Miss live musical theater? Check out movie versions while stuck at home
Some day, some enterprising and talented Gen Z kid will look back upon 2020 and create a Tony-Award-winning musical titled "All in This Together!"
This global tale will astutely set the medical, economic and social shock waves of the time to a quintessential '20s vibe, and soon be transformed into an integrated Hollywood motion picture.
But not any time soon.
So while we're hunkered down during the coronavirus outbreak - and unable to see our favorite musical productions at local theaters - here come some movie versions to amuse you at home on streaming services and on-demand.
Just go to reelgood.com and use the search function to see where you can get the movie you want to rent, buy or stream.
No sanitizers necessary.
Classic
'Singin' in the Rain' (1952)
Claim to fame: Considered by many critics to be the greatest musical movie made.
Story: Silent film superstars (co-director Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Jean Hagen) comically attempt to adapt to the new technology when "The Jazz Singer" introduces sound to the movies.
Look for: Cyd Charisse wrapped up in a 25-foot white veil blowing in the wind, provided by three off-camera airplane motors in a segment that took a month to rehearse and two weeks to film at a cost of $600,000, almost 20% of the film's budget.
Interesting tidbit: Actress Betty Royce supplied the singing voice for 18-year-old Debbie Reynolds, whose character supplied the speaking voice for Hagen's silent film star.
'The Sound of Music' (1965)
Claim to fame: The highest-grossing movie in history at the time of its release.
Story: A nun-to-be (Julie Andrews) sings up a seven-octave tsunami as the nanny of seven harmonizing children of chillingly aloof Austrian widower Capt. Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) while Nazis lurk in the background.
Look for: Plummer's increasing size. He admitted to drinking heavily during the production, so his costume had to be refitted for his extra weight.
Interesting tidbit: To entertain her young co-stars between takes, Andrews sang "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." But "Mary Poppins" hadn't been released yet, so they thought she made up the song just for them.
'West Side Story' (1961)
Claim to fame: Astonishing, genre-redefining combo of ballet, acrobatics and jazz that rejected standard Hollywood backlots in favor of shooting on real, gritty urban locations.
Story: "Romeo and Juliet" gets a modern New York City update when a leader of the white Jets gang (Richard Beymer) falls for a girl (Natalie Wood) from the Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks.
Look for: Tonal shifts between the dynamic, explosive production numbers directed by perfectionist original Broadway director Jerome Robbins, and the meh dramatic parts, directed by Robert Wise, hired to replace Robbins for going over budget.
Interesting tidbit: The actors wore out 200 pairs of shoes, applied more than 100 pounds of makeup, split 27 pairs of pants and performed in 30 recording sessions by the time the production closed.
'The Wizard of Oz' (1939)
Claim to fame: Beloved intergenerational fantasy dedicated to the peculiar idea that young people should never harbor dreams of leaving home. Ever.
Story: A runaway teen named Dorothy (Judy Garland) hooks up with the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion in a quest to defeat the witch and return home to Kansas.
Look for: Dorothy's magic pigtails that go up and down depending on the scene.
Interesting tidbit: "Beverly Hillbillies" TV star Buddy Ebsen was replaced by Jack Haley as the Tin Man when Ebsen suffered an allergic reaction to the silver makeup.
Edgy
'Cabaret' (1972)
Claim to fame: Legendary Broadway choreographer Bob Fosse came into his own as a respected filmmaker with this sexually provocative look at souls caught up in a "decadent" existence.
Story: A homosexual Cambridge man (Michael York) is led astray by a flamboyant, promiscuous performer (Liza Minelli) at a German night club as the Nazis tighten their grip on power.
Look for: The innovative way cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth shoots people walking in front of the camera, momentarily blocking our view as if we really are there in the audience of Germany's seedy Kit Kat Klub.
Interesting tidbit: The soul-stirring Nazi anthem "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" was so powerful that people accused composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb of being anti-Semitic, despite that they are Jewish.
'Victor/Victoria' (1982)
Claim to fame: Blake Edwards' pioneering picture helped break down barriers and humanize the LGBTQ community in big-budget Hollywood studio releases.
Story: A broke British singer (Julie Andrews) becomes a Paris night club sensation by pretending to be a man pretending to be a chanteuse, and attracting the amorous attentions of a Chicago mobster (James Garner).
Look for: "The Music Man" star Robert Preston, whose winning performance as Andrews' middle-aged gay sidekick forces us to contemplate our own views of gays, sex stereotypes and aging.
Interesting tidbit: Andrews spent a lot of time practicing how to move and hold a cigar as a man would - with limited success.
Fun
'The Little Mermaid' (1989)
Claim to fame: Initiated the "Disney Renaissance" led by wunderkind Jeffery Katzenberg, head of the studio's motion picture division.
Story: A mermaid teen princess (Jodi Benson) falls for a handsome human prince named Eric (Christopher Daniel Barnes) - and gives up a lot to win him over. Based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale.
Look for: Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck and Kermit the Frog in the crowd during the opening scene as King Triton arrives.
Interesting tidbit: Rob Marshall, director of the Oscar-winning "Chicago," is directing a live-action version of "Little Mermaid" with Halle Bailey, scheduled for a 2021 release. So far.
'La La Land' (2016)
Claim to fame: Winner of the Best Picture Oscar (for a few minutes before the mistake was discovered and "Moonlight" took the award).
Story: A jazz pianist and aspiring actress (Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone) learn the lesson "never date a musician" the hard way when they fall in love while pursuing their dreams in Los Angeles.
Look for: The mind-blowing opening song photographed in a seemingly seamless single take on L.A.'s busiest freeways.
Interesting tidbit: Director Damien Chazelle rehearsed the complex opening by shooting it on an iPhone in a parking lot with 30 performers dancing to music that would later be supplied by hidden speakers for the on-location shoot.
'Little Shop of Horrors' (1986)
Claim to fame: A sci-fi comedy with a 1950s vibe from the great creative team of composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman before they created successive hits in Walt Disney's animated musical features.
Story: A nerdy loser (Rick Moranis) uses a lovable plant from outer space to make his fortune and win the affections of a ditsy blonde (Ellen Greene), until the plant reveals its true carnivore self.
Look for: Young Wheaton native Jim Belushi in a bit part as promoter Patrick Martin, a role originally given to Paul "Breaking Away" Dooley, who was unavailable when the cast reconvened to shoot a new, happier ending.
Interesting tidbit: Frank Oz shot the movie on England's cool, massive 007 Stage, so big that it couldn't be well-heated, causing performers' breath to show. To counter this, Moranis and Greene put ice cubes in their mouths.