Magical Musicals

While at home under national lockdown, catch up on some great musical movies…

If there’s one thing that’s essential for a cold and possibly rainy day, it’s a truly great musical film – after all, who can resist a catchy, melodic tune and some dazzling dance numbers?
 
Since song and dance first hit the silver screen with the invention of sound technology in the 1920s, musical movies have long been a historical part of cinema – and have even seen a comeback in recent years, particularly with the rising popularity of music biopics, stage-to-screen adaptations, and live-action films (here’s looking at you Disney!).
 
Of course, while all musical films generally follow the same formula (great tunes, show-stopping dance numbers) there’s actually an incredible variety to the genre. This means that there is truly something for everyone. Luckily, to help you pick, we’ve rounded up some of the best musical movies to date, ranging from those that have been adapted from classic Broadway hits to others that are purely original for the movie screen.
 
Whether you’re partial to old family classics (like The Sound of Music) or more modern musicals (such as La La Land or Moulin Rouge), these greatest musical movies will definitely put a song in your heart – and will have you singing and dancing along to some of film’s greatest songs in time.

• The Jazz Singer (1927)
• Poor Little Rich Girl (1936)
• Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937) – animation
• The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• Tin Pan Alley (1940)
• Babes on Broadway (1941)
• Phantom of the Opera (1943/2004)
• Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
• Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
• Alice in Wonderland (1951) – animation
• An American in Paris (1951)
• The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
• Kiss Me Kate (1953)
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
• Singing in the Rain (1954)
• Guys and Dolls (1955)
• The King and I (1956)
• The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957)
• South Pacific (1958)
• Sleeping Beauty (1959) – animation
• West Side Story (1961)
• Mary Poppins (1964)
• My Fair Lady (1964)
• Funny Girl (1965)
• The Sound of Music (1965)
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
• Hello Dolly (1969)
• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
• Cabaret (1972)
• Huckleberry Finn (1974)
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
• A Star is Born (1976/2018)
• Grease (1978)
• Fame (1980/2009)
• Annie (1982/99/2014)
• Footloose (1984/2011)
• Beauty and the Beast (1984/2017)
• Hairspray (1988/ 2007)
• Puss in Boots (1988)
• Sister Act (1992/93)
• The Lion King (1994) – animation
• Evita (1996)
• Moulin Rouge (2001)
• Chicago (2002)
• Rent (2005)
• Dreamgirls (2006)
• Enchanted (2007)
• Sweeney Todd (2007)
• Mamma Mia (2008/18)
• Tangled (2010) – animation
• Pitch Perfect (2012/15/17)
• Les Misérables (2012)
• Frozen (2013/19) – animation
• Jersey Boys (2014)
• Into the Woods (2014)
• Walking on Sunshine (2014)
• La La Land (2016)
• The Greatest Showman (2017)
• Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
• Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
• Rocketman (2019)
• Yesterday (2019)
• and many more…

We hope you enjoy this month’s recommendations!

PLEASE NOTE:  Some of the above and below recommendations carry age restrictions and need parental guidance. We want to PREVENT causing any unnecessary issues for you at home while most of you are home-schooling your children during this national lockdown period.

Making recommendations is tough as each choice is purely dependent on individual taste but perhaps the above list can get you to start watching. Do you have any movies you would like to recommend? Please let us know on Facebook or Instagram.
 
We always look forward to hearing from you.  So a special thanks goes out to our insta-follower Sam West for the recommendation of her ‘musical’ playlist – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8f9iZYnBYoVvq2fl0uEDkkdCFLQA3s78
 

Franklin Players in ‘Level 2 Lockdown’

While the country has moved to level 2 in the national lockdown, it is important to note that our local recreation centres have yet to open. Occupational Health and Safety (OHASA) completed inspections at two rec centres within Johannesburg and unfortunately the centres have not yet met the necessary compliance.
 
Please note that when the rec centre does open we will still need to meet the necessary compliance set by the City of Johannesburg unless otherwise directed.

So what is the way forward for Franklin?
 
While here at Franklin the news of relaxing regulations has been music to our ears, we do have a few considerations to keep in mind and steps to follow before we are back on track:

• Under level 2 restrictions, theatres are still limited to the gathering of maximum 50 people.
• Roosevelt Park Recreation Centre has yet to officially open.
• When the centre does open, Franklin will have to set out a disaster-management plan of their own in alignment with the Roosevelt Park Recreation Centre’s regulations and disaster management plan, which is informed by the City of Johannesburg, municipality and other government institutions. While we await the Recreation Centre’s plans, we do foresee they will be requiring a plan that will include procedures regarding:
  • hygiene,
  • number of people to gather,
  • actual crowd management (entrances, exits, social distancing),
  • staff regulations (hygiene, social distancing and infection procedures),
  • backstage social distancing and hygiene,
  • as well the actual procedures to follow should infections occur.
• Before we can continue with our activities, the Joint Organisational Committee (JOC) at the City of Johannesburg will be requiring a new application for all our events. This will also include a presentation by the Franklin Chairperson in front of a panel consisting of various government representatives from different departments. No deadlines have been issued yet by the council regarding this.

In lieu of all these regulations and steps to be taken, we urge you to remain patient with us. It is up to each of us to do our civic duty and as such we ask you to please remain safe and healthy by acting responsibly. Level 2 lockdown does not mean the virus is on level 2. We will do our best to work through the items on the agenda as quickly as possible and will keep you informed on our subsequent progress.

Franklinite Corner

We would like to give a special shout out and congratulations to our current Franklin member Warwick Eccles for his 2020 AFDA film project. Warwick’s film – Exposure – can be viewed at http://standbyexposure.wixsite.com/exposure. The AFDA’s Online Experimental Festival can be accessed at http://festival.afda.co.za.

Happy birthday to our August bunnies, belated and still coming.