This week in class we discussed the first movie musicals and why people love (or hate) them. I don’t believe it is a surprise to anyone when I say that I love musicals, movie or otherwise, but perhaps I should explain why that is. So here we go.
Because where else?
A quick look at the history of the musical shows us that, although musicals evolved from early Greek tragedies and traveling vaudeville troops, the modern idea of a “musical” began with Broadway. There is much debate about what can technically qualify as “the first musical,” but I will begin with Show Boat. Opening in December of 1927, this was not the first success of the team of Harbach, Hammerstein and Kern, but it was a revolutionary production for musical theatre. The Songwriters Hall of Fame explains that “There was quite simply no precedent in the American musical comedy for the complexity and seriousness of purpose of the book, or for the richness and sheer size of the score of this show…” This solidified a beneficial and successful collaboration between the three writers, but Oscar Hammerstein II still felt that his potential was not yet realized. Then he tried his hand at collaborating with composer and writer Richard Rodgers, and Oklahoma! was born. Out of this partnership came hits like Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. Rodgers and Hammerstein became one of the most famous writer/composer teams in musical theatre history. So naturally they moved on to television and film.
You’ve probably heard of a little fairy tale called Cinderella. But you may not have seen 1957’s Cinderella, also known as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, of which the book, lyrics, and teleplay were written by the team. Starring Julie Andrews, Edie Adams, and Howard Lindsay (who is currently working on a remake of The Sound of Music), Cinderella was a TV movie that premiered to more than 107 million people, a feat that would have been impossible with one performance of a stage play. In 1945, Rodgers and Hammerstein had managed to take a previously made movie from 1933 and turn it into a musical movie sensation, or State Fair. These would be the first and last of the duo’s screenplay feats, since Hammerstein died of stomach cancer in 1960, but the two will always be revered and remembered by their numerous awards and theatrical mentees (such as Stephen Sondheim).
This brings us to the movie musical madness of today. With writers and composers such as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and many other masters, this is the age of the movie musical. Just today movie remakes of Into the Woods, Annie, and Little Shop of Horrors are in the works. Television stations (cough, cough, Disney Channel) make TV movie musicals every year (see High School Musical, Lemonade Mouth, and Lovestruck). But why are we suddenly obsessed with musical movies?
The reason why I love musicals is that they are true representatives of the human soul. Now, I know you’re wondering how basketball-bouncing numbers like “Get’cha Head in the Game” have anything to do with the human soul. But ignore the fact that Zac Efron is dancing around in basketball shorts (and by the way, that lovely voice you hear is actually that of actor Drew Seeley) and focus on the lyrics. “Why am I feeling so wrong/My head’s in the game /But my heart’s in the song/She makes this feel so right.” Troy Bolton is actually singing about love, about wanting to follow your heart instead of your head.
Now let’s look at another example: “My Lullaby” from The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride. A much darker example, but nonetheless true. A few lyrics from the song are: “Payback time is nearing/And then our flag will fly/Against a blood-red sky/That’s my lullaby!” Zira has not forgiven Simba for Scar‘s death and lives for the vengeance she sees through Kovu. This song is the summary of her feeling that her only purpose left in life is to kill Simba and make him suffer like she has. Vengeance and pride are driving her existence.
Take away the random bursting into song, and musicals give way to true human emotions. An excellent television example of the ridiculousness of some musical trademarks combined with the honesty it allows the characters is the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, entitled “Once More, With Feeling.” All the people of Sunnydale begin acting like they are in a musical, and Buffy and her gang must stop this wacky behavior before everyone spontaneously combusts (because we all know this is what should happen to people who burst into song and dance). A quick example of the horror:
And a better example of the honesty/ridiculousness combination I mentioned: “Rest in Peace” sung from Spike to Buffy. In a normal conversation Spike would never be so open and honest (and vulnerable) with Buffy, but with the curse of the song upon him he has no choice but to bear his soul to the Slayer.
Often times a song can tell so much more than a conversation or an action, and it’s catchy too. Take away all those points about pure honesty and human emotion, and you’ve still got beautiful singing done by beautiful people (and usually beautiful dancing, too). Seriously, who doesn’t get a smile on their face when they hear “Under the Sea” or “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King“? Musicals are the perfect combination of all the human abilities to create, and I don’t see them dying out any time soon.
Oh, and something to leave you with, in case you have (or haven’t) seen Reefer Madness, another amazing movie musical parody:
Beware! Spoilers 