The 5 best movie-musical film adaptations as approved by a theatre expert

Let’s talk about the Last Five Years. I would have to include this in the top five purely for Jeremy Jordan’s flawless rendition of Moving Too Fast alone, but putting his stellar vocals aside I do think the film warrants a spot on the list. 

Why? Because actually, the concept of Cathy telling her story backwards and Jamie telling his chronologically arguably works better as a film than it does a musical.

As a Pitch Perfect stan, even I, at first, was sceptical about what was in store for Anna Kendrick’s Cathy but I am happy to admit after watching I thought she was perfect for the role.

Because of the pedestrian quality of the piece – it has two characters – I think the movie made their world feel bigger, which I think a good movie adaptation should, and built on the story we already love. 

One thing the movie did so well was making the setting a third character, something which is harder to portray on stage and it added a wonderful dimension, particularly when underscored by Jason Robert Brown’s intricate score.

Whether you agree or disagree, I challenge you not to end up emotionally eating a packet of biscuits whilst sobbing to Goodbye Untill Tomorrow/ /I Could Never Rescue You.

One movie musical adaptation that I feel like really didn’t get its flowers was the remake of West Side Story starring Rachel Zegler and Ansel Elgort.

If one thing is for certain, it’s that Rachel Zegler couldn’t have been a more perfect Maria, everywhere from her spritely soprano tones to her emotional portrayal of the tragic role.

It was a musical theatre masterpiece from every perspective, another stand-out being Ariana DeBose’s and her flawless dance technique.

It is one of the only movie-musicals in the last 20 years that felt like the glamorous movie-musicals of the 40s and 50s, with a huge ensemble cast full of impeccable dancers.

The piece also didn’t veer far away from the original, even down to Maria’s white dress and red ribbon.

The Demon Barber of Fleet Street has a special place in my heart, and I watch it every Christmas Eve – why? Who knows. It just gets me in the festive spirit, maybe it’s something about Victorian England looking all gloomy. 

Much like how the bright lights of New York become such an important part of the Last Five Years, I feel the same about the role London plays in this adaptation. It makes the world feel so much bigger and adds an albeit grey dynamic to Stephen Sonheim’s punchy patter.

It has and will remain one of my all-time favourites, but I don’t think it’s better than the stage production. To me, they feel like entirely different entities to be admired as stand-alone pieces.

If I said to you “Tryna make a dollar out of fifteen cents” you would know which movie musical I was talking about because Little Inez’s verse in Run and Tell That is enough to top this list. 

But, it’s not just her moment in the spotlight that makes Hairspray the perfect, yes perfect, film adaptation. There is an endless list of things which make this film almost the best musical movie to ever exist. 

To name a few more: Everything James Marsden does, Zac Effron’s quiff, Michelle Pfiffer’s Miss Baltimore Crabs and Queen Latifa’s lung capacity. Any other opinions are completely wrong.

I could simply write: “No notes” but that’s not productive. I think the entire theatre community was panicking when the movie was announced, and whilst we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when it was announced that original MT queen Ariana Grande was going to be Glinda alongside Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba nerves were still occurring. 

But I truly believe this movie couldn’t have been better. To the world of musical theatre, Cynthia was already an A-lister and one who was born to be Elphaba, but what was incredible was seeing how much Ariana wanted to honour the original work and away from her iconic vocal riffs and on-stage persona.

So much so that at times, if you close your eyes you could believe it was Kristen Chenworth on the screen.

The duo’s recent Oscars snub was entirely unexpected, not just because of how dedicated they were during the process of the film but also because they were the guest performers. We can only hope the powerhouses pick up their awards following part two.