Showdown

Stage Fright

Best films depicting stage productions

showdown:stage

I thought music was noise, I thought art was bullshit, and then I realized: all the world’s a stage, including movies! This Showdown pulls back the crimson curtain to celebrate the topsy-turvy double life of actors playing characters playing other characters; the fabulous artifice of the plays-within-plays and musicals-within-films and all that jazz. So give a girl a break and pay recognition to the braves, the traveling players performing a new old play. List your top ten films that depict stage productions as part of their narrative. Let’s take Manhattan and Montreal. It’s opening night and there’s love on the ground. You can drive my car to the theater, we’ll meet at the stage door.

Most mentioned

  • Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • Black Swan
  • All About Eve
  • The Red Shoes
  • Drive My Car
  • Asteroid City
  • Synecdoche, New York
  • All That Jazz
  • Moulin Rouge!
  • The Producers
  • La La Land
  • Opening Night
  • Rushmore
  • Cabaret
  • tick, tick... BOOM!
  • To Be or Not to Be
  • The Prestige
  • Waiting for Guffman
  • Perfect Blue
  • Shakespeare in Love

Lists

Sort by
fluffy_pomeroy
fluffy_pomeroy 6 films
ozmodiar
ozmodiar 10 films
Tom
Tom 10 films
Clara_Atlanta
Clara_Atlanta 16 films
Sam Fraser
Sam Fraser 8 films
Neekelf
Neekelf 10 films
SacherTortoise
SacherTortoise 10 films
c4han
c4han 10 films
DrewG
DrewG 10 films
TYC 🎉
TYC 🎉 23 films
Nick
Nick 13 films
reeceindie
reeceindie 10 films
Ryan
Ryan 10 films
C.F. Hellinger
C.F. Hellinger 10 films
timalmond
timalmond 6 films
Troy Cornett
Troy Cornett 10 films
Sean Harmer
Sean Harmer 19 films
Peter Rinaldi
Peter Rinaldi 5 films
splint_master
splint_master 10 films
Christof88
Christof88 10 films
Tristin
Tristin 10 films
Kenneth_C
Kenneth_C 10 films
Marius Tyger
Marius Tyger 10 films
Anitabel
Anitabel 10 films
Wynand Olivier
Wynand Olivier 10 films
Buboven
Buboven 11 films
TB14
TB14 8 films
deathmaumau
deathmaumau 10 films
James
James 40 films
mconrad30
mconrad30 10 films
drdev4
drdev4 10 films
Niall Hassett
Niall Hassett 10 films
BetteBookshop
BetteBookshop 14 films
Gil
Gil 10 films
JLacny
JLacny 10 films
Sarah B
Sarah B 16 films
Raymond Jacques
Raymond Jacques 22 films
AronDanburg
AronDanburg 10 films
SwiftFlix
SwiftFlix 10 films
Pinyou Huang
Pinyou Huang 4 films
Geoff
Geoff 6 films
John Chadwick
John Chadwick 27 films
Doctor GC
Doctor GC 10 films
Bill Baker
Bill Baker 29 films
Bebe Butler
Bebe Butler 10 films
Kenny Montano
Kenny Montano 10 films
bas2804
bas2804 12 films
Daniel Charchuk
Daniel Charchuk 25 films
lonestarr357
lonestarr357 25 films
brandocalreezy
brandocalreezy 10 films
candykanea
candykanea 10 films
Connor Johnston
Connor Johnston 12 films
Emma Goldstein
Emma Goldstein 10 films
Camila
Camila 82 films
Seth Montpelier
Seth Montpelier 10 films
Alvaro D. Ruiz
Alvaro D. Ruiz 28 films
1and1and1is3
1and1and1is3 10 films
Elizabeth Corey
Elizabeth Corey 11 films
wormsroxanne
wormsroxanne 10 films
Shane Barlow
Shane Barlow 14 films
Lowbacca
Lowbacca 10 films
Ray 🛸
Ray 🛸 8 films
Erwan Ticheler
Erwan Ticheler 10 films
Madeleine
Madeleine 7 films
Paolo Bitanga
Paolo Bitanga 10 films
CanFilmDay
CanFilmDay 14 films
Nadia J
Nadia J 4 films
Louane_ltr
Louane_ltr 21 films
mooveefan
mooveefan 10 films
Jilliterate
Jilliterate 10 films
Jengreat
Jengreat 10 films
Letterboxd
Letterboxd 20 films
Karli Kane
Karli Kane 10 films
Andrew Roberts
Andrew Roberts 10 films
shelby
shelby 8 films
Al/yssa O-K
Al/yssa O-K 13 films
hessli
hessli 5 films