Remember a few months ago when some people were asserting that Cats would lead to the death of the movie musical? How nice it is to see that not be the case.
Jordan Fisher would make a good Daniel, but since Ti Moune is described as a dark-skinned Black woman and the story is about colorism, I don’t think Rachel Zegler would be appropriate. With the attached writer and director, I don’t believe they’d let that slide.
I like to think that saner minds finally reached the conclusion that CATS was unfilmable by any director. I wonder how its monumental failure will impact Tom Hooper's career in the future. (Thinking of Michael Cimino 40 years ago after Heaven's Gate).
I adore this show. I loved the revival. (Saw it with some of my (now adult) students that had been in my production of it.) Am excited to hear this, but, no matter what....
Spoiler! (On my phone) she'll still turn into a freaking tree at the end!
I'm OK now.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they got some of the revival cast to reprise their roles. The success of Hamilton demonstrated that the leads don’t have to be famous worldwide to sell, and Alex Newell has some mainstream recognition through Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. I’d also love some people from the original cast to be a part - maybe LaChanze as Erzulie. (Come to think of it, Celia Rose Gooding would be a good Ti Moune as well.). I just hope they don’t cut any songs - the show’s short enough that it shouldn’t be necessary, but I could see them cutting “Ti Moune” or choosing to dramatize “One Small Girl” as a spoken scene, but for me, the beauty of this show is the Caribbean-inspired score.
"I think that when a movie says it was 'based on a true story,' oh, it happened - just with uglier people." - Peanut Walker, Shucked
Disney is sui generis so trying to analyze what they do in terms of Cats, for example, strikes me as silly. They know a thing or two about making musicals, and they also know a thing or two about making musicals where Disney is the "star." What Hamilton represents is how they do with a property that they bought rather than built from scratch. OOTI strikes me as a very good exploitation for them.