When the world is not watching...

I hum a familiar tune. And when I'm sure there's no one around, I sing. I sing on good days. I sing on bad days. My heart speaks to me through song.

Find your inner selves in these 3 indie musicals I dug up this past week. All great. All speak to the heart. Now let me get back to my singing. :)

Colma, The Musical











Three teens contemplate life after high school while singing their hearts out in this fresh musical.

Taking place in the suburban town of Colma, where the dead outnumber the living 1500 to 1, Colma: The Musical takes the music of H.P. Mendoza and weaves it into a fresh personal look into the ups and downs of early adulthood.

Best pals Rodel, Billy, and Maribel find themselves in a state of limbo; fresh out of high school, they are just beginning to explore a new world of part-time mall jobs and crashing college parties. As newfound revelations and romances challenge their relationships with one another and their parents, the trio must assess what to hold onto, and how to best follow their dreams.

20 centímetros















Shot through with colorful musical numbers, 20 CENTIMETERS is a delirious romp through the life of transsexual Marieta (Monica Cervera) who longs to become a fully-fledged woman.

It's a self-consciously ''Almodóvarian'' confection, studded with small odes to the glory of self-creation. Marieta is a narcoleptic pre-op transsexual prostitute saving up for an operation to remove eight inches of unwanted manhood. In her blackouts, she lapses into lavish musical fantasies, à la Dancer in the Dark.

Once













A charming, captivating tale of love and music, Once sets the standard for the modern musical.

This is my favorite of the 3.

The Irish romance ONCE may be a musical, but it is miles away from the traditional Hollywood idea of people bursting into song. Glen Hansard (frontman for indie rock band The Frames) plays the guy, a street musician who is playing for change when he meets the girl (Marketa Irglova), an immigrant from the Czech Republic. The pair immediately bond over their shared love of music (he is a guitarist, and she plays the piano), and the film chronicles their tentative relationship. Both are weighed down by plenty of baggage: his songs are fueled by a painful breakup, and she is a young mother who left her husband behind in her native country.

The song Falling Slowly sung by Glen and Marketa halfway through is reason enough to watch the film. The perfect blend of sad and beautiful.



* Rotten Tomatoes (rottentomatoes.com)