What Makes a Good Musical?

Musicals are a particular genre of film that seem to be coming back into focus after disappearing from the entertainment scene for quite a few years. Possibly the most underrated form of film the fun and joy that a great musical can bring has been truly missed in the world of entertainment, and is welcomed back with open arms by fans of both stage and screen.

Creating a good musical completely relies on a wide variety of different aspects, but something that can make a musical truly great is if it has the ability to connect with and move its audience. Much like when you experience a theatre musical show, you want the atmosphere and the storyline to grab you and show you what makes the characters in the movie so special, and what they are really feeling when they sing their songs. You need to be able to identify with the story in some way and see where the characters are coming from and what they want from life. This can really make or break a musical, as if you don’t ‘feel’ the music the songs can be dull and lifeless and leave you feeling disappointed rather than with that warm and fuzzy feeling that a truly brilliant musical will give you.

The acting in musicals is a huge factor to be taken into account; if the movie is being adapted from a Broadway theatre show then the viewers want to see some resemblance between the original theatre cast and the new cast. Completely trying to change or re-cast the story in a different way could leave loyal fans of the theatre version feeling cheated. Some musical directors have even gone so far as to employ the original theatre cast to star in the movie, meaning that the film still retains that original look and feel that the fans are used to but the director can expand and play on this with special effects and great use of cinematography throughout. These are usually the most successful types of musical movies today as they embrace the theatre show rather than trying to better it or out do it in some way.

Another obvious yet important factor in the success of a musical is the songs themselves, they need to be well written and used to translate the entire story of the film from start to finish. There should always be at least one or two very strong ‘love songs’ and a mixture of upbeat and softer tracks throughout. If you can get the balance of all of these various different ideas right then the end result should be a strong and powerful musical that will keep movie lovers entertained for years to come.

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