Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
fbueller
Leading Actor Joined: 9/30/07
#1Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 1:53pm
Which movie adapatatations of Broadway shows rank as your best and worst..and why?
Updated On: 11/27/07 at 01:53 PM
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#2re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 2:00pm
I'd love to respond to this post, but what on EARTH are adapatatations?!!
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#2re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 2:03pm
I'm sure everyone will focus on more recent films, so I'll mention some oldies but goodies. Brigadoon is perfectly cast and, had it been filmed on location (or at least out doors) instead of on MGM sets, I think it would have been one of the all-time greats. It's just hard to believe all the comments about the beautiful forests and hillsides when they are clearly made of papier-mache.
The Sound of Music is an almost perfect adaptation. Beautiful locations across Europe, also.
#3re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 2:04pmAuntie Mame
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#4re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 2:08pm
WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF
CABARET
STREAMERS
COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN (better than the play!)
Worst: Too many to mention.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
#5re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 2:14pm
BEST
Virginia Woolf
Chicago
Fiddler On The Roof
West Side Story
The Lion In Winter
WORST
Annie
Chorus Line
A Little Night Music
....but the world goes 'round
Mag Wildwood
Understudy Joined: 11/27/07
#7re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 2:17pmIs that a best or worst?
....but the world goes 'round
Mag Wildwood
Understudy Joined: 11/27/07
#8re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 2:20pmTazber: If you have to ask, you haven't seen the movie :)
Ed_Mottershead
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
#9re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 3:44pm
BEST:
Chicago
Cabaret
West Side Story
Witness for the Prosecution
Becket
The Lion in Winter
WORST:
The list is too endless to consider, but some of the real stinkeroos have to be:
A Chorus Line
Rent
The Producers
How to Suceed in Business Without Really Trying
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Hello, Dolly
Glass Menagerie
Majority of One
Although not a bad movie per se, I think it was CRIMINAL that Bernstein's score (with 3 exceptions and the rest of it pretty much druk) wasn't retained in On the Town. And I know I'm in the minority on this, but I don't think Gypsy was a bad film; it's just that Ethel Merman's shadow was cast over the whole thing. Rosalind Russell didn't stand a chance.
BroadwayEd
jondouglas
Stand-by Joined: 11/20/07
#10re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 4:04pm
BEST........West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Chicago, Hello Dolly, Hairspray, My Fair Lady, Fiddler On The Roof
WORST.........Annie, A Chorus Line,
Coolness_
Understudy Joined: 6/11/07
#11re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 4:08pm
Best: Dreamgirls
Worst: The NEW Hairspray
#12re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 5:01pm
I like:
The Music Man
Little Shop of Horrors
What great ones do the less will prattle of
#13re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 5:06pm
Best:
Cabaret
Sweet Charity
Hair
Hairspray
The Producers
The Pajama Game
Worst:
Phantom of the Opera
A Chours Line
A Little Night Music
Rent
South Pacific
#14re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 5:18pm
I definitely agree with you guys on RENT & HELLO DOLLY as the WORST
I like Joel Schumaker's The Phantom of the Opera- very visual and I love the old Opera house.. plus I love Patrick Wilson & Gerard Butler.
I cant comment on CABARET-( I love the movie so much) bec. I did not see the original production ..only the Revival at Studio 54
J*
Updated On: 11/27/07 at 05:18 PM
#15re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 5:46pm
Top of my list for the best is "Hello, Dolly!" All the other bests that have been listed are also fantastic - "West Side Story," "My Fair Lady," etc..
Jaystarr, I agree with you 100% - the film version of "The Phantom Of The Opera" is visually stunning....breathtaking production design, cinematography, etc. I think we can all agree that the direction is rather flat. Most of the actors are on all the same level. Minnie Driver as Carlotta is the only one with any range of emotions.
The film version of "Cabaret" is so different from the stage musical. The movie is all about Liza.
Updated On: 11/27/07 at 05:46 PM
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#16re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 6:24pm
Best
Damn Yankees
West Side Story
POTO
Becket
Chicago
Worst
Jesus Christ Superstar
A Chorus Line
???
Hello Dolly
Poster Emeritus
#17re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 7:11pm
I KNOW I am going to get flammed for this but...
I really enjoyed the movie version of RENT. And yes, I did in fact see the stage version FIRST (which was better than the film, but the film didn't suck by any means.)
Worst?
phantom
"It means nothing to come and sit in a theater night after night and immerse yourself in fantasy, only then to walk out the door and be unchanged in reality. This show will live on in our hearts. But where it truly must survive is in our actions, our compassion and our generousity of spirit towards one another." - Adam Pascal on the closing of RENT
Mag Wildwood
Understudy Joined: 11/27/07
#18re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 7:13pm
I didnt mind the film version of Rent, and I saw the show the first week it opened.
I didn't HATE the Phantom movie, but it just didn't go anywhere, and whoever played the Phantom was really awful.
#19re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 7:20pm
BEST:
Umm, if it counts from Screen to stage to screen again, then:
Hairspray
Chicago
and that's all really, in my opinion
WORST:
Rent
A Chorus Line
POTO (I LOATHE the movie!)
I also wasn't a fan of the WSS movie.
#20re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 7:37pm
BEST:
Hairspray
Chicago
Dreamgirls (I really enjoyed the movie, I never saw the show, but tony clips and performances are what I based my opinion on).
Worst:
Didn't like Phantom (and I am a HUGE fan of the show--was just TOO slow.)
The Producers... movie was OK... but if I wanted to see a filming of the show, I would have frankly just filmed the show live and saved a boatload of dough!!
I am impartial to Rent... I loved the show, liked the movie. The music was good, I liked the original cast, but some of the plot changes kind of spoiled it for me.
Updated On: 11/27/07 at 07:37 PM
#21re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 8:00pm
One of the best: THE MUSIC MAN
The absolute worst: GYPSY with Rosalind Russell. Her husband was the film's producer so it's no wonder she was the "star". Don't get me started on this one.
"Madam Rose...and her daughter...Gypsy!"
luvcaroline
Broadway Star Joined: 10/19/05
#22re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 9:53pm
BEST
Cabaret
Not only my favorite musical, but also my favorite movie of all time. The performance by Liza will never be matched, in my opinion. I still get chills watching this. Amazing.
West Side Story
A Classic. Defines movie musicals.
Sound of Music
Forget the wholesome story line. Some of the greatest musical numbers ever filmed. Not to mention Ms. Andrews was at the very top of her game. This can be enjoyed even after countless viewings (which my family and I did on almost an annual basis in the 60's and 70's--it seemed to come back to theaters that often).
Little Shop of Horrors
Just great fun. Perfectly realized on film.
WORST
A Chorus Line
What is tragic is that we will never have an opportunity to see a truly great filmed version of this musical. One of the biggest cinematic missed opportunities in movie history, in my opinion.
#23re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 10:03pm
Best
Little Shop Of Horrors
Hairspray
Annie Get Your Gun
Worst
The Music Man Remake
Rent
He's a faker, and you've been taken in by his con. And in doing so, you are enabling him. He is doing more damage to aspergers than papa's words ever could. -Chane/Liverpool on me having asperger syndrome.
#24re: Stage to Screen Adaptations: Best and Worst
Posted: 11/27/07 at 10:03pm
Best
Little Shop Of Horrors
Hairspray
Annie Get Your Gun
Worst
The Music Man Remake
Rent
He's a faker, and you've been taken in by his con. And in doing so, you are enabling him. He is doing more damage to aspergers than papa's words ever could. -Chane/Liverpool on me having asperger syndrome.
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