Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
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".
Oh, man, Addams Family was such a huge missed opportunity.
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/22/14
"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.
Stand-by Joined: 3/7/16
ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "
This makes me wonder. Are there any stage version of movies that people think are better than the original film?"
Not sure if this is an opinion many share, but I prefer the stage adaptation of Once to the original film.
Broadway Star Joined: 1/29/16
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
After recently seeing Amelie, I'm really disappointed. I had too high hopes.
However, I went into An American In Paris expecting it to be a poorer version of one of my favorite movies but I actually enjoyed it a lot more than the film.
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.
Amelie and The Addams Family were both deeply disappointing. Both could have been so good, but were just really poorly done.
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