Adaptations You'd Like To See Happen on Stage

[asoftplacetoland]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 12:07am

Is there any book, movie, show, person's life, etc. that you'd love to see adapted into a musical/play? And who would you cast in this hypothetical production? I love thinking about this as I find it very interesting lol. 

Like who would've known the 2007 Waitress movie and 70 pages of War and Peace would make such great shows? 

 

Updated On: 6/19/17 at 12:07 AM

[ItsJavert]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 1:33am

Harry Potter. Though it already have the star kids version, I look forward to see a broadway musical based on it.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 2:05am

I think Zola's Nana could be a fun musical.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 2:09am

Moonstruck.  I could see Jason Robert Brown and John Patrick Shanley collaborating on it.  I could see Laura Benanti and Andy Karl in the lead roles with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin playing the parents.  I think it would make a gorgeous musical.

Brooklyn.  I think that this would be a very good project for Jeanine Tesori.  We could wait for Sydney Lucas till she's  just the right age.

Mary and Max, but I heard that there was recently a reading of a musical version of it with Sydney Lucas and Shuler Hensley.

The Great Gatsby.  I could see Rachel Chavkin directing a really immersive staging of it.  Maybe Dave Malloy or Lin Manuel Miranda as the composer.  I could see them creating some really great jazz-influenced party music.  I'd like to Leslie Odom Jr. play Gatsby.

Carol.  I think I recently read someone say that Frankel and Korie should compose it on here and I think that, that may be a really brilliant idea.  Maybe with Kelli O'Hara and Annaleigh Ashford.

 

 

[hork]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 2:23am

I recently read Doris Lessing's The Grass Is Singing and thought it would make a great play. I think it could actually be a better play than a novel. Someone like Toni Collette would be amazing in it.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 2:57am

GeorgeandDot said: "Moonstruck.  I could see Jason Robert Brown and John Patrick Shanley collaborating on it.  I could see Laura Benanti and Andy Karl in the lead roles with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin playing the parents.  I think it would make a gorgeous musical.

The Great Gatsby.  I could see Rachel Chavkin directing a really immersive staging of it.  Maybe Dave Malloy or Lin Manuel Miranda as the composer.  I could see them creating some really great jazz-influenced party music.  I'd like to Leslie Odom Jr. play Gatsby."

Wait... these are BRILLIANT ideas.

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 3:15am

GeorgeandDot said: "The Great Gatsby.  I could see Rachel Chavkin directing a really immersive staging of it.  Maybe Dave Malloy or Lin Manuel Miranda as the composer.  I could see them creating some really great jazz-influenced party music.  I'd like to Leslie Odom Jr. play Gatsby."

A small amendment: Dave Malloy and Lin-Manuel Miranda. It'd be absurd. Lin's lyrics and storytelling skills paired with Dave's musicality/orchestrations would quite possibly be the best thing ever. Also Rachel improves everything she touches, so I fully agree with that choice as well. 

Updated On: 6/19/17 at 03:15 AM

[Melissa25]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 3:42am

I absolutely love the Moonstruck idea.  One of my favorite movies.  Benanti definitely for Loretta.

[BroadwayLover4]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 7:53am

" The Big Chill" as a play

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 8:53am

I always thought Down With Love would make a great fun musical. 

[JBC3]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 9:12am

When reading Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, I wondered if there was a way it could be adapted for the stage. Same with A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Its length might be problematic, but the storytelling is very compelling.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 9:30am

I'm currently working on an adaptation of a film that no one's heard of, called Dummy.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 10:02am

JBC3 said: "When reading Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, I wondered if there was a way it could be adapted for the stage."

My entire time reading Underground Railroad, I was picturing how it would translate to stage. The writing is so poetic it could make for a heart-wrenching night at the theater with a good playwright.

I also second the idea for a Brooklyn adaption by Jeanine Tesori. As an immigrant who very recently went through similar choices, that story left me in tears. It's quite topical and shows the human side of immigration, and will work really well with the right team.

[asoftplacetoland]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 12:04pm

GeorgeandDot said: "The Great Gatsby.  I could see Rachel Chavkin directing a really immersive staging of it.  Maybe Dave Malloy or Lin Manuel Miranda as the composer.  I could see them creating some really great jazz-influenced party music.  I'd like to Leslie Odom Jr. play Gatsby."

Ok, that sounds AMAZING. I cannot stop thinking about this. Especially Leslie as Gatsby, it would be breathtaking. 

 

Updated On: 6/19/17 at 12:04 PM

[Anshel2]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 12:10pm

Yentl although the fact that only one character sings is problematic.

[DooWahDiddy]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 1:17pm

I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't mention my own show, and since so far I've only done readings and haven't officially seen it "on stage" yet, it fits the criteria of this thread. 

I'd like to see the story of Michael Larson, the guy who scammed a game show out of $110,000, brought to life in a full production.  In a dream world, I'd get Danny Burstein and Leslie Kritzer, or similar people, to play the lead roles.  Maybe someday!

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 1:31pm

I've always thought Victor Hugo's life story would make an amazing show. I don't know if it could happen since he's so associated with Les Mis in the theatre world, but a couple years ago I wrote a twenty-page research paper on him and his writings for a French history course, and let me tell you: the man's life was a soap opera.

It's honestly so weird that Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin would have to be involved somehow, maybe Dave on orchestrations and Rachel (obviously) as director. No idea who could write it, though. 

[Dysquith13]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 2:02pm

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD seems like it could work amazingly on stage. It lends itself to a very music heavy story, and the staging and lighting design could be something truly exciting. I also think Mike Faist could be an excellent Scott. If you can get Peter Darling, Tim Minchin, and Matthew Warchus together for this, it would be a hell of a show.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 2:12pm

I tried getting Jerry Herman to do a musical version of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE to star Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury and Eric McCormack but his interest in it was short-lived. I also pitched LADY FOR A DAY (A POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES) but he said that had been suggested to him many times and he couldn't see it working.

[Wickedlover56]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 3:33pm

I'd love to see Dave Malloy tackle Gatsby. After reading the book a year ago, I envisioned it as sort of what he did with Great Comet. Make the score more electro/alt pop and use the orchestrations to harken back to the era (use a stand up bass, brass ensemble, jazz clarinet etc.). Make the story more relevant to today, how we aren't learning about the dangers of pure capitalism. I'd also love to see what Kitt and Yorkey, JRB, or Jeanine Tesori could do with a chamber musical adaption of the play Rabbit Hole. If done well, it could be a powerhouse of a show. Maybe have it be an one act ala Fun Home.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 3:39pm

You mean adaptations?  I've always wanted Heart and Souls with a score by Shaiman and Wittman.  And if we were ever to get another Broadway show from the entire creative team of Gentleman's Guide, my dream would be for a little-known British comedy film from 1959 called Too Many Crooks, which served as the inspiration for the 1986 Bette Midler/Danny DeVito hit, Ruthless People.

[theater_tech]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 4:03pm

GeorgeandDot said: "The Great Gatsby.  I could see Rachel Chavkin directing a really immersive staging of it.  Maybe Dave Malloy or Lin Manuel Miranda as the composer.  I could see them creating some really great jazz-influenced party music.  I'd like to Leslie Odom Jr. play Gatsby."
 


Where do I fund this

 

 

 

"
 

Updated On: 6/19/17 at 04:03 PM

[Valentina3]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 4:12pm

GeorgeandDot said: "The Great Gatsby.  I could see Rachel Chavkin directing a really immersive staging of it.  Maybe Dave Malloy or Lin Manuel Miranda as the composer.  I could see them creating some really great jazz-influenced party music.  I'd like to Leslie Odom Jr. play Gatsby."

 

Wasn't this basically what Smash season 3 was supposed to be?

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 4:31pm

So uh, is anyone on here secretly a producer who's jotting things down? Because there is some Good Stuff™ being thrown out here. 

Updated On: 6/19/17 at 04:31 PM

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 6/19/17 at 4:44pm

Oh also, I think that Jeanine Tesori could write a pretty spectacular musical of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Also American Beauty would work amazingly well on stage as a musical.  I don't even know who would be right for this project though.  I could see Dave Malloy composing, maybe if you think about how wonky and strange Thomas Newman's music was for it.  

Also on the topic of Dave Malloy, I think that he could write a pretty great musical of The Shining.  I think he could write a pretty wild score.