Best Broadway Show Adapted from An Original Movie?

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 3/25/17 at 8:22pm

Poll: Best Broadway Show Adapted from a Movie

 

Four shows opening on Broadway in April are based on original movies. I thought it a good time to run a poll -- what was the best such show ever? The poll includes some two dozen choices, but you can add your own to the list...and also list it in this thread.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/25/17 at 9:10pm

Passione d'Amore, which is the basis for Passion, was not an original screenplay.  It's based on the 1869 novel Fosca by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti. 

[jo]

Posted: 3/25/17 at 9:34pm

Mamma Mia! was an original songbook/jukebox musical from London that transferred to Broadway and  was eventually adapted to film.

Beauty and the Beast originated from French literature and has been retold in many different ways --

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast#cite_note-6

Updated On: 3/25/17 at 09:34 PM

[gypsy101]

Posted: 3/25/17 at 9:51pm

pretty sure Mamma Mia is a blatant ripoff of Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell which was also the inspiration of the flop musical Carmelina.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 3/25/17 at 10:46pm

Would A Christmas Story count? I think the movie was partially inspired by the book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 3/25/17 at 11:08pm

Well, I suppose you could say LION KING is original, even though it's HAMLET with Lions.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 3/25/17 at 11:12pm

And where is Waitress?

[Chowd95]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 12:28am

For me it's definitely Hairspray. I love that show.

[Melissa25]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 4:10am

I voted for Hairspray too.

[StephieElise]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 5:34am

What about Kinky Boots?!

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 5:52am

Billy Elliot

[Consistency]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 9:09am

"A Little Night Music" is one of the few musicals I consider (nearly) perfect, so I'll go with that one. 

Some of Sondheim's wittiest lyrics and a lovely, lush score. It stands on its own as a great work in its own right, unlike a lot of film adaptations. 

"Hairspray" would be another contender, in my book. 

 

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 10:36am

gypsy101 said: "pretty sure Mamma Mia is a blatant ripoff of Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell which was also the inspiration of the flop musical Carmelina."

Exactly right.   Which raises the question has any other original screenplay inspired more than one Broadway musical?   I doubt it.

 

"

 

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 1:47pm

Great question, Henrik. Does anybody know the answer?

[AKarp2013]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 2:06pm

I would say that the greatest Broadway shows adapted from an original movie would be "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Hairspray".

So many movie-to-stage adaptations to me keep trying to recreate the magic that happened with "Hairspray". Some came close, others did not. Only "Kinky Boots" I feel managed to capture the magic that "Hairspray" did.

Updated On: 3/26/17 at 02:06 PM

[Steve C.]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 2:19pm

IMO, "Kiss Of The Spider Woman" and "Ragtime" are quite possibly the best transformations from screen to stage. These two really are awesome works.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 2:35pm

Kiss of the Spider Women and Ragtime were both based more on their original novels as opposed to their film counterparts.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 2:35pm

"Ragtime" is based on a famous novel by E.L. Doctorow. (Jeffrey, you beat me to it).

Updated On: 3/26/17 at 02:35 PM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 2:43pm

A Christmas Story for me

[Steve C.]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 2:58pm

I mentioned those two based on all the previous posts, questioning the origins of the material. I know they were based on other materials; I'm saying these two were greatly adapted from source material or non-musical/musical. They both are very different from the original "whatever".

 I'm not criticizing someone saying Mamma Mia or Christmas Story b/c I got the gist of what they meant. You could say American Psycho to American Psycho to American Psycho (the Musical) ...

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 7:02pm

Including A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC made the choice so easy for me, it being my favorite musical of all time.

[BwayDreamer00]

Posted: 3/26/17 at 7:20pm

I'd have to by far say Hairspray, who knew this little unknown 1988 movie about prejudice in the 1960s would become a showstopping musical and later into an amazing show TO movie adaptation!
 

Oh and what about Footloose? Not a very good show but its still a movie to show exmaple!

[green waver]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 9:06am

NewYorkTheater said: "Great question, Henrik. Does anybody know the answer?

Although loosely based on a poem, The Wild Party might count.

"

 

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 12:57pm

Here are the top 5 choices in the poll (as of this moment):

1. Hairspray

2. The Lion King

3. Little Shop of Horrors

4. The Producers

5. Waitress

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 1:03pm

The recent Presidential election taught me not to trust polls.  Those results do not inspire any more confidence in them.