With a song in their hearts...
Dec. 23rd, 2018 12:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakOne look at the news and a mighty "gah!" on my part tells me the need for Christmas cheer is ongoing. And thus I offer a selection of hilarious music and, occasionally, dance scenes in fannish media across the multiverse. (Though not from musicals, with one exception.) Because few things are more guaranteed to lift up one's spirits, trust me on this.
Let's start with Peter Capaldi showing off his guitar playing as the Twelfth Doctor makes an entrance in the season 9 opening episode. Co-starring Clara and Missy, who get their own theme tune, courtesy of the Doctor.
A few years earlier, the Doctor Who cast in their wrap up party for Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner came up with this glorious musical summing up of the RTD years of New Who:
On to space one of my oldest fandoms. No one would ever name Star Trek: Insurrection as their favourite TNG (let alone ST) feature film, but it does contain this gem of Picard and Data singing Gilbert & Sullivan, dragging a reluctant Worf with them:
Meanwhile, Star Trek: Voyager more than once made use of Robert Picardo's and Jeri Ryan's excellent voices, most prominently in this scene of the Doctor and Seven duetting:
Speaking of duets: my beloved Babylon 5 gave us Londo and Vir debating and bonding over Centauri opera (meaning show soundtrack composer Christopher Franke must have invented those tidbits they sing here):
Back to Earth. Lost in Austen might be a shameless Mary Sue fantasy, but it's an incredibly endearing one and I adore it. Here is contemporary reader Amanda Price, transported into her favourite novel, trying to cope with the social demands made on a young lady by borrowing a tune from Petula Clark:
On a more wistful note, Bates Motel gave its antiheroine Norma a lot of unfulfilled dreams. Auditioning for a community theatre musical, Norma picks a song from Cabaret, because of course she does, and Vera Farmiga makes her singing a part of Norma's characterisation in this scene:
Still on the bittersweet side of things and singing as characterisation: Better Call Saul had a superb season 4 finale which gave us, in flashback, the brothers McGill singing ABBA:
On to pure joy again, and to my one exception, i.e. a scene from something that's actually a musical, albeit an unconventional one across various episodes: Davids Morrissey and Tennant dancing in Blackpool near the end of the first episode remains hilarious no matter how often I watch, and you can tell the actors had a blast:
Actors enjoying themselves can also be found in Pride, a wonderful film using the rl story of a London-based LGTB group supporting striking Welsh miners in the 80s. Culture clashes ensue, as well as learning from each other. Here's Dominic West as the flamboyant Jonathan winning at dancing:
Where there's Wales, there's usually singing, too, sooner or later. Here is the Welsh miner community with Bread and Roses, making for my post finale:
Let's start with Peter Capaldi showing off his guitar playing as the Twelfth Doctor makes an entrance in the season 9 opening episode. Co-starring Clara and Missy, who get their own theme tune, courtesy of the Doctor.
A few years earlier, the Doctor Who cast in their wrap up party for Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner came up with this glorious musical summing up of the RTD years of New Who:
On to space one of my oldest fandoms. No one would ever name Star Trek: Insurrection as their favourite TNG (let alone ST) feature film, but it does contain this gem of Picard and Data singing Gilbert & Sullivan, dragging a reluctant Worf with them:
Meanwhile, Star Trek: Voyager more than once made use of Robert Picardo's and Jeri Ryan's excellent voices, most prominently in this scene of the Doctor and Seven duetting:
Speaking of duets: my beloved Babylon 5 gave us Londo and Vir debating and bonding over Centauri opera (meaning show soundtrack composer Christopher Franke must have invented those tidbits they sing here):
Back to Earth. Lost in Austen might be a shameless Mary Sue fantasy, but it's an incredibly endearing one and I adore it. Here is contemporary reader Amanda Price, transported into her favourite novel, trying to cope with the social demands made on a young lady by borrowing a tune from Petula Clark:
On a more wistful note, Bates Motel gave its antiheroine Norma a lot of unfulfilled dreams. Auditioning for a community theatre musical, Norma picks a song from Cabaret, because of course she does, and Vera Farmiga makes her singing a part of Norma's characterisation in this scene:
Still on the bittersweet side of things and singing as characterisation: Better Call Saul had a superb season 4 finale which gave us, in flashback, the brothers McGill singing ABBA:
On to pure joy again, and to my one exception, i.e. a scene from something that's actually a musical, albeit an unconventional one across various episodes: Davids Morrissey and Tennant dancing in Blackpool near the end of the first episode remains hilarious no matter how often I watch, and you can tell the actors had a blast:
Actors enjoying themselves can also be found in Pride, a wonderful film using the rl story of a London-based LGTB group supporting striking Welsh miners in the 80s. Culture clashes ensue, as well as learning from each other. Here's Dominic West as the flamboyant Jonathan winning at dancing:
Where there's Wales, there's usually singing, too, sooner or later. Here is the Welsh miner community with Bread and Roses, making for my post finale:
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Date: 2018-12-23 04:04 pm (UTC)Those two scenes from Pride are maybe some of the best non-musical musical film sequences ever, if that makes sense.
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Date: 2018-12-23 04:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 04:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-23 07:02 pm (UTC)It's based on a song from Victoria Wood who was famous in England for her comedy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFI5Jl_IqsE
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Date: 2018-12-24 10:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-25 10:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-25 04:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-25 11:43 pm (UTC)Such as: Twelve and his guitar playing. As much as I love our new Doctor, the first clip made me miss Twelve. Should get out my DVDs if I ever find the time.
I'd totally forgotten about the Star Trek Gilbert and Sullivan bit - and I don't even know why Worf is so reluctant, if there's one thing I like about the Klingons, it's their penchant for singing ;-D.
Blackpool! I know this only through osmosis and watching all the the clips on Youtube, but I was always amused by the whole concept (and very delighted when David Morrissey showed up on Doctor Who and continued to have great chemistry with David Tennant). I don't really know how they got through that scene straight-faced, though.
And yeah, Pride, such a wonderful movie and a great last clip you chose.
Speaking of musical sequences, did you ever make it to House's musical dream sequence Get Happy back in the day or did you stop watching before that?
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Date: 2018-12-26 06:26 pm (UTC)Vera Farmiga was amazing. So, for that matter, was Freddie Highmore as Norman. I love that show, and am glad they got their five seasons and got to tell their story without early cancellation or other outside interference.
Twelve: I hear you. Same here.
Get Happy: no, I hadn't seen that before, I must have stopped earlier than that. (No big dramatic reason, I just felt the series was becoming too repetitive and not letting the characters develop for me. But I didn't hate it, or anything like that.) Speaking of Hugh Laurie, though here he is along with other very familiar people performing my favourite version of "The way you look tonight" in Peter's Friends.
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Date: 2018-12-26 07:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-31 06:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-01 01:18 pm (UTC)