Anchors Aweigh

     Hey everyone! In this week's musical review, I will be reviewing "Anchors Aweigh." I happened to stumble upon this musical by accident. Late one night, I was just flipping through channels and came across "Anchors Aweigh." It looked really old, but I saw that Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly were in it so I decided to give it a chance. The more I watched, the more entranced I became. This musical comedy is about two young Navy sailors on leave for a few days in Los Angeles. Quite a few things happen in those few days.

     "Anchors Aweigh" is everything a musical comedy should be. I'm fully aware that this musical is kinda cheesy and a little dated, but you can't beat Sinatra's pipes and Gene Kelly's dance choreography. And lets not forget about the comedy. This musical has some truly funny lines like "You think the Navy takes dopes?" and "We got in a little trouble, we picked up a little kid." I really enjoyed this film, but I wouldn't recommend this musical to everybody. As I said its pretty dated, but if that's what you're into, then go for it! Thanks again everyone, for tuning in. Don't forget to check back again next week.

I Will Love You Until My Dying Day..

     Hey guys! Thanks for checking in for another week of musical reviews. For those who did not quite make the connection from my title posting, I've chosen to do "Moulin Rouge!" this week. I saw it for the first time a couple days ago with a friend. She was really surprised that I had not seen it and made us watch it immediately. "Moulin Rouge!" came out in 2001 which made me simply too young to watch it with all the sexual themes and whatnot. I'm really glad I finally got to sit down and watch it. This movie musical quickly became one of my favorites. "Moulin Rouge!" is a musical film about a penniless British writer named Christian, who comes to the Moulin Rouge, a theatre in Paris, France, and falls in love with an actress and courtesan named Satine.

     The story, the music, the acting, and the visual imagery is without a doubt, brilliant! Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman's voices compliment each other and the story perfectly. The score skillfully weaves modern and popular songs and rescores them into a masterpiece. I really liked the use of popular music because I was able to sing along to just about every song without having even seen the movie yet. Although, the original was actually my favorite. Come What May was so beautifully executed between Christian and Satine and the use of it again later on in the film shows you just how powerful it really is. "Moulin Rouge" is a musical I'll be seeing again in the near future. I highly recommend it. Thanks again for checking in. Hope to see you next week!

Why, it's Grease Lightning!

     Hey everyone! Thanks for joining me in another week of musical reviews. This week, I chose to review "Grease." "Grease" is a musical-play turned movie-musical. It's centered around a group of high schoolers in the 1950's and the adventures they go through. Now, I've never personally seen the live musical, but the movie has been a regular in my life since I was a kid. "Grease" is such a timeless classic that I'm sure everyone has at least seen it once. It's definitely one of my top favorite musicals. I could watch this movie over and over.

     Something else that makes this movie-musical so amazing is the music. Hands down, "Grease" has some of the most catchiest music of all time. From the corny love songs to the flamboyant and electrifying dance numbers, it's hard not love "Grease." My favorite musical number from "Grease" would have to be "You're the One That I Want." That's when we see that Sandy has gone through a makeover just to impress Danny and when Danny officially announces his jock status. They go on to perform and Sandy delivers the famous "Tell me about it, stud.." line. I highly recommend everybody go see this if you haven't already.

Wicked, What a Show!

   

      For this week's musical review, I've chosen to do "Wicked." "Wicked" is the untold story of Elphaba, the wicked witch from "The Wizard of Oz," and her friend Glinda and the life-changing event that deemed Elphaba the wicked witch. I first heard about this musical when I was in high school. I had always been fascinated with "The Wizard of Oz" so when I heard about "Wicked," I was ecstatic. I had found my newest obsession. For years after, I looked up everything I could find on the musical, from the music to the cast. I even went as far as to finding the cast members on social media to get get whatever little information I could get. I tried my best at finding videos of the show on youtube. Though, because it is copyright infringement to post videos of the musical online, the best I could get were really grainy quality clips. 

      When the traveling production of "Wicked" came to Hawai'i, you can believe my reaction was that of exhilaration, eagerness, and excitement. It was going to be my first time watching the show and I wanted to make sure I could get some the best seats possible. I bought second to front row seating right in front of the orchestra. Sitting that close to the orchestra enhanced the performance so much more. During the show, I was so entranced with the storytelling and the music and all of the performers. "Wicked," without a doubt, met all my expectations and more. I would highly recommend this for everyone. Even if you're not too keen on musicals, this is still an amazing experience for all. Thank you to everyone who read. Hope you tune in next week as well!!

- Brianna D.