Movie Musicals You Wish They Would Do Again & Right This Time- Page 3

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 1:01am

Absolutely HAIR. The movie version is TERRIBLE! Too many songs taken out, odd plot changes, HATE IT.

[Rudy2]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 1:55am

Sweeney Todd
Mame (although I like the Lucy version somewhat)

[SharpCookies]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 9:45am

Actually, I would love to see Sweeney Todd redone. Maybe with a different director so there will definitely not be Johnny Depp and Helen whateverherlastnameisIforget in the movie.

[jejr]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 10:55am

Brigadoon - with real singers in the leads NOT dancers

Camelot - again with real singers

[Jenna Maroney]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 12:03am

Did I miss any mention of Hello, Dolly! here? Because everyone seems to keep harping on how it was so overblown and how Babs was so wrong for it. (Personally, I didn't expect to like it, but I did. And mark my words - it will survive for 700 years. )

A Little Night Music - What's the greater insult for this show? That it hasn't been revived on Broadway after all these years, or that the movie was a hot mess and didn't include "The Miller's Son"?

Phantom - A freaking sunburn? Really? Plus, Cow-Eyes Rossum can't act, Butler's voice is far from otherworldly, and they cut the "In all your fantasies..." verse from the title song. Worst of all, this movie was responsible for the phanbrat epidemic. I sincerely hope that if POTO ever stops running, a DVD of a performance with Crawford is released.

Rent - I was hopeful because most of the OBC were involved, but I refused to see it after I was told that "Christmas Bells" was cut. Not helping me change my mind: I was told "Over the Moon" was played earnestly, and not as a parody of bad performance art. Also, that the "What You Own" sequence allegedly resembled a bad Bon Jovi video.

Sweeney Todd - It didn't make me stabby, but I wasn't happy about the exclusion of the Ballad. But now that I think about it, I don't know how it could have been done on film.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 1:21pm

I agree with "Hair," "Phantom," "Rent," and "Sweeney." The rest I haven't seen (child of the younger generation), nor do I have the resources to do so at this time, so that'll have to wait.

However, even though no one (in my mind) can ever replace Ted Neeley's performance, I do think it's high time that "Jesus Christ Superstar" was re-made (no, the 2000 video does not count in the eyes of anyone but Glenn Carter fans and apparently ALW). So many people seem to miss the boat on that project, when it's so simple to accomplish. Although I must admit this particular concept of mine for the film would have been more easily accomplished closer to a time when Biblical epic films were being made...

[minicko88]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 1:41pm

I wish I could go back in time and slap the one responsible for casting Gerald Butler as the Phantom... I mean seriously? That destroyed the movie... And cutting out a verse in arguably the greatest musical duet of all time... travesty! Now, don't dog on Rossum... THAT GIRL CAN SING!

[StageManager2]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 1:57pm

"Sweeney Todd - It didn't make me stabby, but I wasn't happy about the exclusion of the Ballad. But now that I think about it, I don't know how it could have been done on film"

Actually, before I even knew there was a movie in the works, I envisioned "The Ballad..." sung over the opening credits while wood-engraved illustrations of mid-19th Century Victorian London life were shown. Think the opening credits of the OLIVER! movie.

[jennamajig]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 2:55pm

^^Ooo, I like that! Would have worked well for me. Heck, the ballad could have been sung in the beginning over the opening shots of London anyway. I missed it so. And Helena Bonham Carter couldn't enunciate, losing half of her lyrics.

I love the Producers stage musical, but its charm was never going to transfer to film. You have to experience it live. Plus the 1968 film is perfect the way it is.

I'd love to see if anyone could successfully film a good adaption of a Chorus Line (that doesn't cut Hello, Twelve), but I probably think that like the Producers musical, it just can't transfer to film well.

[elphabelle07]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 3:02pm

Gypsy!!!! I just watching the one with Rosalind Russel and Natalie Wood. Of course it's Gypsy, so I love it...but I just wish it was done right.

And of course, a Little Night Music.

[born2bebroadway]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 3:14pm

I was watching the DVD of Anything Goes and was very disappointed to see that it wasn't the same as the stage show at all! So I wish they'd redo Anything Goes

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 3:33pm

<----------------------

Posted: 5/18/09 at 3:47pm

I wish they would do Les Miz ... like this:


Les Miz - The Confrontation

[tonight]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 6:53pm

sweeney todd. horrible, horrible casting.

in english today, the teacher and a couple of students started praising the film, and i had to sit there and take it. i don't like to speak up because they'll think i'm an ass or something.

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 9:24pm

No offense, but if you're calling any duet from "Phantom" "arguably the greatest musical duet of all time", I'd argue that you should probably see another show. And yeah, Emmy Rossum can sing well enough, but she sure as hell wasn't acting.

I'd argue "A Chorus Line" probably can't be done well on film. I'd like someone to prove me wrong, but I don't see it happening any time soon. And in all fairness... "Hair" worked pretty well in transforming a semi-plotless revue into a decent movie. It has good performances without being squeaky clean. You COULD remake it and dip more towards the stage show, but it's not really high on my list.

But "A Little Night Music" really needs a good remake. Ditto for "The Wiz"... turning a potentially brisk, bouncy show into a bloated two hour nightmare... how did that happen? And how could Sidney Lumet fail so terribly?

[roseaddams]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 11:21pm

The original draft of Sweeney (which was available on the film's website while they were campaigning for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar) had the ballads. The opening had it sung by a series of ghosts, who as the plot unfolded were revealed to be Sweeney's victims. The room they were in was the bakehouse, so the ballad served as a visual wraparound device as well as musical. At the end, the ghosts of the Judge, the Beggar Woman, the Beadle, etc. sang their parts as ghosts much like the opening. It actually read really well and I think it would have been a welcome addition to the film.

[follies85]

Posted: 5/19/09 at 3:01am

Mame

A Little Night Music

[ggersten]

Posted: 6/1/09 at 12:00am

Well, sort of "Movie" Musical, but just watched the DVD of Pippin and while enjoyable, it could have been so much more. Since it's a "taping" of a live production, it's not quite a "movie" - but it was staged for television. Anyway, the cuts are egregious - the pacing flawed - the casting other than Vereen is suspect - and Martha Raye is oh so wrong. For anyone who didn't see the stage show, I think the DVD still entrances and delights. But, of all the productions I've seen (touring in SF in 1978, Big college student production in 85, small student production in a basement in 97 and small community theatre in 2006) the DVD version is the most disappointing.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 6/1/09 at 3:39am

Evita! and I just want them to do a film version of Into the Woods

[guiltyone91]

Posted: 6/1/09 at 2:05pm

I totally agree about Into the Woods, I dream about it daily. Okay not daily, but I love it! Even though it's not a remake, here's my dream cast:

Bernadette Peters...Witch
Anne Hathaway...Baker's Wife
Christopher Fitzgerald...Baker
Emmy Rossum...Cinderella
Patrick Wilson...Cinderella's Prince/Wolf
Hunter Parrish (or Jamie Campbell Bower)...Jack
Amanda Seyfried (or someone with operatic voice)...Rapunzel
Gerard Butler...Rapunzel's Prince
Angela Lansbury...Jack's Mother
Michael Caine...Narrator/Mysterious Man
Mae Whitman...Little Red Riding Hood
Vanessa Williams...Stepmother
Carole Shelley...Granny
Jason Alexander...Steward


Yeah, and I totally would want to see a remake of The Wiz. There are some parts I like, but I like a good number of people am dissatisfied with the casting of Diana Ross. She was TOO OLD for the part, sorry. I enjoyed Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Lena Horne, and even Michael Jackson. But Ms. Ross...
It had fabulous sets, funny and entertaining sequences and musical numbers, but still...I can see a better remake.

[provocation]

Posted: 6/1/09 at 9:06pm

I already know and it hasn't even been made yet--Wicked. And it's going to involve the casting, I can feel it.

[MirrorBride]

Posted: 6/2/09 at 1:45am

Into the Woods (an actual movie, not recording of a performance)

Les Mis (real movie musical, sadly never been done)

Phantom (Maybe like the Vegas version if it was time that gave
them reason to cut parts?)

The Sound of Music (Love Julie Andrews...just curious as to who they would cast if they remade it)

[dented146]

Posted: 6/2/09 at 2:47am

The first movie that comes to my mind is Jesus Christ Superstar. What a fiasco that was. Bye Bye Birdie was also butchered and totally changed.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 6/2/09 at 3:49am

"The Sound of Music (Love Julie Andrews...just curious as to who they would cast if they remade it)"

MirrorBride: When Julie Andrews was asked a few years back whom they should cast as Maria if THE SOUND OF MUSIC was remade, she suggested... (drumroll)... Cameron freakin' Diaz!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/2/09 at 10:22am

Joseph sans creepy zombie children.

I'd love to see if anyone could successfully film a good adaption of a Chorus Line (that doesn't cut Hello, Twelve), but I probably think that like the Producers musical, it just can't transfer to film well.

As I recall, Michael Bennett wanted to change the story so they were auditioning for film, not theatre. The show was designed to feel like you were sitting in on an audition- empty stage, director's disembodied voice coming from the back of the house. That dimension would have been lost in film. The producers wanted a more exact adaptation, so Michael Bennett ended his involvement. I'm still not sure how Surprise was a better choice than tweaking the plotline to fit the genre.