Investigation Blog Post 5

 Introduction: For this week’s blog post I wanted to look into Broadway musicals made into movies, or vice versa. A lot of my favorite musicals have been made into movies or musicals have been inspired by movies. I've loved musicals ever since I was little I've never seen one live, but I love the movie versions of them because it makes me feel like I’m actually there. The genre of musicals in film is called Musical Film. Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. Its a really unique genre of film and definitely requires a lot of creativity, weather you bringing a stage musical onto the screen or creating your own musical for the big screen. Musical films usually contain elements of theater, and performers often treat their song and dance numbers as if a live audience were watching. Being on stage is just as stressful as being on camera and its such an amazing experience. During the 1940s and 1950s a lot of popular and groundbreaking musical films premiered such as Singin' in the Rain (1952).

Inspiration: This is probably my favorite blog post to research for so far. Ever since I wanted to do first musicals I've always been fascinated with the world of musicals, especially in film. The first movie musical was called The Jazz Singer (1927), starring Al Jolson, introduced the sound era of motion pictures. It's pretty incredible how the use of sound in films was in 1927. One of the most popular times for movie musicals was during the 1960s since films based on stage musicals were becoming box-office successes. People loved movie musicals since you could experience the musical from home. Since the 21st century, the musical genre has been rejuvenated with darker musicals, musical biopics, epic drama musicals and comedy-drama musicals. The Wizard of Oz (1939) is considered one of the greatest movies of all time. It was a popular movie musical since it was in color and had sound. Here's a list of some popular movie musicals: (I put the ones I know) Here is a link to look at more popular movie musicals

• The King and I (1956): In this film adaptation of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, widowed Welsh mother Anna Loenowens (Deborah Kerr) becomes a governess and English tutor to the wives and many children of the stubborn King Mongkut of Siam (Yul Brynner). Anna and the king have a clash of personalities as she works to teach the royal family about the English language, customs and etiquette, and rushes to prepare a party for a group of European diplomats who must change their opinions about the king.

• The Sound of Music (1965): A tuneful, heartwarming story, it is based on the real life story of the Von Trapp Family singers, one of the world's best-known concert groups in the era immediately preceding World War II. Julie Andrews plays the role of Maria, the tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey who becomes a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children, and brings a new love of life and music into the home.

• Oliver! (1968): In this award-winning adaptation of the Broadway musical based on the Charles Dickens novel, 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist (Mark Lester) falls in with a group of street-urchin pickpockets led by the Artful Dodger (Jack Wild) and masterminded by the criminal Fagin (Ron Moody). When Oliver's intended mark, Mr. Brownlow (Joseph O'Conor), takes pity on the lad and offers him a home, Fagin's henchman Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed) plots to kidnap the boy to keep him from talking.

• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971): A sweet boy from a poor family dreams of finding one of five golden tickets hidden inside chocolate bar wrappers which will admit him to the eccentric and reclusive Willy Wonka's magical factory. One after another, tickets are discovered by ghastly children - but will the lad find the last remaining one and have all his dreams come true?

• Grease (1978): Experience the friendships, romances and adventures of a group of high school kids in the 1950s. Welcome to the singing and dancing world of "Grease," the most successful movie musical of all time. A wholesome exchange student (Olivia Newton-John) and a leather-clad Danny (John Travolta) have a summer romance, but will it cross clique lines?

• Mama Mia! (2008): Donna (Meryl Streep), an independent hotelier in the Greek islands, is preparing for her daughter's wedding with the help of two old friends. Meanwhile Sophie, the spirited bride, has a plan. She secretly invites three men from her mother's past in hope of meeting her real father and having him escort her down the aisle on her big day.

• The Greatest Showman (2017): Growing up in the early 1800s, P.T. Barnum displays a natural talent for publicity and promotion, selling lottery tickets by age 12. After trying his hands at various jobs, P.T. turns to show business to indulge his limitless imagination, rising from nothing to create the Barnum & Bailey circus. Featuring catchy musical numbers, exotic performers and daring acrobatic feats, Barnum's mesmerizing spectacle soon takes the world by storm to become the greatest show on Earth.

Brainstorming/Experimentation: I'm a theatre kid and I love musicals. I've been in a few musicals, and my favorite musical experience was probably Addams Family in 2017 when I was the cavewomen. That was the first role I had a small solo and I was in the musical a lot since I was a featured ancestor. I've tried to write my own musical before and it's really difficult. I applaud everyone that's made a musical before. Creating a musical for the stage is a big difficulty since you can't do everything you want to. That's why movie musicals are sometimes better since you can do more. The only thing that I don't like so much about movie musicals is that they sometimes cut scenes or songs. I'd love to help create a musical, they’re such fun to work on, except for dancing, I still struggle with that a bit. The bottom picture is all of us bowing and the top is us on Halloween for our cast party.

Reflection: I really enjoyed making this blog post, and It made me want to go and watch a bunch of musicals. My love of musicals came from my grandmama and my mom and I'm so glad they introduced me to them. My favorite musical of all time is The Phantom of The Opera, and maybe one day ill do it live. Creating a musical take a lot of dedication and creativity and I applauded anyone who has and will create a musical in there life. I enjoy the musical film genre and I'm so grateful musicals exist. I listen to musicals half the time and it's an amazing genre. Looking more into the genre was really fun and I looked at the most popular musicals of each year since The Jazz Singer and some musicals are defiantly strange, but some are very creative. Musicals will always be one of my favorite forms of entertainment and I’m glad I looked into the musical genre.