Top 5: Favourite Musicals

I’ve always been a huge fan of musicals. There’s just something so beautiful and timeless about them. My granny absolutely loves musicals and I’m pretty sure she was the one who passed that love on to me. I grew up watching musicals or listening to/singing along to songs from musicals and they always bring back many happy memories. I thought I’d share five of my favourite musicals here on my blog. 

• The Sound of Music (1965)

‘Based on the real life story of the Von Trapp Family Singers. A tomboyish and petulant nun becomes a governess in the home of a widowed captain and his seven children. She brings a new love of life and music into the home.’

This was one of the first musicals I ever watched all the way through when I was little. There’s just something so beautiful about the film as a whole. It has an amazing musical score and brilliant choreography and the settings of the film itself are stunning. It’s really just overall a happy family film enjoyed by almost everyone who watches it (I assume😄) and of course it start the wonderful Julie Andrews. One of my favourite childhood memories is when it was bonfire night and my family were hosting some bonfire festivities and myself and my brother started watching The Sound of music during the day and we were acting out scenes and musical numbers in the living room. The film just brings back lots of nice memories. I’ve also seen a few stage productions of the musical which were also brilliant to watch. 

Favourite Songs: ‘Sixteen Going on Seventeen’ | ‘The Sound of Music’ | ‘Edelweiss’

• Oklahoma (1955) 

‘In Oklahoma, several farmers, cowboys and a traveling salesman compete for the romantic favors of various local ladies.’

On Christmas Day last year, the BBC Proms put on a production of ‘Oklahoma’ and it was stunning. I watched it throughout the day when it was on and the mixture of the live orchestra music along with the singing and acting was truly spectacular to watch. I also love the film version of the musical too. I loved all the dance routines and the characters. There’s just something about older-fashioned musicals that I absolutely love. 

Favourite Songs: ‘Oh What A Beautiful Mornin’ | ‘The Surrey With The Fringe On Top’ | ‘People Will Say We’re In Love’

• The King and I (1956)

‘A widow accepts a job as a live-in governess to the King of Siam's children. The widow and the king have a clash of personalities as she works to teach the royal family about the English language, customs and etiquette.’

I actually haven’t watched The King and I in years, and yet it’s still always going to be one of my favourite musicals. When I was younger, I’d always watch the movie version of this musical whenever it was a rainy day. I’m definitely going to try and watch it again soon since I haven’t seen it in so long. I’d love to see a proper stage production of it. The closest I’ve been to see it on stage was seeing a school show version of it when I was younger - it was still really good from what I can remember though. 

Favourite Songs: ‘Getting to Know You’ | ‘Shall We Dance?’ | ‘Something Wonderful’

• Mamma Mia (2008)

‘An independent hotel owner is preparing for her daughters wedding. Meanwhile her daughter has secretly invited three men from her mother’s past in the hope of meeting her father  and have him escort her down the isle on her big day.’

Before writing about ‘Mamma Mia’ I was about to mention how ‘Mamma Mia’ is one of my most favourite more recent musicals, but then I realised that this musical (movie version) is 10 years old now, so it’s maybe not so “recent” after all! But compared to the musicals from the 50s/60s, I guess this musical is kind of recent. Being a huge ABBA fan, I loved ‘Mamma Mia’ when it came out. The music, the dancing, the storyline, I just love it all! I also saw the sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again in the cinema when it first came out and I loved it just as much as the first. 

Favourite Songs: ‘Our Last Summer’ | ‘SOS’ | ‘The Winner Takes It All’

• The Greatest Showman (2017)

‘Musical which celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.’

Just as I was saying Mamma Mia! was a recent musical, a musical that was released even more recently has also made its way onto this list. From the very first time I watched The Greatest Showman it almost instantly became one of my favourites. The movie has a great cast and I loved the storyline and how it all ended. I really hope they make a stage production of this musical because I’d love to go see it live on stage. I love the cinematography and all the choreography in this film. The sets designed and used in the movie are so beautiful. There’s sonny scenes which had left me blown away. This film was almost like the older-fashioned musicals which was something I loved about it. 

Favourite Songs: ‘The Greatest Show’ | ‘Come Alive’ | ‘From Now On’

What would you consider to be your favourite musicals?

Bye for now, xo