Ideas for new musicals - based on plays or books- Page 2

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 11:03pm

Because that play already has music with it...

[TheHumanTorch]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 11:06pm

i know, but expand that to an entire musical...

[MerMaggieGalinda]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 11:30pm

About Robin Hood, a musical production of it is being mounted in my state. Here's the article:


here

[BeingAlive]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 12:50am

what about Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" with a gothic southern-flavoured score by Adam Guettell?

[Color and Light]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:15am

Has there ever been a musical version of The Great Gatsby? I can't recall one ever making it to Broadway, and I think it could be potentially interesting! Perhaps with LaChiusa behind the score.

Shel Silverstein's poems also have tremendous potential as musical material if you could find a good way to link them together. Sounds like it could be a blast, as long as the conceit behind it was strong enough.

I also recently read Colm Toibin's The Blackwater Lightship and think it could work as a low-key sort of show.

Updated On: 5/8/07 at 01:15 AM

[BeingAlive]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:22am

sorry for being a flake, I completely surpassed the "school assignment" part and was way too specific.
One of my favorite books Cannery Row was turned into the R&H flop Pipe Dream, but that has some potential.
My all time favorite "On the Road" seems pretty unmusical, but the characters have a lot to say and why couldn't they express it through song?
I'll think of some more.

[deadparrot]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:26am

I'd love to see a visual interpretation of The Poisonwood Bible, be it on screen or on stage.

[Matthewjames]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:33am

"Beautiful thing"

"The Chocolate war"

[cat4554]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 8:26am

It is a shame it cannot be based on childrens literature because I thought of tons being an elementary / special ed. teacher and a mom. I did like the idea of Robin Hood but that was a cartoon by Disney and many movies were done with that theme.
I looked to Hans Christian Anderson and came up with
The Emperor's New Clothes
The Little Match Girl
The Snow Queen
The Brave Tin Soldier
The Ugly Duckling

Then I searched my boxes of books in my attic and came up with
Jack and The Beanstalk
The Princess and the Pea ( I think that was done already)
The Owl and the Pussycat
Rumplestiltskin ( retold by Paul Zelinsky )
Goldilocks and the 3 Bears ( retold by James Marshall)
( my favorite book by him was Space Case)

Any book by Jon Scieszka - he retells stories tongue in cheek
like The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs or The Frog Prince Continued

and my all time favorite tongue in cheek : The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch.

If you want a pirate theme :

Edward and the Pirates by David McPhail

How I Became a Pirate by David Shannon

Too bad not childrens lit......they are a wonderful resource esp. all those tongue in cheek stories......they are a spoof like Spamalot.
Updated On: 5/8/07 at 08:26 AM

[cat4554]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 8:26am

Updated On: 5/8/07 at 08:26 AM

[Joelbeans]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 8:33am

There is a version of The Diary of Anne Frank, titled, Yours, Anne. I think it is wonderful, but most people don't like it. I did it twice, for a theatre group here in St. Louis. We did it for schools to bring their students that were reading the book for class so they could get another version of the story.

[Colle]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 9:13am

I agree that it is a shame that it can't be based on children's literature, I think a musical version, or a play with some music, of "Martin the Warrior" by Brian Jacques would be pretty good. If that did happen, they should keep the arrangement of the "Noonvale" song the same as the cartoon series adaptation. The first book of the series "Redwall" has already been made into a children's opera.

[ErinDillyFan]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 10:48am

"Under the Tuscan Sun" would make a nice musical. Would it remind too many of "Do I hear a waltz?"

[Auggie27]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 11:25am

THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST by Anne Tyler. A favorite, and every character could be translating into a different musical motif.

[CERULEAN19]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:25pm

All Great Ideas Guys! - Thank you for all your help - yeah, its a shame that children's lit is off limits but those are the parameters for the assignment...keep the ideas coming!

[Piercemn]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 1:58pm

Okay, as we know from Pipe Dream and Here's Where I Belong, Steinbeck doesn't adapt well to musicals. The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men are both operas and that's fine.

There is a musical movie version of The Women called The Opposite Sex, which is rather dull in comparison to the delightful original. There are two musicals based on The Diary of Anne Frank, and frankly, it's a horrific idea to make that material sing. A Servant of Two Masters is a terrific idea, as would be The Country Wife or any of those wonderful comedies. Not sure A Confederacy of Dunces sings either.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 2:01pm

Thomas Hardy's "The Return of the Native"


Peter Moore Smith's "Raveling"

[fishdancer23]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 2:14pm

the novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1990:

The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love

and Raul E could play one of the brothers!

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:19pm

"Blindness" could also be really interesting... Maybe...

[Crapgame13]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:33pm

Lord of the Flies

[TheaterAddict7652]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:42pm

With the success of Wicked, I'm surprised that not any of Gregory Maguire's other books are being planned for musicalization. I think Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is a great idea for a musical.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:44pm

You could always try a Two Gents kind of thing by musicalizing something by Shakespeare and giving it its own "flavor" (like Two Gents makes use of a lot of Latin and funk music)...obviously there are many possibilities with Shakespeare, especially his comedies.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:47pm

ANIMAL FARM

[americanboy99]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 6:47pm

I would love to see A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM musicalized in full.

[keely2]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 7:03pm

Oh, man. Syrup and Company, both by Max Barry, would be brilliant for a musical. Although, having another musical called "Company" with an entirely different premise might complicate things. Just a little. :-/