The return of the musical as film

Who would have thought it would happen? Not at this time, with theater going almost at a standstill because of the raging pandemic. Well, they keep trying out there on Broadway, at the West End and in other places. But the big hoopla regarding openings is almost always followed by, “Performances cancelled due to COVID-19 infections. Reopening to be announced.”

But it did happen, the musical is back as film and it is in a big way. The shows are on streaming and viewers are faced with so many choices to watch while safe at home. I do mean many, from old favorites like the absorbing reboot of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, where Joanna Ampil is incredible as Bloody Mary to the heart-filled Tick, Tick… Boom! and even a disappointment or two like Diana, the Musical.

Here is one proof. The soundtrack of the charming Disney-animated feature Encanto has bumped Adele’s 30 out of the No. 1 slot in Billboard’s Top 200 Albums list. The last time this happened was with Frozen 2 in 2019. The single, We Don’t Talk About Bruno, is climbing fast up the charts. Then a few days ago, Encanto was named Best Animated Picture at the recent Golden Globe Awards. Can an Academy Award be far behind?

Containing songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame, the gorgeously delineated Encanto tells the story of the magical world in the mountains of Colombia, where lives the enchanted Madrigal family. Their world is in danger of losing its magic when the little girl Mirabel, the only one who has no magic powers comes to the rescue. The story is told with dazzling Latino music, detailed attention to things Colombian and a passionate belief for the magical.

Still on Miranda and the Globes. Andrew Garfield was named Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for his work in Tick, Tick... Boom!, which is Miranda’s film directorial debut. This is the movie adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical musical. He passed away before the opening of his masterpiece Rent. Tick, Tick…Boom! chronicles his struggle as a young artist, while waiting tables, under pressure from his girlfriend and his best friend and seeing people around him dropping dead from AIDS.

Miranda keeps things tight choosing to focus on Larson’s growing list of disappointments then on the classic Broadway success story. It is Garfield, who wonderfully carries the ball throughout. His singing is weak but sincere. His dancing awkward and gangly. But he is so appealing as a mirror of youth descending to despair. His time is running out and he does not know what to do about it. I guess that is where the title comes from. You know, tick tock, tick, tock, then boom! All gone.

I still have to see Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story but the reimagined version is already off to a good start as far as awards are concerned. Best Picture Comedy or Musical at the Globes, Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for Rachel Zegler, as Maria, and Best Supporting Actress for Ariana DeBose as Anita. The movie also stars Ansel Elgort as Tony, David Alvarez as Bernardo, Mike Faist as Riff and Rita Moreno, who was the original Anita, as Veronica.

The reviews are uniformly excellent so I am looking forward to when I will be able to see it. It may not have been a sacrilege for Spielberg to tamper with a masterpiece after all. Of course, I am sure I will miss the old Hollywood glamor of the cast, Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita and George Chakiris and the spellbinding choreography by Jerome Robbins. Still, let us wait and see.

The soundtrack is already available for us to enjoy the music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim anew. The cast recording hews closely to the stage version than to the movie, but there is no way it will be unappreciated or I should say, unloved by devotees of the film. As it is ever and ever, West Side Story is truly one of the greatest musicals ever created.

Meanwhile, get ready for a pop music explosion on the screens this year with these megawatt biopics coming up. Elvis Presley, starring Austin Butler as the Pelvis and Tom Hanks as Col. Tom Parker; The Bee Gees, directed by Kenneth Branagh; and I Wanna Dance with Somebody with Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston, Ashton Sanders as Bobby Brown and Stanley Tucci as Clive Davis.