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Holiday musicals: Who do you want to see?

I may finally be too old for a stocking, but there’s one holiday tradition I continue to love, and that’s the airing of classic musicals on television. For a long time now, I’ve been of the opinion that lesbians need to reclaim musicals from gay men – not least because there is such a plethora of gorgeous, talented women in film musical history.

While a list of all my favorite female performances would probably take all day, here in chronological order are ten that I’m hoping to see over the vacation:

1. Ginger Rogers in Shall We Dance (1937)

I love all the Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire collaborations, so it’s hard to select just one. But Shall We Dance has one of my favorite Ginger Rogers moments, as the camera dwells in close-up on her listening face as Fred Astaire sings “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” While the song is beautiful, it’s Ginger’s subtly despairing response that really strikes at the heart. (She would go on to win an Oscar for Best Actress, for the non-musical film Kitty Foyle, in 1940).

2. Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas (1954)

This very, very silly seasonal musical is mostly notable for the gay undertones brought by Danny Kaye’s performance (no, really – watch it again).

But as one of the two female leads, Clooney (pictured right) manages to bring a mellow, faintly melancholy note to her performance that makes it feel like she belongs in another – and better – film. (Maybe one that doesn’t pair her with the literally twice-her-age Bing Crosby.)

3. Shirley Jones in Oklahoma! (1955)

One of my first signs that I was not destined to grow up strictly straight should have been my utter adoration of pretty soprano Shirley Jones as Laurey Williams: I wanted to be her best friend, Ado Annie – except in my case, it would have been Shirley I couldn’t say no to, not the men. 4. Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face (1957)

I prefer Audrey Hepburn at the start of this film, before her high-fashion makeover: Hollywood may have thought she looked dowdy, but personally I’d love to meet a Parisian bookshop owner who reads philosophy and dresses all in black.

5. Natalie Wood and Rita Moreno in West Side Story (1961)

When you’re telling a story about love at first sight, it does help a bit if your heroine is beautiful. And Natalie Wood is beautiful. Very, very beautiful.

If the character of Maria is too insipid for your taste, though, then there’s always Rita Moreno as Anita to liven things up: Moreno won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance – and has since gone on to win an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony, becoming one of only nine people in the world to have won all four awards.

6. Lea Salonga in Les Misérables – The Dream Cast in Concert (1995)

I’ve blogged before about my fondness for the lovely Lea: Her angry, lonely Éponine is my favorite thing about Les Mis.

7. Anna Kendrick in Camp (2003)

Kendrick is probably the least famous actress on this list. But for anyone who saw her performance as the intense, rather lesbianish Fritzi in this summer camp drama, she will have made quite an impression. After her ambiguously gay advances on fellow drama student Jill are spurned, Fritzi goes on the offensive – poisoning Jill’s food so that she will be unable to perform “Ladies Who Lunch” in the concert that night.

Here’s the unforgettable moment when Fritzi steps in to take over:

   

8. Emmy Rossum in The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

The friend I saw Phantom with told me that it wasn’t a very good film. This may or may not have been true – I was too knocked out by Rossum’s flawless beauty and soaring soprano to notice. 9. Rosario Dawson in Rent (2005)

There’s clearly something wrong with me, since I managed to fall for the one major female character in

Rent who isn’t a lesbian. But as dancer Mimi Marquez, Dawson had enough verve and testosterone to put Angelina Jolie to shame.

10. Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls (2006)

Let’s be honest: 2006 was the year of Jennifer Hudson: But although her role was less showstopping, Beyoncé came into her own in the second half of the film, as the increasingly confident and independent Deena Jones. That’s my list. Who are you looking forward to seeing?

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