What book/movie would make a great musical? — Page 2

JoseLee_ said: "Precious



"

That would be a tough 2 hours and 30 minutes... What a sad story!

Some of what is being suggested have already been made into musicals. Specifically The Man Who Came to Dinner and Gone with the Wind.

Is a Gone With the Wind musical being workshopped? I haven't read anything about that. Who's composing it?

Fan123 said: "Momo or The Neverending Story (book, not film) by Michael Ende? Actually, musical theatre may not be the best medium for adapting these. I'd still be interested if anybody was trying it though. I hear there have been opera versions of both.

I work with a company that has considered adapting Momo.

Can I be the rather cynical one to jump in and ask how many of these ideas—a number of which I think are excellent, by the way—could ever be considered commercially viable? I recognize that the thread's title suggests that our intention here is to propose great musicals in an artistic sense—but I'm curious, what would be some works that would/could be great musicals in terms of commercial success?

Updated On: 4/24/16 at 12:06 PM

I remember Trevor Nunn directing "Gone With The Wind" on the West End a few years back with Jill Paice. Guess it wasn't ready?



I think that "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" would make a sweet musical. "American Hustle" could be interesting, if anything because a musical set in the 1970's would be so fun in Studio 54.

henrikegerman said: "BroadwayConcierge, doesn't commercial value and viability of a show depend on how good the show turns out to be? "

Definitely not.

Ah yes, that's it. I'm not at home right now so I can't look, but I believe there might be a section on the Rome musical in Second Act Trouble (or it could be Not Since Carrie)

LEMONADE

King Lear

Robert Altman made a semi-obscure movie in 1979 called A Perfect Couple, which starred Paul Dooley and Marta Heflin.

In it, Alex Theodopolous, a repressed, middle-aged divorced U.S. Greek (who has moved back to the spacious estate of his autocratic immigrant father, who is also his boss in the family's successful antique importing business) meets a young singer, Sheila Shea (an Earth Mother/groupie type), through a dating service and becomes smitten. Their first date turns into an unmitigated disaster when they are caught in a thundershower during an outdoor concert, and Alex's car malfunctions. Twenty-something Sheila is also part of a traveling rock band which performs gigs in outdoor arenas around the country and lives a gypsy-like existence in a communal loft under their controlling leader. Alex joins them on the road and tries to fit into their communal lifestyle. Basically, the movie explores the idea of falling in love even though everything between the two of you seems wrong, as Alex and Sheila attempt to overcome cultural, age, and lifestyle differences and find happiness.

The band's live gigs were heavily featured in this movie -- they performed several musical numbers, which I love, but also which many critics decried as superfluous to the story. I'd update the setting to the present day, change it from a dating service to meeting online and then discovering how different they really are in real life, and re-position the musical numbers (with arrangements updated to reflect current styles of music) so that they comment on the plot, much like the "Kit Kat Klub" numbers in Cabaret comment on the events that precede them.

Commercial value? Eh, maybe not unless one put stars into it. But I'd like to do it. :)

A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD - just saw the movie again (the book is better) and think it could make a wonderful chamber piece in the style of PASSION.