Dir. Phyllida Lloyd. Starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan It’s about eighty percent of the way through the movie. Sam (Brosnan), Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), and Harry (Colin Firth) have all learned why they’re on this little Greek island. The daughter of a woman each of them had a fling with about twenty years back… Read More Mamma Mia! (2008)
I came across the Kerry Ellis Anthems version first. It hums and pulses and lands on forte sections every now and then thanks to an active string section and Ellis’ smooth voice for three minutes before Kerry really gets to whale on the song, and by the end she and Brian are in full shred mode, the way that… Read More “You Have to Be There,” from Kristina from Duvemala
Dir. Hugh Wooldridge. Starring Idina Menzel, Josh Groban, Adam Pascal For half a second back there, I thought that the Christmas movie musical was about to become a staple of the American film schedule. Les Miserables hit, Into the Woods missed, and then The Force Awakens came out a year later, with a new Star Wars property expected every Christmas, in… Read More Chess in Concert (2008)
Honorable mentions: “The Deal/No Deal,” “You and I (Reprise)” Like Grenada, Chess is a victim of American late Cold War insecurity. In the British version, the Soviet grandmaster beats the American grandmaster to take the latter’s championship before defecting, and with a little help from the American, topples the Soviet challenger for his crown. In… Read More Songs from Musicals: #2, “Pity the Child,” from Chess
Seeing Things Secondhand 