Tag Archives: theatre

Oliver! (1968)

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Since I have started the Genre-ary DailyView, it has given me the opportunity to see some classic musicals that I probably wouldn’t have watched several of these films. Oliver! is a good example of this. 

Oliver! from 1968 was an Oscar winning movie based on a stage musical which was based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. Carol Reed won an Academy Award for Best Director and the picture received the Best Picture Oscar.

An orphan named Oliver (Mark Lester) wound up under the influence of a street criminal named Fagin (Ron Moody), who added Oliver to his troop of street urchin pickpockets, which included the Artful Dodger (Jack Wild). One of Fagin’s accomplices, Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed), showed a more violent and cruel nature. 

It is fun to hear songs that I recognize, but never knew where they originated from. Songs such as “Consider Yourself,” “Food, Glorious Food,” and “As Long as He Needs Me” are songs that I knew prior to watching this film. 

Our villains of the story were excellent. The character of Fagin was one of the best movie villains around, deep and developed, and Sikes was sinister and scary.

Mark Lester does a solid job as the young Oliver. He holds his own with all of the actors around him. 

Clearly this is a classic and you can understand why it won six Oscars.

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

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This morning for the EYG Genre-ary DailyView, I went to Prime and found yet another long, but classic musical, one with several well known songs, including one that I happen to have on my phone.

Fiddler on the Roof is a well known musical written by Joseph Stein. It was turned into a movie in 1971. It tells the story of a family of Jewish people living in a pre-revolutionary Russian village. Tevye (Topol) is a poor milkman who lives with his family in a Ukrainian village of Anatevka. He went about his life, following traditions and hoping to find matches for his five daughters. 

Tevye struggled with the changing world and his daughters’ choices that went against his long standing beliefs. 

Tevye spoke to the camera, being his own narrator through much of the movie. 

There are plenty of classic songs in the film including “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” and “Sunrise, Sunset.” 

The cast included Paul Michael Glaser (from Starsky & Hutch), Leonard Frey (who received an Academy Award nomination), Norma Crane, Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, Neva Small, Paul Mann, and Molly Picon.

There is not a clear throughline of a plot, focusing basically on Tevye’s family. There are a lot of Jewish culture and traditions shown in the film and it was fascinating to see how a different group of people live their lives.

Kinky Boots: the Musical (2019)

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What a treat.

Today’s entry for the Genre-ary was a filmed version of the musical stage play, Kinky Boots. I found this on Vudu and I was curious about it. I only had a slight knowledge of this play and it surprised me how much I loved this.

Charlie Price (Killian Donnelly) took over his late father’s show factory and, in an attempt to save it, adjusted the plan of products into a niche market for kinky boots directed toward transvestites and drag queens. Charlie had been inspired by Lola (Matt Henry), a feisty drag queen that he met in London.

Based on a book by Harvey Fierstein, the music of Kinky Boots was written and scored by Cyndi Lauper. I did not know any of the songs from Kinky Boots, but they were catchy, energetic and thoroughly entertaining. 

The stage show was amazing. I especially enjoyed the “Everybody Say Yeah” routine with the choreography and the treadmills. It was spectacular.

I found myself feeling vey emotional at the end of the film too. I did not expect that and it was a welcome situation.

I would love to see more Broadway plays filmed in this format and available for those of us who are not near these productions. Kinky Boots: The Musical was a joy this morning.