Theatre

Sophie Einfeld / June 18, 2014

Tune in for our top musical hits – Day #3

The countdown of some of the most-iconic and most-popular musical theatre tunes continues today with three more classic songs from three amazing musicals.

Grease – You’re the One That I Want
We could have picked any number of songs for this musical, but we decided You’re the One That I Want, which was originally performed by Olivia Newton John and John Travolta, was the top choice. Written by John Farrer for the 1978 film version of Grease, You’re the One That I Want remains one of the greatest selling singles of all time. The song was released in conjunction with the film and became an international hit, reaching number 1 in several countries. Other contenders here were Grease written by Barry Gibb and performed by Frankie Valli, Summer Nights, Greased Lightning and Hopelessly Devoted to You. The current musical version of Grease will open in Tasmania at the Derwent Entertainment Centre in September before a season at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre, which opens in December. Click here for tickets.

Chicago – All That Jazz
Chicago is a 1975 musical based on a play by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins. Set in prohibition era Chicago, the signature song of this musical is All That Jazz, which is performed by character Velma Kelly. The song was written by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb and was originally performed by Chita Rivera who played Kelly in the Broadway premiere of the musical. Liza Minelli recorded the song as a single and movie star Catherine Zeta-Jones performed it in the 2002 film version of the musical, which also starred Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere. In Australia, Caroline O’Connor played Kelly in the stage production and made All That Jazz her own.

Rocky Horror – The Time Warp
It is hard to pick just one song from The Rocky Horror Show but (with just a jump to the left…) we have landed on The Time Warp due of its sustained popularity and of course the fun dance that is performed during the chorus at countless weddings and birthday parties.  The Rocky Horror Show was first performed in London’s West End in 1973 and was the brainchild of Richard O’Brien. The film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, was released in 1975 and starred Susan Sarandon, Meat Loaf and Tim Curry. The Rocky Horror Show is currently playing at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre – click here for tickets.