Rob Ashford to direct stage adaptation of Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland'.

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 3/15/12 at 7:52pm

Rob Ashford has signed on to direct the musical adaptation of Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland'. He joins a group of alumni of the pic already attached to the project, including Burton, whose aesthetic will be incorporated into the design of the show Also onboard are Linda Woolverton, penning the book based on her screenplay, and Richard D. Zanuck, one of the producers of the film and an exec producer of the legit tuner. The musical might premiere in London first. I think that is a good idea so that Broadway audiences might get excited for it like 'Matilda'.
Disney taps director for Broadway 'Alice'

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/15/12 at 7:53pm

God, that movie was such a snoozer.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/15/12 at 7:54pm

Well, this is probably going to be terrible.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/15/12 at 7:55pm

Walt Disney's Rob Ashford's Tim Burton's Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland: The Musical"

[Kad]

Posted: 3/15/12 at 7:56pm

Featuring Frank Wildhorn banging his head against a wall.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 3/15/12 at 8:04pm

^ that made me laugh really hard

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 3/15/12 at 8:30pm

Buh.

[Jonwo]

Posted: 3/15/12 at 8:39pm

While I liked Alice in Wonderland as a film, it doesn't strike as something that would work on stage. Isn't Basil Twist doing the puppetry design, I think that will be amazing.

Not surprised that they considering opening in London first given it's a British property. I wouldn't be surprised if AIW is the show that replaces Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/15/12 at 11:44pm

Ugh. What an awful bore of a movie. I just don't think this story works as a musical. It doesn't have much of a driving narrative to make it a satisfying stage musical.

[RainbowJude]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 12:13am

How does Linda Woolverton continue to get work? Everything she writes is absolute rubbish. The only thing she's ever done that was decent was the screenplay for BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and we all know that animation - thankfully, in this situation - isn't as simple as animating a screenplay as it first appears, so how much credit she actually deserves for that is debatable.

Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND was a bore on film, largely thanks to Woolverton and partly thanks to Burton. I don't see how Rob Ashford's generic approach is going to illuminate it to any greater degree. I wonder who they'll hire to write the score.

[Jonwo]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 12:21am

AIW the film came out at the perfect time when 3D was still hot thanks to Avatar and also Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter was definetly a selling point as well. A stage musical won't have that luxury, I can understand why Disney are developing it as it was very successful.

I wonder who'll they get to write the music and lyrics, Stiles and Drewe? Andrew Lippa?

[missthemountains]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 12:24am

This is without a doubt going to be the worst thing to happen to Lewis Carroll or Broadway. The film was horribly written, and its content should never be viewed by any audience again ever.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 12:51am

Disney needs to take more risks. "Lion King" was def. a risk and it paid off. "Newsies" was a risk and it seems to have paid off. Why not go for broke? Bring in Hunchback. Or at least tour it.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 1:27am

Do people look at Asford's work before they hook up with him?

[Jonwo]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 1:34am

I would rather see Father of the Bride done because it has the potential to be a great musical comedy or some of the more obvious animated films like Hercules or Mulan.

[undercoveractor]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 1:55am

I wonder how AIW is going to work when it gets the Rob Ashford-everybody looks the same- everybody dances is unison for no dramatic reason - treatment? AIW with no character actors? sounds awesome.

[Idiot]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 2:06am

This sounds like a lasagna of badness with layer after layer of bad ideas.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 7:24am

Aside from the first part of the movie being dreadfully boring, the last part was an "action movie" with a huge battle scene. That ought to work really well on stage. (I'm kidding.)

Updated On: 3/16/12 at 07:24 AM

[wonkit]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 12:28pm

I am sure that Ashford will choreograph something truly mind bending. zzzzzzzzzz...

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 12:38pm

Oh. Wow. Way to rally up excitement, NYC tastemakers.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 6:20pm

This is astoundingly awful in every way. As much as I hated the movie version, they turned the story into a cookie cutter fantasy quest epic--which is next to impossible to portray on stage regardless if the source material is good or not.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 6:23pm

Exactly.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 6:31pm

Besty, I realize you basically said the same thing but I couldn't help adding a comment. Just oof. And has a songwriter/team been named? Since when are directors named before the people writing the stuff in the first place?

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 6:54pm

Because musicals are becoming less about original score songwriters and more about stars and directors ... and established shows and song catalogues.

People don't even care if they're good any more as long as they have big stars and know what the show is about already.

Updated On: 3/17/12 at 06:54 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 6:58pm

I suppose the theatre provides a comfortable spot to drink, munch on your food and text your friends. (God, when did I turn into an elderly grump).