Abandoned film adaptations of Broadway shows? — Page 2

Barbra Streisand is right for so many roles, which is why it is shocking to see the ones that she was considered for. Though she probably would have been good as Mame, though (or at least better than Lucy).

There was talk of a Cats Cartoon film. Also, Steven Spielberg has said he is interested to make a West Side Story remake at some point.

Frank Wildhorn spoke about a Jekyll & Hyde film, for which he wanted to have great actors who are also great singers. This could be epic in my opinion.

And of course, there was talk about a Miss Saigon film, which I'm glad that hasn't been made yet. I feel the current state of mind of producers and filmmakers is not what I want to see in a Miss Saigon film. I feel that this film needs a different approach, and needs astounding singers to create something rare. Using the voices and soaring notes to evoke emotion. That's the point of acting through song on screen. The opposite of toning it down, speak-singing, which makes both the acting and singing feel unnatural (Les Mis). Last Night of the world, Thuy's death, Kim's nightmare, the movie in my mind all need a filmic/theatrical approach and must be musically and visually soaring and use all the benefits of filmic editing. Not taking place in an empty conrete room with dry sound and speak-singing, because of the misunderstanding that only then the emotions will feel real. Emotion in film lies in other things. The main reason for that is that every song in Miss Saigon basically is a journey, so a 1 take dry shot in an empty concrete room (Les Mis) is not a option for for example, Last night of the world, as it is their romantic journey and passion we need to experience and feel. In both visuals and singing.

Edit: If they would film "Thuy's death" like the Les Mis film style It would end up as a 1 take dry shot in an alley or room, with Kim and Thuy mumbling/speaking a few words on music and that's it, preferably between a clothesline and a garbage can, because it makes it "so called realistic". While think it's much more powerful to show what's actually going on in their minds. I can imagine that Kim's world turns black after the shot, and suddenly I see her (in her mind) on a huge black empty space, witch a chorus of soldier-ghosts in rows behind her, maybe a symbolic touch of red ribbons coming out of the chest of the chorus members and faces as skulls. Imagine what they could do with Kim's nightmare or The Movie in my mind.

Updated On: 5/24/15 at 04:31 PM

"Aimless rambling aside, yes, we can add Jekyll & Hyde to the list of Broadway screen adaptations in development hell. It's been optioned twice, once in 2005 and then most recently in the slipstream of the Broadway revival."

If this film ever gets made, I can only hope that they go with the original pop and musical-styled orchestrations and not the rock trash that was in the recent revival.

Chicago with Goldie Hawn and Liza in the late 70's. No Strings with Nancy Kwan in the 60's. Now about the shows that SHOULD have been abandoned, don't get me started but the ones that really shattered me were the terrible versions of Proof. Doubt and August: Osage County. Yes, the latter two with Streep. She has consistently stumbled in film adaptations of plays-starting with Plenty which had been magical with Nelligan, she is awkward in Dancing at Lugnasa. She is hammy and club-footed with Mama Mia. The gods were with us when Six Degrees was kept from her. (directed by Plenty's director, Fred Schepisi who to be fair, directs Streep in her brilliant performance in A Cry in the Dark. I LOVE Streep but not in adaptations of plays and as a stage actress, she is vocally VERY weak.). She also didn't get her hands on WIT which unfortunately went to Emma Thompson. I also wanted to see Fonda in the role. I wanted to see Fonda in Osage. She would have nailed the dark humor.