Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?- Page 2
Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
#25Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
Posted: 8/24/13 at 9:41pm
"As people who like theater I think we should be less concerned with the wrapping paper and more concerned with the content within.... IMHO."
Someone should have told that to Andrew Lloyd Webber.
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
jimmycurry01
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/05
#26Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
Posted: 8/24/13 at 9:44pm
This is one of the stupidest posts I have read here in ages, and when the OP is called out on it, lame excuses are generated in an attempt to negate the many examples used to demonstrate how off base the OP was.
Movies have been made into musical for the stage for decades. Some of them have been great, some of them have been lousy. This is not a new trend, it did not start with Disney, and there is no need to put an end to it; furthermore there is very little reason to complain about it.
Doing a little theatre history before creating a post might be a wise idea in the future. In the event that someone is able to site many errors in your posts, do not go on to create many illogical arguments trying to save face. It is far better to bow out graciously, and perhaps take a look at some, or all of the examples that were used to argue against you. If you are already familiar with some of those examples, then perhaps a deeper look is in order. That way you can appear educated on the topic in the future.
**Edited for Update**
I just read further down and saw this: "I also think if you are in my age group you may have more of idea of what I am talking about. I have been studying, writing, following, creating, directing, acting in, musical directing, and directing musicals since 1975. I have been going to Broadway shows since the same period. I know what Broadway WAS and what is has BECOME."
If you have been working in the industry since 1975, then you should really know better. Working in the industry for nearly 40 years means that you should really be more familiar with the industry. You should also take a critical look at things, and with that critical eye, I am willing to bet you will see that many things have remained the same since the golden age of musical theatre. In context, the playing field has not changed that much.
Updated On: 8/24/13 at 09:44 PM
#27Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
Posted: 8/24/13 at 9:48pm
There are always producers who will produce lowest-common denominators to attract the widest base audience. Producers want to make money, so they will use recognizable commodities to capitalize on the higher profile. Trends come and go, right now movies are the it-thing, the last ten years saw a new rash of jukebox musicals, the decades before saw the invasion of the British mega-musicals (based mostly, it should be noted, on classic literature.)
It's also worth noting that of the last ten winners of the Tony for Best Musical, four were completely original. AVENUE Q, IN THE HEIGHTS, MEMPHIS and THE BOOK OF MORMON. There actually hasn't been as notable a period of completely original musicals winning the Tony in the entire history of the Award. Additionally, SPRING AWAKENING was based on a hardly-popular classic text, and HAIRSPRAY, BILLY ELLIOT, ONCE and KINKY BOOTS were cult-popular films at best.
There is no doubt the perception of the culture of Broadway you bemoan exists. My point is: the movie-adaptation trend isn't the problem. The perception of what the lowest common denominator audience wants is. There have been loads of films turned into movies and loads more to come. Many have been terrible (and many of these closed ignominiously), a handful have been great. Arguably, the same ratio as any set of musicals based on any kind of material (or not.)
I'd say the fault you're seeking to criticize lies in the producers and the audience at large, not the art of adapting films into musicals.
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
Updated On: 8/24/13 at 09:48 PM
#28Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
Posted: 8/24/13 at 10:02pm
I think you are absolutely correct jnb. Thank you for your thoughtful response. You took what I said, and instead of calling me names or berating me, you clarified what you thought I was trying to say. The insulting responses from the others I just ignore.
It is the lowest common denominator issue that bothers me. I still think there are far more movies being turned into musicals each season than in past years. It's a trend. It's an easy source for producers to tap into.
Thanks again.
Updated On: 8/24/13 at 10:02 PM
#29Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
Posted: 8/24/13 at 10:13pm
Furthermore, in "A Little Night Music", "Promises, Promises", and "Passion" (based on an Italian film and novel) there was something to be gained in making it a musical. A score can be wonderful, a book can be solid, but if it has no reason to be a musical, it's probably going to flop. Rodger and Sondheim's "Do I Hear A Waltz" has a good score (I would say one of the best mediocre scores out there, along with "Lady In The Dark"), a good book, but flopped as no one on the production team cared about it.
However, now people just go see things for the name value. "Legally Blonde" is a cute show, with a cute score, but was there really anything to be gained from making it into a musical? I'd rather see "Ragtime", where at least the production team had something to say.
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
#30Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
Posted: 8/24/13 at 10:15pmExactly. Excellent points Sally.
#31Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
Posted: 8/24/13 at 10:30pmIt's rarely officially recognized, but Lerner's libretto for MY FAIR LADY owes as much to the Wendy Hiller movie version of Pygmalion as the Shaw play, right down to the final beat where Eliza returns to Higgins study. So I guess one of the greatest musicals of the golden age falls under the OP's rubric.
#32Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
Posted: 8/24/13 at 10:40pmI don't think that performers who work for a living mind that films are made into musicals. It is those musicals that provide countless jobs to so many. That's all.
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#33Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
Posted: 8/24/13 at 11:17pm
"It's rarely officially recognized, but Lerner's libretto for MY FAIR LADY owes as much to the Wendy Hiller movie version of Pygmalion as the Shaw play, right down to the final beat where Eliza returns to Higgins study. So I guess one of the greatest musicals of the golden age falls under the OP's rubric."
It may get glanced over and forgotten, but the required billing for My Fair Lady does include "Adapted from George Bernard Shaw's Play and Gabriel Pascal's motion picture 'PYGMALION'"
loliveve
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/24/12
#34Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
Posted: 8/25/13 at 1:31am
I've been reading this thread and thinking over the examples that were given, and I also don't think it's entirely fair to blame Disney, but not because other movies-turned-musicals debuted before Disney. I think there is a distinction between the Disney movies that were already musicals such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "Newsies" that were then adapted to stage musicals, compared to shows like "Legally Blonde" where all the songs had to be written and the material completely transposed from film to stage.
Plus I know that "Once," "Billy Elliot," and "Kinky Boots" are based on films, but I didn't know of the films before the Broadway shows, so it didn't make any difference to me.
As an aside, I think it's interesting that some of my friends who love movies are sick of books being adapted, and hate it when Broadway shows are adapted. I think we are all sick of sequel upon sequel being released. In general, people crave seeing new and original works, but producers want hits so they go with popular works.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#35Anyone else tired of Movies being made into Musicals?
Posted: 8/25/13 at 1:36am
As long as it's done well I don't really care. A great, well developed movie can provide a solid springboard for a wonderful musical. That isn't always the case, but it shouldn't be completely written off as a possibility. Original musicals actually have much more room for error, having to create interesting characters and a compelling story in addition to the music and dialogue. Adaptations already have this figured out for the most part.
I do wish they would go back to deviating from the title of the source material, though. Even musicals that once had different titles are reverting to their source's titles: "Here's Love" is now "A Miracle On 34th Street: The Musical" and "Sugar" is now "Some Like It Hot: The Musical." That is my biggest problem with modern movie to musical adaptions, not the fact that they're being made.
#36Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/25/13 at 1:41amIt isn't the nature of the source material that is tiresome. Whether a musical is adapted from a movie, play or book is really immaterial to what the final product will be. What's tiresome is when the adaptors go in with the intention of creating a commodity based on the reputation of the source material rather than with the intention of telling a story through the medium of musical theatre. The counter-argument that people seem to raise against that idea is that the theatre is a business as much as an art form, but if anything has become obvious (particularly) in the past couple of decades, its that a hit movie, esteemed play or popular book does not automatically a hit musical make. So is there really any credible business sense in this way of creating musicals in the first place?
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loliveve
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/24/12
#37Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/25/13 at 1:47am
So is there really any credible business sense in this way of creating musicals in the first place?
I don't think so. I think that even if a movie is a hit, it's a risk to bring it to the theatre. Disney even tanked with "The Little Mermaid." (Who would have thought they could go wrong with that!)
@ Nowak- do you think that the shows you mentioned have now incorporated their source's titles because they are seen as classic films now?
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#38Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/25/13 at 2:02am
I hadn't thought of it that way.
I wasn't around in 1963, but I imagine after 20 or so years "A Miracle On 34th Street' was somewhat famous, if not the film classic it is today. As for "Some Like It Hot," I don't really know what it's status was in 1972.
Either way, I still think it is more the changing theatrical practices rather than the built up reputations of the properties over the years.
It is relatively rare nowadays that if a musical is adapted from a film, play or book, a title different from the source material is used. In the last decade or so there have only been a few major musicals to do so, as opposed to 50 years ago when adhering to the source title was less common.
#39Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/26/13 at 11:53am
"I do wish they would go back to deviating from the title of the source material, though. Even musicals that once had different titles are reverting to their source's titles: "Here's Love" is now "A Miracle On 34th Street: The Musical" and "Sugar" is now "Some Like It Hot: The Musical." That is my biggest problem with modern movie to musical adaptions, not the fact that they're being made"
I couldn't agree more. I cringe at every show that has tagged ":The Musical" onto it's title. I know it is marketing, but it feels wrong.
#40Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/26/13 at 1:08pm
Ten or two years ago, message boards heaved under the number of "they're making THAT into a musical now?!" and in ensuing Broadway listings starting to look like a Netflix queue more than ever before.
Thankfully, the '00s craze of that and "box of juke" musicals has settled a bit. But now we've gone from "they're making that?" to "they should make that into a musical!" Not sure I'm a fan of that thinking.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
#41Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/26/13 at 1:13pmYears ago most Musicals were based on books. In today's climate, where reading has fallen behind to television and movies, basing musicals on books is less of a financial guarantee. Movies are the next natural step. And if the source material is good, and the finished product is good, who cares!?
#42Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/26/13 at 10:29pm
No matter the type of adaptation (musical film to stage musical; stage musical to film musical; straight film to stage musical), I think that the adaptation only works when the folks doing the adapting understand the difference between the stage medium and the film medium.
Film allows the director or editor to focus the audience's attention on what he or she wants, through the use of close-ups. A distance shot sets up the action. None of that is possible, of course, on stage. Also, a stage set can be far more stylized than a movie set, which has to seem "real". One of the best uses I've seen of the film medium in a musical adaptation is "Les Miserables," where the audience sees the filth and grime that the stage show can only hint at. The opening scene is powerful and visceral, and the stage version can't begin to match it. In contrast, a film adaptation that simply records the stage show is likely to be flat -- I'm thinking of the walker scene in "The Producers," which seems to be an attempt to translate literally from stage to screen.
I think "My Fair Lady's" movie adaptation found the perfect balance between taking advantage of the film medium and keeping the feel of the stage sets and action. Unfortunately, most translations to film don't fare as well...especially the older ones, that lose much of their music along the way.
You alone can make my song take flight.
Tom5
Broadway Star Joined: 9/23/11
#43Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/26/13 at 10:59pm
In response to the OP I think the answer is yes and no. In a case such as "The Apartment" into "Promises, Promises" the answer is "No". Likewise Mary Poppins into Mary Poppins, great for children. How could anyone come up with a more charming story? Or score! But, yes, in many cases when a popular movie is turned into a musical you're no longer looking at at an original story but a de facto adaptation and originals - good originals, anyway, can be gold. That's why, say, "Wicked" was - and continues to be - so popular. You can't netflix it to see what it's about and how it ends. Likewise "Book of Morman", "Vanya...Spike" etc.
#44Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/26/13 at 11:03pmYou can't Netflix WICKED, but you can read the novel...
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
#45Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/26/13 at 11:11pm
^^^^^^^
Of course, after you read the novel, you'll go to the musical expecting a nice, intimate, thought-provoking evening. I mean, with such amazing material it should be the greatest thing this side of Sondheim! Then you'll notice they took what was dark and intimate and made it a bunch of random production numbers that don't really say anything. Then you'll wonder why G(a)linda is so nice and not at all made out to be the antagonist. And the end will make you scream with fury "No! She DIES!!!! That was the whole point of the story!"
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
#46Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/27/13 at 12:10pm
"I'm more tired of movies being awful."
Oh, Namo -- you have no idea.
There are a couple of excellent films coming up soon, though. HER is wonderful.
brldisteach2
Stand-by Joined: 11/28/11
#47Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/27/13 at 9:47pmI think it is all on a case by case basis. Some original musicals can be amazing, but some can be awful, just as some made from other sources can be amazing or awful. I also feel that sometimes it's ok to just go to a show to have fun. Say what you want about Disney, but I had a wonderful time when I went to see Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Mary Poppins, and Newsies. On the other hand, I also loved Next to Normal. If you want to stick to musicals that are original and artistic-however you choose to define that-go for it. For me, I sometimes want to think and be moved when I see a show, but sometimes I just want to be entertained, and sometimes it's even possible to have both-regardless of the source material. Even with discounts, theatre is expensive these days-go to what you want to see, and skip the one's you don't.
Theater'sBestFriend
Featured Actor Joined: 3/5/13
#48Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/27/13 at 10:53pm
"It's an easy source for producers to tap into."
Oh, those nasty producers! If only they wouldn't so crassly and nefariously support all those writers, lyricists, composers, actors, directors, costume, set, lighting and sound designers, musicians, stage mangers, general managers, advertising and press agencies, stagehands, box office staff, ushers, and innocent others who would NEVER participate in creating a musical based on a movie if they hadn't been heartlessly forced to, the theater would still have a soul.
Thanks for enlightening us with your thoughtful analysis.
Theater'sBestFriend
Featured Actor Joined: 3/5/13
#49Anyone else tired of movies being made into musicals?
Posted: 8/28/13 at 8:56am
"Wicked, which in my opinion is a horrible musical, found that if you can tap into teen girls as a market you can run forever."
Wicked isn't based on a movie; it's based on a book that's a back-story of a familiar movie.
"You take Legally Blonde and turn it into a really dumb musical that has NO real artistic merit of it's own."
Tell that to London, which gave it the Olivier Award for Best Musical. (Oh, and when calling others dumb, you might want to reserve apostrophes for "it's" that are contractions of "it is," not "its" that are possessive.)
"I try to respect everyone's opinion. But sometimes people on this board enjoy being contrary."
It was you who started a thread that was broadly critical of a sweeping category of other peoples' work. Maybe you shouldn't do that if you don't like having them point out your mistakes in return.
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