Jukebox musical

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A jukebox musical is a stage or movie musical that features a set of pre-released, hit songs by a mainstream artist or artists as its musical score and contextualizes the songs in a dramatic plot, sometimes telling the biographical story of the band or singer whose music is used. Although jukebox musicals had achieved success for years (for instance Buddy, musical about the life of Buddy Holly which opened in the West End in 1996) their recent surge in popularity was triggered largely by the successes of The Boy from Oz and Mamma Mia!, based around the music of Peter Allen and Abba respectively, and the 2001 film release of Moulin Rouge!. The critical and commercial success of jukebox musicals is hit-or-miss; some (such as Lennon) flop and close after a short season, while others (e.g. Movin' Out) go on to win critical acclaim, financial success and long theatre runs and tours.

[edit] List of jukebox musicals

• Forever Plaid (opened 1990).
• Crazy for You (1992-1996), music of George and Ira Gershwin.
• Saturday Night Fever (1999-2000), music of The Bee Gees.
• Mamma Mia! (opened 2001), music of ABBA.
• We Will Rock You (opened 2002), music of Queen.
• Movin' Out (2002-2005), music of Billy Joel.
• The Boy from Oz (opened 1998), music of Peter Allen.
• Taboo (musical) (2003 - 2004), music of Boy George.
• Tonight's The Night (2003-2004), music of Rod Stewart.
• Lennon (2005), music of John Lennon.
• Good Vibrations (2005), music of The Beach Boys.
• All Shook Up (2005), music of Elvis Presley.
• Jersey Boys (2005 – present), music of Frankie Valli and Four Seasons.
• Ring of Fire (2006), music of Johnny Cash.
• Hot Feet (2006), music of Earth, Wind & Fire.
• Dusty: The Original Pop Diva (opened 2006), music of Dusty Springfield.
• Daddy Cool (2006), music of Boney M.
• The Times They Are A-Changin' (2006), music of Bob Dylan.
• On the Record, music of the Walt Disney Company.

[edit] List of jukebox musical films

• Singin' in the Rain (1952)
• Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
• A Knight's Tale (2001)
• Moulin Rouge! (2001)
• Happy Feet (2006)

[edit] External links

• Mandelbaum, Ken. "Preview '05-'06: The Jukebox Plays On," July 27, 2005.