People often criticize the musical film genre because there’s “too much singing.” But once you look past that, you may find the musicality offers so much more to movies and storytelling as a whole.
From what I’ve noticed, people either love musicals or hate them.
For me, I have always believed that musical films are among the best forms of entertainment.
You see many of these musical films that were once just Broadway shows like “Hairspray,” “In the Heights” and “Wicked,” make their way to the big screen because of the huge success they have.
Allen Feinstein, a music producer and filmmaker, explains how the emotion of a character is so strong that they break into song to express it as being more creative than other movies, according to a 2024 NGN Magazine article.
I was never the biggest movie person at all. If you were to ask all my friends and family about my favorite movie, they would say, “She doesn’t even like movies.”
It takes a lot for me to sit through movies; most of the time, I lose interest just from the trailer.
But watching my first musical film, I found myself instantly entertained because there is always something happening with each song grabbing my attention.
The first musical I ever watched was “The Greatest Showman” (2018), which truly introduced me to the genre, and I’ve never stopped watching them since.
“The Greatest Showman” is a loosely-historical retelling about P.T. Barnum and his story founding the circus business.
Barnum brings in different performers who are considered “outcasts” by society. He wanted to give them this platform to showcase their talent and show who they really are.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a movie without its challenges. The movie shows the circus performers getting unfair treatment and discrimination because of how they look.
As the movie goes on, the performers learn how to gain confidence in their performance and embrace their true selves.
“From Now On” is my favorite song in the movie. In the song Barnum says, “From now on, these eyes will not be blinded by the lights.”
Songs tend to be more memorable pieces of work, you can easily remember the emotion of what the song was telling, leaving a bigger impact than just trying to remember a scene between two actors talking.
I feel as if this song is not just a description of the movie, but also a message to people to be yourself and not change for others.
Music is something almost everyone loves, whether it’s because they feel a connection to the lyrics or music is just something enjoyable to them.
Musical films creating the connection of songs with storytelling is one of the best things I think someone has ever come up with.
“In the Heights” is by far my favorite movie.
The movie is a stage-musical adaptation based in Washington Heights, New York, where a local bodega owner Usnavi, sings about working toward a better life.
In the film, families who are immigrants or from Hispanic countries are highlighted to show the struggles they face in Washington Heights.
Throughout the movie, we also see his friends and family’s struggles living in this area, such as not having enough money to pay bills or finding their own identity.
Each issue is described through song.
“Carnaval Del Barrio” is one of the songs in the movie that represents the overall message of the movie.
This song is performed at the end of the movie, where the whole neighborhood comes together to celebrate the community and its cultures during a power outage.
The song describes that even though they go through these struggles the community should still have the joy, culture and togetherness.
This movie has a lot of true meaning and was made to be relatable for the audience.
I think one of the big reasons people don’t like musicals is because they believe the singing makes them all the same along with assuming they all have similar styles.
Two musical films I can compare to each other that are totally different styles are “La La Land” and “In the Heights.”
“La La Land” takes us through a relationship in a jazz themed setting, each song in the movie is mostly slow and emotional songs.
While “In the Heights” is more fast tempo songs and more beats with a totally different angle than a relationship.
Some of my favorite musical films are “La La Land,” “Hamilton: An American Musical,” “Wicked” (2024), “Hairspray” (2007), “Mamma Mia!” (2008) and “Descendants” (2015), each with its own unique twist to the style of musicals.
I’ve probably watched each of these movies at least five times.
Going to see one of these shows live at Broadway, specifically in New York, one day would be a dream come true.
Musical films are more visually compelling to an audience than a regular film because of the choreography and the creativity shown within the film. Every little detail means something.
If you’re not into musical films, I highly recommend giving them a chance.
