The Muppets Take Manhattan: an irresistible tribute to Broadway dreamers
Our series on films about theatre ends with Kermit staging a musical spectacular with the help of some famous friends
Two classic New York musicals open with aerial footage of the city. West Side Story comes with an abstract title sequence by Saul Bass and a glorious overture by Leonard Bernstein. The Muppets Take Manhattan features a scat-singing, happy-go-lucky frog. But Kermit and his gang similarly encounter a grimy concrete jungle that can be unpredictable and cruel as they endeavour to make it big on Broadway.
The theatre has inspired arthouse cinema classics by Cassavetes, Bergman and Rivette but I’m ending this series with the Muppets. Before Statler and Waldorf pipe up with the heckles, let me put the case for Frank Oz’s underappreciated 1984 comedy. This is a film that bursts with exuberant hope – just listen to the wonder with which Miss Piggy says the word “Broadway!” – but also has the bittersweet tang of knockbacks. I love the montage that accompanies You Can’t Take No for An Answer, sung by indefatigable jazz messenger Dr Teeth, in which the Muppets spend the summer shuffling around talent agencies and producers’ offices, Kermit wielding his script for a musical and Fozzy clutching a copy of Variety, only to be met with derision. It ends with the rare sight of Kermit losing it with his pals and accepting defeat – before rediscovering his trouper spirit.
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