It’s Halloween time and nothing gets me quite in the mood for ghouls and goblins like revisiting some of the best of the Halloween specials that aired on television when I was kid (oh so many years ago). Over time, new classics have entered into my yearly rotation. I thought it would be fun to share with my readers some of my favorites, hopefully prompting you to do a little exploring.
Halloween is just around the “coroner” to quote the Addams Family lyric you’ll encounter later in this playlist and I thought it would be fun to assemble a musical theatre playlist that embraced all things wicked and wonderful. Maybe this group of musical ditties will help put you in the mood for ghosts, goblins, and treak-or-treat.
Musical theatre fans are simultaneously excited and circumspect when a stage musical is adapted for the screen. For every expertly transitioned musical such as My Fair Lady, West Side Story, and The Music Man, there is a Mame, Man of La Mancha, or Rent reminding us that musicals are a tricky medium to rethink through the camera’s lens. Another musical has made the leap from stage to screen. Michael John LaChiusa’s spare and compact 1994 musical Hello Again is set to hit theatres on November 8, 2017. Though the results are decidedly mixed, the film is a commendable adaptation of a stage show that probably was better left on the stage where its inherent theatricality is better served.
With Halloween just around the corner, television and cinemas are beginning to fill up with scary movies. Unfortunately, there just are not a lot of spooky options that are family-friendly. Never fear, I am here to help you find your way to some terrific movies you can stream, buy, or rent that will help put your whole family into the Halloween spirit.
