The best and worst musicals based off of a movie. — Page 2

I would say Hairspray was the best

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"Smokey Joe's..was also nominated that year and just about doubled the run of SUNSET, so it did .. have competition."

ray-andallthatjazz86 is right -- SUNSET won uncontested for Best Book and Best Score.

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Updated On: 5/21/09 at 08:49 AM

Has anyone mentioned Little Shop of Horrors yet? I'd put that near the top...

Add to that: Xanadu, Hairspray, Little Night Music, Nine and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

I don't think SUNSET BLVD. is a good adaptation, there are about three original melodies...

Really? Only three?

Let's Have Lunch
Every Movie's a Circus
Surrender
With One Look
The Greatest Star of All
Boy Meets Girl
New Ways to Dream
The Lady's Paying
The Perfect Year
This Time Next Year
Sunset Boulevard
As If We Never Said Goodbye
Too Much in Love to Care

Not including the recitative, I count 13 different songs with different melodies. Personally, I think it is one of Lloyd Webber's most cohesive and mature scores. One of the main differences with Webber's screen adaptation and Sondheim's is that Sunset Boulevard was a larger-than-life iconic American film whereas Night Music and Passion were adapted from lesser-known foreign films. There was far more room for artistic license and interpretation in Sondheim's works than in something like Sunset Boulevard, which will be held up to microscopic scrutiny in the integrity of the adaptation to the original material. We may never know how Sondheim may have interpreted the work, but I really felt Webber used the already flawless screenplay to his advantage rather than try to fix what isn't broken and supported it with a rich, lush score that accurately reflected the period and setting as well as giving a respectful nod to the film's original score in terms of mood and style. Sunset Boulevard is one of my favorite films and I didn't feel for one moment that I was watching a mere replica of the film on stage, but rather a musicalized extension of the film. I do think the cast, staging and direction has a major impact on one's opinion, however. On Broadway, with Betty Buckley, the show seemed virtually flawless to me and remains one of the greatest performances I've witnessed on Broadway. The tour with Petula Clark came off as a cheap cartoonish facsimile, and had I not been with a friend, I would have left at intermission.

When I hear the Overture, using the theme of The Greatest Star of All, I am transported right back into the tragic majesty of a Hollywood legend and the haunting story of Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis. When I hear the tango interpretation of the same song, I am reminded of their New Year's Eve dance in the mansion just before she admits her love to Joe. And when I hear the actual song, I'm told of a servant's bizarre obsession and unfailing loyalty to his ex-wife. I absolutely loved how Webber used the same melody to underscore different aspects of Norma's character and tie them directly to her. It's just my opinion, but I thought his use of recurring themes in Sunset Boulevard was far more intelligent than the over-hyped Phantom of the Opera.

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Carrie borrowed from both the film and the novel, but actually was more faithful to the novel than the film was. A prime example was the final confrontation between Carrie and her mother, which reverted back to the novel and ended with Sue's discovery of Carrie's body. The entire scene and sequence was altered for the film for more visual impact.

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Carrie was largly based on the film, the film writer wrote the book, much of the book was missing from the film and the Musical.

Carrie had some stunning moments in. As it says in Not Since Carrie! it had some of the most genuinley beautiful music to be found in any musical of its kind.

Eve Was Wak, I remember how those boys could dance, Eviening Prayers, When Theres No One, Carrie, Unsuspecting Hearts

All great songs

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Xanadu. Saw the show before the movie, then watched the movie and thought it was DIRE!

I LOVE Legally Blonde though.

Also loved: Beauty and the Beast (if we are counting animated!)

Worst: Tarzan

Also for the best, A CATERED AFFAIR.

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I liked Tarzan. Though, to be fair I still can't decide if I liked it because I'm a huge fan of Bob Crowley's set design work and I liked the score or if it was just because Josh Strickland was naked for two hours...

That doesn't change the fact that the musical is still credited as being based on both sources. You can't argue that it's not just because you don't think it didn't include any elements from the novel and then insist that Carrie is based on the novel and not the film when Carrie really is only credited in the playbill as being based on the novel.