This past summer two of the most highly awaited movies happened to be from the same unusual genre. It is no coincidence that musicals can captivate any audience, no matter how ridiculous they may seem. This summer, Hairspray"" and ""High School Musical 2"" became two of the most talked about movies of the year.
While ""Hairspray"" succeeded because of its well-known story line - the movie is a remake and a famous Broadway show - ""High School Musical 2"" surprisingly captured the attention of both the average Disney Channel viewer and the average Disney Channel hater.
While some of the scenes may seem ridiculous, the songs are catchy, the characters likeable and the duo of Gabriella and Troy are what many are calling the next Danny and Sandy.
According to multichannelnews.com, the made-for-TV movie broke records on its first viewing and became the most- watched cable show in history with 17.2 million viewers. In fact, in just a year the original ""HSM"" has become a musical on ice as well as a musical on stage in cities across the country. If you enjoyed ""HSM"" and its sequel, you can obviously turn to ""Grease"" to fill your void of summer lovin'. Another lesser known musical with a similar story line is ""Camp,"" a more PG-13 version of the same idea. ""Camp"" deals with more serious issues within the summer camp setting, but the stars of the movie outshine Zac Efron and John Travolta with their outstanding vocals.
Though this may seem like a fad, movie musicals have drawn attention for years, with most people catching on around 2001. The first to hit the big screens that year was ""Moulin Rouge."" Although it didn't receive as much praise as some of the later musicals, it remains one of my favorites.
After that came ""Chicago,"" ""Rent,"" ""The Producers,"" ""Dreamgirls"" and ""Once,"" a lesser known musical and Sundance Film Festival Winner. Although ""The Producers"" was somewhat of a bust despite the winning cast, and ""Rent"" was completely underrated, the other three were Oscar and Sundance winners, respectively, and are must-see modern musicals.
With the recent rash of singing and dancing in the movies, there is often literally more to be desired. People are just waiting for the next musical to come out, but most don't usually think to look back to the past. Although many teens don't take the time to watch them, most of the best musicals were released years ago.
Classics like ""West Side Story,"" ""Annie,"" ""Gigi,"" and, of course, ""My Fair Lady"" can dazzle audiences of any age. Plus, any older Disney cartoon such as ""The Lion King,"" ""The Little Mermaid"" or ""Beauty and the Beast"" might have been made for little kids, but you can put in your old VHS copy any time for a feel-good, happy-ending movie.
