RyothChatty ridiculous rating

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

tedg I have some trouble adapting to stage musicals when I see them on the stage. There's something about the fact that the audience is there for pure — absolutely pure — entertainment in the form of singing and dancing, and somehow need a narrative to make it palatable. Opera is even worse for me in this regard. Oh, I know that the narrative can set up the emotional context for a song, so that it can be more effective, but the whole construction seems to reflect some fundamental flaw in our makeup, like our affection for sugar.When a stage musical is filmed, the problem gets worse. Most of these simply take what works on stage and tries to recapture it using the same techniques and values. "Seven Brides" is my touchstone for this. The result is bunch of clumsy stagecraft that does not translate to cinema, combined with those radical shifts from the story to the songs. Usually the older shows have this problem, because the later ones though made for stage are informed by cinema.This avoids all that, by reimagining one of the old horses in a new mold. Apparently, it was quite an effort because the "Foundation" that has a stranglehold over how the material is used had to negotiate every nit. This idea that some survivors of an artist should benefit from something they had no hand in is vile enough; that they can smother its very artistic soul by legal means is worse.Anyway, what we have here is stage presentation reimagined for modern tastes. That means solving the integration of the songworld and the stageworld. The extras explain how this was nurtured, essentially by honing the show by forcing the actors to speak the lines. There's some clever thinking about the dances along the same lines.Then that is restaged for the camera. It pretends to be a performance in front of an audience, as shots from a real performance are spliced in. But the (valuable) extras reveal the rework to bring it to the camera. This is about as good as it gets unless we have something born out of the camera like Taymor has done.I came to this because "Australia" is sticking with me. I learned that Hugh Jackman (unknown to me) is famous for his musical stage presence. Even though this is quite old in this context, I searched it out and was rather amazed. He sings, he dances. He has presence. In fact, his presence is so strong, he gets away with being not excellent in those areas. Presence.That's what he brought to "Australia" that mattered; it seems to be indicative of the national character. The very same scope of presence as Wolverine grates, because it is a substitute. There is some considered colorwork here too.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

The Gryphon I thought I'd ordered the original movie version of Oklahoma! but was nonetheless excited to see that I had the Hugh Jackman filmed stage play instead. Having never seen any version of the play before, it was a treat to see how it was staged. Everyone seems to sing well, dance well and portray the story well enough but for some reason my attention started to flag before the end of the first act. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was the thick accents, which I know is integral to the play, but grew wearisome anyway. Most of the songs I was familiar with but it was nice to hear some of the lesser known songs as well. I felt a couple of the extended ballet scenes went on a bit too long. Found myself fast-forwarding through the DVD to get past them once the point was made. It's a sweet show, very old-fashioned, a bit long, but well made and for that I give it a mixed review. I can't say I didn't enjoy parts of it, but I also can't say that I enjoyed the overall program.

millie815 This is a wonderful stage production of Oklahoma! As a teaching guide for my drama students, Oklahoma! has everything that I need in it to teach about a musical. Vocally, the actors are wonderful. Josefina Gabrielle has a beautiful voice and range and is lovely as Laurey. Hugh Jackman, from the first note of 'Oh What A Beautiful Morning' grabs your attention and keeps it. Wow… what a voice, what a stage presence enough said. Shuler Hensley plays Jud Fry with a passion that allows the audience to embrace Jud and yet despise him – tough job to do, but Hensley does it well. Visually, this play uses simple designs and staging, which allows the actors to carry the story and they do an excellent job of carrying the story. Perhaps the lack 'Hollywood' style sets or backdrops may take some aback, but it's the music and the actors that you should notice in a musical. For any one who loves a good musical, it is a wonderful presentation.

Gill I have only just found this website and this thread so I would like to post my comments about the National Theatre's production of Oklahoma. I was lucky enough to go to the show at the NT and was absolutely entranced by it all. As most people have said Hugh Jackman was a revelation. I saw the show before he became famous as Wolverine so had no preconceptions about him. I am so glad that he has done so well.Maureen Lipman was terrific as Aunt Eller. When the video was shot I understand she was suffering from an abcess on her tooth but you would have never known.Must watch the video again.