Jukebox musical

A jukebox musical is a stage or film musical that uses previously released popular songs as its musical score. Usually the songs have in common a connection with a particular popular musician or group — either because they were written by, or for, the artists in question, or were at least covered by them. The songs are contextualized into a dramatic plot: often the biographical story of the performer(s) whose music is featured, although in some cases the plot does not revolve around the particular group at all. Although jukebox musicals had achieved success for years (for instance Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story, the musical about the life of Buddy Holly which ran in the West End for 13 years from 1989 to 2003), their recent surge in popularity was led by the success of Mamma Mia!, built around the music of ABBA.^{[citation needed]}

Reception of jukebox musicals have been divided, with the most common criticism being that there's too much focus on how many songs can be fit into the said musical. Some jukebox musicals, like Lennon and Good Vibrations have been critical and financial flops. Others, like Jersey Boys and All Shook Up have received acclaim and have become popular with fans and critics alike.

The term "jukebox musical" was first coined in the 1940s in reference to motion pictures consisting largely of hit recordings.^{[citation needed]} Examples are Jam Session (1944), Rock Around the Clock (1956), Juke Box Rhythm (1959), and A Hard Day's Night (1964).

List of jukebox musicals

1970s

Year	Title	Based on the music of
1975	The Night That Made America Famous	Harry Chapin
1977	Elvis	Elvis Presley
1978	Ain't Misbehavin'	the Harlem Renaissance/Fats Waller

1980s

Year	Title	Based on the music of
1983	Singin' in the Rain	Arthur Freed, also based on the movie, Singin' in the Rain
1984	Leader of the Pack	Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector
1989	Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story	Buddy Holly, including many early rock "standards"
1989	Return to the Forbidden Planet	various artists

1990s

Year	Title	Based on the music of
1990	Forever Plaid	vocal harmony groups of the 1950s
1995	Smokey Joe's Cafe	Leiber and Stoller
1997	Boogie Nights	the seventies
1999	Disco Inferno	1970s disco
1999	Mamma Mia!	ABBA
1999	The Marvelous Wonderettes	the 1950s and 1960s

2000s

Year	Title	Based on the music of
2001	Love, Janis	Janis Joplin
2001	Shout! The Legend of the Wild One	Johnny O'Keefe
2002	We Will Rock You	Queen
2002	Our House	Madness
2002	Movin' Out	Billy Joel
2003	The Boy from Oz	Peter Allen
2003	Tonight's The Night	Rod Stewart
2003	Winter Wonderettes	holiday music, 1960s
2004	On the Record	the Walt Disney Company
2004	Saturday Night Fever	Bee Gees
2005	Back to the 80's!	various 80s pop artists
2005	Lennon	John Lennon
2005	Good Vibrations	The Beach Boys
2005	All Shook Up	Elvis Presley
2005	Honky Tonk Laundry	country music made famous by female country stars
2005	Jersey Boys	Frankie Valli and Four Seasons
2005	Hoy no me puedo levantar	Spanish group Mecano
2005	Bésame Mucho	Mexican and Cuba Boleros Various Artists
2006	Hot Feet	Earth, Wind & Fire
2006	Priscilla Queen of the Desert – the Musical	Various Artists, based on the movie, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
2006	Daddy Cool	Boney M
2006	Ring of Fire	Johnny Cash
2006	Rock of Ages	glam metal of the 1980s
2006	Thriller - Live	Michael Jackson
2006	The Times They Are A-Changin'	Bob Dylan
2006	The Onion Cellar	The Dresden Dolls
2006	Why Do Fools Fall In Love?	hits of the 1960s, various artists
2007	Desperately Seeking Susan	Blondie
2007	Never Forget	Take That
2007	Sunshine on Leith	The Proclaimers
2007	The Slide	The Beautiful South
2008	All the Fun of the Fair	David Essex
2009	Dreamboats and Petticoats	based on the album featuring music of the 1960s
2009	Mentiras el musical	Mexican songs from 1980s era Various Artists
2009	Fela!	Fela Kuti
2009	Life Could Be a Dream	doo-wop music circa 1960

2010s

Year	Title	Based on the music of
2010	Perfect Harmony	Various Artists (ranging from The Jackson 5, to Pat Benatar)
2010	Everyday Rapture	Various Artists (ranging from Judy Garland and The Supremes, to Mr. Rogers)
2010	Come Fly Away	Frank Sinatra
2010	Million Dollar Quartet	Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash
2011	American Idiot	Green Day
2011	Waiting for a Train	Jimmie Rodgers
2011	Baby It's You!	The Shirelles
2011	Life in a Nutshell	Barenaked Ladies
2011	Si nos dejan	Mexican songs from 1930s-1950s era Various Artists
2012	I Dreamed a Dream	various artists, songs covered by Susan Boyle
2012	Viva Forever!	Spice Girls

List of jukebox musical films

• Meet Me in St. Louis (1945)
• Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
• One Sunday Afternoon (1948)
• Singin' in the Rain (1952)
• Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
• A Hard Day's Night (1964)
• Help! (1965)
• Yellow Submarine (1968)
• At Long Last Love (1975)
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
• Can't Stop the Music (1980)
• The Blues Brothers (1980)
• American Pop (1981)
• Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
• Spice World (1997)
• Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
• Love's Labour's Lost (2000)
• Moulin Rouge! (2001)
• Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003), based on the Discovery album by Daft Punk
• 20 centímetros (2005), Various Artists
• Happy Feet (2006)
• Idlewild (2006)
• Romance & Cigarettes (2006)
• Across the Universe (2007), based on the songs of The Beatles
• Stilyagi (2008)
• Mamma Mia! (2008), based on the musical Mamma Mia!, which is based on the songs of ABBA
• Happy Feet Two (2011)
• Rock of Ages (2012)

List of jukebox musical TV shows

• Blackpool (2007)
• Viva Laughlin (2007)
• Glee (2009)
• Smash (2012)

External links

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