What would you say are the best 10 performances that stand out to you in movie musicals?
Here's mine, in order:
10) Roy Scheider as "Joe Gideon" in ALL THAT JAZZ 9) Catherine Zeta Jones as "Velma Kelly" in CHICAGO Audrey Hepburn as "Eliza Dolittle" in MY FAIR LADY 7) Julie Andrews as "Maria Von Trapp" in THE SOUND OF MUSIC 6) George Chakiris as "Bernardo" in WEST SIDE STORY 5) Gene Wilder as "Willy Wonka" in WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY 4) Dick Van Dyke as "Bert" in MARRY POPPINS 3) Barbra Streisand as "Fanny Brice" in FUNNY GIRL/FUNNY LADY 2) Topol as "Tevye" in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF 1) Ron Moody as "Fagin" in OLIVER!
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
10. Amy Adams in ENCHANTED 9. Jennifer Hudson / Anika Noni Rose in DREAMGIRLS (tie) 8. Donald O'Connor in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN 7. Joel Grey in CABARET 6. Catherine Zeta Jones in CHICAGO 5. Helena Bonham Carter in SWEENEY TODD 4. Nicole Kidman in MOULIN ROUGE 3. Julie Andrews in THE SOUND OF MUSIC 2. Rita Moreno in WEST SIDE STORY 1. Liza Minnelli in CABARET
Honorable mentions: Ellen Greene in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, Judy Garland and Margaret Hamilton in THE WIZARD OF OZ, James Marsden in ENCHANTED, and the cast of MOULIN ROUGE.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
10- Carol Burnett in "Annie" 9- Bea Arthur in "Mame" 8- Gene Kelly in "Singin'in the Rain" 7- Gordon MacRae "Oklahoma" 6- Divine in "Hairspray" 5- Joel Grey in "Cabaret" 4- Julie Andrews in "Victor/Victoria" 3- Judy Garland in ANYTHING, but especially "A Star is Born" 2- Bette Midler in "The Rose" 1- Ann Reinking in "All That Jazz"
Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.- Bette Davis
Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins Elijah Kelly in Hairspray Natalie Wood in West Side Story Laura Michelle Kelly in Sweeney Todd Queen Latifah in Chicago Jamie Campbell Bower in Sweeney Todd George Chakiris in West Side Story Rita Moreno in West Side Story Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz Angela Lansbury in Bedknobs and Broomsticks
and an honorable mention for Tv Musical Performance: Cobie Smulders in the How I Met Your Mother episode "Slap Bet"
Canadians are not afraid of the dark! Ok...we don't love it, but who does?
Judy Garland in "A Star Is Born" Jean Hagen in "Singin' in the Rain" Topol in "Fiddler on the Roof" Julie Andrews in "Mary Poppins" Barbra Streisand in "Funny Girl" Gene Kelly in "An American in Paris" Robert Preston in "The Music Man" Yul Brynner in "The King and I" Liza Minnelli in "Cabaret" Rex Harrison in "My Fair Lady"
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Barbra Streisand- Funny Girl Julie Andrews- Mary Poppins Bjork- Dancer in the Dark Gene Kelly- Singin' in the Rain The Cast of Chicago Ray Bolger- The Wizard of Oz Judy Garland- A Star is Born Rex Harrison - My Fair Lady Ann-Margret- Tommy Liza Minnelli-Cabaret
Off the top of my head (with some help from your lists) and in nor order: Donald O'Connor in Singin' in the Rain John C. Reilly in Chicago Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria Joanna Gleason in Into the Woods (I'm cheating with a DVD) Albert Finney in Scrooge Pat Carrol in The Little Mermaid Fred Astaire in The Band Wagon Rita Moreno in West Side Story Kay Thompson in Funny Face Robert Preston in The Music Man
And a special mention of those in musicals who don't sing: Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain Michael York in Cabaret
I killed the boss, you don't think they're gonna fire me over a thing like that!!!!
10? Ten? Just TEN!?! Can't Do it . . . and sometimes performances are so indelibly interwoven they are impossible for me to separate. Sorry . . . I can't get the list any shorter - well, I could, but don't really want to - you, know . . . apples and oranges.
+Liza Minnelli - Cabaret - I wanted to be Sally Bowles! +Liza Minnelli/Robert DeNiro - New York, New York - I wanted to be Sally Bowles and date a saxophone player. +Liza Minnelli in the opening sequence of Lucky Lady - Uno. Dos. Uno, dos, three, four! - Okay, I just wanted to be Liza! +Roy Scheider/Leland Palmer/Ann Reinking - All That Jazz - Well, maybe I wanted to be Bob Fosse. +Gene Kelly/Debbie Reynolds/Jean Hagen/Donald O'Connor/Cyd Charisse - Singin' in the Rain - The perfect ensemble. +Hermione Gingold/Maurice Chevalier - Gigi - Ladies and Gentlemen, THIS is how it is done. +Johnny Depp/Helena Bonham-Carter - Sweeney Todd - Iconic characters remade through the dedication and genius of two of the best actors working today. +Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls - Better and better with repeated viewings +Julie Andrews - Any Singing Nanny Movie - us kids in the Foster home would march around pretending to be the VonTrapps +Judy Garland - I Could Go On Singing - Wow! +Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney - Any "Let's put on a show" Movie +Jesse Martin - Rent - I didn't know - I just didn't know he could do that. +Margaret O'Brien - Meet Me in St. Louis - a kid playing a kid marvelously. +Queen Latifah - Chicago - give her the Bessie Smith story, already. +Diana Ross - Lady Sings the Blues - the best right off the bat - never lived up to it. +Doris Day - Love Me or Leave Me - she was a much better actress than she was ever given credit for. +Ann Margaret/Roger Daltry/Tina Turner - Tommy - the most beautiful man of his time with a mother who could sing while applying lipstick. And the Acid Queen. +Bert Lahr - The Wizard of Oz - too cuddly for words.
Judy Garland: A STAR IS BORN Robert Preston: THE MUSIC MAN Barbra Streisand: FUNNY GIRL Gene Kelly: SINGIN' IN THE RAIN Fred Astaire: THE BANDWAGON Doris Day: LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME Gwen Verdon: DAMN YANKEES Julie Andrews: THE SOUND OF MUSIC James Cagney: YANKEE DOODLE DANDY Rex Harrison: MY FAIR LADY
10. Emmy Rossum-The Phantom Of The Opera 9. Catherine Zeta Jones-Chicago 8. Rita Moreno-West Side Story 7. Ron Moody-Oliver 6. Judy Garland-The Wizard Of Oz 5. Adam Pascal-Rent 4. Margaret O'Brien-Meet Me In St. Louis 3. Ray Bolger-The Wizard Of Oz 2. Julie Andrews-The Sound Of Music 1. George Chakiris-West Side Story
10. Audrey Hepburn -My Fair Lady 9. Julie Andrews - Mary Poppins 8. Gene Kelly - Singin' In the Rain 7. Russ Tamblyn - West Side Story 6. Rex Harrison - My Fair Lady 5. Liza Minelli - Cabaret 4. Joel Grey - Cabaret 3. Donald O'Connor - Singin In the Rain 2. Topol - Fiddler On the Roof 1. Ron Moody - Oliver!
"Just remembering you've had an 'and' when you're back to 'or'
Makes the or mean more, than it did before..."
10. Julie Andrew in The Sound of Music 9. Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls 8. Catherine Zeta Jones in Chicago 7. Vivian Blaine in Guys and Dolls 6. Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd 5. Nikki Blonsky in Hairspray 4. Bette Midler in Gypsy 3.Liza Minnelli in Cabaret 2. Shirley McLaine in Sweet Charity 1. Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl
-Julie Andrews, The Sound of Music: it's such a classic, and she was so brilliant in it! -Audrey Hepburn, My Fair Lady: again, a classic -Carol Burnette, Annie: One of the most comedically perfect movie performances I can think of, period. She's a comedic genius. -Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago: She was BRILLIANT. Just. simply. brilliant. -Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge: I have to put them together as one because they kind of go hand in hand. They were both just so amazingly wonderful, and they had the greatest chemistry! Plus I have a HUGE soft spot for Ewan's voice :) -Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: I believe he is one of the greatest actors of our time. Period. He's just astounding, and he acted his freaking BUTT off in this movie. It was rather insane. -Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd: She was so FIERCE. And FUNNY. And the fact that she was not over shadowed by Johnny just speaks toward how fantastic an actress she is herself. -Bette Midler, Gypsy: I'm way biased because it's the only version of Gypsy I've actually seen, but seriously. She was awesome. Really, really awesome! -Nikky Blonsky, Hairspray: She made me happy she was fantastic -Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls: A didn't even love the movie, but she MADE it for me. Just... she was absolutely UN.FRIGGIN.BELIEVABLE.
I don't need a life that's normal. That's way too far away. But something next to normal would be okay. Something next to normal is what I'd like to try. Close enough to normal to get by.
10. Shirley Jones in Oklahoma! 9. Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins 8. Doris Day in Love Me or Leave Me 7. Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown 6. Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence 5. Julie Andrews in Star! 4. William Daniels in 1776 3. Ron Moody in Oliver! 2. Robert Preston in The Music Man 1. Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music
Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz" and "Meet Me in St. Louis" Julie Andrews in "Sound Of Music" Barbra Streisand in "Funny Girl" Gene Kelly in "Singing In The Rain" Robert Preston in "The Music Man" Yul Brynner in "The King and I" Rex Harrison in "My Fair Lady" Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in "Swing Time" Joel Grey "Cabaret" Margaret O'Brien in "Meet Me In St. Louis"
I really want to add on, Nicole Kidman in "Moulin Rouge" Catherine Zeta Jones in "Chicago" both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in "Sweeney Todd" and both Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls"
Edit: Ann Miller in everything!!
Updated On: 12/27/07 at 03:51 PM
Natalie Wood - Gypsy Rita Moreno - West Side Story Gordon MacRae - Carousel Barbra Steisand - Funny Girl Yul Brynner - The King And I Audrey Hepburn - My Fair Lady Liza Minelli - Cabaret Gene Kelly - Singin' In The Rain Shirley Jones - Carousel Catherine Zeta Jones - Chicago
You're that little girl with her wings unfurled, flying again.
Back in your backyard dancing...I found a way back to then. - [title of show]
I haven't seen many of the older "classic" movie musicals, but from what I've seen:
10.Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls. 09.Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. 08.Jessica Harper in Shock Treatment. 07.Helena Bonham Carter in Sweeney Todd. 06.Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago. 05.Ellen Greene in Little Shop of Horrors. 04.Tim Curry in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. 03.Pat Carroll in The Little Mermaid. 02.Liza Minnelli in Cabaret. 01.John Cameron Mitchell in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
"Who says you can't bend over backwards and eat bugs if you want to? I guess the bugs would probably say you can't do that that, but assuming that they are willing and consenting bugs, then there's no problem. Let's wig out eating bugs."
-RuPaul
Robert Preston: The Music Man Johnny Depp: Sweeney Todd Ellen Greene: Little Shop of Horrors Topol: Fiddler on the Roof William Daniels: 1776 Liza Minnelli: Cabaret Eddie Murphy: Dreamgirls Catherine Zeta-Jones: Chicago Barbra Streisand: Funny Girl Yul Brynner: The King and I
"Who is Stephen Sondheim?" -roninjoey "The man who wishes he had written Phantom of the Opera!" - SueleenGay