Movie musical madness
A rant on the trends of recent movie musicals from your local theater kid
On-screen musicals have a colorful (and when I say colorful, I mean it—the palette of the Cyd Charisse dance sequence in Singin’ in the Rain??!! obsessed!!) presence in cinematic history, yet have lately taken up the role of pariah. Three recent releases—The Color Purple, Wonka, and Mean Girls—were widely marketed without highlighting their musical elements. This means for the ill-informed audience member, one might sit down in the theater under no impression that they are about to see a musical.
For studios, this was a deliberate strategy. Citing the poor box office performance of prior musical releases in the past few years, Paramount’s president of global marketing and distribution Marc Weinstock said in an interview with Variety, “To start off saying musical, musical, musical, you have the potential to turn off audiences. I want everyone to be equally excited.”
While it is certainly true that people have pre-formed opinions about musicals, is all but hoodwinking a viewer into seeing something they’ve been given an intentionally obscured preview of really the answer? Previews can leave some room for surprise, sure, but the surprise being the ENTIRE GENRE OF THE MOVIE seems a bit of a stretch. Maybe I’m biased as someone who is a musical theater fan, but knowing something is a musical could be the very reason I go to see it. Having expectations subverted mid-watch when a character starts singing repeatedly is not necessarily going to be a positive experience (looking at you The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I still had a good time but wOw did I not anticipate how much of the runtime would be songs). Anything to get that ticket revenue I suppose!!
Beyond their dubious marketing, much of my gripes with recent movie musicals are the strange interpretations of source material. For titles that have gone from book/screen to stage to screen again—The Color Purple, Wonka, and Mean Girls all fall into this category—there’s a lot of existing IP to work with. To make something seem ✨fresh✨, new songs are added (often in place of better existing ones), plot lines are updated for modern contexts, and characters are reshaped or reinvented entirely. Unsurprisingly, these changes are made to questionable success. Much like other reboots and remakes, there are only so many ways a story can be reinvented while still being impactful.
To me, modern movie musicals are oftentimes missing that sense of chaotic whimsy that stage musicals (and classic movie musicals) provided. Musicals as a genre are inherently a silly concept—people breaking into song and dance out of nowhere takes a suspension of disbelief, and part of what makes them great is that very notion. As an audience member, you are agreeing to be along for the ride, no matter what nutty place it takes you (like onto a gondola rowed by a masked man on a river underneath an opera house, for instance). What really makes an enjoyable viewing experience for me is dialing up the ridiculousness factor. Go for broke! Give me all the grandeur! I want Theater Camp levels of kookiness!
Get in loser, we’re reviewing Mean Girls
Of the three musicals that were most recently released, I only went to see Mean Girls in theaters. However, I think it serves as a prime example of what modern movie musicals are like, so I’m going to use it as a test case to dissect (read: rant about) the details of the genre.
Broadly, I enjoyed Mean Girls. My expectations weren’t super high going in, and coming out of the theater I was surprised at how much fun I had. It was wacky and full of excess in all the ways I love musicals to be, and had some standout performances. Essentially every note sung by Reneé Rapp and Auliʻi Cravalho were stunning. Jaquel Spivey’s take on Damien had me chuckling the whole time, and Avantika Vandanapu’s Karen was delightfully chaotic.
Did I like it more than the stage musical? No. Did I like it more than the original movie? Also no. Did it need to be made? Please refer to the Reneé Rapp press image above (it was fun, but no). It was an enjoyable enough way to spend an afternoon while munching on popcorn. But as a theater kid and frequent over-analyzer, I would be remiss not to gab about the things that ground my gears.
At the core of musicals are music, and the choices Mean Girls made with the soundtrack were glaring. As someone who loved the score of the stage musical adaptation—which the movie pulled a lot of its songs from—I was excited to see what interpretation the movie made of it (sadly that excitement did not last long). Cady’s powerful opening “It Roars” was swapped with the new "What Ifs" that was meeker and didn’t give the character the same grounding. Damien’s two solo songs from the stage adaptation, “Where Do You Belong” and “Stop,” were cut. Both of these feature full-ensemble dance numbers that I think would’ve brought the show-stopping vibe I wanted more of. Plus, I know Jaquel Spivey would have just absolutely devoured both songs.
Beyond the chosen lineup of songs, what was most disappointing to me was the watered down arrangements. They seemed so pared down in comparison to the Broadway versions. Tempos were slowed, backings were limited to only a few instruments, and the energy of the songs just seemed off. The chief offender here was “Stupid With Love,” which I will just let the below Reel explain:
All that said, what I thought Mean Girls did exceedingly well was bring pure, unadulterated camp. The costumes were fun (albeit a little Fashion Nova-ish) and brought an over-the-top visual flavor. There was physical comedy, prop comedy, and one-liners that genuinely made me giggle. The few numbers that had a lot of choreography were pushed to the nines.
What really secured the camp crown for me was Damien’s dramatic reading of the iCarly theme song. It came out of nowhere but yet was somehow exactly fitting. The movie went for everything and the kitchen sink, and it made seeing it in the theater a grand ol’ goofy time!
You’re green?!!
With the first Wicked trailer (don’t even get me started on the part 1 and 2 of it all) dropped during the Super Bowl, movie musicals are far from in our rearview. Yet even in this trailer, for one of the most famous musicals of all time, we don’t! see! anyone! actually! singing!! You can hear bits of Cynthia Erivo’s take on “Defying Gravity” in the background and the signature Elphaba riff at the very end of the trailer, but on the whole it’s still somewhat trying to eschew the fact that it’s a musical.
I would think that with a pop princess and a Broadway star at the helm, Universal will be more willing to show some actual singing in future trailers as it gets closer to the release date this fall. A “Defying Gravity” music video as an early release at LEAST. We shall see I suppose, but I’m hopeful that a big IP like Wicked will breathe some life back into the movie musical genre.
And who knows? Maybe we’ll see some original movie musicals in the near future to shake things up. What I wouldn’t give to see something new that goes as hard as Moulin Rouge! (Ewan McGregor scream singing on top of an elephant you will always be famous) Perhaps I’ll write it myself and the next newsletter will just be the script…until next time!!
Hey cousin! This article felt like you were reading my mind. My husband didn't know Wonka was a musical, and ten minutes in he looked at me like, "What have you gotten me into?" I will say, I enjoyed Wonka because it was a prequel, so it brought something new to the story. Plus, Timothee Chalamet was great in it. I love movie musicals, and so do some of my children, but it is hard when nothing can compare to the stage play. I've been let down by many a movie adaptation of a musical, from Rent to The Last Five Year. Afterward, I always find myself going back to the original Broadway soundtrack for consolation. I think The Greatest Showman was such a breakout hit because it was a musical made for the screen. Anyway, happy to be subscribed to your newsletter and enjoying your thoughts!
Lisa (granddaughter of Grandma Jean)