- Sound of Music.
- Funny Girl
- Fiddler
I know more than a few people who will fight you on Fiddler.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
^ Including me. The Fiddler film was blah. Best way to describe it.
Oliver. And I prefer Fiddler on screen.
Yeah I know, I just think the film is superior. The film really got the grainy look that I have always envisioned fiddler to look like. Some scenes are really just perfection.
Les Miserables for sure.
West Side Story
the opening scene just isn't as good on stage
throughout, the relationships are more personal and heartfelt on the screen
THe Producers... matthew broderick and nathan lane are no Gene Wilder and Zero Moztel
Hello Dolly. I'm sorry but Carol Channing does nothing for me.
Hairspray.
(I know I'm probably alone on this one).
OP, are we including the movie that the musical is based on or the actual movie version of a musical after it has already been a stage show?
"Hello Dolly. I'm sorry but Carol Channing does nothing for me. "
Nate i agree. though i obviously didnt see it, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. no way Carol was as good as Marilyn;
@Wynbish, I was thinking more of the musical film adaption of that particular musical, but you can do both.
For Example I would accept someone saying the TLM film was better than the musical.
^ I'll argue with you on that one. I thought the pre-film version of the play was much better.
Cabaret.
Movie as source material:
Hairspray, Legally Blonde, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Musical Film Adaptation:
Godspell, Rocky Horror, South Pacific, Man of La Mancha
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
I would argue Rock of Ages
"Cabaret"
Ya know, I almost put that on my list but then I went on youtube to watch clips of the revival and realized I really just couldn't. I think the cabaret film is great but the musical is really just one of the best musicals of all time. On a side note: Can we really consider the cabaret film a "musical"?
Broadway Star Joined: 5/7/13
Funny Girl is a good musical but it's a terrific movie.
Chicago's screenplay is a vast improvement on the original libretto (notwithstanding that many of us justly lament the loss of "Class"); the resolution of the trial with Velma as a contrived witness cleverly completes the narrative, resonantly bonds the female leads and resolves both of their fates. What was sadly missing from the stage show in terms of an interesting denoument is remedied in a very entertaining way. It's also a great movie. And a kind of miracle, it's the most theatrical of musicals turned into a movie lover's movie.
It's still a great stage show, of course, especially in the right hands.
Cabaret on film and stage are probably too different, and for very good reasons, to fairly compare them.
If you are going to compare the stage show The Producers to the original film The Producers, why stop there? Nine and A Little Night Music might be very fine shows (not as good as The Producers IMHO) but they pale in comparison to 8 1/2 and Smiles of a Summer Night, which are movie masterpieces (almost everyone agrees that the movie adaptations of the musicals aren't very good, and in the case of A Little Night Music, horrendous). Not to mention all the bad musicals based on fair to great movies.
I agree with Chicago, Hairspray, West Side Story and Hello Dolly.
I terms of production design, I thought The Sweeney Todd film was better than the original production, but of course the the latter was overall superior mainly because of the music and Angela.
I really want to say Cabaret, but Henrik's right, they're basically two different shows and I adore both versions.
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