No. 2 the musical collection
checklist West Side Story
pg. 3
Bugsy Malone
pg. 5
Grease
pg. 7
Hair
pg. 9
The Little Mermaid
pg. 11
Sister Act
pg. 13
Hocus Pocus
pg. 15
Forrest Gump
pg. 17
Empire Records
pg. 19
That Thing you Do!
pg. 21
Spiceworld
pg. 23
Almost Famous
pg. 25
Moulin Rouge!
pg. 27
Chicago
pg. 29
School of Rock
pg. 31
RENT
pg. 33
Dreamgirls
pg. 35
Hairspray
pg. 37
west side story 1961 An adaptation of the classic romantic tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The feuding families become two warring New York City gangs; the Jets, led by Riff, and the Sharks, led by Bernardo. Their hatred escalates to a point where neither can coexist. But when Riff’s best friend Tony and Bernardo’s younger sister Maria meet at a dance, no one can do anything to stop their love. Maria and Tony begin meeting in secret, planning to run away. Then the Sharks and Jets plan a rumble under the highway - whoever wins gains control of the streets. Maria sends Tony to stop it, hoping it can end the violence. It goes terribly wrong, tragedy strikes and doesn’t stop until the heartbreaking ending.
pg. 3
notes Your Favourite Scene?
BUGSY MALONE 1976 Here’s the basic ‘shtick’ of Bugsy Malone: it’s a gangster picture enacted by children. Acted out before scaled-down sets, the film details the career of Bugsy Malone, who rises to the top of the criminal ladder in 1920s New York. Whenever gunfire is called for, the kiddie crooks substitute whipped cream for bullets. Paul Williams contributes several songs, which are performed by adult singers and lip-synched by the pint-sized actors. The cast includes John Cassisi as diminutive Capone clone Fat Sam, and then-13-year-old Jodie Foster as the sultry nightclub thrush Tallulah.
pg. 5
notes Funniest Character?
GREASE 1978 A musical about teens in love in the 50’s! It’s California, 1959 and greaser Danny Zuko and Australian Sandy Olsson are in love. They spend time at the beach, but when they go back to school, what either of them don’t know is that they both now attend Rydell High. Danny’s the leader of the T-Birds, a group of black-jacket greasers while Sandy hangs with the Pink Ladies, a group of pink-wearing girls led by Rizzo. When they clash at Rydell’s first pep rally, Danny isn’t the same Danny at the beach. They try to be like each other so they can be together.
pg. 7
notes Best Dance Move?
HAIR 1979 Milos Forman’s adaptation of the tribal rock musical Hair stars John Savage as Claude, a quiet young man from the Midwest who becomes friendly with a group of New York hippies on his way to begin basic training in the military. The repressed Claude is quite taken with Berger and the group of freedom seekers who reside in Central Park. The group encourages Claude to go after a debutante named Sheila. Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp masterminded the dances, which attempt to flow from the natural settings of the film. The film includes most of the more famous songs from the original play, including ‘Donna’, ‘Aquarius’, ‘Easy to Be Hard’, ‘Let the Sunshine In’, ‘Good Morning Starshine’ and the title number.
pg. 9
notes Most Memorable Outfit?
THE LITTLE MERMAID 1989 Loosely based upon the story by Hans Christian Andersen. Ariel, youngest daughter of King Triton, is dissatisfied with life in the sea. She longs to be with the humans above the surface, and is often caught in arguments with her father over those “barbaric fisheaters�. She goes to meet Ursula, the Sea Witch, to strike a deal, but Ursula has bigger plans for this mermaid and her father.
pg. 11
notes Scariest Character?
SISTER ACT 1992 Sister Act is about a Reno lounge singer named Deloris Van Carter who witnesses her mobster boyfriend killing an employer. She is then hidden in a convent under a witness protection program. She soon makes friends with the nuns especially Sister Mary Robert, Sister Mary Lazuras and Sister Mary Patrick. After the Mother Superior catches Deloris going out to a bar in the night time followed by Mary Robert and Mary Patrick she orders her to join the church choir. Only to find her coaching the choir and turning them into swingin’ singin’ sisters. The choir proves to be a big success with the surrounding neighborhood, but will Deloris’ boyfriend track her down?
pg. 13
notes Favourite Nun?
HOCUS POCUS 1993 The people of Salem capture and execute three witches for practicing witchcraft. Before their deaths, they vow to return to Salem 300 years on Halloween to exact their revenge. Three hundred years later, a skeptical, newly transplanted Californian, Max, explores the ruins of the legendary witches house and dares the witches to manifest themselves. Disregarding the warnings of his sister and girlfriend, Max lights the Candle of Black Flame. With that, the witches reappear to wreak havoc on the town. The kids take off with the witches spellbook. The sorceresses, who will die by the morning light if they don’t recite the incantation for immortality, have to get the books by whatever means they can.
pg. 15
notes Least Favourite Character?
FORREST GUMP 1994 Forrest Gump is a simple man with a low IQ but good intentions. He is running through childhood with his best and only friend Jenny. His ‘mama’ teaches him the ways of life and leaves him to choose his destiny. Forrest joins the army for service in Vietnam, finding new friends called Dan and Bubba, he wins medals, creates a famous shrimp fishing fleet, inspires people to jog, starts a ping-pong craze, create the smiley, write bumper stickers and songs, donating to people and meeting the president several times. However this is all irrelevant to Forrest who can only think of his childhood sweetheart Jenny. Who has messed up her life. Although in the end all he wants to prove is that anyone can love anyone.
pg. 17
notes Most Famous Encounter?
EMPIRE RECORDS 1995 A funky little record shop provides the setting for this youthful comedy that centers on the workers there as they try to help poor Joe, the manager who really wants to buy the place, recoup his losses after his well-meaning, but dim-bulbed employee Lucas steals his savings and loses it all in Atlantic City while trying to increase it two fold at the gaming tables. If they cannot come up with the loot, the mega-chain Music City will buy it.
pg. 19
notes Funniest Quote?
THAT THING YOU DO! 1996 Recounts a fable of a pop rock band formed a year after the Beatles took America by storm in early 1964. Jazz aficionado Guy Patterson, unhappily toiling in the family appliance store, is recruited into the band the Oneders (later renamed the Wonders) after regular drummer Chad breaks his arm. After Guy injects a four/four rock beat into lead singer Jimmy’s ballad, the song’s undeniable pop power flings the Wonders into a brief whirlwind of success, telling the tale of many American bands who attempted to grab the brass ring of rock and roll in the wake of the British Invasion.
pg. 21
notes Saddest Scene?
SPICEWORLD 1997 Bob Spiers directed this feature-film debut of the five Spice Girls - Posh Spice, Sporty Spice, Scary Spice, Ginger Spice, and Baby Spice - as the quintet challenges the London pop scene during five days before their first live performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Photojournalists follow as they travel from press conferences to practice sessions to photo ops, passing London landmarks in the comfort of their cavernous Spicebus and emerging in a musical cascade of color, trendy clothes, and blinding flashbulbs. Shot in 43 days, the film features cameos by everyone from Elton John and Elvis Costello, to Stephen Fry and Bob Hoskins.
pg. 23
notes The Best Cameo?
ALMOST FAMOUS 2000 Elaine Miller is a bright, loving, but strict single parent whose distrust of rock music and fears about drug use have helped to drive a wedge between herself and her two children, Anita and William. Anita rebels by dropping out of school and becoming a stewardess, but William makes something of his love of rock & roll by writing album reviews for a local underground newspaper. The band ‘Stillwater’ are more than happy to chat with a reporter and William joins them on tour, where he becomes friendly with guitarist Russell Hammond and singer Jeff Bebe. William also becomes enamored of Penny Lane, a groupie traveling with the band who is no older than William, but is involved with Russell.
pg. 25
notes Best Featured Song?
MOULIN ROUGE! 2001 The year is 1899, and Christian, a young English writer, has come to Paris to follow the Bohemian revolution taking hold of the city’s drug and prostitute infested underworld. And nowhere is the thrill of the underworld more alive than at the Moulin Rouge, a night club where the rich and poor men alike come to be entertained by the dancers, but things take a wicked turn for Christian as he starts a deadly love affair with the star courtesan of the club, Satine. But her affections are also coveted by the club’s patron: the Duke. A dangerous love triangle ensues as Satine and Christian attempt to fight all odds to stay together but a force that not even love can conquer is taking its toll on Satine.
pg. 27
notes The Biggest Villain?
CHICAGO 2002 In the mid-’20s, Roxie Hart is a smalltime chorus dancer married to a wellmeaning dunderhead. Roxie is having an affair on the side with Fred Casley, who insists he can make her a star. However, Fred strings Roxie along a bit too far, and when she realizes that his promises are empty, she murders Fred in cold blood. Roxie soon finds herself behind bars alongside Velma Kelly, a vaudeville star who used to perform with her sister until she shot them both dead. Roxie is just shrewd enough to realize that her poor fortune could also bring her fame, and Roxy and Velma are soon battling neck-to-neck over who can win greater fame through the headlines.
pg. 29
notes Best Actor/Actress?
SCHOOL OF ROCK 2003 Down and out rock star Dewey Finn gets fired from his band, and he faces a mountain of debts and depression. He takes a job as a 4th grade substitute teacher at an uptight private school where his attitude and hijinx have a powerful effect on his students. He also meets Zack, a 10-year-old guitar prodigy, who could help Dewey win a “battle of the bands� competition, which would solve his financial problems and put him back in the spotlight.
pg. 31
notes Funniest Dance Move?
RENT 2005 The film, based loosely on Puccini’s La Boheme, follows a year in the lives of seven friends living the disappearing Bohemian lifestyle in New York’s East Village. AIDS and both its physical and emotional complications pervade the lives of Roger, Mimi, Tom, and Angel; Maureen deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne, wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble; Benjamin has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends; and Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general, always behind the camera recording the events but never playing a part.
pg. 33
notes Most Memorable Duet?
DREAMGIRLS 2006 Detroit, the early 1960s. Curtis Taylor, Jr., a car salesman, breaks into the music business with big dreams. He signs a trio of young women, the Dreamettes, gets them a job backing an R&B performer, James “Thunder� Early, establishes his own record label and starts wheeling and dealing. When Early flames out, Curtis makes the Dreamettes into headliners as the Dreams, but not before demoting their hefty big-voiced lead singer, Effie White, and putting the softer-voiced looker, Deena Jones, in front. Soon after, he fires Effie, sends her into a life of proud poverty, and takes Deena and the Dreams to the top. How long can Curtis stay there, and will Effie ever get her due?
pg. 35
notes Favourite Decade?
HAIRSPRAY 2007 Tracy Turnblad, an overweight teenager with all the right moves, is obsessed with the Corny Collins Show. Every day after school, she and her best friend Penny run home to watch the show and drool over the hot Link Larkin, much to Tracy’s mother Edna’s dismay. After one of the stars of the show leaves, Corny Collins holds auditions to see who will be the next person on the Corny Collins show. With all of the help of her friend Seaweed, Tracy makes it on the show, angering the evil Amber Von Tussle and her mother Velma. Tracy then decides that it’s not fair that the black kids can only dance on the Corny Collins Show once a month, and with the help of her friends she’s going to integrate the show, without denting her ‘do!
pg. 37
notes Best Dance Move?
congratulations! If you’ve reached the end of the book that means you have now watched eighteen of the most musical masterpieces ever made. Feel proud! Fancy another challenge? Try our cult & comedy collections, available at: www.splendorpelicula.com
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