Books to Musicals, what do you guys think?

[fiyerosfirstlove]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 10:55pm

So I've look back through several pages and, though I've seen one about movies to musicals, I haven't seen any posts like this, so sorry if this is a repeat, but what books does everyone think would transfer well into musical form?

MY OPINIONS:

Hope Was Here (this would end up being another hit with teens, much like Wicked or Rent, but has a very nice story)

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (if The Color Purple could make the transition so easily, I have reason to believe this could too)

Sideways Stories from Wayside School (this could be a very cute family oriented review)

The DaVinci Code (okay, so I basically threw this out there for arguments' sake, though I do think it would be quite amusing to see a singing, dancing, albino monk)

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 10:58pm

Fried Green Tomatoes.. could be excellent! But I dunno how I'd feel without the original cast. (RIP Jessica Tandy)

I'm not familiar with the rest, except for The Leonardo Code. (I refuse to call it the DaVinci code, since that was not his name.)

[fiyerosfirstlove]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 11:01pm

I see what you mean about the original cast, Mary Lousie Parker, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Jessica Tandy (may she rest in peace)were amazing in those roles, though I'm really not at all a Kathy Bates fan...

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 11:08pm

I like her early work better than these past few years (except Titanic).

I accidently asked this on another thread... but has Breakfast at Tiffany's ever been dramatized? Updated On: 6/9/06 at 11:08 PM

[Alex LaVelle]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 11:18pm

I think that if it were approached by the right creative team and were carefully worked not to seem like a South American version of Les Mis (and had a better book than the movie version of the book), Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits would make a phenomenal musical.

[boxers7]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 11:30pm

The Great Good Thing

[showbiz287]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 4:18pm

I havn't read the book in a while...but I seem to remember that "The Giver" would make a great musical...again, I could be wrong...

[singtopher]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 4:28pm

Fiction Writer, I'm 99.9% sure there was a musical version of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" back in the 70's starring Mary Tyler Moore. It flopped.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 4:33pm

I loved Sideway Stories as a child. Ugh, the teacher, the boy who counted his hair . . .

[almostxfamous]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 4:34pm

I always wanted The Perks of Being a Wallflower to be a musical. Or a play.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 4:45pm

There was actually a play version of Sideway Stories here in Philyy about two years ago. It was very well done, and I really enjoyed it.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 4:55pm

my picks:

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - I think a lot of the NY appeal of this story would flock children and adults into it. Plus it has a lot of "i'm all alone sad and boo hoo" moments that could thwart some good songs (if done properly).

The Hours - I cannot express enough how much this could make for a funny funny funny musical.

Dancer From the Dance - It's about this gay farmboy who comes from WI and gets lost in the discos of NY in the 70's trying to find love. It's just trashy and tragic enough to work. (plus it's one of my favorite books ever)

and as for the ones mentioned....
i'm not sure how i'd feel about Fried Green Tomatoes though. i loved the book but feel like it the period points in it could come across as really hokey.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 5:07pm

The Hours? A FUNNY musical? Are you thinking of the once about Virgina Woolfe? I think your sense if humor is seriously warped if you would call that funny. It would make a good dramatic show though.

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 5:10pm

Although "Up The Down Staircase" by Bel Kaufman was made into a play, I think it'd be a fantastic musical. It's hilarious, but then it's also dramatic, which is perfect for a musical.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 5:10pm

no it would be HILARIOUS. the last scene can be this big David Blaine tank and she slips those rocks in her pocket and you just see her flailing for her life as the curtain closes.

always...the Hours...

[StageManager2]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 5:30pm

I always thought LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE would make a good musical. To quote the original tagline for the film version: "It's the passionate tale of forbidden love." For those who are unfamiliar with the book or movie, it takes place around the time of the Mexican Revolution and it centers around Tita, a young woman who, as the youngest daughter, is forbidden to marry because of some family tradition that says the youngest child will have to look after the parents in their old age. Pedro, the man she loves, decides to marry her older, unattractive sister so that he can be near Tita. Following the old adage "the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach," Tita, as the cook of the house, makes the most splendid dishes that have a magical effect on him and everyone else. There's more to the story, but you should really read the book.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 7:33pm

I think MADAME BOVARY might be good.

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 7:34pm

Wendy Wasserstein's Pamela's First Musical would be adorable onstage... the theatre jokes [Betty & Cy Songheim? Mary Ethel Bernadette?] would be perfect for the NY crowd, but it would still offer a big musical extravaganza for the tourists.

I want Beth Leavel for Aunt Louise! Haha.

EDIT!
I've also been pushing for a musical or play of A Confederacy of Dunces. I can also see Sellevision onstage.

And to whoever mentioned The Giver as a musical, I agree. It'd be difficult to pull off, but I see it along the lines of a Sweeney-type experience: very dark and intimate with monochromatic lighting. Updated On: 6/27/06 at 07:34 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 7:35pm

"I always wanted The Perks of Being a Wallflower to be a musical. Or a play. "

I agree, AlmostFamous. From the images in the book, I see a play more than a musical.

[picturetaker9211]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 7:50pm

Sideways Stories from Wayside School was a play here in NY, but I forget how long ago. I remember posting a thread on it. Posters hear have said that it was very cute/funny. One of my favorite books when I was younger.

Hope was Here is one of my favorite books of all times. I just borrowed it from the library. It would be an interesting musical, & I would want to see how that would turn out. ♥

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 8:14pm

Books to musicals tend to work best when extreme liberties are taken (like in the case of Phantom or Les Miserables). When people try to stay closer to the text (Woman in White) audiences don't respond very well. To be honest novels tend to be too multilayered to do justice to them and it's better to completely rewrite something new. Audiences don't bode well with ensemble musicals IMO, and it's better to keep things with only a few leads.

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 8:20pm

You should mention WICKED with LES MIS and PHANTOM.

[neomystyk29]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 8:24pm

"I always wanted The Perks of Being a Wallflower to be a musical. Or a play."

^Agreed 100%! I loved that book and I believe it has what it takes to be a great play or musical. I loved that book. Did I mention I loved that book?

Other ones:

The Chronicles of Narnia
The Great Gatsby
The Catcher In The Rye

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 8:26pm

I saw the Chronicles as a stage play once, and it was awful. And the Great Gatsby is too amazing/wonderful/excellent/perfect and shouldn't be ruined/tainted/destroyed by a musical.

I can't read WICKED anymore because my mind tries to put it togethr with the musical. Such a shame. If that happens with The Great Gatsby, I'm gonna be pissed.

So no. Leave Nick and Gatsby (I've forgotten his first name. Oops.) alone.

(But if it was a musical, I'd love to play Daisy, but I'm a boy so that might not work.)

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 8:45pm

sideways storys wwas a few months ago down in greenich village it was AMAZING one of my best friends was in it.