Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#0Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 7:26pmI'm partial to DEATH OF A SALESMAAN. I think every single character in it has a song buried deep within.
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#1re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 7:46pmDidn't somebody make THE CRUCIBLE into an opera several years back? That would be my pick - very dramatic and intense with larger than life characters and supernatural elements. The play almost "sings" without the music.
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#2re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 7:51pmYou're right, Margo, the operatic version of THE CRUCIBLE first opened in 1961 (and is still being performed today.)
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#3re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 8:04pmI believe he was involved in a musical called " Up From Paradise"
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#4re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 8:36pm
Can't verify that, Mr. Roxy, but he DID contribute to the MOVIE MUSICAL LET'S MAKE LOVE (starring his then-wife, Marilyn Monroe(!).
Marilyn Monroe in an Arthur Miller musical--that's not something you see every day!
(And you really DON'T see it every day. LET'S MAKE LOVE bombed [mostly because no one could understand Yves Montand's "English"] and quickly disappeared. You might catch it one night on The Late Show.)
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#5re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 9:21pmI think the title of the SALESMAN musical should be ATTENTION MUST BE PAID!
DollyGirl
Leading Actor Joined: 9/5/04
#6re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 9:44pmMy dad is currently directing a musical by Arthur Miller... it's called The American Clock.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#7re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 9:46pm
DEATH OF A SALESMAN can be called THE ROAD I DIDN'T TAKE
THE CRUCIBLE can be called ALL OF THEM WITCHES
THE PRICE can be called LET'S MEET IN THE ATTIC
AFTER THE FALL can be called I MARRIED A BLONDE
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE can be called THERE'S MANHATTAN
ALL MY SONS can be called AMMO AMORE
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#8re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 10:20pm
Hi Dolly...
THE AMERICAN CLOCK? That is a WONDERFUL piece--a montage of the whole depression as seen through one family!
I've always thought of it as a straight play, but you're absolutely right, the production is peppered throughout with period songs so it really IS a musical! :)
Where's it going to be playing?
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#9re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 10:28pm
Jose', You Nasty Boy! :)
I MARRIED A BLONDE? :) :) :)
Wait a minute, there WAS a musical about Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe! MARILYN (1983) with Alyson Reed as Marilyn and Will Gerard (WHO?) as Arthur Miller.
It lasted ALL OF TWO WEEKS--which I think is longer than the marriage of Monroe & Miller lasted! :)
janvier_neige
Swing Joined: 10/2/04
#10re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:09pmI'd like to see "The Crucible" just for a song to be written to John and Elizabeth's scene at the very end. That scene gets me every time I read the play.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#11re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:12pmHow about, from the Crucible musical, Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered ?
jmnpublications
Broadway Star Joined: 4/2/04
#12re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:16pm
Wasn't Robert Nassif Lindsey working on an operatic version of A View from the Bridge at one time? I think he has a song from it on his Opal, Honky Tony Highway and Other Theatre Songs CD. It's an instrumental that features a haunting violin solo.
I think that play would make a great musical.
lc
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#13re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:29pmWilliam Bolcom's opera of "A View From The Bridge" played at The Met and the Chicago Lyric Opera a season or two ago.
kjklo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/03
#14re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:33pmI don't know, but William Bolcom made a stunning opera out of "View from the Bridge," and, as mentioned, "The Crucible" inspired the pulitzer-prize winning opera by Robert Ward.
jmnpublications
Broadway Star Joined: 4/2/04
#15re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:33pm
Margo,
Did you have an opportunity to see it? Do you think it could do well in NY?
lc
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#16re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:34pmI missed it at the Met, but I believe that it was well-received.
kjklo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/03
#17re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:40pmI saw it in Chicago, and was very impressed. It's available on CD for the curious. I think it's capable of joining the repertory; but then, I loved Previn's opera of "Streetcar," and that did not get good reviews at all.
#18re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:48pmHow about Miller's "Creation of the World and Other Business" into a musical? It could be the new "Children of Eden." Ok Ok, I am just kidding.
jmnpublications
Broadway Star Joined: 4/2/04
#19re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/12/04 at 11:49pm
Thanks, kjklo,
I'll check Amazon.com for the CD!
lc
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#20re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/13/04 at 12:15amThe Lyric Opera (Chicago) World Premiere of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE was in 1999. It was pretty good, except the nubile teenaged niece Eddie secretly lusted for looked to be about 35 years old and about 165 pounds. Oh well, that's the opera...
#21re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/13/04 at 11:05am
"The Creation of the World and Other Business" was actually turned into the off-Broadway Musical "Up From Paridise". Miller wrote the book and I forget who did the score. I liked it and it had a great cast.
God - Len Cariou
Adam - Austin Pendleton
Eve - Alice Playton
Lucifer - Walter Bobbie
Abel - Lonny Price
Cain - I forget, but he was good.
B.B. Wolf
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/26/04
#22re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/13/04 at 11:39am
Good call Margo. I was scrolling down this thread and was wondering why no one had mentioned View From the Bridge yet. Specifically, look at the song "The New York Lights" from act one. I think it's track twenty-two or three. It's an amazing song!
Even though it's a Williams play and not Miller, I think the "Streetcar" opera sucks immensely.
kjklo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/03
#23re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:23pmYeah, everybody thought the "Streetcar" opera "sucked immensely." I'm the only person I know of who liked it.
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#24re: Which Arthur Miller plays would make good musicals?
Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:35pm
Apparantly, UP FROM PARADISE opened in 1974 at Miller's Alma Mater, the University of Michigan. Get this: Miller wrote his OWN lyrics!
My research also indicates that show was telecast by NBC, but I never heard of production. Anyone see it?
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