Well they definitely have a book writer, and they didn't say who's writing the music, but I'm sure they either already have someone writing the score, or are close to finding the right composer for this project
Musicals with original books 1) have always been the exception and rare, 2) are still being written and 3) can be just as bad or worse as any musical with an adapted book.
Why do people still perpetuate the myth than a musical with an original book used to be common and automatically makes a show better in some way? Is it because they hate the majority of musical writers and composers?
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Fun Home is not original. Matilda is not original. Kinky Boots is not original. The King and I is not original. I could continue with many, many shows.
The part that is new(er), and I don't seem to like either, is that "they" just seem to be grabbing blockbusters and expecting that alone to make a success. It seems the INSPIRATION to alter work is what is missing.
I want wonderful theater. If they succeed in that, I'll be happy.
Does this SOUND like a winner to me? No -- but it might be!
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
Even in the past musicals were based on movies. Back then they changed he titles (sugar,promises promises, Mame) which I DO like better than saying ,X the musical'. But it isn't new
I am in no way saying that original musicals are better than non-original musicals. One of my favorite musicals is based on a motion picture. That being said, I do feel they are too few and far between and not everything needs to be musicalized - - - I mean, c'mon...."Pretty Woman"?!!!
Again, not disputing that there have been great musicals based on material from another medium, but completely original musicals are few and far between...extremely rare.
but completely original musicals are few and far between...extremely rare.
Right. And they always have been. Nothing has really changed. It's not a dead art form nor was it much more alive. Most likely, the highest concentration of completely original material was most likely found in the pre-golden age era simply because it was a new art form and there were fewer sources (and media) of adaptation available. Show Boat was also an adaptation, but the original books of early Gershwin, Berlin and Porter were often fluffy and thin confections as vehicles for songs and laughs with melodramatic and implausible love stories. Sorta like...Pretty Woman. Or Legally Blonde.
Every time this conversation comes up, which is A LOT, I always wonder where this magical place is where there are LOADS of COMPLETELY original musicals that were all highly celebrated quality works. When and where did this take place?
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Every time this conversation comes up, which is A LOT, I always wonder where this magical place is where there are LOADS of COMPLETELY original musicals that were all highly celebrated quality works. When and where did this take place?
You can rest easy Mister Matt. I assure you that there isn't a magical place where there are LOADS of COMPLETELY original musicals that were all highly celebrated quality works. It has never happened and it never, ever, EVER took place.
Oh, that comment wasn't directed at you, Carlos. But I do rest easy, regardless. It's just that the mourning of the loss of completely original musicals and its variations (like how original material should be given critical favor over any adapted material, regardless the quality) gets wrung out as often as we hear that the current season, or any current show, or any popular composer, or any new style or trend, or any popular and/or long-running show, or any combination of the aforementioned, is indicative of the demise of Broadway.
Maybe it's like Brigadoon. It only pops up for the rest of us every 100 years, but to those living in the magical land, it appears to be every day business as usual.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
I know...I was just playing around with you. I know that there are far more musicals produced that are based from material from another medium as opposed to wholly original ones.
PROMISES, PROMISES is one of my all time favorite musicals which happens to be based on one of my all time favorite films, THE APARTMENT.
I just feel that now producers are taking anything and turning it into a musical, so I really have to question the reasoning behind turning PRETTY WOMAN into a musical. The hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold musical is passe anyway and was already done with great success as SWEET CHARITY.
Well, if there's one thing I learned from the original book and score of Brigadoon, if you love someone hard enough and sing loud enough, you can cross even the boundaries of magic spells.
I just need to work on my projection.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian