Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
beacon1
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/31/04
#0Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:13pm
I saw this on TV this weekend and enjoyed it yet again.
Now I wonder, why on earth hasn't this ever been a musical.
--A duet by the Two Aunts about their Lonely Gentlemen Callers
--Mortimer singing about embracing the married life
--Jonathon and the Doctor singing about their sinister plan.
--The policeman reading his play (while Mortimer tries to signal there's a problem.)
--A song about bodies appearing and reappearing.
--Uncle Teddy and the Panama Canal and the Yellow Fever victims.
--The staff from Happydale coming to cart folks off.
I think it would be grand...
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#1re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:15pmI got to disagree,Someone thought the man who came to dinner would eb a good musical. BAD IDEA .It's a tight lil show, that doesnt need musical numbers
Attend the tale of Bovine Boy
His party threads we all enjoy
But does he have Mad Cow Disease?
He doesn't eat beef - but cows skating? - oh please!!!
With cocoa!?!
And lemonade!?!
The heifer-mad poster of Broadway
(World)
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#2re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:16pmThere have been attempts at musicicaliztion of this wonderful play, but none successful (so far).
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
beacon1
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/31/04
#3re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:19pmMargo, I value your opinion...do you think it has possibilities?
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MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#4re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:30pmHmmmmm ..... I guess it's possible, but it's such a perfectly constructed small play that I wonder whether music could possibly add anything to it. I don't think expanding it into a musical would make it better, but hey who knows?
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#5re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:32pm
The number one rule in adapting something to a musical.
Does the story sing, and, by song, is the story made better?
"Is the story made better?" is the most crucial part.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
beacon1
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/31/04
#6re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:33pmI just saw so much in my mind's eye...wish I were a composer, lyricist... :o)
Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?
Patrick Wilson Fans --New "UnOfficial Fan Site". Come check us out!
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#7re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:42pmAfter playing Mortimer, I dont think the character would just bust into song. That's just my opinion though.
#8re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:45pm
But who would have thought Lee Harvey Oswald, a canibilistic barber, Commodore Matthew Perry or LRRH's wolf could so easily burst into song?
You never know what will work until you try.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
Updated On: 12/13/04 at 10:45 PM
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#9re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:47pmI think Alice & Emily should play the aunts. And they'll be the right age by the time this one gets the musical treatment.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
beacon1
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/31/04
#10re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 10:54pm
Exactly, SticktoPriest...I think Mortimer's excitement at getting married...and then his confusion about his aunts, etc would be very "doable" as musical numbers.
The movie is so funny...but there are some dark parts.
I wonder who would be a good Jonathon...or Dr. Einstein...
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ShineOn
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/03
#11re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 11:18pmCan I play Elaine... or whatever her name is, Goth? Priscilla Lane, the actress in the movie, is my cousin... that's gotta count for SOMETHING, right? I look like her, too! :)
"You! You are the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber! And you, well, I just plain don't like you."
~Stewart Gilligan Griffin
~Stewart Gilligan Griffin
beacon1
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/31/04
#12re: Arsenic and Old Lace--The perfect source for a musical
Posted: 12/13/04 at 11:25pm
Who do you want for Mortimer, then?
(Everyone knows my usual vote!)
Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?
Patrick Wilson Fans --New "UnOfficial Fan Site". Come check us out!
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