Having just watched Mamma Mia , set me on thinking why some musical works for me and others not.The classics would be oldies like My Fair Lady,The Sound Of Music and Oliver but my favourite is Hello Dolly for it has a nice balance of singing and dancing. In fact , I used to think that dancing waiters and ladies with parasols defines a musical.
More contemporary musicals would be Moulin Rouge, Perhaps Love and The Phantom Of The Opera , which works for me simply because I love the songs. These films use the 'play within a play' concept, where make-believe and reality is somewhat blurred, so seeing characters burst into songs anytime works too.
And the latest craze is The High School Musicals which I really enjoyed. I think it is brilliant to incorporate ideas from both the classics and the contemporaries, as it has great singing and dancing set in a high school theatre, and is given a fresh feel by adding in some MTV-style hip hop flavour to it.
Sad to say, although I really like ABBA's catchy tunes, I did not really enjoy Mamma Mia. Having established stars like Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth sing and dance is just a little painful on the ears and eyes. And I can't help thinking that I am watching a Bollywood, Greek style musical here. The only part I like is the fresh faced Sophie and her nice singing. A great bore, Mamma Mia should have been just left on stage !
One last thought, with globalisation in the entertainment world, it is only be a matter of time before Bollywood invades into Hollywood. Not that I'm against this , in fact, I think it would be great if the combined talents can produce good entertainment.
