Here’s a random, non-bookish post, but I couldn’t resist taking part in today’s Hype or Like Friday discussion prompt which is: Favorite Musicians / Songs / Musicals. I’m a huge fan of musicals, so I went with that route for today’s post, and will focus on movie musicals.
Hype or Like Friday is a Goodreads group hosted by Jill at Rant and Rave About Books, Larkin at Wonderfilled Reads, and Britt at Geronimo Reads.
And this post is somewhat thematic to books, as the Book of the Month for Hype or Like Friday is This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab.
I’m looking forward to this read and hope I can get it read by the end of the month!
So without further ado, in no particular order, here are my favorite movie musicals:
- Newsies (1992) – What can I say, I grew up in the 90s, and I will forever love Christian Bale because of this movie. Favorite Song: The World Will Know
- Moulin Rouge! (2001) – Baz Luhrmann, Nicole Kidman, and a musical?? Yes, please! This is a magical movie that has everything I love about musicals in it: tragic story, fun songs and sad songs, and also big dance numbers. Favorite Song: Elephant Love Medley
- Calamity Jane (1953) – This musical is just so much fun! Go back to the Wild West with Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok and prepare to laugh and sing the day away. Favorite Song: I Can Do Without You
- The Little Mermaid (1989) – Love this one so much. A lot of this is nostalgia for when the movie first came out and how much I loved it as a kid. These songs stay in my head the longest! Favorite Song: Under the Sea / Poor Unfortunate Souls (I can’t decide!)
- The Sound of Music (1965) – What a transporting, moving experience. I love this movie and can watch it over and over again, when I’m not spinning in circles up high on a hill. Favorite Song: The Lonely Goatherd
- Chicago (2002) – The musical with the least likable characters, but it is great fun. I probably listen to this soundtrack the most of all musicals. Favorite Song: All That Jazz
- Frozen (2013) – I know, I know. It’s so popular, and so many people are tired of it, but I love it. The music, the story, Olaf, I just love it. Favorite Song: Let It Go
- The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – This is a must watch every year at Christmastime for me. I practically have the movie memorized and randomly quote it. Favorite Song: Marley and Marley
- Summer Magic (1963) – This is a little known Haley Mills movie, but it’s a good movie that just barely hints at romance, and it’s a lot of fun. Favorite Song: Flitterin’
- West Side Story (1961) – Oh, Tony and Maria, you break my heart. Not to mention Bernardo. Favorite Song: Tonight Quintet (the one towards the end where they are all singing differently).
And of course, there’s always Beauty and the Beast (1991). I have extremely high hopes for the newest adaptation, and can’t wait to see it! My favorite song from the 1991 movie is Gaston.
There are just some of my favorites, I’ve left a lot off this list! Musicals like Singin’ In the Rain, My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Brigadoon, White Christmas, South Pacific, Carousel, The Music Man, Oliver!, and Annie.
What are your favorite musicals? Will you be seeing Beauty and the Beast in the theaters?
And now that I’ve got all these songs stuck in your head, which musical will you be watching first? I’ve got a hankering to re-watch Newsies.
luvtoread 
Ah I hope you enjoy This Savage Song- it’s a great book! And I *love* musicals too!! Oh gosh I love so many of the ones you listed: Moulin Rouge, Little Mermaid, Frozen, West Side Story and of course anything by the Muppets!! Such a fun post!
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Thanks! So glad to hear This Savage Song is good – I’m looking forward to it!
The Muppets really are so much fun! 🙂 We’re Marley and Marley….whooooaaaaa!
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You’re welcome! YES!!! hehehe
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What an enjoyable blog read! I hummed each song in my head as I read through your list. So much joy in musicals! I recently re-watched “Carousel” and it has a disturbing song about how if you love a man it doesn’t matter how much they hurt you (physically and emotionally). That’s on my list for least favorite except for the lovely song “Walk On.”
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Oops! “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is the correct name…
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Thanks! 🙂 Yeah Carousel’s message is really terrible. I do love the music however, and If I Loved You is one of my favorite musical songs, possibly my favorite love duet from musicals. When Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones hit those high notes it is just so beautiful! But I agree, the message is horrible. I had heard long ago that there was going to be a remake of it, but I wonder if the lousy message made them re-think that remake. Another one with a problematic theme is My Fair Lady. That one always bothered me too, but again, I just adore the music. Just you wait Henry Higgins!!
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Very enjoyable. I love Newsies too, but love the stage version. I love Singing in the Rain, Music Man, Beauty and the Beast, etc. My top two are important to note, which are Les Mis and Wicked and they are neck in neck tied for the top. I love more musicals than the ones I noted here
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Thanks! Newsies is so much fun! I’ve never seen the stage version, but would really love to see it one day! I just adore Les Mis and Wicked. Les Mis is probably my favorite stage musical; I just didn’t care for the movie version of it. I’ve seen it on stage a bunch, and one of the best productions I’ve seen was done by a local high school. Wicked is also a ton of fun – even my husband enjoyed it, and he really can’t stand musicals normally! I also enjoy Sweeney Todd – I’ve seen that on stage a few times and it’s always so inventive how they do the staging on that piece. I probably should’ve included that on this list, as I did really enjoy the movie version of it!
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I fell in love with Les Mis through the movie and fell in love with Wicked by seeing the show on Broadway.
Saw both musicals on stage four times. Wicked (1x on Broadway, 3x in Charlotte: one of those times saw it with my school). Les Mis (3x times at my community college: 1x with family, 2x as an usher, and 4th seeing the stage show was when I saw the show in the West End)
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I think I’ve seen Les Mis the most – I can always listen to that music! I’ve just seen Wicked once and was blown away with the music and the scenery. Such a clever musical! 🙂
My least favorite stage musical that I’ve seen has actually been Rent. I was familiar with the music before I saw the musical, and I love the music, and enjoyed the movie version. I didn’t care for one of the portrayals of a character (it was the role of Mimi), and I think that ruined it for me. Which is a bummer, because that should’ve been an extremely powerful show.
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Ironic that you said your least favorite musical is Rent. Just saying that because I love Rent. I tend to judge the songs before judging the plot and character. I am seeing that musical in September. As a matter of fact, I love Mimi as one of the characters
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Sorry! Re-read my comment and it wasn’t very clear. Rent is a great musical, I do love the music, the songs, & the story, I think it was just the version I saw that was disappointing. I’ve just seen it on stage once, and the gal who played Mimi was the understudy and didn’t have any chemistry with any of the other actors.
I hope you enjoy it when you see it! It should be such a powerful show! It’s one I’d like to see live again at some point!
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Sorry about that. The closest I got to Rent was the filmed final Broadway cast and that Mimi was fantastic. Rent is that musical that some people are confused that I love it
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Yeah, I can see why people would be confused – some of the songs are so different musically than anything out there! I love its uniqueness. Yeah, I really like the Mimi in the original. She’s great!
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My favorite Mimi comes from the last Broadway cast. The biggest reason why people are confused is due to the subject matter. They look at me like I am crazy and they would never expect me to love.
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I bought my ticket for Beauty and the Beast last month, and I’ve been lucky enough to see the live show at Disney World. My favorite song has and always will be Beauty and the Beast. I have the new soundtrack and it’s amazing!
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OOh I haven’t seen the live show! Maybe someday! I just got back from a trip to Disneyland and they were showing an extended preview which basically showed all of the song “Belle”, and the preview was so good I watched it twice 🙂 I am so excited for the movie!
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West Side Story, for sure! Love everything about that movie! Next up would maybe be On the Town…
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Maria, I just met a girl named Maria… ahh so beautiful! Now I want to re-watch it 🙂
I can’t remember if I’ve seen On the Town before, so I must add that to the Netflix queue! Thanks for the recommendation!
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Calamity Jane, Bye Bye Birdie (original), Grease, On Moonlight Bay and By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Pitch Perfect, Eddie and the Cruisers, Bride and Prejudice, Mamma Mia, anything with Elvis… I don’t think I can pick just one. I’m going to sing all day after reading this post 🙂
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Oh wow! Thanks 🙂 Yeah, I was definitely singing to myself as I wrote this, and am singing still!
Some of these you mentioned I haven’t seen (or don’t remember seeing), so I really need to remedy that!
Whip crack-away, whip crack-away, whip crack-away!
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I think I forgot to mention The Pyjama Game!
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