Movie Musical Appreciation Week

My own little mini course in movie musical love. Inspired by my friend Terra who recently asked her fellow dancer friends what number or musical moment inspired them to become dancers, I thought I might roundup my top 5 moments in movie musical history. It was so hard, there are so many great, life-changing numbers- yes, I am a bit of a musical geek- and so many just wacky and hilarious ones that I love too, but I managed to muster up my top 5- I’ll post one a day throughout the week.

First off, Shirley MacLaine, Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly in the dynamic fireworks of a number, “There’s Got to Be Something Better Than This” from Sweet Charity. Talk about girl power. This number is such a wonderful combination of vulnerability, desperation, fearlessness and force. If you didn’t root for these women before this number, you do now.

If you haven’t seen Sweet Charity, do yourself a favor and sit yourself down for a viewing. A little dated sure, but this is one of Bob Fosse’s early film choreography gigs and it’s chock full of fantastically stylized numbers. Anyone with a creative soul would be inspired by his work in this movie. Gwen Verdon- Fosse’s muse, wife and the original Charity on Broadway- was passed over for the more Hollywood friendly MacLaine, which must have been tough to swallow as Verdon is an iconic trailblazer, but she was on set to coach MacLaine through the numbers. Not to take anything away from MacLaine, she is absolutely wonderful in the role.

Sweet Charity is an adaptation of Fellini’s, Nights of Cabiria (if you haven’t seen this one, run to your Netflix login page asap- talk about genius, here Fellini’s wife and muse, Giulietta Masina plays the Charity role, Cabiria) and you can really begin to see Fellini’s influence on Fosse as a choreographer and storyteller. All That Jazz is also an adaptation of 8 1/2. The Italian auteur’s influence continues through Fosse’s life’s work as we see him masterfully bring the ensemble players into the foreground the way Fellini did.

Ok enough already, just watch it. You won’t so much see Fellini’s influence in this particular number, but I’ll post another favorite later in the week from Charity, where it is unmistakeable. This one is just pure joy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

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