West Side Story

Well, tonight someone randomly said a line from Les Miserables (from the revolution song, you know: Can you hear the people sing, say do you hear the distant drum...) and for about half an hour I couldnt stop myself mumbling the words of the song to myself. (or at least, those words that i did know... i ended up humming it mostly).

But yeah, that got me thinking about great musicals.

And IMO, the best musical ever is West Side Story. The fact that its Shakespeare helps, but the way they made it, and the issues that are discussed, it is just as relevent now as it was 40 years ago... and it hasnt lost a whole lot in terms of humour, and social commentary. (ok, maybe the dancing is a bit outdated, as is the attempt to play basketball at the start of the movie).

It was not only the music and dancing that made it great, this movie included, in my belief, the first ever "Your Mama..." joke.
Tony (=Romeo) is talking to Riff (=Benvolio)

Riff: "Four-and-a-half years I live with a buddy and his family. I think I'm diggin' a guys character... Boy, I'm a victim of dissapointment in you

Tony: "End ya sufferin', little man. Why dontcha just pack up ya gear and move out?"

Riff: "'Cause ya ma's got the hots fa me"

(CLASSIC)

Anyway, I havent figured out (/cant be bothered learning) how to put parts of a DVD onto YouTube, and I could only find a handful of actual clips on YouTube, one of which was this one:

"America" - song by the Peurto Ricans (=The Capulets)
(I had put this video up from YouTube, but then when I went to edit the post to write more text, it dissappeared - someone gimme a comment of how to put it up properly on my blog)

Theres two other videos that I'll link to:
"Officer Krupke" - a classic piece of commentary on youth (and still relevent).
And "Cool" - towards the end, after the murder sequence.

I wish someone would make a musical now that could go down in history in the same way as West Side Story, Fame etc. (the reason I singled out these two, is because using the medium of a musical, they both went fairly deeply (for their time at least) into a range of social ills affecting young people... Im not saying they're the only great musicals).

(Moulin Rouge may become one of these great musicals, but its too soon to tell. I need to watch it in another 5 years and then see how well it lasts)