During the 1970s, spiritual musicals such as “Jesus Christ: Superstar” and “Godspell” drew people into theaters. After the 1978 release of “Grease,” however, the genre went on hiatus. It wasn't until Australian Baz Luhrmann directed “Moulin Rouge!” in 2001 that the musical staged a comeback. Here are five memorable modern musical speeches made since 2001:
1. "Moulin Rouge!" (2001)
Nicole Kidman plays the call girl Satine in “Moulin Rouge.” Based in 1899 Paris, Satine falls in love with Christian (Ewan McGregor), a Bohemian poet. Kidman sings, “A kiss on the hand may be quite continental, but diamonds are a girl’s best friend! A kiss may be grand but it won't pay the rental on your humble flat, or help you feed your … pussycat!”
2. “Chicago,” (2002)
“Chicago” follows the lives of women murderers who find themselves on death row in 1920s Chicago. In one scene, Mona, who’s played by Mya Marie Harrison, says: “I loved Al Lipshitz more than I could possibly say. He was a real artistic guy, sensitive, a painter. But he was always trying to find himself. He’d go out every night looking for himself. And on the way, he found Ruth. Gladys. Rosemary. And Irving.”
The popular film won the Best Picture Oscar at the 2003 Academy Awards.
3. "Dreamgirls" (2006)
“Dreamgirls” focuses on a trio of African-American girls trying to make it big as singers in the 1960s. Effie Melody White, portrayed by Jennifer Hudson, says: “It's about people paying their dues. Isn’t that what you keep telling me? ... So why am I sitting here without so much as a B-side on a 45, when an amateur like Martin Luther King Jr. gets his own freaking album? I mean, can he even sing?”
Hudson won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal.
4. “Hairspray” (2007)
Nearly 30 years after "Grease," John Travolta returned to the musical genre in 2007’s “Hairspray.” Tracy Turnblad, played by Nikki Blonsky, teaches Baltimore something about racial integration in 1962. She says: “I think I’ve kind of been in a bubble ... thinking that fairness was gonna just happen. It’s not. People like me are gonna have to get up off their fathers’ laps and go out and fight for it.”
5. “Nine” (2009)
Daniel Day-Lewis portrays Guido Contini in “Nine.” A filmmaker, Contini juggles relationships with his wife, his mistress, his muse, his agent, and his mother. In one scene, he sings: “I would like the universe to get down on its knees and say, ‘Guido, whatever you please, it’s okay. Even if it’s impossible, we’ll arrange it.’”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.