Movie Musicals

People either love them or hate them.. I love them majority of the time.

Lately I have seen people get on sites like this and bash movie musicals like Cat, In the Heights or even Dear Evan Hansen, on the cast, how the director casted the movie, how the movie sounded....he was too old...

They will never get them right, lets just be honest....We all have different people we want or wanted in the roles. Each person has their own view, which they should.

Secondly, they are not going to ask us who they think should be in the movie and vis versa we can say we dont like the cast and not see the movie.

I just wish people would give it a chance, not rely on the critics, which lets face it hate movie musicals...Go see the movie then give your view.

I loved Dear Evan Hansen...did it have some missteps, yes it did...but it was still a good movie musical

Lastly, they will never do exactly what they stage production has done. Things will change, they have to for a movie. Things you do on stage can not be done in a movie.

Also, please stop attacking others for their points of view....They are musical loves like everyone on here...Each has their own view....you can agree or disagree...but no one is 100% correct.....

Again give these movie musicals a chance, if you dont stick with the stage production.

briankershawjr said: "They will never get them right, lets just be honest...."

That's not true. Many movie musicals have gotten it "right". Look at CHICAGO.

Updated On: 9/26/21 at 01:35 PM

Let me just start by saying that I am not a huge tv show or movie person. There's one scripted show I watch weekly, and the rest of my tv is Food Network or golf. The last movie I saw in theatres was Frozen 2 with my then 5 year old cousin. I am a very boring person. I would prefer seeing a stage production over a movie.

That said, I LOVED the Chicago movie, hated the Broadway musical. Also loved Phantom movie and equally loved the tour (haven't seen the Broadway production yet).

I grew up on the Moulin Rouge movie. Probably not the best movie for an 8 year old to watch but that was my go to movie. I'm hesitant to see Moulin Rouge in NYC because of my love for the movie, but I am reconsidering (still bitter they changed the music). But from what I've read so far is that Natalie Mendoza sounds wonderful and making the show worth seeing.

As for In the Heights, I didn't see the show in NYC. For the movie, I'm not saying I liked the movie or didn't like it, it just wasn't for me.

My favorite movie musicals are The Sound of Music, Oliver!, West Side Story, Cabaret, and Chicago. I never get tired of watching them. My sister also loves Oliver! We saw it together when we were children.

Updated On: 9/26/21 at 06:00 PM

I do wonder if the weak box office performance of In the Heights and Dear Evan Hansen will harm the prospects of future adaptations of Broadway shows, at least for a while. Setting aside the artistic merit (or lack thereof) of the last three stage-to-screen adaptations, the box office results are unlikely to encourage more of them. I am not counting streaming movies, like Annette (though it was in theaters briefly) and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie because it’s tough to tell how many people watched them (and both are niche films anyway).

Netflix adaptations like The Prom are difficult to assess but I doubt it attracted many subscribers even with Meryl Streep. I am very curious about Tick… Tick… Boom! but I doubt that will draw many subscribers either.

Musicals have it rough. Many people and critics don’t like the genre at all, the highest-profile films have ranged from disappointing to disastrous, and even musical lovers are often the film adaptations’ harshest critics (raises hand). The fact that bway0 cites Chicago as a great movie adaptation is revealing: the film is 19 years old!

Even if the West Side Story remake is a financial success, I think it will be written off. It’s one of the most famous and beloved musicals of all time.

But…

If the near-term future of film musicals looks a little bleak, there is a silver lining: streaming services. They need material and Broadway can provide that.

What I don’t know is whether there will continue to be enthusiasm for filmed shows. Even with Hamilton, which came as close to being a must-see event as any musical in my lifetime, it’s a little hard to tell how profitable that was for Disney. To use a better example, how is Apple+ doing with Come From Away - a feel-good musical that toured quite well? What about Diana? People can’t get enough of the royals.

It’s hard to shake the feeling that pandemic audiences will gravitate even more than usual to comfort food: Marvel superhero stuff and big action films that seem worth an actual trip to the movie theater.

The recent batch of musicals may just have had bad timing. And neither In the Heights nor Dear Evan Hansen had a star (except for Amy Adams and Julianne Moore in supporting roles). And Cats was a silly idea for a movie. But success breeds success, and failure, I suspect, will lead to fewer musical adaptations.

Streaming is the variable.

Updated On: 9/28/21 at 05:12 AM