Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
#1Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 11:06amI am trying to find a story for a musical I am writting and started reading Kafka's Metamorphosis...I think it could work as a musical. Does anyone have any thoughts on that?
shesamarshmallow
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/23/06
#2re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 11:07amOh lord. I can't wait for you to release the song list..
#2re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 11:10amWhat do you mean by that?
#4re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 11:48amMax and Leo consider such a project in The Producers. Max tosses it aside as "too good".
#5re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 12:18pmSo are you saying I should give it a go and try it?
#6re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 12:22pm
Contact Phyllis Newman to see if you can borrow one of the "On The Twentieth Century" songs and it might fly (no pun intended).
He's a bug, he's a bug
That guy turned into a bug
That guy turned into a bug?
But, but, but, but, but, but, but, but
It's a lie, it's a lie
He's a guy like you and I
#7re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 12:23pmThe big question is how you musicalize a hero who has turned into a dung beatle before the curtain rises. If you can solve that one, good luck to you!!
#8re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 12:24pmCorrection: beetle, not beatle.
#9re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 1:13pm
He doesn't necessarily turn into a beetle, I think it was in the original German that he turned into a travesty or something, but it got translated out as beetle. So he could be an insect, or he could have just hit puberty. The point is his isolation from everyone, not that he's OMG A BUG. :P
I saw a wonderful production at the Lyric Hammersmith last October by some mentally talented Icelandic people. The set was made of two parts; the lower part was a perfectly normal kitchen/living room type area of a house, there were some stairs going up the left side of the stage, and Gregor's bedroom was the upper part of the stage. But his floor was the back wall so all the furniture was hanging off the back wall for most excellent disorientation. Gregor was the most intensely physical role ever and involved lots of hanging from wall/ceilings and climbing around the bits of furniture. They didn't try and dress him as an insect, he was just wearing normal (but torn and disheveled) clothes. The fact of his transformation was represented in the way the other actors reacted to him. The music for the production was actually done by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. No songs, but otherwise a production that used music to wonderful effect.
Hell, if they can turn some of the grislier parts of the Bible into a musical, I'm sure 'Metamorphosis' wouldn't be too hard. :P
Updated On: 3/7/07 at 01:13 PM
keen on kean
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/1/06
#10re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 1:32pmWhat do you rhyme with "cockroach"?
#11re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 1:36pmOoh -- a part for Carl Anthony Payne!
#12re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 8:01pmCome on, now. Does this material really sing to you? Maybe it would make a decent opera, but I don't think it's material for a musical comedy. Why not look for something lighter? Think about a folk tale of some sort, a classic comedy, but an existential novel doesn't exactly say long-running musical hit now, does it?
#13re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 8:14pm
When did the person say they wanted to write a musical comedy or a long running Broadway hit?
I don't think it's a very good idea for a musical either but that's because it's a story about a guy who gets isolated from the world and spends a lot of time in his own head. Also, if I remember right, he never speaks.
But hey, creative liscence. I think you could do it if you modernized it and took a lot of liberties and made up your own story. Or how about "The Trial," a novel by Kafka?
This is like... LaChiusa material territory :P
joey
JamesHarvey2
Swing Joined: 3/1/07
#14re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 9:10pm
Updated On: 7/11/13 at 09:10 PM
#15re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 9:13pmA rock musical :) I forgot about that.
joey
#16re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 9:14pmI think it would work! I'd love to hear it.
#17re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 9:17pmI'd love to see a singing roach
#18re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:01pmWhat's next? A musical about the common cat or the King of Siam?
#19re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:03pm
i LOVE that 'home movies' episode!
KAFKA. FRAAANZZZ KAFKA.
Julian2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/10/06
#20re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/7/07 at 11:20pmGo ahead and give it a shot if you want. If you think it could work, and want to give it a try, go ahead! Even if you fail and never finish it, it will be a learning experience. And if you succeed, then huzzah!
#21re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/8/07 at 3:04amOne thing for sure, it's in public domain so it's free and clear for adaptation.
#22re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/8/07 at 12:59pmi'm a bit weary. i feel asleep reading the novela, so that may be a foreshadowing.
#23re: Musical Adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis?
Posted: 3/8/07 at 5:54pmThanks everyone for your input. I am definetly going to start writting it and I am so glad to hear it is in public domain! I was just about to call around to publishers to see who held the rights to it. If It ever gets produced I will let you guys know!
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