This post is dedicated to the musicals that I love that began with film. It is interesting looking at those- because some of them are childhood musicals and some entered my life past childhood when I was in high school and some entered my life as a college student.
Annie- This is one of my childhood musicals. It at one point was my favorite musical. I was optimistic as a child, and I think that was a huge reason why I was drawn to Annie. There is something special about loving a musical since you were a child. There is kind of nostalgia attached to it. The beginning of my love was the 1982 movie. Later in 2014 at the age of 20, I finally saw the stage show, and I did feel like a kid again. My favorite song in Annie is “Tomorrow”.

Sound of Music- This falls in the same category that Annie falls into- childhood musical. Who can’t love Sound of Music when they see it in film or stage. My favorite song was Edelweiss and still is- it was my first piano recital song. The songs are easy to sing along to. I saw the stage show in 2015 at the age of 21, and now love Sound of Music more than ever. I did feel like a kid again watching it- Edelweiss is more emotional than it used to be.

Mamma Mia- I fell in love with this in high school (I think). Cannot believe that just year, Mamma Mia reached a huge milestone in my life- last marked ten years since I fell in love with it. It is very happy and light-hearted. So I was 14 when I fell in love with Mamma Mia.

SPOILERS
Les Mis- I was 18 when I first saw the movie of Les Mis, but 19 when I became a fan of the movie. Yes, that sounds confusing, but I am going to explain.
I did first see the movie December 2012. I came into the film blind to a number of things. I did hear “I Dreamed a Dream” before. I was unsure coming in. After Fantine died: I realized something: Les Mis was a tragedy- I was shocked and confused- I did not know to respond. Tragedy was a genre I never saw in musicals and a genre I was close-minded to. At the end, I did not know if I liked Les Mis. Despite the confusion, I started researching the musical (not knowing why). So rocky start.
I do not know why, but I gave the film a 2nd chance. I still sometimes wish I know why I gave it a 2nd chance, but glad I did it give a 2nd chance. If I didn’t give the film a 2nd chance, Les Mis would not have been a part of my life. This time, I was aware that Les Mis was a tragedy so it would not come as much of a shock. I began to realize there was something special in Les Mis. So my love for Les Mis began the 2nd time I saw the film, and that was in 2013. There are so many reasons why I love Les Mis- the brilliant songs, the tragic, but inspiring story, and the characters. I cannot put into words why I love Les Mis.

For someone who loves the language, Spanish, I loved being able to see the movie musical. The songs do have a hispanic feel in some way. I do love Man of La Mancha. I just haven’t really mentioned that I love it.

Beauty and the Beast- I am a 90s kid, so you know I grew up with the Disney classics that include Beauty and the Beast. I did kind of at one point sort of forget about Beauty and the Beast at one point- did not mean to do. However, my love for Beauty and the Beast still began with the classic movie from the 1990s. Even I did kind of forget, I never forget about the song, “Beauty and the Beast”- I don’t know what it is, but there is something about Disney love songs that are so magical and just have this kind of innocence. In 2017- when I saw the live action Beauty and the Beast movie, I was reminded of my love for Beauty and the Beast many many years ago.

Lion King/ Aladdin- The same thing did happen with Aladdin and Lion King. I did kind of forget about them, but never forgot about the main love song- “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and “A Whole New World”- so if I remembered those songs, there had to be have been some kind of memory. That is because after elementary school (at some point)- I just stopped watching them. At least I remembered the main love song.


White Christmas- this is one of my favorite holiday movies. It is one of the main three Christmas movies I want to see every Christmas holiday. It is hard to exactly describe why I love it.

Fiddler on the Roof- I got to see this in 2014 when a church friend leant us 5 movies before a snow storm, which was back when I was a student at CPCC. School was cancelled for about two days. So part of what I did was watch the movie musicals that I was leant. Fiddler on the Roof was one of the movies. I love Fiddler on the Roof- despite the actual movie musical being 3 hours long- yes, I don’t mind stage musicals being 3 hrs, but a movie musical being 3 hrs can be a bit too long. In 2014- I was 20. The other movies that were leant at the time were Oklahoma, South Pacific, Camelot, and West Side Story- I ended up watching all of them.
What are some stage musicals you fell in love with beginning with film?