Profile for MarkZoetrope

I don't understand what made Nine an attractive property for a film transfer - it's hardly garnered much attention outside of the Broadway community, unlike Chicago, Les Mis, Phantom (which was a hit in Europe and Japan) - or this decade's Sondheim adaptations, which benefit from intellectual cred and a proliferation of amateur productions. (Even a Catherine Zeta-Jones Gypsy, or a less extravagant Kiss of the Spider-Woman - which Marshall allegedly considered after Memoirs of a Geisha - would...

I love that idea - and could totally imagine Julian Fellowes and Richard LaGravenese borrowing it for their Streisand script. I wasn't aware of the actual connection with the writing of the musical in the 1950s, though. Very interesting stuff! I always thought showing more of that vaudeville history in "Gypsy" would be a good idea - even going to the extent of a staged overture. But, as we all know, that can come across as very laboured - and shows off every flaw of the piece (a la Mendes, 2003)

I don't mean a reverential Bartlett Sher or Diane Paulus production that (largely) honours the original blocking and choreography (supposedly, it's contractual that Jerome Robbins's "Fiddler" dances must always be replicated), but rather like what Sam Mendes's CABARET was to Hal Prince's original, or even David Leveaux's NINE to Tommy Tune's. In other words, a complete overhaul. (I just said "Dolly" and "Gypsy" as examples - you can think of many other shows that have basically stayed the sam...

"South Pacific" in an asylum sounds like one special kind of hell. (It's old hat to you, but from a quick Google search, Bogart's concept was veterans in an institution where Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals are used as a form of therapy - and where white-coated doctors and nurses proliferated.) I suppose it's not entirely like John Doyle's concept for SWEENEY - of a team of inmates at Bedlam performing a show, but it seems inappropriate. What next? GYPSY at Auschwitz?

Inspired by Mr. Nowack's thread - although dealing exclusively with re-interpretations, re-imaginings, re-stagings of well-known theatre works. Famous examples: the Sam Mendes CABARET and the John Doyle COMPANY and SWEENEY. (Although a fairly small addition, I also love the interesting psychological twists Laurents brought to Mama Rose in the 1974, 1989 and 2008 revivals of GYPSY. That said, I didn't care for the Spanish lyrics in his follow-up revival of WEST SIDE STORY.) The Worst? Not Broa...

The question is simple: how much longer can Phantom (New York) and Les Miz (London) run? I know they both have the considerations of being big tourist attractions, but will they really survive well into their fourth decades?

Hello there - I'm currently doing some research on Broadway shows that were, at one point, mooted for a film transfer - but which ultimately never materialised. Here are some I can think of: FOLLIES (mid-70s with the MGM cohort, late 2000s with Sam Mendes, presently with Rob Marshall) SUNSET BOULEVARD (at one point, William Friedkin was rumoured to helm a Streisand starrer. Speculation has always followed Close, Streep, Minnelli et al.) GYPSY with Streisand (late 80s, 2011-present)) A televis...