What would you love to see adapted as a musical?- Page 2

[whatever2]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 10:44am

BentleyB said: "I think a musical of “A Confederacy of Dunces” would be really fun. It has already been adapted into a play and I think the New Orleans setting and extravagant characters would make a fun show."

CoD is a fantastic property, and ripe for musical treatment by the *right* creatives. i know it's already been adapted into an opera; not sure that opera has ever been performed anywhere, though.

[valebal7]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 10:55am

How about the 1993 movie Swing Kids?  You could do some incredible choreography in it!

[kdogg36]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 11:06am

Glittergrrl said: "I had no idea! Not trolling-just dumb."

Please don't worry about it. I have little lapses in my knowledge of Broadway history too, and, regardless, there are far, far dumber things going on around here!

[kdogg36]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 11:14am

Call_me_jorge said: "Why did so many early/golden era musicals diverge their titles from their source materials?"

My guess is that the creatives wanted to emphasize they were creating a new work rather than just adding music to an existing property.

Today there's obviously a lot of pressure to capitalize on existing IP, so it's unlikely to happen at all for well-known source material. It may also be the case that the original writers are reluctant to allow a change of title even for lesser-known works. Can anyone recall the last time a new Broadway musical opened with a substantially different title from its source material?

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 11:18am

There is a great book out there called "Jackie and Diana". Kind of a parallel lives thing, that I think could be great. I know we don't need another Diana musical so soon, but still. Side note: I have always wanted to do a production of Camelot but have a Jackie K-type for Arthur, JFK for Guinevere, and Marilyn Monroe for Lancelot.

I'd love another try at a musical of Picnic. I know they did Hot September, but I would like to try again. 

I've also always wanted Disney to lean into the cultural theatre of its properties. Like, a Pocahontas with Indigenous storytelling, music and dance; Mulan as done in a Peking opera, Hercules as Greek theatre...(more than what they have going on now). I think if you bring in creatives (directors, dramaturges, composers, etc.) from each culture, it could be such a harmonius blend. Obviously keep the movie music, but expand the score with something else. It's like Betty Buckley always wanting to do Annie Get Your Gun at a real circus/rodeo. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 11:34am

I want to see someone from the realm of avant-garde opera or highly physical theatre, like the next Julie Taymor type, take a swing at the Skywalker Saga in its entirety, from the birth of Anakin to the death of the Resurrected Emperor. Like The Lion King, making almost no attempts at translating the visual language of the film to the stage, but creating its own organic epic depiction, as though the Skywalker Saga were the religious or ethnic epic of a country we just happen to not be citizens of. 

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 11:35am

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "TheatreMonkey said: "The Birdcagewith Robin Williams and Nathan Lane? It already exists --La Cage Aux Folles...."

La Cage Aux Folles is an American dance & disco jukebox musical…? Wow, you truly learn something new every day. 🙄

La Cage is not a musical adaptation of Birdcage, it’s a musical that shares the same plot and source material.They are obviously different entities to the general public.I don’t consider them interchangeable, nor do I think would the general public (the demographic for jukebox musicals).

Different settings, book/screenplay, score/soundtrack, they hit different comedic beats, etc. One is more relevant & rooted in American culture, has a killer start of a various artist soundtrack, and is a more recognizable IP in today’s world than the source material.

Also, one is not a jukebox musical, maybe you missed that part of my comment. Thanks for playing, though!"

The Birdcage is an American adaptation of Poiret's play just as the 1978 film version is. It's the same story and that story has already been adapted into a musical, and an incredibly well regarded one at that. A juke box musical version of the same story would seem derivative at best.

Your "Thanks for playing" comment sounds like something one of the mean girls would say in one of my junior English classes. Why can't you offer a refutation without trying to be insulting? Does saying stuff like that make you feel superior? Seriously, what's that about?

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 11:42am

I don't think it's terribly controversial to say that while Jerry Herman's score for "La Cage" is better than most musical scores, the final cut-and-print script of The Birdcage (once Lane, Williams and their people got done doctoring and improvising) is arguably superior to both the original French screenplay and Harvey Fierstein's book for the musical. It's one of those lightning-in-a-bottle moments.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 11:59am

fashionguru_23 said: "There is a great book out there called "Jackie and Diana". Kind of a parallel lives thing, that I think could be great. I know we don't need another Diana musical so soon, but still. Side note: I have always wanted to do a production of Camelot but have a Jackie K-type for Arthur, JFK for Guinevere, and Marilyn Monroe for Lancelot."

On the Jackie subject, if Cole Escola ever considers writing another slapstick comedy about a former FLOTUS it’ll obviously have to be Jackie, Oh!

kdogg36 said: “Can anyone recall the last time a new Broadway musical opened with a substantially different title from its source material?”

Just off the top of my head, A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder doesn’t share the same title as either of the source material it is based on.

Spamalot also comes to mind, though it usually comes with the tagline, “(Lovingly) Ripped Off from the Motion Picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail​​​​​​​.”

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 12:04pm

Gentleman’s Guide changed its name due to legal complications of adapting both a public domain work AND certain elements of a later adaptation which isn’t public domain. 

[KarenValentine'sheadband]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 12:30pm

What's Up Doc? 

For Pete's Sake

Paper Moon

The Big Year

Can't Buy Me Love

Sounder

Inside Moves

Dance With A Stranger

Julia

America, America

The Conversation

[Lot666]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 3:12pm

American Gigolo

Wuthering Heights with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and starring Ramin Karimloo as Heathcliff and Sierra Boggess as Catherine (and yes, I know this has been adapted before, but previous iterations haven't been particularly successful)

Updated On: 8/22/25 at 03:12 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 3:21pm

whatever2 said: "BentleyB said: "I think a musical of “A Confederacy of Dunces” would be really fun. It has already been adapted into a play and I think the New Orleans setting and extravagant characters would make a fun show."

CoD is a fantastic property, and ripe for musical treatment by the *right* creatives. i know it's already been adapted into an opera; not sure that opera has ever been performed anywhere, though."

CoD is indeed a literary masterpiece, but it's proven difficult to adapt- attempts at a film have fallen through enough times that the property as been referred to as "cursed," while the couple stabs at a stage adaptation have gained little traction (including a play adaptation that starred Nick Offerman about a decade ago). It has such a particular tone and centers on such a tricky character, that I do wonder if it can ever work as anything but a novel. 

Updated On: 8/22/25 at 03:21 PM

[marytylermoore]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 4:18pm

n2nbaby said: "2 of the 3 movies that I think would make great musicals have already been mentioned…

Down with Love

Pleasantville

and…

Drop Dead Gorgeous"

Love the idea of Drop Dead Gorgeous but also would be satisfied with a proper revival of Smile instead. 

I've always thought a nice chunk of Robert Altman's filmography would translate well to stage. I'd love to see what a duo like Ahrens and Flaherty could make of adapting Nashville. I also think a musical adaptation of Three Women could be interesting if written by someone like Jeanine Tesori or LaChiusa. Even Prairie Home Companion could be fascinating (and quite simple) to stage. 

Valley of The Dolls, any of Todd Haynes's movies (particularly Carol/Price of Salt a la the musical adaptation of Far From Heaven), Private Benjamin, To Die For
 

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 4:40pm

I’d love a Smile revival; that reference cast album with Jodi Benson is so good. However, if they revive it I hope, ironically, that they don’t use the full orchestrations. That Mannheim Steamroller synth sound on the album is totally unlike any other Broadway show, and I hope they realize it’s part of the music’s legacy at this point.

[Idiot]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 4:59pm

Updated On: 8/22/25 at 04:59 PM

[George in DC]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 9:44pm

"As Good As It Gets"

"While You  Were Sleeping"

A better adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice"

"The Marvelous Mrs Maisel"

"Jeffrey"

[dannydevito]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 11:34pm

I’m not a huge fan of the movie to musical pipeline, but everyday I wish for a BRIDESMAIDS musical. I’d keep the show set in the early 2010s, bring back Kristen & Annie for the book, get the Come From Away director to direct and the DBH team for music. I feel like there’s a hit in there and great opportunities for diverse casting, everyone culture has weddings so you have an element of international appeal..!

Updated On: 8/22/25 at 11:34 PM

[kurtal]

Posted: 8/22/25 at 11:42pm

I'm just gonna stick with movies...

The Hours (yes, I know there's an opera)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Pan's Labyrinth

The Quiet Man

Harold and Maude

Shampoo

My Beautiful Laundrette

Four Weddings and a Funeral

The Truman Show

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Saltburn

Call Me By Your Name

Moonlight

O Brother Where Art Thou?

Election

Field of Dreams

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 8/23/25 at 12:51am

TheatreMonkey said: "The Birdcagewith Robin Williams and Nathan Lane? It already exists --La Cage Aux Folles...."

I would have loved if the birdcage was the musical instead. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/23/25 at 12:53am

Under the Tuscan Sun 

[BwayLB]

Posted: 8/23/25 at 1:08am

Animated films that deserve it

Pebble And The Penguin

Moana

Smallfoot

Cats Don’t Dance

Mulan

The Lego Movie

[OhHiii]

Posted: 8/23/25 at 5:39am

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind would make a beautiful and heartbreaking musical under the right creatives and director. Someone like John Tiffany could do wonders with that story. 

[Globefan]

Posted: 8/23/25 at 9:30am

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

[kdogg36]

Posted: 8/23/25 at 10:07am

kurtal said: "Harold and Maude"

There actually was a Harold and Maude musical, with songs by Tom Jones, that played at Paper Mill about twenty years ago. I don't know if it went anywhere after that, so maybe there's room for another version.