Barbie: the musical. Will it ever happen? — Page 2

bwayobsessed said: "I was watching the movie and was like these characters want to sing-at least in Barbieland. Like the music would swell and they’d just keep talking…"

Every so often a movie has the rhythms and cadences of a musical. It doesn’t even have to be a great movie, it’s just a thing that happens. The one I always think of is “Dark Shadows.” You can watch the movie and immediately spot “song cue, song cue, group number, song cue.”

Musicals have been based on existing material pretty much since the beginning. I don’t know why people always act like this is a new phenomenon. Genuinely original musicals are a rare breed. And it’s not like we can’t have both.

I agree that the movie was crying out to be musicalized. Aside from having 2 musical numbers already, one diegetic and one non-diegetic, there were several moments where the soundtrack choices felt like musical theatre moments. Particularly Lizzo and Billie Eilish’s tracks. Plus the whole heightened reality of Barbieland, the satirical tone, and the self-reflective moments the characters experience all lend themselves to musical storytelling.

CarlosAlberto said: "I hope this happens. Dove Cameron as "Barbie" - - - please and thank you."

No thank you because it doesn't need to happen

I feel like Taylor Louderman and Aaron Tveit are the natural choices here

It happened already in the early '90s at EPCOT.

It was delicious camp. Absolute garbage, but I still sing some of those awful songs to this day.

hearthemsing22 said: "CarlosAlberto said: "I hope this happens. Dove Cameron as "Barbie" - - - please and thank you."

No thank you because it doesn't need to happen"

What made you such a miserable person? I would really love to know.

hearthemsing22 said: "I blocked some people on here but saw replies to my comment before I signed into my account...So I'm a miserable person because I don't want a movie turned into a musical? Wow. Maybe y'all need to re-evaluate yourselves if you say that about someone else lmao"

You’re the one repeating the same opinion over and over on this thread.


Movies will always be adapted into musicals. And since that’s the case, I would strongly prefer good movies that make sense as musicals to be adapted. And Barbie hits both criteria.

And we want Broadway musicals to succeed and be relevant, right? Well, Barbie managed to break records and get people across the country to show up and dress on theme to attend. That’s the kind of enthusiasm and energy Broadway needs.

Oy, here we go again.



I just want good theater. I dont care what the source material is.

I hate bio-musicsls, so I don't see them. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be made.

Barbie isn't just a popcorn blockbuster, it's an explicitly Brechtian, metafictional movie by two of the smartest writers in the business. It's also unapologetically weird and ambitious.

Back to the Future and Legally Blonde are good movies (great movies if you're not a total snob and can appreciate a popcorn flick for what it is), but they're not the sort of inexplicable big-swing-and-connect that Barbie has been. To turn it into a simple easy cash-in would be not just wrongheaded but likely impossible; people like Barbie for the discourse and the smart-stupid dialogue, not just for "it's pink and femme." If this movie gets made into a musical, I think it's going to be a musical worth seeing.

The people that come out of the woodwork complaining about movie to musical adaptations need not be paid attention to. Since the dawn of the book musical, the vast majority of musicals have been based on preexisting material. They conflate poorly developed work that most often flops at huge financial loss (see: Pretty Woman, Honeymoon in Vegas, etc.) with the entire genre and it shows a real lack of critical thinking.

The reality is that a commercial market of any kind needs commercial products for said market to survive. Without big IP titles, we would not have more unique, original work like Kimberly Akimbo, Come From Away, etc on Broadway either because it simply would not exist. If you're anti-IP adaptations, don't pay money to see IP adaptations...it's rather simple.