Guilty Pleasures

On Saturday 31st March at KOKO and on April 14th at the Ruby Lounge, we’re celebrating the world of stage and song and back flipping policemen at The Sound of Musicals. Tickets over here!

We’ve picked our (current) top five (it changes daily to be fair), but we find it horrendously difficult to decide on which is our favourite that these, like failing acts on a reality show, are in NO PARTICULAR ORDER.

Let’s start the non-countdown!

Iconically be-decked, although she didn’t know it at the time, Liza as Sally Bowles in the heart-shaped bob, big eyes and whacking lung capacity gives pretty much the best performance of her career in Cabaret. Apart from in Arthur. Oh and when she divorced that wally David Guest. Oh and when she wakes up every day generally being amazing. But aside from those, this is definitely her best performance. She’s one of very few who have won a Tony, an Emmy, and Oscar and a Grammy. That spells OGET, or TOGE or EGOT. None of those are words though. Let’s just watch the clip shall we and desist in this inane spiel of nonsense? Ok!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He may be a wacky scientologist, denying his wife drugs when she gave birth (nice!) but he can move and sing like no other even when sporting a fat suit, wig and spangly frock as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. Yes, we’re talking Travolta. There’s many musical moments from his career that we could have picked – Grease and er, one of his underrated LPs – but this song is such ridiculously good fun that it had the edge. And it’s John Travolta IN A FROCK!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For anyone who’s ever harboured dreams about making it in this difficult world of entertainment, thoughts will have turned to schools of Performing Arts at some point where you can hone your craft amongst a myriad of needy, loud-mouthed, show offs who find it necessary to make a colossal din at every given opportunity because they are PERFORMERS and are EXPRESSING THEMSELVES so EVERYONE CAN LOOK AT THEM AND TELL THEM HOW WONDERFUL THEY ARE AS THEY HAVE TERRIBLY LOW SELF ESTEEM. Take Fame for example, even when you’re trying to get your chips and beans in the canteen and have a quiet sit down they’ll tip up all legs akimbo dancing on your lunch tray whooping a great deal. You have been warned.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Liza’s mom and a heroine to many, Judy Garland was a mere slip of thing when she donned the gingham dress and hooked up with a Scarecrow, a cowardly Lion, a Tin Man and her soft rock dog Toto and galavanted round Oz accidentally murdering witches and avoiding trees lobbing their apples at them, all whilst wearing some of the spangliest shoes one eyes hath ever seen. It is a masterpiece ’tis true. Better than Star Wars *sits back and waits for cacophony of abuse*

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Oh we have to round this off with the Muppets. Where would we be without the Muppets? How dull a childhood would we have had sans Fozzie’s rubbish gags and Gonzo’s disastrous endeavors? No Pigs in Space. No Swedish Chef. No Beaker. NO KERMIT. ‘Tis truly a life bereft, so let’s have that team of furry hilarity sing us out as we exit the stage in a blizzard of bouquets / confetti / bits of crap from people’s pockets that they’re lobbing at us…