OT Your Favorite songs from musicals?
What are your favorite songs from musicals? Right now for me it as the father of an irascible 13 year old girl, "How do you solve a problem like Maria", ranks very high. Would love to get your favorites.
I love singing Phantom of the Opera in the car, I fancy myself rather suave , but I get shouted down every time.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:14 PM ^
Heh... how well I remember...
I nominate "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror. Perfect family fare!
And since I see Julie Andrews above, try this trippy thing on for size:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLnjlUXXFoU
I always liked The Man of La Mancha and "The Impossible Dream." Maybe tyhat is why I am thinking NC in 2010
March 14th, 2010 at 10:14 PM ^
This isn't exactly what I was expecting on MGoBlog, but I'll play along. Along with Michigan and pro sports, I'm a big fan of musicals, and I've been lucky to see many.
I love all the songs from Les Miserables. Especially "On My Own" and "One Day More." I've seen the show several times, and was also in the pit for it in high school. Amazing experience.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:30 PM ^
and this is precisely why MGoBlog is worth coming to, day after day.
OK, hour after hour.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:12 AM ^
I would have thought it would crash and burn. And here we are on page two, going for three. MGoBlog is like a box of chocolates...
March 14th, 2010 at 10:30 PM ^
Pretty much anything from Avenue Q would do it.
March 15th, 2010 at 12:42 PM ^
And I can't believe "The Internet is for Porn" hasn't been mentioned prominently...
March 14th, 2010 at 11:37 PM ^
I saw Avenue Q on Broadway in New York. I laughed the whole time.
Ave Q will be in Ann Arbor soon, for anyone who's in town. I don't remember the exact date, but it's sometime near the end of the month, early April
March 14th, 2010 at 10:15 PM ^
Words can not express the utter disdain I have for Andrew Lloyd Webber. His cheesetastic, overly-melodramatic writing boils my blood and incapacitates my mind.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:24 PM ^
That a Phantom of the Opera sequel has just opened in London.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:45 PM ^
Revenge of the Phantom?
March 15th, 2010 at 12:10 AM ^
Ugh. I will have to hide all the pointy objects within my reach if ever I hear something from that.
I love the original Phantom (well, it's not really the original, but whatever), but this sequel has "fiasco" written all over it.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:24 PM ^
This song gives me chills every single time I hear it. Below is the most amazing version ever--it's sung by U of M alum Cortney Wolfson.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:27 PM ^
anything from "O Brother Where Art Thou?" living in georgia for so long will somewhat change your perception about country. my family in michigan has even said i developed an accent. good god.
i also like the phantom of the opera. yea so what.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:31 PM ^
of the Opera is one of my favorite musicals of all time, Andrew Lloyd Webber aside. I mean, if you listen to all of his musicals, you'll get bored, but it does mean he has one really good idea.
That being said, I was in The Music Man, Anything Goes, and Les Miserables in high school, and even though I liked being there, I still have a hard time listening to any of them from overexposure.
"Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" and "The Internet is for Porn" from Avenue Q hold special places in my heart.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:39 PM ^
I loved this scene in Chicago. The movie version was pretty cool as well.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:45 PM ^
I certainly hope Disney cartoons count as musicals for the purposes of this question. If so:
There have been a lot of films that have inspired me, each in a specific way that translates to an on-set task. Indiana Jones made me want to be a stuntman. The Thing made me want to do special effects. 28 Days Later made me want to be a director. Evil Dead made me want to be Bruce Campbell.
The only film that has ever made me say GODDAMN I WANT TO EDIT THAT SHIZZ was Disney's Hunchback adaptation. It was this fucking close to being their finest cartoon ever. For real. But they made Phoebus a moron and stuck twenty minutes of those stupid fucking comic relief gargoyles in for no reason and made extra careful to end the film as triumphantly as was feasible with the source material.
Even though the film as a whole frustrates me, the Hellfire sequence is what makes me think it could have been so much more. It's fucking dark, man.
March 15th, 2010 at 12:49 AM ^
let's crank it up 1/2 a notch
. . . and Tom Hulce is from Plymouth. I like "Out There" from Hunchback. It's fun to belt.
I'm attached to a lot of ensemble songs simply because I've done the shows. The big numbers are great--when you're part of a wall of sound in an act-ending number:
"A New Argentina" - Evita
"Comfort and Joy" - Bat Boy
anything from "Pirates of Penzance"
Also a fan of Adam Guettel's work:
"How Glory Goes" - Floyd Collins
anything from "Light in the Piazza"
There are a lot more . . . most music other than show tunes bores the crap out of me. I couldn't name a single currently popular singer or group. Right now I have Next to Normal in the CD player, which has some excellent stuff.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:47 PM ^
"i'm so Tired," Madeleine Kahn's number in Blazing Saddles was a classic.
For you Phantom of the Opera fans/haters, Brian DePalma did a really weird rock version called Phantom of the Paradise back in the 70's, with Paul Williams. It had a great 70's rock soundtrack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n5qVJEg3qA&feature=related
March 14th, 2010 at 10:56 PM ^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWPYqnSNj74 ...............Yeah I know it's not what you think of when you talk about a musical but it is still pretty good none the less.
March 14th, 2010 at 10:58 PM ^
Particularly "Unworthy of Your Love" and "Ballad of Booth" from Assassins and "A Bowler Hat" from Pacific Overtures.
Also, I am way fonder of Chess than it deserves from a quality standpoint.
March 14th, 2010 at 11:08 PM ^
Grease 2: BEST MUSICAL EVER.
March 14th, 2010 at 11:14 PM ^
Anything but "Defying Gravity." I've heard way too many wanna-be Broadway stars sing that as loud as they can while prancing around my dorm's basement during my first two years of college.
March 14th, 2010 at 11:19 PM ^
Music Man
March 15th, 2010 at 12:48 AM ^
Also Cannibal! the Musical. Trey Parker and Matt stone in college before South Park.
March 14th, 2010 at 11:40 PM ^
I have an older sister who is a Musical Theatre Grad from UofM and thus I have been around musicals my whole life (no homo, not that there's anything wrong with that, ... etc.). I have found that the musical Parade has my favorite music tho my favorite song is probably I'd Rather Be Sailing from A New Brain. As for classics, The Street Where You Live" and "Tonight" are good ones.
is incredible as is Bernstein. His music like Gershwin's is American perfection. Loved the movie too. Natalie Wood, JEts v Sharks, it's all good : )
March 14th, 2010 at 11:45 PM ^
Everybody in this thread is gay
March 15th, 2010 at 12:12 AM ^
Self included, I assume?
March 15th, 2010 at 11:14 AM ^
And FAB-U-LOUS!!!!
Tough to choose, but I think I've narrowed it down to 3. Don't make me chose between them.
1a - "If I didn't believe in you" from The Last 5 Years
1b - "Finishing the Hat" from Sunday in the park with George
1c - "Try to Remember" from The Fantastiks
March 14th, 2010 at 11:48 PM ^
Best Song from Les Miserables ( far better music than Phantom)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFbsZu7ZN7A
Others off the top of my head: Showboat/Old Man River, West Side Story/ Maria, and anything by Rogers and Hammerstein.
March 15th, 2010 at 12:27 AM ^
The Confrontation >>>>>> Bring Him Home
EPINION
But yeah, since my Disney comment was not precisely what the OP was asking, Les Miz rules. My favorite musical FO SHO. You're talking to a high school Thenardier understudy right here!
I just can't stop editing this comment. Let's talk about Les Miz, shall we?
-Do You Hear the People Sing?
-Bring Him Home
-On My Own
-One Day More
-Stars
-The Confrontation
-Master of the House
Even Castle on a Cloud is badass! Les Miz! Woo!
March 15th, 2010 at 12:47 AM ^
We are not standing on formalities around here sir, love your input
March 15th, 2010 at 12:51 AM ^
BUT if i am splitting hairs, I like Do you hear the People Sing a tiny bit better as a non-solo song. Solo songs, especially sung by the incredible Colm Wilkinson, on a subject like the death of a son, can't be beat. The last note he hits is perhaps the best musical moment of any musical. I have seen Les Miz on Broadway, Toronto and on tour and it is THE song that brings down the house. Similar to "Oh Danny Boy", if you don't get goosebumps, you don't have a pulse...
March 15th, 2010 at 12:54 AM ^
Colm dominates the high notes
I have to say, Javert's Suicide is my favorite from Les Mis.
Also, +1 for being in Les Mis in High School. I played the rake who accosts Fantine (played by my girlfiend) and has her arrested/One of the friends of the ABC.
Ah, good times.
I have seen Les Mis 8 times... once in NYC, and 7 of the 9 times it played in Detroit. One Day More rips me apart every time I hear it.
I am a huge fan of One Day More as well. For situations like today, when spring practice looms just a sunrise away, it captures the anticipation nicely. For that matter, Tonight from West Side Story does a nice job describing being on the cusp on something amazing.
I'd throw in pretty much all of Jesus Christ Superstar as well, for musical quality + catchiness.
You sir, have just achieved a first in Les Miz history: the placement of "Castle on a Cloud" and "badass" in the same sentence.
However, your taste is largely impeccable, right down to the Disney songs mentioned which are only far and away the best two Disney villain songs ever written.
And might I add "Look Down" or "Work Song" or anything with that basic melody in it, because it hasn't been mentioned and needs to.
while it may be suffering from overexposure on account of middle-aged Scottish singers, "I Dreamed a Dream" is a classic.
(BTW, for those who know French, the original French lyrics to a lot of these songs often go a lot deeper in meaning than their English adaptations, IMO.)