Harry Potter: the Musical!- Page 5

[Rymes_With_Witch]

Posted: 1/18/08 at 3:55pm

I can just see it...a Quidditch match on Heelys...in the style of "One Day More"...and everyone will play their own instruments. Lord help us. I love Harry Potter but I don't see how a musical of it would NOT be laughable...Although I do like the idea of Drew Sarich as Snape or Sirius...but thats just because I love Drew Sarich. The only thing this is good for are hilarious song titles.

...But while we're on the subject, there is a song that reminds me of the 7th HP book. "I Fought in a War" by Belle & Sebastian. Some of the lyrics:
"I fought in a war and I left my friends behind me To go looking for the enemy, and it wasnt very long Before I would stand with another boy in front of me And a corpse that just fell into me, with the bullets flying round...I fought in a war, and I didnt know where it would end It stretched before me infinitely, I couldnt really think Of the day beyond now, keep your head down pal Theres trouble plenty in this hour, this day I can see hope I can see light"



Updated On: 1/18/08 at 03:55 PM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 1/18/08 at 5:03pm

Well, Theatreboy 49, there's just a lot of freedom songs on my iTunes so I thought, whatever works. A bunch of these aren't even finished. You think I'd be content just having six songs in Chamber of Secrets? No.

Updated On: 1/18/08 at 05:03 PM

[jagfkb]

Posted: 1/18/08 at 5:32pm

Though I know I'll be shot down into hell for this but,

i've been trying to find the right formula for compressing Harry Potter's seven books into a 3 hour musical.

I know it sounds idiotic and stupid, but I think I found the way:

1-Do it serious, full out, and make it big! So Xanadu like way of crafting it!

2-I was thinking of a way to compress the years. My idea? Start the musical right at Hogwarts, the first night. Then have a number with Harry as he explains the road which he's taken, ending with a ballad for him on what he's supposed to do with his life.

3-Make it that all wizards go to wizarding school at age twelve and attend for FOUR YEARS

Here's how the years would be compiled:

NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Musical Year One:
Books One & Two
Since both were about finding a hidden place in Hogwarts, why not make it one place with one item?

Musical Year Two:
Books Three & Four
Book three is basically the search for Sirius Black, so why not combine it with Book four, which has voldemort come back (in a dramatic act one finale)

Musical Year Three:
Books Five & Six
Start Act Two with the wizarding world reacting to Voldemort possibly returning and having the ministry responding. now introduce Umbridge as the Inquisitor, NOT A TEACHER. Have the students prepare on their own, causing Dumbledore to be tracked down by the Ministry. Then, Dumbledore begins to send Harry bits of information on the Horcruxes. This ends with Dumbledore dying.

Musical Year Four
Book 7
Simply put, with more on Voldemort being found out, and include a song where Snape explains that he is good and it was Dumbledore's orders to kill him (Insert here Lily's eyes song). Also, the musical should totally end with the epilouge, however, Harry should get onto the train with everyone else and as the last few notes are played, close the doors, lighting up Hogwarts in the distance.

4-Here's how I would envision the casting. Naturally it would be a large cast, however the adult featured rolls (Secondary teachers, secondary adults, and maybe even characters which appear in mainly one act (Like Voldemort, Sirus, Umbridge, and the Death Eaters). Each child part would be played by two actors, one older teenager, and one slightly younger child (Imagine Henry hodges now, or JJ singleton). Some child characters could be played by one actor if they are rather featured (Luna, even Ginny).

5-Get a good, solid, English songwriter and and American songwriter to work on this together. All songs should be written in the style of Les Miz or Phantom, as in classical meets today.

6-The set for this show would be chalenging, since there are other places conveyed other then the school. So, I decided to make the school set rather large (Think Poppins house big), and the others rather minimalistic (More like the sets other then the barricades in Les Miz), as well as various sets which could be interchangable (An elevated walk way, a large trapdoor, smoke machines)

Any comments/questions?

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 1/18/08 at 10:13pm

Interesting.

Totally random but I honestly think that when movies 6 and 7 roll around, the wedding subplot will be the first to go.

Updated On: 1/19/08 at 10:13 PM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 2:09pm

bump

[Salene]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 6:04pm

The song list reminded me of a poster on another board who took an 8-year-old to the Hairspray movie. The girl loved it and her favorite song was "Good Morning Voldemort".

[nitsua]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 6:08pm

Why is this stupid thread taken seriously?
Ivan the Wonderful is a troll.

[DickonDefysGravity]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 6:14pm

huge fan of books.
please dont do this. it'll ruin it.

[Magical_Ms._Mistoffeles_72]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 6:52pm

on subject of casting

Norbert Leo Butz as Dobby.

Just a thought

[dramarama2]

Posted: 1/20/08 at 7:35pm

"Sirius Black: Raul Esparza
Dolores Umbridge: Patti LuPone
Bellatrix Lestrange: Kate Shindle"

LOL

Bellatrix: Hand me my wand
Others: WAND!
Bellatrix:Hand me that nag
Others: NAG!
Bellatrix: And that british FLAAAAAAAAAAG!
Others: PRACTICALLY BRITISH!
Bellatrix: Ain't got time for screws!
Others: Kill!
Bellatrix: Now it's time to loose...
Others: KILL!
Bellatrix: SIRIUS BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCKKKKK!!!
Others: No time for screws - Killing Sirius BLA-A-ACK!
What's there to loose? - Killing Sirius BLA-A-ACK!
PUT DOWN THE BOOZE - AND KILL SIRIUS BLACK!
All: SNAP!

hehe. I've had my fun...

Updated On: 1/20/08 at 07:35 PM

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 2/9/08 at 11:31pm

Bump

[xoangel2789xo]

Posted: 2/9/08 at 11:35pm

they have a lord of the rings musical in west end

as for harry potter, idn how they'd squeeze all 7 books into a musical

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/9/08 at 11:35pm

But WHY?!

[Not Barker, Todd.]

Posted: 2/10/08 at 2:00am

It could be done, dosen't mean it should. And they shouldn't try and do the whole series, that would suck. I actually have figured out a few of the pitfalls, and have a few idea, but there would be no point in posting them.

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 2/10/08 at 1:48pm

I think I'm still in the minority who believes this could be done really well. I say that if they're going to do it, make it a full-out spectacle - and don't try to compress all seven books into one show. If I had a say in the creation, I'd suggest that the powers that be make it into a three-part series ala The Coast of Utopia.

[nitsua]

Posted: 2/10/08 at 2:15pm

Y'all do know that Ivan the Wonderful (the original poster) is a sock puppet. This isn't a serious thread. He made it to make me look stupid.

Let this die!

[jagfkb]

Posted: 5/23/09 at 4:57pm

Another idea I had for this thread:

Stage the show in an environmental setting, by having (at least part of) the orchestra level turned into the seating for the Great Hall, and have audeicne members sit along side actors for certain scenes while still sitting in their own respective houses. The tables, in scenes other than the Great Hall, could also be used as mini stages/ runways for other scenes. Another quick idea for the opening sequence of the first act:

Open with the boats sailing into Hogwarts and then fade into the sorting hat ceremony, where we first see Harry Potter. after he's sorted, we go to the Gryffindors being shown to their common room, where Ron, Harry, and Hermione accidentally go to the corridor on the third floor only to find Fluffy guarding the trapdoor. They find their way back to the common room, where, after Hermione dismisses the boys, we see Harry sing of how he wants to live up to his fame. After a transistion scene, where they learn Winggardium Leviosa (and the one kid blows up his feather), we see the broomstick practice, where Harry chases Malfoy for the Rememberall. Immediately after, McGonagall asks him to join the Quiditch team with a reprise of Harry's earlier song. The next number is the Quidditch match, where Harry's broom is bewitched by Snape (or so they think). After they ask Hagrid about Snape, he blurts out that he's a trusted member of the staff, who is currently guarding the third floor corridor.

Though I haven't thought of much after that, I thought it was certainly a good start. Any thought on the pacing?

[DreamLikeNewYork]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 1:56am

VonTussleGirl:
Patti Cohenour would be a PERFECT Mrs. Weasley.

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 3:06am

Even though I doubt this would work, I really do like the ideas brought forward by jagfkb. I never thought I'd read a way of condencing all the books into one show (especially when they have trouble even condesnscing one book into one movie), but this seems like the best way.

Oh, and whoever suggested LuPone/Esparza/Shindle - pure genius. I don't know which I like more actually. Okay, that's a lie - it's a tie between Shindle as Bellatrix Lestrange (perfect) and LuPone as Umbridge. In fact I just got back from the first night of Patti's new tour, Gypsy In My Soul, and there was this part where she had whip this and was screaming and that actually reminded me of Dolores Umbridge (not that SHE carries a whip, but still).

So yeah - not the worst idea in the world, but really who in their right minds sat down in their theater chair while watching Legally Blonde, Catch Me If You Can, or Bonnie and Clyde and thought "Well this will make an excellent musical one day"? It just doesn't happen. It takes real genius to take some other piece of art (comics, movies, books, plays, operas) and adapt it into glory.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 4:01am

^Well, you can't really say that ANY of those shows are excellent examples of Musical THeater, can you?

Legally Blonde was a flop (although will probably recoup on tour) and FAR from 'excellent' to MOST theater goers. And It's too early to tell about the other two. (Although I have high hopes for CMIYC.)

However, that is always what I thought about Les Miz. What deranged minds READ Hugo's freakishly long novel which, frankly, is just page after page of horrid life and exitence and thought: THis would make an excellent play....wait....No....A MUSICAL???? And an uplifting one at that? Boggles my mind, truly.

[raker]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 7:52am

A little penicillin will take care of those hogwarts.

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 8:06am

That's actually a really good point, dramamama. I was just trying to list examples of musicals coming from places we normally wouldn't think of, but since I listed a flop and two shows that have yet to premiere, it kind of leaves much to be desired. You definitely hit it on the head though with Les Miserables. How anyone thought a musical could come from that is beyond me. I guess the same could be said for those who read Tales of the South Pacific and Gypsy: A Memoir and somehow made them into what they are today. I would also list A Tale of Two Cities, but that wasn't really that well received. And really what person thought a musical could come from a Seurat painting (not quite adaptation as much as inspiration, but still)

Personally I love theater so much because although I have the utmost respect for original musicals, I think adaptations get a bad rap. Not only are transfers from other medias already fighting against preconceived notions of what the material and characters should be like, but they are also taking something that works so well in one format and trying to craft something new from it. There's a reason Salinger is suing to stop the release of a Catcher in the Rye sequel. It is often very difficult to top, or even alter, a classic. This is why we probably will never see The Godfather: The Musical. Well...one of many reasons. Although really on that note of The Godfather, just look at how great that adaptation was. It works both as this superb novel with as many character subplots as dead bodies. Then because of it we now have two fantastic movies (and one...lesser so) that serve as a testament to great adaptation.

I hope any of this made sense. I'm kind of fighting sleep here.
Updated On: 6/21/09 at 08:06 AM

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 9:57am

Shuler Hensley as Hagrid would be amazing!


I could picture Brian D'Addario playing Harry in a few years.


Now, I'm in no rush to bring this to the stage, but I would be interested if it ever came along.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/21/09 at 11:12am

I disagree with your assessment of the Les Miserables novel--it actually has many uplifting parts. It's not all depressing.

IMO, the novel is a masterpiece and the stage show, even though I like it, will never even approach the brilliance of its source material.

As for Harry Potter, I think it may be a bit too "epic" to work as a musical. Of course, they did LotR...

[Solstrom]

Posted: 6/22/09 at 1:20am

Did you know this ? It's already done !!!
HARRY POTTER THE MUSICAL