I think The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is based off of a documentary.
"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas." -Danmeg's 10 year old son.
You are thinking of Spellbound, which Disney was developing into a musical before Putnam County became a hit.
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, I think, should just as well be considered an original musical. While it grew out of an improvisational play called C-R-E-P-U-S-C-L-E, following its initial production, Wendy Wasserstein suggested William Finn to collaborate with Rebecca Feldman to develop the piece into a scripted musical. Unlike the usual "based on" musicals, C-R-E-P-U-S-C-L-E became The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, similarly to the way that George Furth's one acts became Company.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
2008: Feb. 18- Rent, Feb. 19- Curtains, April 18- Xanadu, April 22- Wicked, April 26- Legally Blonde, May 31- Wicked, June 13- The Little Mermaid, June 28- Wicked and Young Frankenstein, July 2- The Little Mermaid, July 6- A Chorus Line and Legally Blonde, August 16- Xanadu, September 13- Legally Blonde and 13, September 28- Xanadu and Spring Awakening, Oct. 12-GYPSY and [title of show], Oct. 19- Hairspray & Legally Blonde, Nov. 9- Wicked and 13, Dec. 14-13, Dec. 26- Billy Elliot, 2009: Jan 1- Shrek, Jan 2- 13 and Wicked, Jan 4- 13, Feb 17- In The Heights, Feb 19- Billy Elliot, Feb 22- Sweeney Todd (tour), March 28- Mary Poppins, April 4- Mamma Mia!, April 15- Jersey Boys (on tour), April 25- next to normal & 9 to 5
May 1- Billy Elliot, May 3- Spelling Bee (tour), May 8- Chicago, May 21- Wicked, June 6- Everyday Rapture, June 23- The Wiz, June 25- Hair July 15- Shrek, August 9- Wicked, September 7- Rock of Ages, October 11- Next To Normal, October 23- The Marvelous Wonderettes, November 7- Ragtime November 29- Dreamgirls, December 25- Billy Elliot, December 30- Finian's Rainbow, 2010: January 9- Bye Bye Birdie, January 16- Memphis February 17- The Phantom of The Opera, February 18- God of Carnage, March 7- Billy Elliot, March 31- American Idiot
1. Grey Gardens 2. Caroline, or Change 3. Next to Normal
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas." -Danmeg's 10 year old son.
Avenue Q Curtains Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Full Monty, The Grey Gardens Next to Normal Producers, The Spring Awakening Thoroughly Modern Millie Urinetown: The Musical
with Honorable Mentions to Jersey Boys & The Light in the Piazza."
Avenue Q, Curtains, Next to Normal, and Urinetown are the only musicals you mentioned that are original.
"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas." -Danmeg's 10 year old son.
"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas." -Danmeg's 10 year old son.
I like a few songs from Passing Strange, but I find the rest to be uncreative and self-indulgent.
"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas." -Danmeg's 10 year old son.
I'm assuming the "original musical" is whatever that was eligible for "Best Musical" at the Tonys. I see no need to outsmart each other by claiming that Spelling Bee is unoriginal or Grey Gardens is not original.
"Hey, you! You're the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber!"
-Family Guy
"I think it's safer to refer to musicals with new scores written specifically for the stage as original or new musicals (or, not a revival)."
So chill.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife