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Top 10 Movie Musicals

*This is a collaborative post

If you’re a regular reader you may have heard me mention that I have been in quite a lot of musicals in my time. I started dance classes when I was four and have pretty much been appearing on stage ever since. I have always loved watching movie musicals too – there’s something about a musical that just makes you feel so happy.

I thought I’d share some of my favourite movie musicals with you – most of these I first saw at home, and a lot of them when I was young back in the days when we had TVs half the size they are now.  I’d love to see them on the big screen at the cinema though, or maybe even better, in the comfort of my own home on a 4K TV from Panasonic!

So here’s my list, in no particular order…

(I decided to leave out any animated films, so no Disney here I’m afraid)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Seven brides for seven brothers

I can’t actually remember ever not  having seen Seven Brides for Seven Brothers! I must have been really young when I first saw it, which is no surprise given it was one of my mum’s favourite films – she saw it something like seven or eight times at the cinema when it came out in 1954! I think we must have had a copy on video that we had recorded off the telly and I remember watching it loads when I was a kid. If you’ve not seen it you really should, it’s got some fabulous dancing and super-catchy tunes.

Grease 2

Slightly controversial here but I think I actually prefer Grease 2 to the original Grease film! It has a few of the same characters, a sort of similar story line, but it is just so cheesy. Plus it has a young Michelle Pfeiffer and the really rather sexy Maxwell Caulfield in it – the film almost ruined his career before it had started but he did go on to appear in Dynasty and its spin off The Colbys.

Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer in Grease 2

Sweeney Todd

Johnny Depp singing. Do I need to say anymore? Sweeney Todd is a fabulous Stephen Sondheim musical. I love the lyrics and I’m a big fan of a sung through musical with no dialogue. The film version of Sweeney Todd also stars Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall and is the story of a barber who kills people and has them turned into pies. What’s not to like?

Singin’ the Rain

Singin' in the rain movie poster

Surely there can’t be anyone out there who doesn’t love Singin’ in the Rain? It’s a movie musical classic and has so many fantastic songs and dances. It’s one of my ultimate feel good movies and will always put a smile on my face whenever I watch it. Although I think the iconic title song is brilliant I think my favourite song from this film has to be Moses supposes. Or Good Morning. Or All I do is dream of you. Or Make ’em laugh. Oh, I don’t know, they’re all brilliant, just watch the film already!

A Chorus Line

I knew one of the songs from A Chorus Line long before I ever saw the film. ‘One’ is the last song in the film and I love watching the stage fill with more and more dancers. It’s a very simple film really, with nearly all the action taking place on stage in an empty theatre as dancers auditioning to be in a chorus line (do you see what they did there) tell their stories. The only really well known actor in the film is Michael Douglas (although he doesn’t sing or dance) and I’ve just found out in researching for this post that it was directed by Richard Attenborough!

Hairspray

Hairspray is another fabulous feel good film. I’ve never seen the original film with Ricki Lake playing Tracey Turnblad but the 2007 musical version with John Travolta and Zac Efron is brilliant. The songs are so catchy and it has a great message too. And I defy you to listen to You can’t stop the beat and not want to dance!

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins is another of those classics that I can’t remember not having seen. I must have watched it when I was very little and I can’t remember how many times I’ve seen it since. I was listening to an interview with Dick Van Dyke a while ago and he was explaining why his cockney accent was so awful – apparently the studio would only hire a vocal coach to work with him for one day, and the vocal coach was Irish!

Sweet Charity

I love the choreography of Bob Fosse and I was tempted to pick Chicago as one of my top movie musicals. But the film of Chicago doesn’t actually feature Fosse’s choreography and although I do like the film I much prefer the stage show. And so I picked Sweet Charity. I’ve actually been in this musical myself too. It’s not a very well known musical really but features the iconic song Big Spender. I think if I had to pick my favourite scene though it would be the dance sequence ‘Rich Man’s Frug’ – it’s just so weird and completely irrelevant to the plot!

Moulin Rouge!

I remember being so exited when I heard about Moulin Rouge – a new movie musical that wasn’t based on a stage show,  written and directed by Baz Luhrman, and starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. It promised great things and as far as I’m concerned it delivered. I love the way pop songs are woven into the story and Ewan McGregor singing Come What May is just adorable.

Evita

This is another musical, like A Chorus Line, that I saw in the theatre and didn’t really enjoy but then loved the film. It’s another sung through musical and I think I know every single word – I love putting the soundtrack on in the car and singing along. I remember when the film version of Evita came out and no-one was really sure if Madonna would be able to pull it off. I think she does, and if you don’t then at least you can just enjoy Antonio Banderas instead.

Antonio Banderas in Evita

 

So there you have it – my top ten movie musicals. I know I’ve missed loads of favourites out (The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Oliver, Annie, High School Muscial, Little Shop of Horrors, West Side Story, Les Misérables to name a few…) but I would have been here all day if I’d done my top 20!

Have I missed out any of your favourites? Let me know in the comments below – maybe you love a movie musical I haven’t even seen yet!

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- Sarah 5 Comments

Living Arrows 16/52 (2017)

I’m a little late with this post this week – the long weekend has put me all out of sync. Actually though the main reason is that I fell asleep when I was putting Toby to bed last night so I didn’t get round to getting my computer out!

Last week’s sun seems to have mostly disappeared this week and we’ve had a pretty quiet Easter weekend. Last Monday though we met my friend Claire and her twins at a park near Warrington (we do a lot of meeting in Warrington as it’s about half way between our houses). It was very busy with it being the school holidays but we found a quiet spot to have a picnic and the boys all had fun running around.

Gabe showing his independence in the park

Gabe is a funny little character sometimes. Read more

- Sarah 3 Comments

Siblings // Toby and Gabe in April (2017)

I have been a bit lax with my Siblings Project posts this year and in fact haven’t written one since January! This has partly been because I haven’t really managed to take many pictures of Toby and Gabe together, and partly because not much has changed on the the sibling relationship front.

This month’s photos are just a few from my phone over the last couple of months, as that is all I have. There’s a couple of good ones in there anyway…

On the settee in matching leggings

We still have odd moments of affection, and Gabe still clearly adores his big brother and wants to do everything he does, but most of their time is spent bickering and fighting. Whatever one has the other one wants, whether it’s a toy, food, a stick or even a random bit of fluff off the carpet! Gabe’s default mode at the moment just seems to be wailing at everything, especially when he can’t have what he wants, so there is quite a lot of crying in our house on a daily basis. Read more

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Bluestone National Park Resort with a toddler and a preschooler // An in depth review

At the beginning of last month we were invited to stay at Bluestone National Park resort in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The last time we went on holiday was when we went to Center Parcs last May so we were well overdue a break away! So we loaded up the car, packed up the kids and set off on our mammoth drive to Wales.

This is going to be quite a long and in depth review of our stay so if you haven’t got the time to read it all now then you can watch this little video of our stay instead…

Getting there

The journey was relatively stress-free, even though it took us seven and a half hours to get there! We were coming from the north west, it takes about 15 minutes to get on the M6 at Preston from where we live and then we were off. We decided to stick to the motorways even though it would make our journey a bit longer, just because you never know when you might need to stop with two small children and we wanted the convenience of stopping at motorway services. Read more

- Sarah 4 Comments

How to make your own reward chart (and does it work?)

I don’t really have a parenting style. I try and be fair and remain calm (although that doesn’t always happen) but most of all I try and be consistent. One thing I have learnt from my years as a teacher is that children need to know what the rules and boundaries are, and for them to stay the same. Quite often, knowing what is expected of them, and receiving praise when those expectations are met, is enough. But sometimes they might need a little bit more encouragement… and that’s where a reward chart can come in.

You can buy lots of reward charts, or download templates online, but when I decided to try using a reward chart with Toby I decided we would make our own. And it’s super easy.

Both reward charts

If you want a reward chart to work I think it’s really important that you involve your child in deciding what will be rewarded and what form those rewards will take. Toby is only three and a half so there was quite a bit of input from me, but if your child is older then you can probably let them make a few more of the decisions. Read more

- Sarah 11 Comments

Living Arrows 15/52 (2017)

Week 15 and it seems like spring has finally sprung! We’ve been having some lovely weather this week, and especially this weekend.

On Tuesday Toby had a day off nursery (mostly to save a bit of money as he doesn’t get his funded hours during the school holidays) but Gabe still went in so we had a mummy and son day. We didn’t do too much – we played with some of the games we don’t usually get out when Gabe is around, and then we went out to run a few errands and have an ice cream. We don’t get much time, just Toby and I on our own very often, except when Gabe is napping, so it was lovely to have a day just the two of us.

We had a little bit more one on one time on Friday too, but that wasn’t quite so much fun as it was for Toby to have his preschool immunisations. We decided to tell him what was going to happen but that meant he was scared before he even got there. He was OK in the end really. He wailed when they did it but recovered fairly quickly when I produced a new Gruffalo toy and a Kinder egg! He has complained about sore arms a couple of times but otherwise seems to be fine so far.

Gabe on the other hand has been grumpy all week. I’m not sure what’s wrong with him – possibly teeth, or a cold, or just some sort of virus. He’s had a couple of little spots on his face but nowhere else, and on Saturday woke up with sticky eyes which have mostly cleared up now. He’s been off his food a bit though and just exceptionally clingy and whingey. Hopefully whatever it is it will pass quickly.

Despite Gabe’s grumpiness we decided to make the most of the lovely weather this weekend, and as Toby’s reward for reaching the end of his chart that I mentioned last week, we went to the beach on Saturday. We were planning on going after lunch but after fighting to fit the car seats into our new car for ages it ended up being almost 3 pm before we set off. Read more

- Sarah 1 Comment

Remembering Childhood // The Mum Diaries

It’s that time of week when another blogger is going to be sharing their childhood memories. This week it’s from Jaymee from The Mum Diaries.

Which decade were you born in?
I was born in the late 80’s (1989) but grew up in the 90s
What is your earliest memory? How old were you?

My dad used to make a video diary everyday, we would come home from school and we would have to sit on the sofa and tell the camera what we got up to.

The Mum Diaries

What was your favourite toy at 5 years old? At 10?

Favourite toy at 5 was probably  my Barbies and it was still the same at 10.

Do you still have any toys from your childhood?

Read more

- Sarah 10 Comments

Living Arrows 14/52 (2017)

It’s been another fairly quiet week but a busy weekend. On Tuesday Barry and I did manage to go out for lunch on our own which is a pretty rare occurrence. I was working on Wednesday and then Thursday and Friday were quiet days pottering around at home. We had one of our usual walks to the shops and the park on Friday, and Toby has realised that the ice cream van is often near the park so we had a little treat too.

We’ve been using a reward chart with Toby for the last couple of weeks – he had started wetting himself nearly every day after being dry for months and it was just through sheer laziness. He had also got into the habit of getting up early and coming into our bed, which I don’t really mind too much but Gabe is usually in there too and he was waking him up as well.

Toby in Cartmel

So anyway, we made a chart which was ‘Toby’s race to the beach’ and he could move a space nearer to the beach for every day he had dry pants, for every morning he stayed in bed until the sun came out on his Gro-clock and extra spaces for being especially kind or helpful. We added in smaller rewards along the way -Toby is a bit obsessed with Kinder Eggs at the moment so they featured quite heavily, but we’d also put in a trip to soft play when he was getting towards the end of the chart. Read more

- Sarah 5 Comments

Me & Mine // A Family Portrait (March 2017)

For once I don’t feel like the month has disappeared before it even started! The first week of March saw us heading south for a holiday at Bluestone in Wales (which I still haven’t finished writing about!) and we had a lovely week away. You can watch the little video I made about our trip here if you like.

Since we came home things have been pretty normal. The boys have had colds again, Gabe’s sleep has gone back to being rubbish (he’s teething on top of his cold so it’s to be expected really), and some days I just can’t wait until bedtime!

We’ve had plenty of fun times too though; Toby and Gabe continue to be equally awesome and infuriating. I can’t believe next month we’ll be finding out which school Toby will be going to in September! He seems to have had a massive growth spurt this month. He’s constantly hungry and all his trousers are getting too short. I love an excuse to buy new clothes though so I’m not going to complain. Read more