Few of my Favorite Things

I was having a discussion the other day with a dear friend of mine regarding showtunes. I love musicals. They make me happy. The discussion made me ponder my favorite musicals. Here they are in no particular order:



1. The Music Man (1962)- I would have to say this is my favorite musical movie ever. The music is catchy. Robert Preston is perfectly cast as the charismatic Harold Hill. And then you have the whole librarian finding the love of her life story line that, let's face, I can get on board with. I am holding out hope that I will find my Harold Hill. Don't bother watching the remake they did on TV several years ago with Matthew Broderick. It pales in comparison.

2. Mamma Mia (2008)- This is a story of a girl trying to figure out who her father is. Set in the Greek isles to the tunes of Abba, this rousing story makes me happy. The majority of the cast, including Meryl Streep, does a wonderful job of singing, except Pierce Brosnan. The man can't sing to save his life, but is pretty enough, you don't really care.

3. Chicago (2002) - Set in 1920's Chicago, it's the story of women in prison who have killed their husbands. I must admit, I didn't know the story line prior to going to see it and went with a friend who was having marital trouble at the time. I was praying through the whole movie that it wouldn't give her any ideas. It didn't. The cast includes, Catherine Zeta Jones, Renee Zellweger, and Richard Gere (who I would watch read a phone book) who all do a terrific job.

4. Sound of Music ( 1965) - I know I am sounding like a broken record, but I love the songs in this movie. I could probably nearly all of them word for word. To me, if you can remember the songs after the movie is over, it's a great musical.

5. Beauty and the Beast (1991) I know this isn't technically a movie musical but I had to stick it on here anyway. I love the songs of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. They are the best. The songs in the Disney movies have gone down hill since them. It also has my all-time favorite musical number which is "Be Our Guest". (and yes, I can sing that one word for word too).

6. Hairspray (2007) - I checked this little gem out a couple of years ago from the library (some astute librarian thought to order it :) ) I was a fan of the original that the musical was based on. The music, again, is catchy. And the girl that isn't so perfect gets the guy of her dreams. (Can you see a trend here?)

7. South Pacific (1958) - I will admit, I like this movie. I love Rogers and Hammerstein's music. I find Nellie Forbush spunky, which was quite something for the time period this movie was made. Here again, pass on the TV remake they did of this a few years ago. The only good thing about it was Harry was in it. I likes my Harry.

I know have probably forgot some, but this is my list. I am dearly hoping they will make a movie out of Wicked (loved it). I also hope if they are going to remake a movie musical that they remake Hello Dolly. I am just not a big Streisand fan.