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Two Must Reads @ Vulture
In this moment I really must bow down. Vulture just slayed all this week. I'm sure it helps to have a huge budget and access to hundreds of talented writers but still. I am regularly in awe. Particularly of these two pieces:

• "The 30 Best Broadway Songs of the Past 40 Years" insightful fun writeups in shows stretching from Annie in 1977 through Hamilton in 2015 with a ton of Stephen Sondheim near the top (as well they should be)
• "A Conversation with Ann Dowd and Margo Martindale" two scene stealers talk late-blooming careers, being confused for each other, favorite roles, and not repeating yourself. 

Lots more good linkage after the jump...

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A Head for Broadway, and a Bod for Singing

Working gal Robert here! Broadway has been absolutely inundated with musicals based on famous movies in the past few years to the point where a friend told me he was going to see Groundhog's Day: The Musical and I thought it was a sick joke. What is not a sick joke is that there is one upcoming production that has turned my opinion right around on that subject: a musical version of the 1988 Melanie Griffith vehicle Working Girl with music by pop-genius Cyndi Lauper and book by renowned playwright Kim Rosenstock. Let the river run after the jump!

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Soundtracking: "Best Worst Thing..."

Soundtracking is our newest wekly series, with Chris Feil talking music in the movies! The Tony Awards are this weekend, so here is a documentary on a Broadway flop...

Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened charts the making and failing of Stephen Sondheim / Hal Prince collaboration Merrily We Roll Along. The musical charts the decades-spanning friendship of three showbiz types, but told in reverse and with teenagers playing the roles. It was high concept and it was a notorious bomb - but with one brilliant and emotionally involving score.

If you’re unfamiliar with the musical and its complicated backwards plotting, Best Worst Thing does a pretty snappy job of quickly explaining the show’s concept before focusing on the cast left out in the cold by Merrily’s failure. What sounds rather niche for a documentary subject is actually quite moving and emotionally accessible, and still touches on some hefty themes. The film, directed by original cast member Lonny Price, is personal but not cloying. It’s a documentary about the hard truths of growing up into a world that isn’t all you were promised, - and it consistently finds deeper context for the music.

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It's June!

How is your June bustin' out, readers? Are you doing some seaside sailor choreography to celebrate the arrival of summer? Watching some theatre before the Tony Awards in a week? Or just catching Wonder Woman this weekend? Tell us your weekend movie plans in the comments!

Soundtracking: "Sister Act"

It's the 25th anniversary of Sister Act! Here's Chris Feil with the second installment of Soundtracking, our newest series at The Film Experience, focusing on music in the movies...

Nuns having fun while singing runs! Alma, check your battery, because it’s time to take it to church!

Sister Act is about as much of an easy comfort as 90s movies get, from Whoopi Goldberg’s peak comic powers to that vibrant choral soundtrack. The film is kind of a prototype jukebox musical, recontextualizing 60s girl group soul to a vaguely christian context. “Guy” becomes “God”, traditional hymns transition into contemporary gospel, music and lyrics twisted twenty years before Pitch Perfect and Glee popularized the mash-up.

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