Modern Movie Musicals Need an Untapped Source of Talent

Broadway stars don’t always get the opportunity to portray their roles on the silver screen.

Beauty (Emma Watson) is courted by Gaston (Luke Evans), in "Beauty and the Beast." Nonsinging actors often take on musical roles. MovieStillsDB

Some of the best-remembered and loved films from Hollywood’s Golden Age were musicals. Featuring the  talents Gene Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Fred Astaire, films like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “White Christmas” are still held in high regard by film experts and casual movie fans alike. Hollywood has recently returned to the musical genre with “La La Land,” “The Greatest Showman,” and Disney’s slew of live-action remakes.

While filmmakers have turned to Broadway for their content, they have largely ignored it when it comes to casting. The Great White Way has many talented performers. Nonetheless, Hollywood stubbornly insists on casting non-musical actors in extremely challenging singing parts, sacrificing artistic quality for star power.

‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (2004)

In the early 2000s, my father worked as property manager for Michael Crawford, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s original Phantom. He vividly remembers when a film adaptation of the record-breaking musical was being discussed and how much Crawford wanted the part. Granted, he was no longer a young man, but neither is the fictional Phantom.