Posted: 9/30/17 at 9:54am
When culture was literary first, musicals were based on books. When movies became the dominant form of media, it switched to that. We're in the era of TV being better and often more popular than movies, so I think we'll be seeing a stronger TV influence in what gets adapted now.
Posted: 9/30/17 at 9:59am
I would pay good money to see Breaking Bad: the musical.
Posted: 9/30/17 at 10:00am
ladypresent said: "I don't really go to shows anymore because they all seem like heightened theme park shows to me, with very few exceptions.
I'm not paying $125.00 to go see Charlie and The Chocolate factory the musical,Or the cher biopic or a bunch of CCMgrads dressed up as crabs in Spongebob the musical.
"
So whose opinion are the producers going to listen to? Someone who spends money to see commercial theater or you who say you rarely spend money at the theater anymore? Seems like a no brainer to me.
I like to see as much as I can and whatever I can afford. Some productions are artistically fulfilling, some are mere fluff and entertainment and some are truly awful. It's not always predictable. But if I want good theater, I have to support the industry or I don't stand a chance.
If I truly don't want to see something..I.don't go. Also not rocket science. But I can usually find something to enjoy..a performer, some music, a special moment, etc in most shows even if the overall quality is lacking.
Updated On: 9/30/17 at 10:00 AM
Posted: 9/30/17 at 11:12pm
to each her own. Your money going to see such amazing pieces of art like escape from margaritaville and Spongebob Squarepants keeps the banal theater going along.
So really you are the one helping this transformation occur...Thanks
Updated On: 9/30/17 at 11:12 PM
Posted: 10/1/17 at 12:22am
ladypresent - Your first posting proved you have no sense or understanding of theatre history.
Posted: 10/1/17 at 4:09am
ladypresent, I'm curious about one thing here. I either haven't seen or have no interest in seeing most of the shows you mentioned. (Exceptions on your list: Beautiful, which I saw last year on tour and thought was OK but unmemorable, and Ain't Too Proud, the Temptations musical, which I'm seeing in Berkeley next month.) Disney shows have been on Broadway for nearly two decades. Musicals aimed at families with young kids have been around a lot longer than that. Bio/jukebox musicals come in waves. No one is requiring you to see any of those musicals.
Don't want to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Me neither. But what have you seen and liked? Are you actually refusing to see other Broadway musicals because On Your Feet! ran for a couple of years? If so, you've missed some interesting shows.
And if Broadway musicals are getting you down, what about off-Broadway? What about plays? As has been pointed out, most everything on Broadway is an adaptation of something. West Side Story was just Romeo and Juliet in a modern setting, with songs and dances. The history of Hello, Dolly goes back more than a century before it opened, including a play that ran less than a decade before the musical version. The King and I was adapted from a memoir. Carousel was adapted from a play. Show Boat invented the modern musical. But Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein based the whole thing on a bestselling novel.
I'm not comparing Spongebob to any of those shows, but they are all just adaptations. Some are based on familiar material, others more obscure. Some elevate the material they're based on, with terrific new songs and performances, and others don't.
The only real difference is that you have no interest in some of it. But you can vote with your feet, and your wallet.
Updated On: 10/1/17 at 04:09 AM
