Is Leap of Faith gonna basically be Sister Act all over again?- Page 2

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/1/12 at 6:05pm

goldenshowerboy needs a hobby.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/1/12 at 6:36pm

I always forget that Leap of Faith (the movie) was a bit of a box office flop and maybe not too well remembered--as a teenager I swear it was on TV once a week. But certainly Sister Act was (by far) the bigger hit.

Sister Act was not only a much bigger hit but a much better movie. The film of Leap of Faith played like The Music Man without any of the interesting character ambiguities ("I always think there's a band, kid."). IIRC, Steve Martin is a straight-up con man who eventually has his lack-of-fath tested by a minor miracle.

But that is not to say Mencken & Co. haven't made a brilliant adaptation from mediocre or little-remembered source material. It wouldn't be the first time...

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/1/12 at 8:58pm

"I'd rather they take a mediocre movie and make it into a great musical!!!!"

And I'd rather you just shut the hell up already.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/2/12 at 7:56pm

What I always found odd about Leap of Faith is it gives no credit to The Rainmaker... Surely there deserves some "inspired by" credit there. You're right though Gaveston, it's not a great movie by any means (at least from what I remember). Often lesser movies seem to make more interesting musicals. Actually I don't really have anything to back up that statement, there have been plenty of bad musicals based on bad movies...

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/2/12 at 8:37pm

LOL, Eric, it's true. After I posted that, I realized I could think of more musicals based on minor plays (famously, OKLAHOMA!) or novels (PASSION) than movies.

But when a minor movie is adapted, at least we know the adapters really care about their project, they aren't just picking a famous title because it will sell tickets.

That being said, with THE MUSIC MAN, 110 IN THE SHADE and even H2$ in the repertoire (and legendary failures such as GANTRY), I hope Mencken and company have a really good reason to adapt LEAP OF FAITH.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/2/12 at 8:42pm

Just because I like to quibble, Sondheim himself has pointed out that Passion is based on the movie Passione D'Amore (or however it's spelt :P ) and not on Fosca the novel which he found disappointing and dull when he read it for research. (I've always meant to try to read the recent translation, or see the movie, but never have gotten around to it...)

You're right, it is something of a played out subject it seems (have there been similar stories about *female* cons-turned-miracle-workers?) But I have the same reaction usually when a lesser movie is adapted--at least it seems like there's some genuine reason for the people being drawn to the production.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/2/12 at 9:00pm

Eric, he doesn't call the novel dull in LOOK, I MADE A HAT, but he does say it was the film that struck his fancy. So I concede the point.

Is PASSION D'AMORE a major film? (I'm not a big fan of Italian cinema. I'm not putting down the Italians, just admitting I don't follow their movies closely.)

***

Musicals about female cons don't leap to mind. I think generally we expect emotional honesty from female characters in our culture, more than with men. I'm sure there are exceptions.

The closest I can think of among the classics is GYPSY. I don't think Rose is consciously "conning" anyone (she actually believes the act is good), but her attempts to push her kids further in show business involve equal amounts of chutzpah and blarney.

Updated On: 3/2/12 at 09:00 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/2/12 at 9:09pm

I think it was in an old Sondheim review--it must have been old because I haven't had a subscription in ages--where he called it... Plodding? Or hard to get through? Something anyway (on the other hand he's often said he has no attention span for novels).

My knowledge or interest of Italian films--with a few random recent examples, is mainly down to the well known 50s-70s directors (with my main love being Visconti), so I really couldn't tell you. I do know Scola is a fairly well regarded director, though Passione doesn't seem to be one of his most well known films, but, apparently, it was in the Cannes festival... (Which I know, without an award, doesn't mean much), and I guess made enough of an impression to play an art house cinema in New York in the 80swhen Sondheim saw it. Actually suddenly I'm much more curious to see it--the fact that it's apparently narrated by a soldier to a dwarf (! oh those Italian film makers and dwarves) is intriguing in and of itself--surely it would have been a bigger hit if Sondheim had kept that.

Gypsy does come close. I just thought that it would maybe be kinda refreshing to have one with the genders researched--the Leap of Faith dynamic feels pretty reductive at this point (I guess I feel that way about a lot of fiction where this almost perfect woman--despite maybe some superficial flaws like an abusive ex--saves the man from himself). I was going to say Anyone Can Whistle has a female con, but at heart in many ways it's a variation of the same Rainmaker type of story, really.

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 3/2/12 at 9:43pm

Having seen Leap of Faith in LA, I can see the show becoming a moderate hit. Raul gives an amazing performance which will land him another Tony nomination. The score is pleasant if unmemorable and the plot lifts everything from the Rainmaker to Elmer Gantry. The show is family-friendly so it will sell well through the summer. It's not the kind of show that would do well with the NYT critics or hardcore theatre queens, but Ma and Pa Kettle and Joe the Plumber from Joyzee will love it.

[wonkit]

Posted: 3/3/12 at 4:59pm

I keep volunteering to do the recorded message on this one. The Broadway production shares the title and most of the cast with the LA production but has changed or added to virtually every creative team element, about 50% of the story and at least roughly 20% of the music. So whatever LA was, this ain't it any more.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/3/12 at 10:22pm

Thanks for the reports, guys.

Eric, I think a musical about a true female con artist might be very interesting.

But for the record, I think Harold and Marian each rescue the other. Of course, she's on the right side of the law, but even her mother notes her "Irish imagination", her "Iowa stubbornness" and her "head stuffed with a liberry full of books" (i.e., hopeless expectations of a man).

[Copperfield2]

Posted: 3/3/12 at 11:04pm

I am going to see this show for Raul Esparza. I actually liked the score of Sister Act and since Menken has written news songs, the book has been rewritten, and there is no director, choreographer and co-star, I don't really care what happened in LA.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 3/4/12 at 1:57am

The subject is and was Leap of Faith and Sister Act.
I gave my opinion and even said it was my opinion only.

The subject is not bash someone for an opinion different than yours. It is and was Sister Act and Leap of Faith.

It is childish and not very clever to tell someone to shut up because their opinion differs from yours. Do you really that would win a debate?

It is childish to call me names. Do you really think that would win a debate?

It is childish to tell someone to get a hobby when yours and even mine sometimes is obviously this; An exchange of ideas and opinions.

So because it pissed you off; because I have been called names, because I was told to shut up and because there is indeed free speech on this theatre board, I will say it again to you children.

Sister Act is one of the worst musicals to ever grace a Broadway Stage. It took a beloved classic movie and made into watered down piece of nun-crap. This is my opinion.

LIve with it.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/4/12 at 2:00am

Sister Act is one of the worst musicals to ever grace a Broadway Stage.

Says the person who lists High School Musical as one of his favorite stage shows...

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/4/12 at 2:05am

^ LOL!

[massofmen]

Posted: 3/4/12 at 11:31am

^^ LOL! brilliant

[TheLadyoftheWood]

Posted: 3/4/12 at 12:56pm

Glorious comeback bjh2114. I don't have anything to say about Sister Act seeing as though I have never seen it but I would like to so see Leap of Faith really bad.

[roadmixer]

Posted: 3/4/12 at 4:21pm

The subject is and was "Is Leap of Faith going to basically be Sister Act all over again?

I fail to see anywhere in that subject the need to pronounce for the nine thousandth time your stale, one-trick-pony opinion of Sister Act goldenboy. Inherent in the question "Is Leap of Faith..." is the desire for this subject to be about Leap Of Faith and not about Sister Act since it is already open and we are not guessing as to what it is.

As to whether Sister Act was ever a "beloved" of even a good movie... that's a matter of opinion as well...

[goldenboy]

Posted: 3/5/12 at 11:08am

I think i will change my handle to Onetrickpony.

I like that.

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 3/5/12 at 11:25am

boo to all of you! lol. I LOVE Sister Act! I've seen it 5 times... sure, if it were up to me, I'd cut the two gangster numbers that completely stop the show's momentum... BUT ... I still love it.... hope Raven does the score justice (without the wonky notes)

[finebydesign]

Posted: 3/5/12 at 12:50pm

I would say yes, though it wont be open as long. Seems like a huge risk for this property at least Sister Act appeals to swaths of tourists.

This reminds me of High Fidelity and The Wedding Singer. Both were bad ideas and both came and went. Sister Act has the potential for being a huge for regional but Leap of Faith?

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/5/12 at 1:03pm

I'd cut the two gangster numbers that completely stop the show's momentum

Those two numbers are usually two HUGE audience favorites. Updated On: 3/5/12 at 01:03 PM

[roadmixer]

Posted: 3/5/12 at 9:52pm

It wasn't meant in a positive way goldenboy...

"The slang term “one trick pony” is used to refer to something which can only be used for one very specific application. The term is also used to describe people; for example, a chef who can only produce one really good dish might be known as a one trick pony. The term is generally used in a disparaging way, since it suggests a lack of flexibility and an inability to work outside very specific parameters. Most people try to avoid creating or becoming a one trick pony for this very reason."