Movie musicals you wish were done better — Page 2

I've said it before, and I'll say it here again: The Addams Family. This is a case where I think it was a huge mistake to not adapt the 91 film. The movie had a fun story that would have worked very well on stage and a great film score containing several themes that Marc Shaiman could have easily expanded on to craft a fantastic stage score (especially the waltz he wrote for Gomez and Morticia and "The Mamushka" musicals you wish were done better " width="14" height="14" src=https://cloudimages.broadwayworld.com/board/wink.gif>.

"Probably easier to make a list of the movies turned into musicals that are actually good.

Among the better ones: THE SOUND OF MUSIC (from the 1956 film Die Trapp Familie), SWEET CHARITY (from Fellini's Nights of Cabria), NINE (from Fellini's 8 1/2), PROMISES PROMISES (from The Apartment), 42ND STREET, GREY GARDENS, BILLY ELLIOTT, ONCE.

I've never particularly liked any of the Disney movies adapted for the stage, but I know many others will disagree."

This makes me wonder. Are there any stage version of movies that people think are better than the original film?

I know some people think Tommy is superior on stage than the original film, but are there other examples people want to give?

Sweet Charity may be a great musical, but it's far inferior to Nights of Cabiria. Same with Promises, Promises and The Apartment. Don't get me wrong, I love the creativity they put into adapting the works for the stage and in musical form and how they come off as original works (Sweet Charity definitely reads as a new work), but I don't think they're as good as the original films. However, compared to the much lazier efforts that seem to take the movie scene-by-scene and add needless songs and lame subplots to expand the runtime, these works are masterpieces in comparison.

Most of the inspiration for Cabaret came from the film I Am a Camera rather than the actual books that the film is based on. I'd also add that I personally believe that it falls under the category of a musical that's better than it's basis, including the books.

Updated On: 1/13/17 at 02:02 AM

Since Fellini appeared on two different occasions in this thread, I finally realized what bothers me about most productions of NINE (which happens to be a favorite of mine). I wish they would cast Italian-American performers in the lead roles more often. That may sound petty, but like...we're more than just gangsters, restauranteurs, and East Coast beach kids.