Cinderella
We can’t wait to see Cinderella’s new Amazon Prime Video music production, which will debut on the streaming service on September 3.
Director Kay Cannon (of Pitch Perfect Fame) reimagines the classic tale as a modern, inspiring tale of persistence and transformation. This Cinderella (played by Camila Cabello) doesn’t need a handsome prince to make her dream of becoming a fashion designer come true.
Oh, and did we mention that the incomparable Billy Porter plays Ella’s fairy godmother or that gay icon Idina Menzel (Wicked, Rent) plays Ella’s stepmom?
In other words, Cinderella is entering the pantheon of musicals that promise a good old gay time in cinema. In anticipation, we’ve revisited five of our favorite musicals that have acquired a rabid LGBTQ fandom over the years.
Grab some popcorn and fire up a streaming service for our pre-Cinderella musical film festival.
To rent
Speaking of Ms. Menzel, what better way to rejoice in seeing her in Cinderella than by watching her in one of her most iconic performances. Menzel created the role of beloved bohemian lesbian Maureen in the original Broadway production of Rent. The film, despite its flaws, gets one extremely right thing by allowing Idina – with her belt voice – to reprise her role in front of the camera. That, along with the underlying themes of the musical of radical sexual and racial diversity, make the film a warm cover for queer audiences.
Streams on Amazon, VUDU, and iTunes.
Dream girls
What is it about a gay crowd that makes us love a sense of bravery? To see the bravery in full screen, look no further than Dreamgirls, director Bill Condon’s awe-inspiring adaptation of the onstage hit starring Jennifer Hudson. Hudson won an Oscar for his work in the film, specifically for his iconic performance on the show “And I Tell You I’m Not Going”. Rarely, if ever, has a song rocked cinemas in their foundations so much, threatening to literally bring down the house.
Streaming on Amazon, Hulu, HBO Max, YouTube, and VUDU.
The Wizard of Oz
How not to include The Wizard of Oz, the 1939 musical that first introduced Judy Garland as a gay icon and which remains one of the five best films ever made? Garland plays Dorothy as the ultimate outsider: a young woman who feels out of place in her native Kansas but at home in the magical land of Oz, a metaphor for the queer experience if ever there is one. Her performance, along with her unforgettable take on “Over The Rainbow,” continues to speak to desperate children around the world who feel like they don’t belong or who wouldn’t fear an adventure on the Yellow Brick Road.
Streaming on HBO Max, Amazon, YouTube and VUDU.
Cabaret
It may be genetic. Judy Garland’s daughter Liza Minnelli gives one of the greatest performances of all time in Cabaret, a film about the rise of Nazism in Germany told through the eyes of a bisexual author. Cabaret broke new ground by celebrating sexual fluidity – Sally (Minnelli) and author Brian (Michael York) are having an affair with the same man and feel no shame about it. Indeed, part of what makes Minnelli’s performance last is that it features every gay boy’s ideal female best friend: sex-positive, flamboyant, glamorous, and herself without apologizing. We should all be so lucky.
Streams on Amazon, YouTube, and VUDU.
My beautiful lady
One of Hollywood’s biggest forays into the musical genre, openly gay director George Cukor brings an undeniable odd sensibility to this Oscar winner for Best Picture. Cukor runs My Fair Lady with breathtaking style and sincerity. He also looks at the homoerotic nuances of the play by George Bernard Shaw Pygmalion which inspired him. My Fair Lady is a different kind of romance, a platonic relationship between a man and a woman, and a coded gay couple. Rex Harrison’s Professor Higgins doesn’t want anything to do with women unless, of course, they can intellectually match him without expecting him to behave like a lover. Lucky for him, he meets his partner in Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), an independent woman who isn’t looking for a husband, but an equal.
Streams on Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, and VUDU.
