GIGI Headed Back to Broadway in New Adaptation

[Rob]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 12:26pm

Click Here to Read Breaking News: GIGI Headed Back to Broadway in 2014 in New Adaptation Updated On: 3/27/13 at 12:26 PM

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 12:27pm

Full disclosure I read this as Gigli and I had a heart attack.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 12:40pm

>> "Heidi Thomas has restored Gigi to her rightful place at the centre of the story, backed by a funny, warm family of women that show the men in the world around them the finer meaning of life and love."

Obviously written by someone who hasnt a CLUE what GIGI is about...

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 12:43pm

Why, why, why? The movie says and does it all, the Broadway version in 197? was a flop, can't they come up with something more original than this?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 12:44pm

Truly a product of its time, some things are better left alone.

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 12:52pm

Oh, no! Not Gigi, too!

The minute I see the words "new adaptation," I am beset by fear and trembling.

Those two words invariably mean bad news to come, eg. Flower Drum Song, Cinderella...

I wish these delightful works from the past, in no need of "adaptation" from anyone at all, could be designated as historical landmarks to protect them from the meddlesome hands of "adaptors."

Or if only they could just be allowed to lie in peace, remembered fondly by those who cherished them just as they were--- the right way.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 1:04pm

...yawn...

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 1:07pm

I'm rooting for it. Always loved the film, and excited about the prospects of seeing it on stage.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 1:30pm

So it won't be about a little girl being trained to be a whore?

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 1:34pm

for your consideration:

Honore: Victor Garber

Gigi: Carey Mulligan

Mamita: Julie Walters

Gaston: Patrick Wilson

Alicia: Judi Dench, Liliane Montevecchi, Charlotte Rampling, Mary Louise Wilson, Polly Bergen, Chita Rivera, Angela Lansbury

[newintown]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 1:38pm

Even thought we all know a "developmental reading" is a far, far, far, far cry from "heading to Broadway," Gigi is a very pretty movie that sort of just lies there in its stage version, wanly trying to imitate the gorgeous excesses of MGM. Much like most of the Roundabout's musical output.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 2:09pm

Plus, add into it that, yes, this is a film about a young girl being trained to be a whore, and they had to seriously scrub that from the stage version. And from what we get in the link, I doubt they'll go anywhere *near* it in this one. LOL

Funny, tho, how all those old movie musicals we love so much are hiding all sorts of dark secrets that we dont really want to accept. AMERICAN IN PARIS, for example: cut through it all, and it's about two people who are so self-possessed that they're willfully cheating on their respective partners... and we cheer them for it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 2:42pm

Eh. I'd welcome a new adaptation as I found the film mostly dull and forgettable. Some pretty scenery, but I thought the screenplay and the score were quite forgettable.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 2:47pm

Wow, love the new puritanism.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 2:51pm

"I'd welcome a new adaptation as I found the film mostly dull and forgettable. Some pretty scenery, but I thought the screenplay and the score were quite forgettable."

Not that it really means anything, but it did win 9 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Song, and Best Music.

Personally, I think it's a pretty special piece of work.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 3:07pm

I'd love for this to go back to the original concept, and I think it wouldn't be that shocking today, the problem relies on the marketing. Gigi is a very pretty and romantic show, which means they'll most likely market it to a family audience, but the same parents who are taking their children to see Cinderella won't take them to a musical about a girl becoming a whore, yet at the same time the show is not dark enough to market it to a strictly mature audience.

I personally love the film, aside from the fact that it was directed by Minnelli and its visually stunning, mainly because of the story, if they take that away it will just be a rather dull, generic musical.

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 3:10pm

Wait. Soon some lunkhead will come here proclaiming the scores of Book of Mormon, Once, and Queen of the Mist superior to that of Gigi.

And we probably won't have to wait long!

[Wynbish]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 3:25pm

henrik had me at Victor Garber. With Deception possibly being cancelled, come on back, Vic!

[MCfan2]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 3:45pm

Re: "American in Paris," it's a small point, but Jerry didn't have a partner to cheat on. He had someone who was trying really really hard to become his partner, but he'd told her he wasn't romantically interested.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 4:26pm

I love Gigi. It's one of my favorite musicals, because it doesn't turn away from the story of a "girl training to be a whore." What people today completely miss (and it's in the movie, too) is that there weren't many choices for women then. They couldn't vote, they couldn't own property outright, they couldn't be independent. They could marry "the miller's son" and have five fat babies, they could work in a shop or a factory and hope to marry the miller's son, or they could work the streets. If they were lucky, they could marry out of their class (which was rare and pretty shocking), or be treated first-class as a "courtesan" (aka high-class whore).

The only thing that shocks me about it is when people think Gigi and the other characters ought to approach this subject and their lives with a modern sensibility. That's the truly stupid part.

And of course SPOILER ALERT ************



In the end, Gigi rejects the "whore training" and turns the "very nice arrangement" down, and in doing so, she changes Gaston's life. He's the one who really grows up. He realizes he loves her and proposes marriage.

Great story.

Updated On: 3/27/13 at 04:26 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 4:39pm

Not that it really means anything, but it did win 9 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Song, and Best Music.

Oh, I know. I watched it several times, mostly to see if I was missing something, and I did find it somewhat charming. It just didn't do much for me. I thought Damn Yankees was more fun and South Pacific more engrossing and moving, but Gigi was a visually stunning confection. It just never stuck with me.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 4:46pm

Ilove Gigi, I love Colette's original, but this ust seems so made for the screen for me. MGM essentially hired much of the creative team of My Fair Lady when they couldn't get the creative rights and wanted them to do something similar.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 4:47pm

I have adored GIGI forever...

Besty, I was about to write much of exactly what you wrote. The reality of life then, and the great ending make this a wonderful story.

Throw in a score that is full of musical gems and it's a show I truly love.

I am thrilled at the idea of this coming to Broadway. As always, with an 'adaptation', I worry about how they adapt it, but, I shall remain hopefully optimistic!

*pop champagne!*

Updated On: 3/27/13 at 04:47 PM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 4:49pm

What I feel is going on is the Lerner estate is taking some of his underperforming works and trying to make them more contemporary. Isn't Brigadoon in the same kind of pipeline?

That seemed to be the case with the misfire that was the recent Clear Day.

Can a new Paint Your Wagon be far behind?

And Gigi is being trained to be a courtesan which is a kept mistress and not some whore. Sort of like Pamela Harriman or a trophy wife or nowadays, a trophy husband. It is the family business after all.

And she does beat them at their game.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 4:52pm

When I was younger, I didn't understand the history of the times or the European cultures of that era as much, so I wasn't all that taken with it. The humor of the (pretty dark) situation escaped me, and I wasn't that involved in the characters. As I've gotten older, learned more, travelled more, experienced more, I find this movie grows on me with every viewing. I really love it.

I also think it's going to be harder than hell to sell this story to today's audiences without either soft-soaping it (which would be offensive) or changing it completely (which wouldn't betray the era).

I also remember that this movie went from being over 4 hours long in its original cut, and MGM almost shelved it. They we're going to cut their losses and not even release it. That's how much of a "delicate balance" is involved in getting a story like this right. In the end, they cut it down to under 2 hours, and released it to huge acclaim and nine academy awards. An all-time record in 1958 (that was broken the following year in 1959 by Ben-Hur, which won 11).