Musicals and Classic Movies

Mar 21, 2005
Submitted by: Ericka Pavlak

THE GREENROOM: Musicals return welcome additon to Hollywood landscape

A young blonde walks nervously into a cold jail cell, looking around at her meager surroundings: a thin mattress spread over a rickety bed frame, a small toilet in the corner and a sink that drips. She lies on the bed, eyes wide open, listening to the drip, drip, drip. A prison guard paces the floor above her, each step going boom, boom, boom. She leans on her elbows to look outside the cell. She gets up to move closer, her forehead pressed to the cell door and fingers curled around the bars. A red light shines through bars in the distance, revealing "six merry murderesses" and the "Cellblock Tango" begins.

Musicals, like "Chicago," are finally beginning to return to the big screen, with the most recent newcomer being "The Phantom of the Opera." It is a welcome arrival.

Musicals are a part of our world's culture that should not be forgotten. Musicals have been around since the 1920s and have managed to entertain audiences until now. They have also provided us with some of film history's best movies, such as "The Sound of Music," and they are obviously appreciated because hits like "Moulin Rouge" and "Chicago" made more than $55 million and $170 million at the box office, respectively. They showcase more hard work than regular film acting with performers not only acting but also singing or dancing -- or doing both. Even more difficult is the ability to make the transition into singing and dancing seem natural, not cheesy. This is a whole new level of talent, and it's fun to find out that film actors like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere have these hidden talents that enable them to perform musical numbers like "All That Jazz" and "Razzle Dazzle!"

The new resurgence of musicals and classic movies has made it more important for young people today not to take our past performers for granted. Classic performers like Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland and Fred Astaire should never be forgotten and could certainly never be replaced by any performer today, whether their boobs pop out or not. It would be a shame for our generation's children to grow up never experiencing the beautiful music, lyrics, costumes and dancing involved in musicals. They are not only exciting, funny and, oftentimes, romantic to watch, but they are also wholesome entertainment that we can watch with children, parents or grandparents. Plus, who knows when musical and acting trivia will come in handy? When you finally make it onto "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," your one-time enjoyment of "The Sound of Music" may make you big bucks. Our parents should not be the last generation able to answer questions about these musicals. Those actors and actresses gave us entertainment that is different than most entertainment today, and their movies give us knowledge and culture just by watching them.

After all, who could forget the image of Gene Kelly jumping onto the street lamp, throwing his arms out and singing in the rain? Who doesn't recognize the image of Julie Andrews running through the meadows of Austria and belting out "The Sound of Music," or Judy Garland skipping along the yellow brick road to "The Wizard of Oz"?

Whether young or old, performances like these can be appreciated, and, luckily, musicals and "All that Jazz" can continue to be enjoyed through new box office hits for many years to come.

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