Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 7:26pm

I'm partial to DEATH OF A SALESMAAN. I think every single character in it has a song buried deep within.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 7:46pm

Didn't somebody make THE CRUCIBLE into an opera several years back? That would be my pick - very dramatic and intense with larger than life characters and supernatural elements. The play almost "sings" without the music.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 7:51pm

You're right, Margo, the operatic version of THE CRUCIBLE first opened in 1961 (and is still being performed today.)

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 8:04pm

I believe he was involved in a musical called " Up From Paradise"

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 8:36pm

Can't verify that, Mr. Roxy, but he DID contribute to the MOVIE MUSICAL LET'S MAKE LOVE (starring his then-wife, Marilyn Monroe(!).

Marilyn Monroe in an Arthur Miller musical--that's not something you see every day!

(And you really DON'T see it every day. LET'S MAKE LOVE bombed [mostly because no one could understand Yves Montand's "English"] and quickly disappeared. You might catch it one night on The Late Show.)

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 9:21pm

I think the title of the SALESMAN musical should be ATTENTION MUST BE PAID!

[DollyGirl]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 9:44pm

My dad is currently directing a musical by Arthur Miller... it's called The American Clock.

Posted: 10/12/04 at 9:46pm

DEATH OF A SALESMAN can be called THE ROAD I DIDN'T TAKE

THE CRUCIBLE can be called ALL OF THEM WITCHES

THE PRICE can be called LET'S MEET IN THE ATTIC

AFTER THE FALL can be called I MARRIED A BLONDE

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE can be called THERE'S MANHATTAN

ALL MY SONS can be called AMMO AMORE

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 10:20pm

Hi Dolly...

THE AMERICAN CLOCK? That is a WONDERFUL piece--a montage of the whole depression as seen through one family!

I've always thought of it as a straight play, but you're absolutely right, the production is peppered throughout with period songs so it really IS a musical! :)

Where's it going to be playing?

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 10:28pm

Jose', You Nasty Boy! :)

I MARRIED A BLONDE? :) :) :)

Wait a minute, there WAS a musical about Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe! MARILYN (1983) with Alyson Reed as Marilyn and Will Gerard (WHO?) as Arthur Miller.

It lasted ALL OF TWO WEEKS--which I think is longer than the marriage of Monroe & Miller lasted! :)

[janvier_neige]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:09pm

I'd like to see "The Crucible" just for a song to be written to John and Elizabeth's scene at the very end. That scene gets me every time I read the play.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:12pm

How about, from the Crucible musical, Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered ?

[jmnpublications]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:16pm

Wasn't Robert Nassif Lindsey working on an operatic version of A View from the Bridge at one time? I think he has a song from it on his Opal, Honky Tony Highway and Other Theatre Songs CD. It's an instrumental that features a haunting violin solo.

I think that play would make a great musical.

lc

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:29pm

William Bolcom's opera of "A View From The Bridge" played at The Met and the Chicago Lyric Opera a season or two ago.

[kjklo]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:33pm

I don't know, but William Bolcom made a stunning opera out of "View from the Bridge," and, as mentioned, "The Crucible" inspired the pulitzer-prize winning opera by Robert Ward.

[jmnpublications]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:33pm

Margo,

Did you have an opportunity to see it? Do you think it could do well in NY?

lc

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:34pm

I missed it at the Met, but I believe that it was well-received.

[kjklo]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:40pm

I saw it in Chicago, and was very impressed. It's available on CD for the curious. I think it's capable of joining the repertory; but then, I loved Previn's opera of "Streetcar," and that did not get good reviews at all.

[rclocalz]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:48pm

How about Miller's "Creation of the World and Other Business" into a musical? It could be the new "Children of Eden." Ok Ok, I am just kidding.

[jmnpublications]

Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:49pm

Thanks, kjklo,

I'll check Amazon.com for the CD!

lc

[Jon]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 12:15am

The Lyric Opera (Chicago) World Premiere of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE was in 1999. It was pretty good, except the nubile teenaged niece Eddie secretly lusted for looked to be about 35 years old and about 165 pounds. Oh well, that's the opera...

[dry2olives]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 11:05am

"The Creation of the World and Other Business" was actually turned into the off-Broadway Musical "Up From Paridise". Miller wrote the book and I forget who did the score. I liked it and it had a great cast.

God - Len Cariou
Adam - Austin Pendleton
Eve - Alice Playton
Lucifer - Walter Bobbie
Abel - Lonny Price
Cain - I forget, but he was good.

[B.B. Wolf]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 11:39am

Good call Margo. I was scrolling down this thread and was wondering why no one had mentioned View From the Bridge yet. Specifically, look at the song "The New York Lights" from act one. I think it's track twenty-two or three. It's an amazing song!
Even though it's a Williams play and not Miller, I think the "Streetcar" opera sucks immensely.

[kjklo]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:23pm

Yeah, everybody thought the "Streetcar" opera "sucked immensely." I'm the only person I know of who liked it.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:35pm

Apparantly, UP FROM PARADISE opened in 1974 at Miller's Alma Mater, the University of Michigan. Get this: Miller wrote his OWN lyrics!

My research also indicates that show was telecast by NBC, but I never heard of production. Anyone see it?