The Revival of the Musical

08 July 2008

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This week sees the release of new musical Mamma Mia, a big screen adaptation of the Broadway and West End show, that further highlights the new interest in this film genre.

Since the success of 2002's Chicago, starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Renee Zellweger, which went on to win the Best Picture Oscar there has been a dramatic rise in musical releases as studios have realised that there is still an audience for them.

After the success of The Desert Song in 1929, which was the first screen operetta by Warner Bros and remained the biggest grossing film for a decade, the cinema became over-run with musical as The Show of Shows, Song of the Flame and Whoopee! all hit the big screen.

Although the market for musicals was becoming saturated stars such as Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly were some of Hollywood's most famous.

And although the fifties saw a drop in popularity, preferring instead to try and capture the era of rock and roll, the sixties produced some of the genre's biggest successes as The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady were massive box office and Oscar successes.

In 1964 Julie Andrews won Best Actress for her role as the friendly nanny and My Fair Lady Won Best Picture, a year later The Sound of Music scooped Best Picture.

Despite this box office and Oscar glory studios began to avoid making the musical, instead using music from current rock and pop acts to cash in on the soundtrack aspect of the film industry.

However the musical did remain in cinemas in some shape or form in the Walt Disney movies which still included the traditional musical numbers.

But Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film Moulin Rouge, which follows poet/writer Christian who falls in love with cabaret actress and courtesan Satine, which introduced a younger audience to the musical genre.

Despite the success of Moulin Rouge it was Chicago's Best Picture OScar win in 2002 that really cemented the musical as a genre that could do well both at the box office and with the critics.

The film was the first musical film to win the Best Picture Oscar since Oliver! (1968) and is the second highest grossing musical behind Grease.

Since Chicago a spate of musicals have graced the big screen, including Rent, Romance and Cigarettes and Across the Universe, to name but a few.

But there have been a select handful that have dominated the box office. 2006 brought Grease for a new generation when High School Musical hit television screens, making stars of it's young cast, the third movie will be getting a theatrical release.

Another surprise success came in 2007 when the little known Hairspray held it's own at the box office against the big summer blockbusters The Bourne Ultimatum and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

With an all star cast of John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and introducing Nikki Blonsky the film was set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows a "pleasantly plump" teen named Tracy Turnblad as she simultaneously pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation and was an adaptation of the hit stage musical.

The genre's last success came earlier this year when Johnny Depp became Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street in a musical take on the story, directed by Tim Burton.

For his performance Depp won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, losing out to Daniel Day Lewis.

And there seems no end in sight as Repo! The Genetic Opera and High School Musical 3: Senior Year are set to be released later this year. And in 2010 a remake of Footloose and a musical version of Jekyll and Hyde will be released.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

Mamma Mia is released 11th July