Mike, I know where you're getting at with the claim that this film adaptation isn't one of the stage musical but rather one of the original novel and all, but I don't buy it.
There is absolutely no question that this film adaptation is mostly one of the stage musical, with details and other larger bits of the novel incorporated. Not being anything like the stage version is the very definition of an adaptation; the film took the shape it did not because it intentionally went in with mostly the novel in mind, but because the medium allows a lot of scenes from the novel to work alongside the musical material. I'm sure everything they added and even rewrote that came directly from the novel was incorporated because it strengthened, deepened, clarified, or enhanced the existing musical material and not for the sole purpose of reinventing anything, as they've claimed in a mostly marketing ploy.
As for the rest of you, I don't know which fans you're referring to when you say that the show's biggest fans will have a problem with this and that cut, snippet, or edit. And there isn't a single diehard fan I've met who insists the film be a clone of the stage musical.
Mike mentioned it, and so have a few others on these boards, that the film completely does away with Trevor Nunn and John Caird's concept and has taken directions never before taken.
Again, it is an adaptation of the stage musical, so of course they aren't going to take the same direction that Nunn and Caird did and their concept wasn't too far from the film's concept, anyway. The difference between the two is one allows a greater amount of detail to be added, while the other works best in a more streamlined fashion.
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
