25 Great TV and Film Musical Moments

This film about a performing arts summer camp naturally lent itself to performances of several well-known showtunes throughout. A particular standout is the aforementioned Stephen Sondheim (who has a cameo appearance) classic capably belted by young Tony Award nominee Anna Kendrick ("High Society").

A B-grade "Fame" rip-off about a singing competition between students at a crumbling inner city high school. Fast forward through the entire film and stop when you get to this snappy Dean Pitchford ditty sung by Cyndi Lauper-esque Rachel Sweet which takes place in a graveyard and ends in a human pyramid that accidentally collapses. Trust me on this one. (NOTE: As far as I know, this film is not out on DVD. Only available on VHS.)

I was never a huge "Seinfeld" follower so imagine my surprise at actually becoming hooked on "Seinfeld" creator Larry David's HBO series. Even if this type of comedy is not your cup of laughs, I urge you to rent or buy Season Four where Larry is approached by Mel Brooks to take over the role of Max Bialystock in the Broadway run of THE PRODUCERS (with FRIENDS star David Schwimmer as Leo and PRODUCERS star Cady Huffman and director Susan Stroman playing themselves). As Larry can't really sing or dance, he is naturally reluctant to do it but eventually accepts. Throughout the season, the PRODUCERS gig becomes the running gag culminating in the season finale where we finally see David and Schwimmer shtick their way through several PRODUCERS' tunes. The real genius of this episode is that is essentially a spoof of the plot of THE PRODUCERS. We realize toward the end that Mel only cast Larry because he is sick of all the PRODUCERS hoopla and was sure that Larry would bomb and force the show to close! However, in true PRODUCERS fashion, the audience warms to Larry's off-beat antics and gives him a standing ovation.

In one of the final episodes of the series, cartoonist Caroline (Lea Thompson) is stricken with writer's block when trying to come with an idea for her 2000th comic strip leading her to fantasize what she would do if she wasn't a cartoonist. One of the choices - a Broadway singer/dancer! Castmates Malcolm Gets (Richard), Amy Pietz (Annie) and Eric Lutes (Del) join her in a nicely-staged version of this "Sweet Charity" showstopper. (NOTE: Only the first season of "Caroline" is currently available on DVD. It doesn't include the musical episode featured in this article.)

I tend to refer to this movie as "the other Cinderella musical." While well-acted and featuring several lovely tunes by MARY POPPINS composers Richard and Robert Sherman, it suffers from a lack of a really good script. One of the bright spots is a musical lesson in political diplomacy and etiquette performed with aplomb by British actors Michael Hordern (The King) and Kenneth More (Lord Chamberlain).

Most of us who perform can remember a moment when our talents were so validated that it gave us permission to finally let go and truly be ourselves onstage. That what I enjoyed the most about this particular segment in "Billy Elliot." We finally get to see the actual joy this young man gets from his love of dance. His talent may be uncertain, but his dedication is not.

Having been in several horrendous productions of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, I always had an aversion of singing nuns. This campy number by Whoopi Goldberg and company (coupled with the NUNSENSE musicals) changed my mind completely. Don't let the penguin suit fool you - nuns can be fun!

While most people preferred Madonna's "This Used To Be My Playground" during the closing credits, I was all over this wonderfully mellow, upbeat song written and performed by one of my favorite singer/composers, Carole King, during the opening credits.

One of my all-time most-watched British films is this intensely emotional drama of Nina (Juliet Stevenson), a translator who can't seem to let go of her grief for her dead musician lover Jamie (Alan Rickman) until his ghost appears and helps her find love again among the living. In one of the film's lighter moments, Nina and Jamie reminisce about their relationship and burst into one of their favorite songs.

This Disney musical, released a few years after MARY POPPINS and the final live-action project personally supervised by Walt Disney, is a charming early 20th -Century tale based a real-life character, eccentric Philadelphia millionaire Anthony Drexel Biddle (played by "My Three Sons" star Fred McMurray). Like THE SLIPPER AND THE ROSE, the Sherman Brothers provided a snappy score. I loved nearly every tune in this film, but my diva self was particularly drawn to the catty, witty THERE ARE THOSE performed by two snobbish society grand dames - the nouveau riche Mrs. Duke (Geraldine Page) and "old money" matron Mrs. Drexel (Gladys George).

In this episode from the show's second season, Dorothy (Bea Arthur) and Rose (Betty White) collaborate on a song about Miami to win $10,000 songwriting competition. All you "Golden Girls" fanatics out there, SING IT WITH ME NOW: "Miami, Miami you've got style. / Blue skies, sunshine, white sand by the mile. / When you live in this town, each day is sublime. / The coldest of winters, are warm and divine." Okay, so it's not exactly Rodgers & Hammerstein, but I like it. (NOTE: The Miami song is featured in the episode entitled "Big Daddy's Little Girl.")

I dare you not to absolutely enchanted by the wacky charm of Peter Boyle and Gene Wilder performing an Irving Berlin classic as it had never been performed before or since. (Although Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley in the recent Broadway version come pretty close.)

Next to "Hello My Baby" sung by the Looney Tunes cartoon frog, this is best song ever warbled by a man-made amphibian. Come to think of it, I believe it's the ONLY Oscar-nominated song every warbled by a man-made amphibian. Quite an accomplishment.

Robert Duvall won an Oscar for his remarkable portrayal of a self-destructive former country singer redeemed by the love of a good woman (Tess Harper). But the highlight for me was Broadway diva Betty Buckley (playing Duvall's volatile superstar ex-wife) displaying her signature belt in this absolutely gorgeous country-pop ballad during a concert segment.

In one of the sitcom's most touching episodes, Lucy finds out she's pregnant and keeps getting constantly interrupted when she tries to break the news to Ricky. She devises a unique way to tell him - she shows up at the club and has one of the waiters slip Ricky a note that one of the ladies in the audience is having a baby and would like Ricky to sing "We're Having a Baby" as a way to give her husband the news. Ricky complies and goes to each table to try and find out who made the request. He reaches the table where Lucy is sitting alone and she indicates that she sent the note. The moment is made all the more real by the fact that Lucy was actually pregnant with son Desi Arnaz Jr. at the time. Desi Jr.'s birth several weeks later happened on the same day Lucy Ricardo gave birth to "Little Ricky" on television.

HIV-positive Peter (Stephen Fry) reunites his former college pals (Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton and Alphonsia Emmanuel) for a New Year's weekend at his family's country estate. With equal parts drama and comedy, we learn that all of them have gone on to lead rather complicated, somewhat unhappy lives. Determined to forget their troubles for a short time, they converge around the parlor piano for an impromptu, rather lovely, rendition of this Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields classic.

I wish Julia Roberts did more screwball comedies like this one. She certainly has a talent for them. But her co-star, Rupert Everett, absolutely ran away with the scene in which he gets an entire seafood restaurant (complete with lobster-bib clad diners) to launch into one of Bacharach & David best-loved pop hits during a rehearsal dinner. Honorable mention: Cameron Diaz's "so-bad-but-so-adorable-we-have-to-forgive-her" karaoke crooning of another Bacharach/David tune, "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself."

I don't get hooked on reruns on many TV shows, but if I happen to catch an episode of "Mad About You" while channel-surfing, the remote goes no further. While wife Jamie (Helen Hunt) battles severe post-partum depression, Paul (Paul Reiser) is roped into directing a charity performance of, in his words, "the world's oldest cast of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE" including his dad Bert (Louis Zorich) as the Major General and mom Sylvia (the fabulous Cynthia Harris) as one of the General's daughters. To Paul's frustration, Bert can barely get through his big solo number during rehearsal and Paul agonizes that his dad will be humiliated on opening night. Though Bert does indeed forget his lyrics he nevertheless manages to bring down the house by substituting the words with fatherly, but somewhat embarrassing, anecdotes from his son's childhood.

Truly a "Battle of the Belters" pairing established superstar Garland with future superstar Barbra Streisand in a medley of one of each performer's signature songs. I have to give Streisand special kudos for her remarkable restraint during the more powerhouse vocal moments. She could have easily blown Garland out of the water, but wisely chose not to drown out and upstage the veteran performer. Babs, you got class.

I grieved when "Murphy Brown" went off the air in 1998. How was I going to get by without my favorite TV reporter/bitch goddess/role model? But I survived. Highest on my Murphy memory list is the episode of the birth of Murphy's son, Avery (played in the final years of the show by SIXTH SENSE child star Haley Joel Osment). Murphy navigated through unplanned single motherhood kicking and screaming. However, as happens with many new moms, all her insecurities lessened the moment she held her son in her arms for the first time. As colleague Frank captures the entire scene on video, she softly croons a few bars of one of her favorite Aretha Franklin songs to her baby. (NOTE: This episode is not yet available on DVD. I had posted a youtube clip of the song but it's no longer available.)

Certainly one of the hippest, jazziest tunes ever written for a Disney film, "He's A Tramp" is wonderfully sung by vampish pooch Peg (voiced by the tune's co-writer, the late great Peggy Lee) as she educates naive cocker spaniel Lady about the rascal she's mixed up with. I can't help but smile each time I hear Peg shout out "What a DOG!"

If you're a superstitious chanteuse type like myself, you tend to have a good luck charm that you carry with you from gig to gig. For years, my personal talisman was a publicity photo of the sublime Ethel Merman and the equally divine Mary Martin taken during the Ford 50th Anniversary Show. I was sure that with Ethel and Mary close by, my performance was in the bag (and I was often right). So naturally when the DVD was released in '04, I snatched it up right away. The special ends with an astonishing 13-minute "dueling divas" medley as each lady belts out her greatest hits. Wonderful portrait of two extremely talented legends at the top of their game.

A little background on why this is on the top of my list. Anyone who knows me well has seen me perform FIFTY PERCENT from the flop musical BALLROOM at least twice. It's my favorite audition piece and has gotten me more callbacks than any other piece in my audition repertoire. I don't think I do this number all that well, but, for some strange reason, folks seem to like my version of it. So who am I to argue with a paying audience? But I digress. In 1998, I was privileged to be in the audience at Carnegie Hall for the PBS TV taping of "My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies." Imagine my delight when I looked at my program and discovered that not only was FIFTY PERCENT on the bill, but it would be performed by the original star - Dorothy Loudon! I broke into tears the moment Dorothy opened her mouth and didn't stop until she left the stage. I knew that I would probably never get another chance to see her perform this number live again. And I was right. But I can pop the DVD into my player and relive the magic any time I want. It doesn't get much better than that.