Great Book, Movie, and Play?

[Enjolras872]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 12:43am

Are there any great plays/musicals that are based off of/have both an equally great movie and book?

The closest I can come up with is maybe Cabaret? Both the play and movie were critically acclaimed, but I'm not sure how successful "The Berlin Stories" were.

There are lots of shows that satisfy two of the three, but not all three...

Thoughts?

Updated On: 10/29/08 at 12:43 AM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 12:49am

Guys and Dolls.

Hilarious short stories by Damon Runyon (who did not grow up in NYC, but in Kansas).

Musical is in the top 3 of best ever written (along with Gypsy and West Side Story).

Film is a strong, solid, accurate representation of the stage show (though it's missing Bushel and a Peck and a few others; replaced by equally solid songs like "Your Eyes are the eyes of a Woman in Love")

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 1:03am

L3GALLY BLOND31

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 1:13am

I have three to nominate:

South Pacific (book, stage musical, movie musical)
The King and I (book, movie, stage musical, movie musical)
Mame (book, play, movie, stage musical, movie musical)

[being.jeremiah]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 1:18am

A Streetcar Named Desire

[monestere]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 5:01am

Charles Dickens’ highly successful book Oliver Twist was produced as a straight play several times and was made into a silent film as early as 1909, in 1919 & 1922, as a sound film in 1933, also a superb David Lean directed 1948 film and in the 1960’s the incredibly successful Lionel Bart musical Oliver!, which lead to the blockbuster Academy Award-Winning Carol Reed musical film Oliver! Along the way and in between there have been at least 10 TV films and series based on the book and at least 2 additional theatrical films as well.

[Weez]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 5:21am

I want to say 'Kiss of the Spider Woman'. I may have terribly mixed feelings about the musical, but I love the play and the novel, and the movie is - I believe - fairly well thought of.

[dayao]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 5:37am

Although never a novel, a collection of medieval stories, known as The Arabian Nights, was dramatized as Kismet, which was first a successful play by Edward Knoblock on Broadway in 1911, then was adapted by the author into a silent film in 1914, 1916 & 1920 and as a sound film twice in 1930, in 1943, plus the most famous and lavish Technicolor version in 1944 which starred Marlene Dietrich & Ronald Colman. Knoblock’s play was adapted in 1953 by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis into the famous musical version with music & lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, which ran for years on Broadway and in a 1978 restaging called Timbuktu!, which set the story in that West Africa locale with the fabulous Eartha Kitt. Most recently the original 1953 version of Kismet was produced in London in 2007 by the English National Opera, a sad commentary on the fact that most of today’s musical performers both on Broadway and West End lack the legitimate voices needed to sing the music properly. The musical version of Kismet was made into a spectacular Cinemascope film by MGM in 1955 starring Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Vic Damone, Sebastian Cabot and the incomparable Dolores Gray as Lalume. Although a modest box office success but not very well received by the critics at the time, the film boasts some great singing and sumptuous orchestrations and music direction by Andre Previn plus virtuoso playing of the score by the MGM Studio Orchestra that makes even the best Broadway pit orchestra sound anemic by comparison. There was also a TV version of the musical produced in 1967 with Anna Maria Alberghetti , Jose Ferrer, George Chakaris and Barbara Eden as Lalume.

Updated On: 10/29/08 at 05:37 AM

[jo]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 11:06am

>>>Most recently the original 1953 version of Kismet was produced in London in 2007 by the English National Opera, a sad commentary on the fact that most of today’s musical performers both on Broadway and West End lack the legitimate voices needed to sing the music properly<<<

I was able to see this production and two of the leads were West End/Broadway stars, Michael Ball and Faith Prince, who both held their own against the ENO's opera singers. Michael was not just in great vocal form but he was also an excellent acting Hajj! I think the mix of legit stage singers and opera artists worked out very well in this case. The production did get mixed reviews but more for its overall direction and rather unimpressive sets.

[Weez]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 11:11am

The ENO production of 'Kismet' is the only show where I've left at the interval. I'd been having such a lovely day until then that I just couldn't do that to myself any longer. What a miserable production. XP

Updated On: 10/29/08 at 11:11 AM

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 11:39am

Member of the Wedding
Grapes of Wrath
Of Mice and Men
Huck Finn

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 12:23pm

Auntie Mame!!!

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 12:40pm

Nicholas Nickleby, perhaps?

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 4:58pm

Wow, I could have sworn I responded to this. Actually I'm almost positive I did, weird.

Anyway, Mary Poppins

[fromthecity]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 6:03pm

An era exploding. A century spinning.

The people called it Ragtime.

[BNN]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 6:06pm

The first thing that came to my mind was Guys and Dolls, and this is cheating but I believe Chicago started out as a play and then a musical but I could be wrong, if I'm not add it to the list!

[fromthecity]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 6:33pm

Oh, and what about Sweeney Todd?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 6:37pm

"The first thing that came to my mind was Guys and Dolls, and this is cheating but I believe Chicago started out as a play and then a musical but I could be wrong, if I'm not add it to the list!"

Chicago did in fact start out as a play. In fact, the original author was so determined that it not be turned into a musical it wasn't until she died that her heirs were able to sell the rights.

[Anakela]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 6:42pm

The first thing I thought of was The Color Purple (say what you will- I loved the musical. and it did recoup :))