love it) so they probably wanted to avoid that negativity
The color purple was amazing tho! I would even say one of the best musical movies there is. Danielle Brook's performance was phenomenal!!!!
I had no idea any of those three movies were movie musicals
I already knew wonka was a musical before watching it
I’m in the middle of rehearsing my first Shakespeare, Cymbeline, (playing Caius Lucius as a badass female military general) and we had our first full run tonight. Watching this was a lovely way to relax
i saw the new mean girls movie musical and it was really good. They kept lots of jokes from the movie and musical. the only thing im sad about is they took out 3/4 of meet the plastics, one of the BELOVED songs (and one of my favorites.) Auli'i cravahlo was amazing and so was renee rapp. i just dont like that they made stupid with love softer than the broadway version. I also liked that they made it diverse without bringing much attention to it. Honorable mention Someone gets hurt reprise, world burn, sexy and revenge party :)
I remember going to watch Into The Woods in theaters with my cousin and her friends and i had no idea it was a musical 😂😂😂
from what i can tell mean girls was originally supposed to be a paramount plus original, it was pushed into theatres as a mix of the writers strike causing a lack of movies actually made for cinemas, and paramount plus not being able to afford another flop because it would probably send them under
i was casually chatting with a girl i just met at the theater for mean girls- she asked me what i was there to see and i told her mean girls, and she told me it threw her for a loop that it was a musical- just shows how the marketing was on this!
I will always love a good movie musical.
I do feel we need to go back to make more original ones to keep it fresh.
I did see Wonka and I loved the originality and creativity that went into it while paying homage to the original film. I also liked that while Timothy chalamet did not have the best voice, the biggest theatre voice in the world wasn’t needed here. It fit the role, in my opinion.
Spielberg made me love West Side Story. Just chef’s kiss all around.
Wonka is good but no Greatest Showman
I mean for someone who loves musicals but doesn’t have access to almost any musicals cause I don’t live in the USA and here musicals aren’t really invested in, I want them to keep being made. But I also find it weird how they are being marketed recently
i think one of the problems of musicals being unpopular is studios being aware of that fact and acting in accordance to it. they started hiring people who have experience elsewhere (writing, directing, composing, arranging, performing, anything) in order to try and create something that a general audience will like, but the people they're hiring don't know much about how musicals actually work so we end up with worse quality movie musicals.
problems that the general public have with musicals like characters randomly bursting into song which "takes the them out of the story" are heightened because people who have no experience with creating musicals don't know how to do something like smoothly transition from speaking to singing, or even know that it's something that has to be done. studios think that hiring people who are familiar with pop culture will solve their problems but it just makes it worse because they literally aren't hiring people who know what they're doing. i think the trend started in 2012 with les mis and the free tempo thing they did.
also, i always see people saying things like "i hate musicals but actually i do like [a few popular/good movie musicals]" but i don't think they actually hate musicals they just hate bad musicals (and also don't realise that hating musicals is like hating all movies and includes everything from annie to sweeney todd). average people still love classic and renaissance disney films even though most of the popular ones are musicals. WSS 2021 and ttB! weren't financial successes but I'm pretty sure i remember seeing non-theatre people saying that they really liked them! studios think that being trendy is what will get people seeing musicals but, really, people just want to see something that's good, which can only be achieved when studios stop shying away from what the something is.
I went to watch Mean Girls on Wednesday at the prescreening with my Theatre Friends. Were doing Mean Girls in the spring and we all seemed to enjoy it even though they cut some songs. But Mean Girls was and is a phenomenal movie highly recommend.
hairspray, tiktok boom, west side story i love you and this is how movie musicals should be done
this is so true. i’m a theatre kid so I LOVEEE musicals, but my friend isn’t. we went to see wonka and we didn’t know it was a musical until the first song was performed… 💀
i watched Mean Girls on friday and i'm so disappointed because the musical numbers were so short, you can see that from the short length of the songs (I still can't get over the fact that Meet The Plastics is only 1 minute long). it's like the studios are afraid to do a full musical like we used to have, with lots of performances and big musical scenes.
In the Heights was such a pleasure to watch in theaters. The only reason I haven’t gone back to watch it is because the grandma dies. That part made me so sad.
I’ve only seen it twice and I feel you. When the movie came out I lost my Grandpa from my dads side to COVID recently
Mean girls was originally supposed to be on Paramount+ so they were given the budget, equipment, and time span to shoot the movie for the streaming service. They filmed for about 1 month, which is a terrible amount of time, and I don’t know how long pre and post production was. it was changed it a few months ago to be a theatrical release. I haven’t seen the movie yet but I hope the quality is good but I wish they were given the higher budget to produce the product.
I will say TV musicals series have been killing it lately. Schmigadoon, as u said, is amazing, crazy ex girlfriend is always fun to watch, and animation has been doing great job incorporating music into story telling. I highly recommended Centaur world, helluva boss, and hazbin hotel. All them are stacked with broadway voices I’m sure you’d enjoy.
Team girls was supposed to be a paramount+ original and opted to do a theatrical release
I grew up watching movie musicals and didn't really see a musical live until adulthood. I keep hoping we'll get a new Singin' in the Rain, Little Shop of Horrors or Grease. I feel like we're approaching the movie musical drought of the late 80s. This puts me in mind of Moulin Rouge and how that film seemed to reactivate musical cinema. What was it that made that movie resonate so differently than now?
We don’t need a full Grease full remake or Singin In The Rain
I feel like this, RUclips video is already out of date since many movies when they are now known as musicals they end up doing well because of theater kids end up going to see it and then highly recommend it to people who we know. Enjoy musicals at least a little bit.
I do think that even if it's not profitable, movies should absolutely be totally frank about being a musical because I personally think there's a musical out there for everyone, but when someone are already sceptical towards musicals, being surprised about something being a musical seems like a way to just make them even more annoyed by musicals. I also feel part of the problem is that musicals as a genre works best either on stage or as an animated movie, because then there is already the suspension of disbelief because it's on a stage or because it's animated, so you leave some expectations of realism behind in a way that doesn't happen quite as easily when there's a movie musical. So while I'm always pleased about new musical movies, I feel that more proshots is a better way to adapt musicals because, even as a person who absolutely loves musicals, musical movies most often is like "I really like them on first viewing, but then I find things that annoy me on repeated viewings" because there are often underwhelming factors that make me feel like the musical works so much better on stage. With that said I still love West Side Story, In the Heights and Tick Tick Boom from 2021 and the thing that they have in common is that they were very honest about being musicals and also focused on that in the marketing and to me, that makes me feel that even if they did underperform financially (something I find sad), they will also be remembered more fondly in time because the people that do love them expected musicals that were proud to be musicals and got what they wanted.
I was a plus one to an early access screening to Wonka and had no clue it was a musical movie. The first scene was a song and I was so frustrated. But I ended up enjoying the movie I just wished they would have advertised it as a musical movie.
Here’s me a person who loves musicals who gets frustrated when the trailers for them are not musical enough 😂
7:05 “do they have people teeth” will never not make me cackle
Color Purple took a different approach than what you’re saying. All of the color purple trailers literally had non-stop music.
Also, if you haven’t seen it, I recommend it 10/10. it’s incredible and the best one of the three that are out now.
I blame the audience for In the Heights' failure. That movie was amazing. I would hate to see such movies disappear simply because the same audience that ate up "Mamma Mia" was too short-sighted to show up for a film featuring performers with actual musical gifts. Maybe ITH wasn't enough of a train wreck to suit them; I dunno.
Until over a decade I did not see a screen to stage adaptation again after Mamma Mia