Reviews of Musicals I've Seen Recently

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: This is a fun musical. It reminds me a lot of Oklahoma! Basically a bunch of guys and girls singing and dancing out in Oregon territory in the 1800s. Catchy tunes, and astonishing dance numbers. And Howard Keel, amazing baritone and actor that he is, is of course brilliant. I recommend this as a nice, completely g-rated film that isn't particularly deep but still proves entertaining to watch.

The Producers: Without a doubt the worst musical I have ever seen in my life. In fact, I didn't even get a quarter of the way through it before giving up in disgust. The humor is crude, rude, obnoxious, and quite frankly, not very funny. The plot is...well, stupid, to say the least. The acting is poor quality, and the songs are less than brilliant. Frankly, I don't get why this was such a hit musical. I don't recommend it.

Cabaret: Hmmm...hard to say. Probably the best of all the musicals I list here, but it wouldn't appeal to everyone. There's a lot of material that's...well, scandalous is putting it mildly. It's a pretty dark musical, and the PG rating is very deceiving. But I think that the juxtaposition of the devil-may-care attitude of a thirties nightclub with the rise of the Nazis is very well done. Joel Grey is amazing! I can easily see why he won both the Tony AND the Oscar for his role as the emcee. Anyway, I would recommend the film if you're okay with a lot of inappropriate material, because it's very well done.

Kiss Me, Kate: This is such a classic. Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson are the leads. Love the songs, love the choreography, love the story. A few of my favorite numbers: I hate men; I've come to wive it wealthily in Padua; Tom, Dick, or Harry; Brush up your Shakespeare; and Too darn hot. I recommend this musical for anyone who likes good singing and acting, and Broadway in general!

Shall We Dance?: An old Rogers/Astaire movie. It follows a pretty predictable plotline, but I still like it. The dancing is amazing (what do you expect?), one particularly incredible number including a dance done on roller skates! If you like old movies and a lot of dancing, this is a nice, fun, g-rated musical.

Happy movie-watching!