Muriel's Wedding

[valebal7]

Posted: 5/7/23 at 5:13pm

Any word if and when Muriel's Wedding might be headed to Broadway?

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 3:08am

A wonderful timeless movie with unique Australian humour but I found the stage production lacked music that matched the joy of Abba[the only time the show came to life]. Every character has their own story and is a brilliantly written[film] script.

[binau]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 3:12am

I saw the ‘original’ production (I don’t know if it’s changed over the years) and while I loved it, I really don’t see it working well on Broadway so I’m surprised this is the path they appear to be trying to take. In my opinion if they want to try and ‘make it big’ they should be mounting in London, not New York. 

[Mark_E]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 3:55am

I agree, London would be a much safer bet for them than Broadway.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 9:19am

Unless the whole music and songs are rewritten this has no hope of going any where. The only scene that worked and had any emotional pull was the mothers suicide ( the set up, song , staging ) was beautiful and heartfelt. 

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 12:09pm

Have to agree with the sentiment that this would be better suited for London than New York. Truly don’t understand the thought process behind this. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 12:16pm

I've never seen the show and I am only familiar with the film. Is there any specific reason you all feel this show is better suited for London and not Broadway?

[binau]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 1:15pm

CarlosAlberto said: "I've never seen the show and I am only familiar with the film. Is there any specific reason you all feel this show is better suited for London and not Broadway?"

1. The market for the show - given the history of the two nations there is a big expat community of Australians in London and also British people are interested in/like Australian culture (see: long-running Australians soaps on British TV). The show has a number of references and in-jokes that I don't even know if Americans will get or find funny (and many British people too for that matter, but I suspect it's more accessible).

2.  The quality of the show - I don't think it's as bad as rosscoe(au) suggests but this is not a show that really screams Broadway quality to me in any aspect of the writing or staging. Some of the themes that might have felt topical (e.g. social media, shallowness etc.) have also been done recently by much more high profile and higher quality shows (e.g. Dear Evan Hansen; Mean Girls). I think the score is serviceable and good at points (even if it could use some tightening and expanding as some of the songs don’t go anywhere) but not groundbreaking.

AT BEST I’d see it starting off-Broadway in NYC and seeing how it goes. But I wouldn’t put my money in the show personally for a NYC staging. I might put money in a London staging (I mean hypothetically of course, I don't have any money to give lol). 

Updated On: 5/8/23 at 01:15 PM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 6:02pm

binau said: "CarlosAlberto said: "I've never seen the show and I am only familiar with the film. Is there any specific reason you all feel this show is better suited for London and not Broadway?"

1. The market for the show - given the history of the two nations there is a big expat community of Australians in London and also British people are interested in/like Australian culture (see: long-running Australians soaps on British TV). The show has a number of references and in-jokes that I don't even know if Americans will get or find funny (and many British people too for that matter, but I suspect it's more accessible).

2. The quality of the show - I don't think it's as bad as rosscoe(au) suggests but this is not ashow that really screams Broadway quality to me in any aspect of the writing or staging. Some of the themes that might have felt topical (e.g. social media, shallowness etc.) have also been done recently by much more high profile and higher quality shows (e.g. Dear Evan Hansen; Mean Girls). I think the score is serviceable and good at points (even if it could use some tightening and expanding as some of the songs don’t go anywhere) but not groundbreaking.

AT BEST I’d see it starting off-Broadway in NYC and seeing how it goes. But I wouldn’t put my money in the show personally for a NYC staging. I might put money in a London staging (I mean hypothetically of course, I don't have any money to give lol)."

I see. This makes sense.  Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. 

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 5/9/23 at 2:32pm

CarlosAlberto said: "I've never seen the show and I am only familiar with the film. Is there any specific reason you all feel this show is better suited for London and not Broadway?"

I think the Australian and British sense of humour is very, very similar yet it’s also very different to the American sense of humour. Theatrical exports from Australia have previously faired far better in the UK than they have in the US. Muriel’s Wedding hits all the notes of a typical British comedy and is huge over here.