musical

Hawkeye Trailer Finally Brings Captain America Musical to the Stage

He throws a mighty shield, but can Captain America carry a showtune? In Disney+’s upcoming Hawkeye miniseries, we’re about to find out. As revealed in our first official footage of the Jeremy Renner spinoff TV show, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still mourning the absence (and death?) of Steve Rogers… and capitalizing on it with some terrific kick-turns! Indeed, Captain America: The Musical is now officially canon, albeit they refer to it as Rogers in the MCU. Apparently the hottest ticket on Broadway, the new show is at the center of the Hawkeye trailer, which begins with Clint Barton (Renner)…
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Dear Evan Hansen May Be the Most Uncomfortable Musical Ever Made

There was a moment near the beginning of Robert Zemeckis’ odyssey into mo-cap animation where the press believed the magic trick: Yes, these soulless dead-eyed automatons who kind of look like Tom Hanks in a Santa suit are the future, we were told. Yet no matter how much digital snow was drawn on Hanks’ head, never once did anyone feel Christmas cheer. I was reminded of this trip to the uncanny valley while watching Dear Evan Hansen. And not just because of the incredulity of producers thinking actor Ben Platt could still pass for a teenager while pushing 30. To…
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School of Rock Still Shows Why We Need a Jack Black Movie Musical

School of Rock is back! On Netflix, that is. This is excellent news. If we can ignore the fact that Jack Black’s character Dewey Finn does some seriously illegal, borderline sociopathic stuff in the film’s story, while also tanking an entire school year for a classroom full of precocious kids, Richard Linklater and Mike White’s family film absolutely rocks our socks off. It’s a modern classic that has spawned a Broadway show, TV adaptation, and countless click-baity “What are the kids from School of Rock doing now?” articles. Of course the chief reason why this movie goes so hard is…
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In the Heights Review: Lin-Manuel Miranda Musical Still Lights Up

Romance permeates Jon M. Chu’s big screen adaptation of In the Heights, like the aroma of charcoal on a summer day. Perhaps this should be obvious since the central conflict of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical remains its two star-crossed couples working things out at the northern, tip-top peak of Manhattan. Yet that’s not where the movie’s true passion lies; like the source material before it, the In the Heights film’s real ardor is for the neighborhood of Washington Heights itself. How else could a picture so endear you to what is otherwise a cup of bodega coffee? As a jubilant…
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What Would a Queen’s Gambit Musical Look Like?

Some ideas are too good to be constrained to merely one medium. Such is the case with Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel The Queen’s Gambit. After starting its life on the page, the story of chess prodigy Beth Harmon moved to television with a seven-episode Netflix adaptation starring the ethereal Anya Taylor-Joy. Now that Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit is racking up awards (with a presumable Emmy sweep still to come) it’s time for the story to enter into yet another medium. Deadline reported today that entertainment company Level Forward has acquired the theatrical stage rights to the novel. That’s right: The…
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The Prom: Ranking Every Song in the Movie Musical Soundtrack From Worst to Best

The 2018 Broadway musical The Prom has always had a somewhat shaky premise, combining a quartet of narcissistic Broadway stars (Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, and Andrew Rannells) looking for a way to be relevant again with a lesbian couple’s (Jo Ellen Pellman and Ariana DeBose) simple wish to attend their prom in Edgewater, Indiana. The two threads collide when the prom gets blown up into a civil rights issue. However, the stage show reconciled these seemingly disparate elements into a heartwarming tale of self-acceptance for all involved: straight or gay, closeted or out, aging star or varsity cheerleader.…
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Best Meryl Streep Musical Performances (Including The Prom!)

Who would have thought 30 years ago Meryl Streep would become the musical diva of our age? Maybe those who watched her bashfully (and beautifully) sing “You Don’t Know Me” in 1990’s Postcards from the Edge. But largely she was associated with the serious dramas of the ‘70s and ‘80s that won her two Oscars (and saw her nominated for three more) by the time she was 35: Kramer vs. Kramer, The Deer Hunter, Sophie’s Choice. Sober-eyed tearjerkers all. But an amazing thing happened in the 21st century, didn’t it? Streep, the First Lady of the Academy Awards stage, reinvented…
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Lucifer Season 5: Devilish First Footage From Musical Episode Revealed

The cast and crew of Netflix’s Lucifer have been hyping up Season 5’s forthcoming musical episode for months now, and the first clip doesn’t disappoint! Thanks to this weekend’s DC FanDome event, we’ve been offered a sneak peek of Lucifer (Tom Ellis), Chloe (Lauren German), Dan (Kevin Alejandro), and Ella (Aimee Garcia) all singing and dancing to ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ by Queen in footage from the tenth episode of Season 5, which is called ‘Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam’. Of course, it wouldn’t be Lucifer without a mysterious murder victim being the one whomst bit said dust, and during…
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Link Tank: The Brief Revival of a Superman Broadway Musical from the ’60s

It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman was a 1966 musical flop that almost saw a revival in 2010. Here’s what happened. “Dallas is a long way from Metropolis, but within the space-age architecture of the Dallas Theater Center, Superman was preparing to take flight. It was 2010, and the organization was on the verge of premiering what it hoped would be one of the biggest shows in its history: an entirely reimagined take on the 1966 Broadway production It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman.” Read more at Vulture. Toshiba, a long-time household…
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Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind Directors Talk Epic and Intimate Musical Moments

The documentary Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, directed by Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni, is an intimate look at a prolific singer-songwriter who enriches and is enriched by the history of Canada. Most of the world knows Lightfoot as the singer with the recognizable baritone who put out hits like “Sundown,” “If You Could Read My Mind,” and “Early Mornin’ Rain.” But in his native country, he is a national treasure. Before international fame, in 1967, he actually wrote and performed a piece called “The Tale of Canada” for the country’s 100th anniversary. After worldwide renown, he…
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Hamilton Cast Reflect on Backlash and Criticism of Musical

Hamilton is a phenomenon. That word gets thrown around frequently in the media, but in regards to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s compelling reimagining of the American Revolution, it’s true. By blending rap and hip hop rhythms with jazz and Broadway melody, and the history of America’s founding with a diverse cast of marginalized demographics who for centuries were overlooked or omitted by history’s eyes, Miranda created a work that endured beyond its Tony and Pulitzer prizes. Indeed, it became a lasting part of the modern pop culture landscape—even for people who’ve never been able to afford a Broadway ticket. After all, there’s…
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