A scene from the Vietnamese musical Em muon lam nguoi noi tieng (I wanna be famous), in which the main characters are wanna-be singers

Local musicals can’t hold a candle to Hollywood, mainly because they are not even trying.

Hollywood’s “Mamma Mia!” - the big-screen adaptation of the West End musical smash hit of the same name, played to full houses in Vietnam last year.

So did the Disney musical hit “High School Musical 3.”

Hollywood has had a long tradition of popular musical films since “Broadway Melody” opened in 1929. The classics include “West Side Story,” “The Sound Of Music” and “My Fair Lady” with recent examples being 2001’s “Moulin Rouge,” 2002’s Oscar-winning “Chicago” and 2007’s “Enchanted.”

But self-proclaimed Vietnamese “musicals” such as Luong tam be bong (Little conscience), Em con nho hay em da quen (Do you still remember?), Em muon lam nguoi noi tieng (I wanna be famous) and Chuyen tinh Sai Gon (Saigon love story) are missing the point.

Compared to the popular Hollywood formulas, these films technically aren’t musicals.

The protagonists in these films are singers and musicians that play singers and musicians in the films, which appeals to preexisting fans, but is hardly a recipe for original storylines or characters.

Meanwhile, in Hollywood musicals, the characters can be anyone ranging from students, teachers and businessmen to athletes who break out into songs that drive the plot at any point in the film – whether they’re making love, cooking, playing basketball or languishing in prison.

This allows screenwriters and directors to have ultimate creative freedom in producing unique films.

Additionally, lead roles are often played by prominent actors who learn to sing, so the drama of the scenes without music isn’t lost on audiences the way it is when singers who can’t act try to do so.

Unlike in Vietnamese counterparts, which often feature songs that are already popular, American musicals often use original music recorded especially for the film, again giving creators much more artistic freedom.

Vietnamese musicals also lack choreographed dances, one of the most exciting parts of any Hollywood musical.

Of course, when it comes to both music, dancing and talent, Hollywood funding trumps anything Vietnamese producers can dream of at this point. But with musicals, Hollywood also has the added bonus of a 100-year-old tradition of musical theater that easily lends itself to modern storylines and characters.

Many American musical films are adapted from previously-staged hit musicals and their dances are choreographed based on those in the originals.

Meanwhile, the highly stylized gestures of Vietnam’s traditional theatrical genres such as cai luong, tuong and cheo are falling out of style with modern audiences and seem inappropriate for contemporary musical films in Vietnam.

But the outlook is not too grim.

Though young director Nguyen Quang Dung has never considered his smash-hit Giai cuu than chet (Hot Kiss 2) a musical, he says he did draw some inspiration from “High School Musical 3.”

“Hot Kiss,” which has grossed some VND20 billion (US$1.14 million) since opening at the Tet Lunar New Year holidays late last month, has a remarkable musical sequence borrowing several ideas and images from the Disney film.

The scene shows the main character, a young girl trying to become popular, triumphantly singing and dancing with her classmates in the middle of the school day. The scene is a crowd pleaser, employing new original music and such well executed choreography that it could be mistaken for a Hollywood classic.

Reported by Pham Thu Nga