Movies you think could be adapted to the stage as a play or Jukebox Musical

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 3:05pm

Hey Folks

I am working on an article at the moment about adaptations to the stage from movies and what kind of films theatre fans think would make a great play, or a great jukebox musical and with which artists music.

Of course we would all rather the original work but the article is coming from the angle that if we had to do these adaptations do theatre fans seem to have better ideas for these adaptations and what is adaptation worthy than the people who are involved in the ones that we have been given. What would make you book a ticket?

So all opinions, suggestions etc would be welcome.

Thanks

[SidebySidebyLogan]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 3:12pm

I think Judy Garland's last film I Could Go On Singing would make a great play with music. Kind of like End of the Rainbow but not based on her life. Love your pic btw! Mysterious Skin as a play is a great idea!




Updated On: 1/22/14 at 03:12 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 3:34pm

I know it's way too late in the game to advocate a change in the definitions as we have come to understand them, but I would love it if "jukebox musical" were reserved for shows like "Rock of Ages," which sounds like a jukebox with assorted hits by assorted artists being played, and "Mamma Mia!" and "Beautiful," which strike me as "catalogue musicals" rather than "jukebox" ones.

Having said that, Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" would be one haunting stage show.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 3:51pm

Smiles of a Summer Night as a legit play (not a musical, which, yes I'm aware, has been done), Rear Window, The Official Story and Flirting with Disaster.

One musical movie that I think could be great on stage as a musical is Eight Women.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 3:52pm

Sorry Namo, here in the UK we just refer to them all as Jukebox Musicals, but yes i meant catalogue Musicals

Thanks SidebySide, yes we had a great run with Mysterious Skin and got offered a transfer to a West End theatre in 2015 which is very exciting, a very powerful play that i adored directing and producing and working with one hell of a cast.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 3:53pm

Same in the US. I just wish the nomenclature were more exact.

I think the Ramones could have a funny catalogue musical.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 3:56pm

ahh ok, well yes i agree with you on the labeling of these shows.

henrikegerman great suggestions.

After the mess that was Good Vibrations could anybody see a musical with the songs of the Beach Boys still working?

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 4:32pm

It's an obscure movie but I think the 1989 adaptation of "Last Exit to Brooklyn" would make an interesting play.

[jbroadway4]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 4:35pm

I think Ariana Grande's album "Yours Truly" could be made into a musical, kinda like "American Idiot".

[tazber]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 4:40pm

Madonna

[RW3]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 4:43pm

The Horse Whisperer as a play. Also, is there a place where we could go read the article once you are finished with it?

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 4:49pm

I said this on another thread but I would love to see someone take another crack at adapting The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and do it as a cycle similar to Wagner's Ring Cycle (wehey, get it?).

And yes, I know you were specifically talking about movies but I wanted to throw it out as an adaptation of a well-known property.

Updated On: 1/23/14 at 04:49 PM

[theatregeek6]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 4:57pm

American Graffiti or To Wong Foo, either leveraging the songs from the soundtrack.

Posted: 1/22/14 at 5:05pm

I once had an idea for a Styx musical with a plot mostly stolen from the film MOULIN ROUGE, though a bit less tragic and set in America in the Great Depression, with the Styx songs done up in a very lush orchestral way. It sounds like kind of a hot mess written out, but it looked great in my head a decade ago.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 5:15pm

I will post the article in this thread once it's done.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 5:28pm

Great songanddance. Our bill will be sent to your bww inbox.

[SidebySidebyLogan]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 5:32pm

Straight Plays:
Annie Hall
Chinatown
The Lady Vanishes, Strangers on a Train, Hitchcock in general. I'd second Rear Window but isn't that in the works right now?
The Pumpkin Eater
To Be or Not to Be
Peep World
And finally... NETWORK!!! Please someone do this!!!!

Jukebox Musicals:
For the Boys - keep the film soundtrack and pad it out with Harold Arlen songs.

Road to... - Those old Crosby, Hope and Dorothy Lamour movies would be good material to build a jukebox show around. Maybe not one artist but one studios catalogue? Kind of like they did with Singin' In the Rain

Not a good choice for a catalogue musical but I always thought the easiest way to to a jukebox musical would be a romance set on one of the music shows of yesteryear. American Bandstand/Soul Train/Grand Ole Opry/Midnight Special

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 5:43pm

I always thought an adaptation of "Pennies From Heaven" would work on stage. Technically that's not only a move but it is a jukebox movie musical.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 6:02pm

Catalogue musical - Fleetwood Mac

Music adapted into a stage show - Alan Parsons' Project "Tales of Mystery and Imagination:

Movie turned into a musical - "A Face in the Crowd"

Movie musical brought to the stage - "The Young Girls of Rochefort"

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 6:03pm

"Road to... - Those old Crosby, Hope and Dorothy Lamour movies would be good material to build a jukebox show around."

That was done as one of the sequences in "Swinging On A Star"

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 6:11pm

Play - The Crowd (silent film)

Musical - My Best Friend's Wedding (the songs from the soundtrack could easily work in the book as the score)

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 1/22/14 at 7:42pm

Some great suggestions so far, keep them coming.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/23/14 at 8:30am

Perhaps some odd choices come to mind, but some I think would be riveting on stage as plays:

The China Syndrome
The Others
Mrs. Miniver
Citizen Kane


Musical:

Midnight (1939) - perhaps with a Cole Porter catalogue or a 1930s "jukebox" of many composers.

[SidebySidebyLogan]

Posted: 1/23/14 at 11:06am

I second a Fleetwood Mac musical so hard!!!!

I have deep reservations about suggesting this but... what about a James Bond musical using the theme songs? I think some of them could really work as musical theater songs. I really only say it because I want to hear a stage diva belt the hell out of The Spy Who Loved Me and Skyfall lol

[dreaming]

Posted: 1/23/14 at 1:49pm

Truthfully, the drama behind the group "Fleetwood Mac" would make a fascinating musical. It would be pretty compelling to say the least.