Revival of currently running musicals/modern musicals

Is it hard for anyone else to envision revivals of “current” works? I feel like anything written in the past decade or two doesn’t really lend themselves as classic enough to be revived anytime in the future and the iconic shows are ones you can’t see closing anytime soon. For example would a revival of Mean Girls ever happen and what would that revival even look like? I wonder if folks back in the 1940’s and 50’s felt the same thing about Carousel, Oklahoma and My Fair Lady.

Of the "post 2000" musicals, I can see revivals of next to normal, In the Heightz, Urinetown and Drowsy Chaperone happening at some point in the future.

Impossible2 wrote: I have seen Carousel, My Fair Lady and Oklahoma once each and you'd have to nail gun me into a chair and staple my eyes open to ever get me to sit through any of them again.

I think I either feel really bad for you...or, I just don’t care.

I don't think we would have thought in 2005 that a Color Purple revival would be acclaimed and popular in 2015. I think if there's a strong vision for a revival there's plenty of post-2000 musicals that could get that treatment at some point in the future.

TheGingerBreadMan said: "I could picture an Aida revival happening in the future.

Speaking of Disney, what do folks here think that chances of seeing Beauty and the Beast or Mary Poppins revived are? Both were quite successful for Disney Theatricals and a hit with audiences."

I agree about Aida.

Also, I would say chances aren't great for those revivals. They make so much money off of licensing that there's no real desire to bring it back, plus there are many movies they would rather give the musical treatment to that it would be boring to bring those back.

Also, who would've thought Spring Awakening could've been totally reinvented like it was? The only way Mary Poppins or BATB could be revived is if a regional production was doing a reimagined version and it came to Broadway, similarly to TCP and SA. However, would Disney want a reimagined version of one of their shows on Broadway? We all know what happened with Frozen, they went for a pretty literal translation from screen to stage.

Updated On: 4/30/18 at 11:49 PM

BwayLB said: "Disney should do Brother Bear Tangled Descendants Moana and Mulan."

Wow. That’s a long title. Not sure it would fit on the marquee. I’m guessing with all those characters, it would be like Disney’s version of Into The Woods.

I feel like anything written in the past decade or two doesn’t really lend themselves as classic enough to be revived anytime in the future and the iconic shows are ones you can’t see closing anytime soon. For example would a revival of Mean Girls ever happen and what would that revival even look like?

I'm sure there are loads of shows that were considered very modern and topical in their day that went on to become classic and revived, whether reinvented or firmly remain in their original era. How to Succeed, Bye Bye Birdie, Sweet Charity, Hair, West Side Story are just a few. And we've had musicals set in other eras in the last 20 years that could easily become classics. I could definitely see revivals of the following:

Urinetown
Thoroughly Modern Millie
The Drowsy Chaperone
Aida (hopefully with a more cohesive production)
Beauty and the Beast
Rent
Legally Blonde
Mamma Mia
Jersey Boys
Hairspray
Billy Elliot
In the Heights
Next to Normal
Rock of Ages
The Full Monty
Ragtime
The Little Mermaid
Once

The ones I think that would be harder to revive are those that were highly dependent on the cast or original production design/direction. Shows like The Producers, Avenue Q, and Spamalot would be more difficult to revive without replicating the original productions.

frapp2latte said: "BwayLB said: "Disney should do Brother Bear Tangled Descendants Moana and MuIan"



I actually would want to watch a Mulan or Tangled musical.

Also, I honestly really enjoyed Legally Blonde. They had catchy songs! I wouldn't mind watching a revival in the future.

I haven't seen Aida but would want them to do a revival of it."

I haven't seen Aida either but I want to sometime. Partially depends on who plays the two leads. I only seen Legally Blonde on MTV.