What is an Original Musical? — Page 2

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#26

What is an Original Musical?

Posted: 12/12/22 at 1:57pm

CATSNYrevival said: "Mamma Mia, for example, is an original story that didn’t really exist in a prior form of entertainment that uses pre-existing music. It was eligible for best musical as a new musical but it’s up to the individual to decide if it’s an original musical. There are no concrete rules."

except for how Mamma Mia! is a complete rip-off of Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell which was also the basis of Carmelina.

"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."

#27

What is an Original Musical?

Posted: 12/12/22 at 2:01pm

Would you count Company as an original musical? I just looked it up and don't see that it's based off of anything-I don't think

#28

What is an Original Musical?

Posted: 12/12/22 at 2:33pm

For the record, I never said Shrek was an original musical; I was using the rules of another poster’s definition of an original musical to show how it opens the floodgates for dozens of productions that certainly aren’t original musicals.

#29

What is an Original Musical?

Posted: 12/12/22 at 2:45pm

hearthemsing22 said: "Would you count Company as an original musical? I just looked it up and don't see that it's based off of anything-I don't think"

It’s based on a series of unproduced one act plays. You can argue either way on it, but there is precedence in the Oscars putting screenplays based on unpublished short stories in the “Adapted Screenplay” category.

And maybe that’s what the Tonys need: an Adapted Book category alongside Original Book

#30

What is an Original Musical?

Posted: 12/12/22 at 2:48pm

hearthemsing22 said: "Would you count Company as an original musical? I just looked it up and don't see that it's based off of anything-I don't think"

It could be argued that Company is based on an unpublished play by George Furth. The material was brought to Hal Prince and he saw potential for a musical, but it's not based on a play that was performed prior to it being adapted into a musical.

#31

What is an Original Musical?

Posted: 12/12/22 at 3:55pm

gypsy101 said: "except for how Mamma Mia! is a complete rip-off of Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell which was also the basis of Carmelina."

That's like saying If/Then isn't an original musical because it's a rip off of the movie Sliding Doors. However true that may be (in both instances) neither is credited source material.

#32

What is an Original Musical?

Posted: 12/12/22 at 4:00pm

Some of the greatest musicals of all time are adaptations and I think we could argue all day about the semantics of "Original Musical." But to me, an important distinction is: would changing the name of the show dramatically hurt ticket sales?

For Kimberly Akimbo, no. Gentleman's Guide didn't even take the title of either of its pieces of source material. If Back to the Future developed an entirely new title in previews, however, it wouldn't be a good business move.

"I feel safe with you, and complete with you / I'm always finding money in the street with you." -Sheldon Harnick

#33

What is an Original Musical?

Posted: 12/12/22 at 4:13pm

SeanD2 said: "And maybe that’s what the Tonys need: an Adapted Book category alongside Original Book"

I strongly disagree with this. The state of the Best Book category is already such a mess, where there's usually only 1-2 eligible books per year that are actually worthy of awards consideration, yet they insist on filling it out with 4-5 nominees. Splitting it into 2 categories would just create a situation where even more badly-written books get undeservedly nominated.

I've been saying for years that they should kill 2 birds with 1 stone, and force plays and musicals to compete in the same category for "best script," while keeping the Best Play award that goes to the overall production. Whenever I say this, people always rebuke that writing plays and writing musicals are totally different and can't be compared, but I'd argue they're more similar than people think.

Maybe the best solution would be to combine your suggestion and my suggestion: have categories for Adapted Scripts (both plays and musicals) and Original Scripts (both plays and musicals)

#34

What is an Original Musical?

Posted: 12/13/22 at 12:28pm

Most of the great classic Broadway musicals are musicalized adaptations from other mediums (books, plays, comic strips, etc). The adaptation to the musical format makes it something new.

Original musicals obviously draw this distinction based on their “origins” hence the root word. If the origins are another media, then it’s not original. If a musical is a brand new story with brand new music, it’s “original”.

A show can be nominated for Best Musical Tony regardless of its origin, as long as it is new to Broadway. So it can be an original story, an adapted story, and can have new music or adapted music (jukebox musicals, etc). Obviously, only new music qualifies for best music and lyric Tony nominations.

#35

What is an Original Musical?

Posted: 12/13/22 at 1:01pm

TNick926 said: "So it can be an original story, an adapted story, and can have new music or adapted music (jukebox musicals, etc). Obviously, only new music qualifies for best music and lyric Tony nominations."

Just to nitpick a bit, the category for the Tonys is Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre, so technically only either the music or the lyrics need to be new to qualify for the category. Technically an enterprising composer could rewrite Pirates of Penzance from scratch keeping all the lyrics and still be eligible (or a new lyricist could rewrite it using all the original music).

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