Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
#1Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 12:03am
I WANNA KNOW! Why did you adopt Grey Gardens but not ME??!!!
CHRISTINA!!! CHRISTOPHER!!! Dammit! Carolanne I thought I told you to keep the children OUT of the yard this morning!
Have Tina bring me up my coffee.
Ah but nobody said life was fair.
I'm bigger and I'm faster and I will always beat you.
Updated On: 12/11/08 at 12:03 AM
Shannon Bo Dannon
Broadway Star Joined: 8/19/08
#2re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 12:32amI vaguely remember the movie being turned into something of a musical, with a female impersonator as Joan. Very vague.
#3re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 12:35amOn the Mommie Dearest DVD, I'm slightly obsessed with this movie, cliche, I know, the screenwriter says it's in the works.
Perfectly Marvelous
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/16/06
#4re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 12:43amI'm pretty sure I had a conversation about this subject over the summer. It would actually work quite well in a musical format, especially if it were kind of campy. That'd be fun.
"I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes and dreamer of improbable dreams." - Doctor Who
"Yes, the brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over, men recognize that the human race has been harshly treated but it has moved forward." - Les Miserables
#5re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 12:48amI could see a late night drag version of this working. Not a commercial musical.
#6re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 12:55am
I AM SO GLAD YOU BROUGHT THIS UP! It'd be a hilarious gay camp hit off-bway, I'm sure. Maybe something Charles Busch could helm?
If you'll permit me to digress: I must must must share with you something that happened over the weekend. Each year prior to the NYC Gay Men's Chorus performing at Carnegie Hall, we take a weekend retreat upstate. The Saturday night is highlighted by something called the "No Talent Show" where GMC members present HILARIOUS and oftentimes VERY well-put-together variety pieces.
This year, a chorus member presented a VERY funny musical version of a scene from MOMMIE DEAREST to the tune "Thina Singu" (a South African song the Chorus sang this summer). He retitled it "Tina, Sing Who?" and completely rewrote the lyrics as movie-dialogue.
The joke is that in the South African song, there's a lyric that is repeated: "Washa washa washa"... so naturally, he recreated the bathroom scene where Tina has to "washa" the bathroom tile.
LISTEN/WATCH: This is how the REAL African song goes...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsRD0WfbCig
Thina singu meh lu vatai oh
Washa washa washa
(stomp-stomp)
Hey Thina! Hey Thina!
Yeh bo thina.
ALTERED LYRICS:
Tina come and clean up the tile!
Washa washa washa!
(clap-clap of bristle brushes/buckets)
Hey Tina! Hey Tina!
Clean-up Tina!
He wore the Joan Crawford make-up and buns and robe. Other chorus members were dressed as Christina (1 in red and 4 back-up dancers in blue with blonde wigs and wire hangers around their necks). And cleaning powder being sprinkled all over the stage.
We were CRACKING UP! It really took being there to get the joke (and to get the song-reference) but here are some photos:
Updated On: 12/11/08 at 12:55 AM
Perfectly Marvelous
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/16/06
#7re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 1:01am
^ That looks hysterical.
And something I would most definitely enjoy.
"I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes and dreamer of improbable dreams." - Doctor Who
"Yes, the brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over, men recognize that the human race has been harshly treated but it has moved forward." - Les Miserables
Londonskyguy
Featured Actor Joined: 7/24/06
#8re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 1:07am
Because they havent seen me do Faye doing Joan yet?
#9re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 1:09am"How many times do I have to tell you? If you're going to polish the floor, you have to move the plant!"
CurtisTaylorJr2
Leading Actor Joined: 3/17/06
#10re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 1:27am
"No wire hangers!" (dramatic horn flourish)
"This floor is not clean
This floor is not clean"
(as the last note is belted, the scene ends with the characters disappearing in a cloud of cleanser, act one finale)
Updated On: 12/11/08 at 01:27 AM
#11re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 2:42amMommie Dearest as a musical would be my dream!!! I have loved this movie since I was 9 years old. I think that Charles Busch would be wonderful for this job!!! Has anyone seen the late night show of "Mommie Dearest" at the Clearview Cinemas with Hedda Lettuce? So-o-o much fun- just like The Rocky Horror!!!!
Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.- Bette Davis
Trish2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/20/06
#12re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 3:24am
Tina !!!! Bring me the Axe !!!
#13re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 3:33am"Don't f*** with me, fellas!!!!"
Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.- Bette Davis
#14re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 3:34am
Well, to answer seriously, one reason why it's not a musical is because anyone who wanted to write one would need to get the rights from Christina Crawford and she's not likely to give them.
Of course, someone could write a musical about Joan and Christina without crediting the book as the primary source, but if a significant amount of material from the book was used without her permission, she'd probably sue.
Updated On: 12/11/08 at 03:34 AM
#15re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 3:35am
"Why can't you treat me like I would be treated by any STRANGER on the streets????
"Because I AM NOT one of your FANS!!!"
Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.- Bette Davis
#16re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 3:37amWhy wouldn't Christina Crawford give someone the rights? That book and movie made her, and she hasn't really done anything since.
Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.- Bette Davis
#17re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 3:49am
There's a liquor store to the left.
I shoulda known you would know where to find the boys AND the booze.
#18re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 4:12am
"Why wouldn't Christina Crawford give someone the rights? That book and movie made her, and she hasn't really done anything since."
She wrote the book seriously. More than likely any musical would be intentionally campy and she wouldn't want that. And at this point no one could write a serious musical of it because the audience wouldn't accept it done that way.
She was unhappy with the movie because she felt it portrayed her too unsympathetically. I'd imagine she eventually became even more unhappy as the movie started to be viewed as pure camp.
Personally, I love the movie and I don't view it as just a campfest. I think it's a brilliant piece of filmmaking on just about every level. But most people do view it as a campfest. I'd guess she's not happy about that. And it's affected the way any musical version would have to be approached.
I think she'd have to be very hard-up for cash to grant the rights.
Updated On: 12/11/08 at 04:12 AM
#19re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 4:38amWell, that makes a lot of sense about Christina. Honestly, I am a huge Joan Crawford fan and I think it's a shame that people associate her with "no wire hangers" after a lifetime of her work in the movies. Unfortunately, the "camp" side of me loves it, so that's why I've watched the movie a trillion times. If she wrote the book seriously, why didn't she include the two other girls that Joan adopted? They lived in the house when all of this was supposedly going on.
Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.- Bette Davis
duffny1
Understudy Joined: 9/20/08
#20re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 6:32amI'm not mad at you... I'm mad at the dirt.
#21re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 10:37am
I could see a late night drag version of this working. Not a commercial musical.
That exists- the drag version. I saw it in L.A. a few years ago, it was called "Mommie Queerest," four guys in drag did all of the roles. Danny Pintauro from Who's the Boss was one of the cast members. It was hilarious- I cried from laughing so hard.
#22re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 11:06am
What if they did it very Sunset Boulevard.... I mean if you think about it Sunset Boulevard (as amazing as the movie is) is to a degree very campy now... but (I feel) they turned the musical into something very great. (I loved the musical)
Maybe they could do it that way or else they could ask the guys who did Jerry Springer : The Opera to do it. They seem to do some amazing work with "contemporary things"
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
#23re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 11:34am
What if they did it very Sunset Boulevard.... I mean if you think about it Sunset Boulevard (as amazing as the movie is) is to a degree very campy now... but (I feel) they turned the musical into something very great. (I loved the musical)
I find the musical to be much campier than the movie.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#24re: Why isn't Mommie Dearest a Musical yet?
Posted: 12/11/08 at 7:43pm
I agree it could be done right like Grey which was a cult camp classic. It would take the right team and a great book. You wont get away from the camp no matter what because of 2 things
1. Drama
2. Queens
or 1 thing Drama Queens
but it could be done successfully
Videos