Musicals are an odd thing. I like them, they often have a good story, and they contain catchy songs and cool dancing. But on the other hand they contain singing and dancing, and for no real reason. People don't sing and dance in real life to express their feelings on a particular subject or event. I wish we did. It would be amazing if people came to work on Monday and started to sing about their weekend. But this isn't about how stupid musicals are, like I said I like them, and they are works of fiction so the format doesn't have to make real life logical sense. But it would still be nice if they did.
There are some exceptions, as there often are, and by exceptions I mean that the singing and dancing does make sense. Well one of them makes perfect sense, one makes 50% sense and one I guess makes sense.
The one that I guess make sense is Blues Brothers. The setting in which the singing takes place are places where one could expect singing, like in a church or at a concert. And the story is about two brothers trying to put their old band together in order to raise money so it would also make sense that there would be some signing when they met up. The only scene that I can think of where the singing was not natural was when a woman was giving her husband a stern talking to in the form of a song. I say I guess it makes sense because I wouldn't call this movie a musical but rather a movie with musical numbers in it as the songs don't really impact the story.
The one that makes 50% sense is "My musical," episode 6, season 6 of Scrubs. The story is about a patient who has a brain tumor and as a result hears every dialog as singing. That's the part that makes sense. What does not make sense is the dancing, I'm not a doctor but I don't think that a tumor that makes you hear singing would also make you a see perfectly synchronized dance number to accompany the singing. Also the dialogs they are singing aren't dialogs they would normally have. A lot of people have this as their favorite Scrubs episode but I find it to be one of their weakest.
The one that makes perfect sense is episode seven, season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once more with feeling". The story here is that one day the people of Sunnydale start to sing and dance about everyday stuff for no apparent reason. This being BtVS the reason is of course a demon. Now, this musical makes sense in every way. The lyrics of the songs are just everyday conversations, preformed a bit more enthusiastically I'll agree, but still. There is a clear explanation to why they are singing and dancing. And last, the characters are aware of the fact that they are singing and dancing, and they are puzzled, annoyed and disturbed by it. As one would be I imagine. And that is also why BtVSs once more with feeling is the best musical... In my opinion. If you haven't seen it yet, you should, it's a magical experience.
There might be other exceptions I don't know. I haven't seen every musical ever made. If you know of anyone then by all means let me know. I'm always eager to learn.
TTFN
There are some exceptions, as there often are, and by exceptions I mean that the singing and dancing does make sense. Well one of them makes perfect sense, one makes 50% sense and one I guess makes sense.
The one that I guess make sense is Blues Brothers. The setting in which the singing takes place are places where one could expect singing, like in a church or at a concert. And the story is about two brothers trying to put their old band together in order to raise money so it would also make sense that there would be some signing when they met up. The only scene that I can think of where the singing was not natural was when a woman was giving her husband a stern talking to in the form of a song. I say I guess it makes sense because I wouldn't call this movie a musical but rather a movie with musical numbers in it as the songs don't really impact the story.
The one that makes 50% sense is "My musical," episode 6, season 6 of Scrubs. The story is about a patient who has a brain tumor and as a result hears every dialog as singing. That's the part that makes sense. What does not make sense is the dancing, I'm not a doctor but I don't think that a tumor that makes you hear singing would also make you a see perfectly synchronized dance number to accompany the singing. Also the dialogs they are singing aren't dialogs they would normally have. A lot of people have this as their favorite Scrubs episode but I find it to be one of their weakest.
The one that makes perfect sense is episode seven, season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once more with feeling". The story here is that one day the people of Sunnydale start to sing and dance about everyday stuff for no apparent reason. This being BtVS the reason is of course a demon. Now, this musical makes sense in every way. The lyrics of the songs are just everyday conversations, preformed a bit more enthusiastically I'll agree, but still. There is a clear explanation to why they are singing and dancing. And last, the characters are aware of the fact that they are singing and dancing, and they are puzzled, annoyed and disturbed by it. As one would be I imagine. And that is also why BtVSs once more with feeling is the best musical... In my opinion. If you haven't seen it yet, you should, it's a magical experience.
There might be other exceptions I don't know. I haven't seen every musical ever made. If you know of anyone then by all means let me know. I'm always eager to learn.
TTFN
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