Hell Is A Musical

Valley Girl was a 1983 retelling of Romeo & Juliet set in Los Angeles, California, wherein the roles were swapped out for a Hollywood rocker and a titular Encino valley girl. In addition to being a major commercial hit with audiences, the film is most notable for launching the acting career of Nicolas Cage. In 2012 it was announced that the film would be remade as a jukebox musical film, relying u...

Dancer In The Dark was a dark musical melodrama from Danish director Lars Von Trier, released in 2000 and starring eccentric pop singer Björk Guðmundsdóttir in the leading role. The story follows a recent immigrant to America in the 1960s with an obsession with American musical films, who finds herself slowly going blind. She attempts to navigate her life and prevent her young son from befalling a...

Love Never Dies was a 2010 musical from famed composer and plagiarist Andrew Lloyd Webber, acting as a sequel to his mega-hit show The Phantom Of The Opera. Originally based off an unofficial sequel to the original story titled The Phantom Of Manhattan, Webber took many artistic liberties, turning the stage version into a story where the previously independent lead Christine now finds herself pini...

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas was a holiday-appropriate joint production between the Jim Henson Company and the CBC in Toronto. The TV special was a Muppet-driven adaptation of the 1971 children's book of the same name, and featured original songs written by legendary songwriter and frequent Henson collaborator Paul Williams. It aired in 1977 to major critical praise, and has gone down as a bel...

Mary Poppins Returns was a sequel to the 1964 film Mary Poppins, which itself was based on the famed book series by P.L. Travers. It was directed by Rob Marshall, previously known for directing the Oscar-winning movie adaptation of Chicago, and featured Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Wishaw, Colin Firth, and Emily Blunt in the titular role. It depicted the Banks family from the original film, grown up an...

A Mighty Wind was a 2003 comedy directed by Christopher Guest, the latest in his series of largely improvised mockumentary films. Written by Guest with Eugene Levy, it followed the behind the scenes lead-up to a tribute concert to a famed (fictional) folk music producer, performed by veteran acts who worked with him. Along with Guest and Levy themselves, it featured an ensemble cast including Mich...

Little Shop Of Horrors was a black comedy musical film directed by Frank Oz. Released in 1986, it was an adaptation of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's off-broadway musical of the same name, which itself was an adaptation of the 1960 science fiction film directed by Roger Corman. It featured Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, and Steve Martin, and a carnivorous plant that came from out of nowhere, but imm...

Popeye was a musical adaptation of the famed newspaper comic strip and series of animated shorts released in 1980. It was directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Robert Altman, marked the feature film debut of comedian Robin Williams, featured songs by Harry Nilsson, and was filmed over seas in the Republic of Malta. On the latest episode of Hell Is A Musical, Lilz & Scott take in the chaotic mess tha...

Burlesque was the 2010 directorial debut of Steven Antin, previously a director of music videos. Starring the dual leads of singers Christina Aguilera and Cher, the film followed a well-trodden story of a small-town girl attempting to strike it big in California, against the backstage setting of a burlesque club. On this episode of Hell Is A Musical, Scott & Lilz once again flex their bad impressi...

Grease was a 1978 film adaptation of the 1971 musical of the same name, and mark film-starring turns for leads John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The directorial debut of Randal Kleiser, it followed the romantic and comedic exploits of high school students during the late 1950s, against a backdrop of early rock n' roll and doo-wop. It's considered one of the greatest movie musicals of all time,...

Directed by John Carney, the 2016 film Sing Street follows the coming-of-age tale of a young boy in Ireland at the height of the new wave movement. Against a backdrop of 80s guitar pop, he finds romance, navigates his way through a heavily conservative boarding school, contends with his parents' marital troubles, and ultimately forms a band himself. On this inaugural episode of Hell Is A Musical,...

Scott Kurland (Writer's Bagel Basket / Where In The World Is Steven Q. Urkel) loves musicals. Lillian "Lilz" Martin (Jukebox Zeroes / Discography Deep Dive) does NOT love musicals. Thus Scott has made it his goal to expose Lilz to movie musicals in an effort to find ones that connect with her. Sometimes it works. (Mostly not.) Share in their mutual frustration on Hell Is A Musical, a brand new mon...