10 Great Movie Musicals You Should See

The Wizard of Oz

Release Date 1939

Rating : 8.1 Production Companies: Loew's Incorporated, Loew's Director: Mervyn LeRoy, George Cukor, King Vidor Stars: Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley

Summary: Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.

Singin' in the Rain

Release Date 1952

Rating : 8.3 Production Companies: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Director: Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds

Summary: In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.

West Side Story

Release Date 1961

Rating : 7.6 Production Companies: Seven Arts, Mirisch Pictures Director: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise, Jerome M. Siegel Stars: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn

Summary: In the slums of the upper West Side of Manhattan, New York, a gang of Polish-American teenagers called the Jets compete with a rival gang of recently immigrated Puerto Ricans, the Sharks, to "own" the neighborhood streets. Tensions are high between the gangs but two romantics, one from each gang, fall in love leading to tragedy.

The Sound of Music

Release Date 1965

Rating : 8.1 Production Companies: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 20th Century Fox Director: Ridgeway Callow, Robert Wise Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker

Summary: In the years before the Second World War, a tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey is hired as a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children, and brings a new love of life and music into the home.

Grease

Release Date 1998

Rating : 7.2 Production Companies: Paramount, Robert Stigwood Organization Director: Joyce King, Randal Kleiser, Lynn M. Morgan Stars: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing

Summary: Australian good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance despite their eccentric friends?

Moulin Rouge!

Release Date 2001

Rating : 7.6 Production Companies: Bazmark, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Director: Jo Weeks, Jennifer Leacey, Paul Sullivan Stars: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo

Summary: A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.

My Fair Lady

Release Date 1964

Rating : 7.7 Production Companies: Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Pictures Director: George Cukor, David S. Hall Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway

Summary: A snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.

Chicago

Release Date 2002

Rating : 7.2 Production Companies: Miramax, The Producer Circle Co. Director: Tom Quinn, Tyler Delben, Susanna David Stars: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere

Summary: Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.

Mamma Mia!

Release Date 2008

Rating : 6.5 Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Internationale Filmproduktion Richter Director: Christopher Newman, Sally Jones, Richard Goodwin Stars: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth

Summary: An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on a Greek island is about to marry off the spirited young daughter she's raised alone. But, the daughter has secretly invited three of her mother's ex-lovers in the hopes of finding her biological father.

Hairspray

Release Date 2007

Rating : 6.7 Production Companies: Ingenious Film Partners, Offspring Entertainment Director: Anne Fletcher, Adam Shankman, Joanna Moore Stars: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Zac Efron

Summary: Pleasantly plump teenager Tracy Turnblad auditions to be on Baltimore's most popular dance show - The Corny Collins Show - and lands a prime spot. Through her newfound fame, she becomes determined to help her friends and end the racial segregation that has been a staple of the show.