If you're like me, you try to find the best things to do on a rainy day that can still be productive... then you just forget all about that and then watch Netflix and movies all day instead. I'm a major theatre nerd and love watching musicals. I'm not always the biggest fan of film adaptations of musicals because it's just not the same as watching them live, however, some film adaptations and performances that were filmed are actually pretty good. Here are some great Musicals that have been filmed that you should watch on a rainy day. Enjoy!
1. The Music Man
Meredith Willson's The Music Man is one of my favorite musicals to watch. There are some very catchy songs in this musical and it is a great movie to watch if you like mostly happy upbeat musicals. I suggest watching the original film adaptation from 1962, just because I always like the original better than the newer versions. There is another adaptation that ABC did that included Matthew Broderick and Kristen Chenoweth, and that adaptation was actually pretty good as well.
2. Shrek the Musical
Yes, believe it or not, the movie Shrek was turned into a musical. It was sent to the Broadway stage actually and received really good reviews. You can watch a filmed version of their Broadway performance on Netflix and it's really well done. The cast is amazing and it's actually really funny. It's cool to see this show filmed as if you were sitting in that Broadway theatre watching it in person. By the way, the man who plays Farquaad is absolutely hilarious! And Sutton Foster, who plays Fiona, and Brian D'Arcy James, who plays Shrek both have absolutely amazing voices.
3. The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall
This is probably one of my favorite performances of The Phantom of the Opera. This is a concert performance of it and so the performance is set up so that they can celebrate the musical itself, and what's also awesome is that they bring many other people on the stage as well who have been a part of Phantom tours and performances to join in on the songs. It's a really well done performance and a wonderful cast, including Ramin Karimloo, who has the voice of an angel (perhaps, the angel of music!).
4. Les Miserables
I always get chills when I watch Les Miserables because it's such an intense show with powerful voices and emotional scenes. The most recent film adaptation is actually not as bad as some people though it was. Although maybe some of the casting wasn't the best, the movie itself was really well done, and it's so awesome that the vocals you hear in the movie are live. They didn't do recordings beforehand and then film, it was all live. Another performance that you can watch that I LOVE to watch is the 25th Anniversary of Les Mis live at the O2. The cast for that was amazing, including, Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras, Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean, Norm Lewis as Javert, Samantha Barks as Eponine and Lea Salonga as Fantine. Absolutely brilliant voices, and again they invited the original actors who played these roles on stage to perform some of the songs in the end. It's a really great performance, staged similar to the concert version of Phantom.
5. Chicago (2003)
Like the original musical, the film adaptation is also very musically entertaining, visually stunning…and all that jazz. My favorite song is We Both Reached For The Gun.
6. West Side Story (1961)
An older film adaptation, yes, but just as amazing and one that you definitely want to check out! Some people might say that this is the best adaptation of a musical of all time, and I agree that it is truly both a musical and cinematic masterpiece.
