Source Material!!! Books Turned Into Musicals...

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 1:43pm

In the past few months, I've REALLY, REALLY enjoyed reading the books Gypsy, Ragtime, and The Color Purple. Also, the play I Am A Camera (which Cabaret is based on).

What books that have been musicalized have you guys enjoyed reading? I am working on a summer reading list, so please share.

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 2:00pm

Not bad though a strange show "Idiot's Delight" by Robert E. Sherwood that was transformed into Strouse/Lerner's "Dance a little closer".

And try Joseph Moncure March's "The Wild Party"!

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 2:01pm

Wicked
The Woman in White
Of Mice and Men (drama)
Jane Eyre
Romeo and Juliet
Les Miserables
Big River (I LOVED the book!)
Jekyll and Hyde
A Tale of Two Cities
Candide
Phantom of the Opera
Cats
Little Women
Sweeney Todd
A Christmas Carol
Kiss of the Spiderwoman
Pygmallion (spl?)
The Wild Party
Seussical
Chicago

Updated On: 4/19/06 at 02:01 PM

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 2:05pm

Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig
The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder
Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis
The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood
Wicked by Gregory Maguire

[peggyandvelma]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 2:18pm

Phantom of the Opera is a great book. Recommended.

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 2:19pm

Pick up a copy of "Say, Darling" by Richard Bissell if you haven't read it. It's a roman a clef about his work on the musical version of "The Pajama Game," and, unbelievably, was made into a flop musical starring Robert Morse.

The scathing treatment of the Hal Prince character is a riot.

(I just checked -- you can get a used copy on Amazon for 88 cents. Not quite 7 and a half cents, but close.)

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 2:22pm

Let's not forget great Flaherty/Ahrens sources:

Dessa Rose by Sherley Anne Williams and the novel by E.L. Doctorow that "Ragtime" was based upon....

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 2:23pm

Fiction
--Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig
--The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
--Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
--The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
--Therese Raquin by Emile Zola (much better than the show based on it!)
--The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens
--Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
--The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Non-Fiction
--A Night to Remember by Walter Lord
--The Leo Frank Case by Lenoard Dinnerstein
--Trapped!: The story of the struggle to rescue Floyd Collins from a Kentucky cave in 1925 by Robert K Murray

[mateo]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 2:41pm

7 1/2 cents (aka The Pajama Game)

[sondheim78]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 4:54pm

"Green Grow the Lilacs"--Lynn Riggs
("Oklahoma!")
"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain
("A Connecticut Yankee...")
"Carmen" libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy
("Carmen Jones")
"Lilliom: by Ferenc Molnar
("Carousel")
"Show Boat" by Edna Ferber
("Show Boat")
"The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare
("Kiss Me Kate")
"Tales from the South Pacific" by James Michener
("South Pacific")
Various short stories by Damon Runyon
("Guys and Dolls")
Amphitryon by Jean Giradoux (from Greek mythology)
("Out of this World")
"The Little Foxes" by Lillian Hellman
("Regina")
"Anna and the King of Siam" by Anna Leonowens
("The King and I")
"Illiad/Odyssey" by Homer
("The Golden Apple")
"7 1/2 cents" by Richard Bissell
("The Pajama Game"
"Peter Pan" by J.M. Barrie
("Peter Pan")
"Marius/Fanny/Cesar" (a trilogy) by Marcel Pagnol
("Fanny")
"House of Flowers" by Truman Capote
("House of Flowers")
"The Year the Yankees Lost the Penant" by Douglas Wallop
("Damn Yankees")
"Sweet Thursday" by John Steinbeck
("Pipe Dream")
"Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw
("My Fair Lady")
"They Knew What they Wanted" by Sidney Howard
("The Most Happy Fella")
"Candide" by Voltaire
("Candide")
"Anna Christie" by Eugene O'Neill
("New Girl in Town")
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare
("West Side Story")
"Captain's Paradise" by Alec Coppel
("Oh, Captain!")
"Juno and the Paycock" by Sean O'Casey
("Juno")
"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
("First Impressions")
"Destry Rides Again" by Max Brand
("Destry Rides Again")
"Gypsy: A Memoir" by Gypsy Rose Lee
("Gypsy")
"Saratoga Trunk" by Edna Ferber
("Saratoga")
"The Legend of King Arthur" (Various)
("Camelot")
"Kean" by Jean Paul Sartre
("Kean")
"Professor Fodorski" by Robert Louis Taylor
("All American"
Various plays of Plautus
("Funny Thing Happened...Forum")
"Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens
("Oliver!")
"Parfumerie" by Miklos Laszlo
("She Loves Me")
"The Rainmaker" by N. Richard Nash
("110 in the Shade")
"The Sleeping Prince" by Terrence Rattigan
("The Girl Who Came to Supper")
Various short stories by Sholom Aleichem
("Fiddler on the Roof")
"The Time of the Cuckoo" by Arthur Laurents
("Do I Hear a Waltz?")
"Love is Just Around the Corner" by Lester Atwell
("Flora, the Red Menace")
"Dream Girl" by Elmer Rice
("Skyscraper")
"Don Quixote" by Don Miguel de Cervantes
("Man of LaMancha")
"Auntie Mame" by Patrick Dennis
("Mane")
"I Am a Camera" by Christopher Isherwood
("Cabaret")
"The Man Who Came To Dinner" by Kauffman and Hart
("Sherry!")
"The World of Henry Orient" by Nora Johnson
("Henry, Sweet Henry")
"The Madwoman of Chaillot" by Jean Giradoux
("Dear World")
"Two Gentlemen of Verona" by William Shakespeare
("Two Gentlemen of Verona")
"Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand
("Cyrano, "Song for Cyrano," "Cyrano de Bergerac," etc.
"A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry
("Raisin")
"Hamlet" by William Shakespeare
("Rockabye Hamlet")
"Working" by Studs Terkel
("Working")
"I Remember Mama" by John Van Druten
("I Remember Mama")
"David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens
("Copperfield")
"Merrily We Roll Along" by Kaufman and Hart
("Merrily We Roll Along")
"Idiot's Delight" by Robert E. Sherwood
("Dance a Little Closer")
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain
("Big River")
"The Mystery of Edwin Drood" by Charles Dickens
("The Mystery of Edwin Drood")
"Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo
("Les Miz")
"La vie devant soi" by Romain Gary
("Roza")
"The Phantom of the Opera" by Gaston Leroux
("The Phantom of the Opera")
"Carrie" by Stephen King
("Carrie")
"Sweeney Todd" by Christopher Bond
("Sweeney Todd")
"Aspects of Love" by David Garnett
("Aspects of Love")
"Shogun" by James Clavell
("Shogun")
"The Secret Garden" by Francis Hodgson Burnett
("The Secret Garden")
"Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy
("Anna Karenina")
"Kiss of the Spiderwoman" by Manuel Puig
("Kiss of the Spiderwoman")
"Fosca" by IU Tarchetti
("Passion")
"The Matchmaker" by Thornton Wilder
("Hello Dolly")
"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson
("Jekyll and Hyde")
"The Triumph of Love" by Marivaux
("The Triumph of Love")
"The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Orczy
("The Scarlet Pimpernel")
"Ragtime" by E.L. Doctorow
("Ragtime")
"Medea" by Euripides
("Marie Christine")
"The Dead" by James Joyce
("James Joyce's The Dead")
"The Wild Party" by Joseph Moncure March
("The Wild Party")
The Gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
("Jesus Christ Superstar")
Various stories by Dr. Seuss
("Seussical")
"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte
("Jane Eyre")
"Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain
("The Adventures of Tom Sawyer")
"Wicked" by Gregory Maguire
("Wicked")
"The Ambassadors" by James Joyce
("Ambassador")
"Look Homeward, Angel" by Thomas Wolfe
("Angel")
"Exodus" by Leon Uris
("Ari")
"Billy Budd" by Herman Melville
("Billy")
"Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Truman Capote
("Breakfast at Tiffany's")
"Flowers for Algernon" by David Rogers
("Charlie and Algernon")
"Elmer Gantry" by Sinclair Lewis
("Gantry")
"Gigi" by Anita Loos
("Gigi")
"Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell
("Gone With the Wind")
"The Grass Harp" by Truman Capote
("The Grass Harp")
"East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
("Here's Where I Belong")
"Picnic" by William Inge
("Hot September")
"The Human Comedy" by William Saroyan
("The Human Comedy")
"Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov
("Lolita, My Love")
"Lysistrata" by Aristophanes
("The Happiest Girl in the World")
"The Frogs" by Aristophanes
("The Frogs")
"Harvey" by Mary Chase
("Say Hello to Harvey")
"The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame
("Wind in the Willows")

Can you tell I've worked as a literary manager?

...these are all the musicals with literary antecedents that I can think of. Good luck!!

Updated On: 4/19/06 at 04:54 PM

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 5:10pm

What incredible suggestions!!!!!!!!!!! I've already ordered Say Darling and Auntie Mame...

and p.s. I included Ragtime in my original post- I've read it twice... If anyone hasn't read it, do so!!!!!! What a fascinating book.

[JMVR]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 5:10pm

I STRONGLY recommend The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. If you liked the show and/or are haunted by the score, the book is a MUST because of two main reasons: a) the style of the narrative is very entertaining. Unlike most books, in which a single character narrates the stroy from his or her point of view or the story is narrated by an outsider, here different parts of the story are narrated by a specific character.

Each character's narrative is very well written, each having his or her own style, vocabulary, mannerisms and personality so perfectly defined that you almost believe that the pages you read were indeed written by different people.

b) The story is VERY different from the show. I don't want to spoil it, but the secret itself is different and many plot twists in the show are not in the book and vice versa.

I hope you like it!

[OtherDaryl]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 5:16pm

According to Hal Prince, Cabaret, in it's original version is based on The Berlin Stories, and most definitely not I am a Camera.

I would also suggest Little Me by Patrick Dennis is a very fun read, though it is not nearly as good as Auntie Mame.

Updated On: 4/19/06 at 05:16 PM

[acrocksyo]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 5:23pm

I loved Auntie Mame one of my favorite books! Great choice!

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 7:30pm

Did I hear somewhere that Rose Hovick (ie Mama Rose) wrote a book as well? I can't find any such book... did I hallucinate this?

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 8:03pm

one no one has mentioned "how to succeed in business without really trying!" by shephard meade

its a greatly funny book, although i have always found it amusing that none of the "book advice" in the musical is actually in the book, neither is the dear reader (not the same at least), or the chapters finch sings about

[rosekwbp]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 8:07pm

I don't think Rose Hovick ever wrote a book. June Havoc wrote Early Havoc and More Havoc which are both wonderful.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 10:04pm

ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM is by Margaret Landon. However, the novel is taken from Anna Leonowen's memoirs, THE ENGLISH GOVERNESS AT THE SIAMESE COURT and SIAMESE HAREM LIFE.

Though Anita Loos wrote a stage adaptation of GIGI, the musical is based on the novel by Colette.

However, Anita did provide the source novella for GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES.

In addition, FLOWER DRUM SONG is based on the novel by C.Y Lee.

BAKER STREET is adapted from the stories of Conan Doyle.

Elizabeth Spencer's novel was the basis of THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA.

PURLIE is based on the play PURLIE VICTORIOUS.

KISMET takes the play by Knoblock as its source.

DARLING OF THE DAY adapted the Arnold Bennett novel, BURIED ALIVE.

The flop ANGEL tried to pack all of Thomas Wolfe onstage, using the novel LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL and its adaptation by Ketti Frings.

The barge of HER FIRST ROMAN sank without a trace, even with Shaw's CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA as its inspiration.

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (technically not a stage musical) is based on Stephen Vincent Benet's THE SOBBIN' WOMEN.

Al Capp's comic strip provided the basis for LI'L ABNER.

I DO! I DO! was conceived in THE FOURPOSTER by De Hartog.

THE ROTHSCHILDS began life as historical non-fiction by Frederick Morton.

ST. LOUIS WOMAN first appeared as GOD SENDS SUNDAY by Arna Bontemps.

ZORBA danced originally in the novel by Kazantzakis.

Finally, LADY IN THE DARK came to be as a result of Moss Hart's psychiatric sessions.


Call Me Ishmael
Wellfleet, Massachusetts



Updated On: 4/19/06 at 10:04 PM

[EganFan2]

Posted: 4/19/06 at 10:32pm

Many have already been mentioned. But the King Arthur legends are entertaining (Camelot). Or "The Once and Future King", which Camelot is more directly based on.

I find Romeo and Juliet to be very readable. (West Side Story)

I re-iterate The Woman in White.

Also:
Jane Eyre
The Scarlet Pimpernel

[ncvalmont]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 12:10am

Read: My Love, My Love which became Once on This Island.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 3:57am

A great deal has been mentioned. I'm mostly just listing those based on novels or short stories, with only a handful based on plays because if I started trying to list every musical I could think of based on a play, it would take forever. Here are some more (including a few famous ones that I think have somehow not yet been mentioned):

Tenderloin, by Samuel Hopkins Adams (Tenderloin)
The Pal Joey stories, by John O'Hara (Pal Joey)
The Son of the Grand Eunuch, by Charles Pettit (Chee-Chee)
The Warrior's Husband, by Julian F. Thompson (By Jupiter)
Greenwillow, by B.J. Chute (Greenwillow)
Kipps, by H.G. Wells (Half a Sixpence)
The Pickwick Papers, by Dickens (Pickwick)
Hobson's Choice, by Harold Brighouse (Walking Happy)
Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton (Lost in the Stars)
Three Wishes for Jamie, by Charles O'Neal (Three Wishes for Jamie)
The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N, by Leo Rosten (The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N)
Portofino P.T.A., by Gerald Green (Something More)
The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum (The Wizard of Oz, and The Wiz)
Stay Away, Joe, by Dan Cushman (Whoop-Up)
How to Be a Jewish Mother, by Dan Greenburg (How to Be a Jewish Mother)
The Odyssey (Home, Sweet Homer, in addition to the already-mentioned The Golden Apple)
Rainbow on the Road, by Esther Forbes (Come Summer)
Rain (the short story is cited as the source, not the play), by W. Somerset Maugham (Miss Sadie Thompson)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Eilot (Cats)

And the sources for the three one-acts that make up The Apple Tree:
The Diary of Adam and Eve, by Mark Twain
The Lady or the Tiger?, by Frank R. Stockton
Passionella, by Jules Feiffer

And some Off-Broadway:
Les Romantiques, by Edmond Rostand (The Fantasticks)
The Rivals, by Sheridan (All in Love)
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo, by Michael Butterworth (Lucky Stiff)
The Importance of Being Earnest (Earnest in Love)
The School for Wives, by Moliere (The Amorous Flea)
Twelfth Night (Your Own Thing, and also Love and Let Love)

Some London musicals that didn't make it to Broadway:
Valmouth, by Ronald Firbank (Valmouth, which I think did play Off-Broadway)
The Young Visiters, by Daisy Ashford (The Young Visiters, and, yes, that is the way the title is spelled)
Tom Brown's Schooldays, by Thomas Hughes (Tom Brown's Schooldays)
The Good Companions, by J.B. Priestley (The Good Companions)

Btw, I Remember Mama was also based on the original stories (Mama's Bank Account) by Kathryn Forbes.