What musical should Meron and Zadan do next?- Page 10

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 1:21pm

If they want something Christmasy, just do James Joyce's The Dead and get Christopher Walken to reprise his role as Gabriel.

Unless, of course, they want to even come close to having ratings like The Sound of Music. And by if, I mean there is no way in hell James Joyce's The Dead will ever get the TV treatment.

[suestorm]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 1:21pm

Why couldn't they tape live a performance of a show on stage... say Cinderella for instance?

Assuming they got the rights etc?

Updated On: 12/8/13 at 01:21 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 1:24pm

Filmed stage shows usually go to PBS.
NBC would never air the stage show of CINDERELLA. A show starring Laura Osnes would never get 18.5 million viewers.

[HometownGlory]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 1:38pm

This would be the time to cash in on Ariana Grande's rising fame and Broadway background. What would be a big name show that people would tune in for? West Side Story?

[justincharacter]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 1:59pm

Ariana Grande has a very strong theatrical voice. Last night I heard her sing a snippet of "Spoonful of Sugar" and it sounded really nice. She had a strong vibrato, and it seems easy to her to switch over to her theater side.

[SidebySidebyLogan]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 2:07pm

"NBC would never air the stage show of CINDERELLA. A show starring Laura Osnes would never get 18.5 million viewers."

I'm not sure about that. Cinderella is a show that could pull in a wider audience just by title alone. Kids know Cinderella and the current production is dazzling enough that between promos of "Impossible" and the ball and kids wanting to see what they think is the Disney movie it could be more successful than TSoM. Now will a filmed version of the stage show ever make it to network television? Doubtful. But it would be a smart move. And a real coup for the Broadway community if done right. Spend a minute or two talking about "the magic of live theater", the grand tradition of Broadway, and have a few clips of some other shows currently running. NYC tourism board can be a major sponsor, Broadway shows can have commercials, get some shots of the Christmastime landmarks. Make it a 3 hour commercial for NYC tourism masked as a love letter to New York.

All this is still too limited to niche audience but it's the one semi-solution I can come up with to limiting some of the real world Jack Donaghy's meddling. I understand that we have to get out of our theater fan headspace but I hope there is a way for the tv execs to meet us halfway.

[SidebySidebyLogan]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 2:08pm

Unrelated to tv musicals: I think Grande would be a magnificent Anne in A Little Night Music based on her voice, I've never seen her act.

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 2:10pm

Perhaps Grande could play Peter.

[suestorm]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 2:18pm

"Kids know Cinderella and the current production is dazzling enough that between promos of "Impossible" and the ball and kids wanting to see what they think is the Disney movie it could be more successful than TSoM. Now will a filmed version of the stage show ever make it to network television? Doubtful. But it would be a smart move. And a real coup for the Broadway community if done right. Spend a minute or two talking about "the magic of live theater", the grand tradition of Broadway"

Exactly sisebyside what I was thinking....think of the money they'd save in production alone. The play would make lots of mney for the rights too.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 2:27pm

One of the main reasons this telecast got 18.5 million people to watch was that it was a live, one-time-only event.

A taped show doesn't have the same impact or immediacy.

There was a big curiosity factor with this one. Will they screw up? Will someone fall? Will they forget their lines? Will someone get sick?

That gave it a bit of a "sporting event feel." A taped show would never have that.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 2:29pm

Exactly. The taped shows will stay on PBS. There is a not a huge audience for them.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 2:29pm

Another Cinderella? There's already been 3 and Meron/Zadan were responsible for the last one. It's been done.

Updated On: 12/8/13 at 02:29 PM

[suestorm]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 2:35pm

Bestie that's what I meant doing it LIVE.

Carlos. Fairy tales are very I now... grim. Once upon a time. Wonderland. 2 snow white movies. Red ri ding hood movie etc.

Updated On: 12/8/13 at 02:35 PM

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 2:38pm

Have we ever thought NBC could push for a TV presentation of Seussical?

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 2:46pm

Well, this ain't the New Testament, y'know. Seussical would require a full-blown resurrection.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 3:08pm

Another choice might be The Secret Garden.

Of course, they would need to hire the best set designer in the universe. And do some ghost special effects

Could they steal from "Into The Woods" publicity and hire Lila Crawford and Daniel Huttlestone as Mary and Colin?

Perhaps Patrick Wilson as Archibald?

Perhaps Laura Benanti as Lily?

Audra as Martha, Philip Phillips as Dickon

Updated On: 12/8/13 at 03:08 PM

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 3:32pm

I'll throw my support behind restaging the Daniel Radcliffe version of "How To Succeed," and the idea of "Hello, Dolly!" with Reba as Dolly and Benanti as Irene sounds great. I'd put Victor Garber in there as Horace, but the suggestion of Joseph Gordon-Levitt for Cornelius is top-notch. I really think country stars are generally marketable.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing a big star with a sweet presence and a serviceable soprano in "The King and I." Bjork or Jewel, maybe? I'd be worried about being ethnically sensitive in casting other roles in the show, though.

I'll also mention a version of She Loves Me with Justin Timberlake as Georg, Laura Benanti as Amalia, and Jane Krakowski as Illona. Josh Radnor seems tied up with CBS and Timberlake has the necessary star power.

Now for some potentially worse suggestions... I also think "The Wiz" has great star-casting potential, but it might be a bit risque and esoteric for TV. I could also see an actual younger male Peter Pan (though I wouldn't love Daniel Radcliffe, that music is so beautiful) singing the role in tenor keys?? Cut "Mysterious Lady" if need be. Maybe that would change things up just enough to make it more dynamic for a modern audience, not that I think the show really needs that. I also think work could be done by a good orchestrator and a good costumer to make the "Indian" portions inoffensive.

Is Man of La Mancha an absolutely terrible idea? Patrick Wilson as Cervantes with Katy Perry as Aldonza? I know it might be hard to market and a bit dark/inappropriate for children, but it has a great uplifting message and Aldonza is definitely castable.

[daisybeetle]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 3:53pm

Disney is in production now on a "Cinderella" feature film starring Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter for early 2015 release. It's not a musical, but they could possibly push the date closer to the end of 2014, and then there would be competing "Cinderella stories".

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1661199/

[all that jazz]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 5:25pm

As I suggested in another thread, what we really need is a Halloween broadcast of Rocky Horror starring Ricky Martin as Frank, Adam Lambert as Riff Raff, Lady Gaga as Magenta, Sutton as Columbia, Megan Hilty as Janet and Zac Efron as Brad.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 5:44pm

No.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 5:51pm

FINE! Miley can play Magenta.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 6:00pm

What Liza means, and I want to be polite here, is that you have the casting skills of a chef who uses an oatmeal recipe to create a souffle. Don't get me wrong, you make some good choices, but they are surrounded by people they don't fit with. The fact that it's not a unified group disrupts the casting as a whole. As Michael Shurtleff once said, "Many times I have heard directors say about an actor: 'That is the best audition we'll ever see of that role. Too bad we can't cast him.' Their regret is genuine. But there has to be a balance in casting -- the parts must fit like a jigsaw puzzle -- and there are times when the best auditioners don't 'fit.'"

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 6:22pm

And if anybody thought the fall out from Kinky Boots performing on the parade telecast was bad do you really think there wouldn't be screams for the heads of the NBC (or whatever network) exec who tries to put Rocky Horror on prime time?

[SidebySidebyLogan]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 6:25pm

I've said it a thousand times but I wish a cable channel would get in on this... It could increase the integrity and quality a hundred fold. Actually I wish network tv would call it quits altogether. Cable is where it is at, everybody knows it. Even people who don't have cable.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 6:54pm

That would never happen. A broadcast like this requires too much revenue to offset the multi-million dollar budget for a cable channel. It has to be on network television....