#26
Posted: 2/21/09 at 7:52pm
Who remembers the movie spinoff "Bartok"?
Why hasn't the Ahrens and Flaherty "Anastasia" been turned into a stage musical yet? — Page 2
#27
Posted: 2/21/09 at 8:05pm
It's a charming score, with one of the better "I want" numbers, "Journey to the Past." It's almost textbook -- the way "...World" functions in MERMAID. The Liz Callaway vocal performance is pretty wonderful in the film. Worse material has been adapted, and this one has the grabber obligatory scene with the grandmother. It always works, always, even in the cartoon.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#28
Posted: 2/21/09 at 9:12pm
I actually think that Autumn from the Legally Blonde reality show would be good as Anya.
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
#29
Posted: 2/21/09 at 9:24pm
I would love to see this on stage! The music is wonderful and it's a fantasy piece... I just think it would work very well onstage.
"If we don't live happily ever after at least we survive until the end of the week!" -Kermit the frog "I need the money... it costs a lot to look this cheap!" -Dolly P. "Oh please, Over at 'Gypsy' Patti LuPone hasn't even alienated her first daughter yet!" Mary Testa in "Xanadu" "...Like a drunk Chita Rivera!" Robin de Jesus in "In the Heights"
"B*tch, I don't know your life." -Xanadu After that if he still doesn't understand why you were uncomfortable and are now infuriated, kick him again but this time with Jazz Hands!!! -KillerTofu
#30
Posted: 2/21/09 at 9:25pm
See, I don't think that it would matter that the true story came out about what happened to the royal family in 1918. I mean, we all knew that the original movie was, to say the least, historically inaccurate. Yet, people just suspended disbelief and enjoyed the movie. If the movie is turned into a show, I don't see why people can't just do the same thing again.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
#31
Posted: 2/22/09 at 1:33am
^ I completely agree. I also think that it would be a draw for families/kids, and (for the most part) kids wouldn't give a rat's a$$ if it's historically accurate or not as long as it's cute and entertaining. Sutton would be a great Anya. I really like the movie and would like to see it musicalized, but it also makes me a little sad that smaller/original shows like "Story" and "[tos]" are having a hard time sticking it out right now.
Oh, and I know there's been threads on this before, but "Mulan" and "Hercules" could also make for fun film-to-stage musicals too!
Oh, and I know there's been threads on this before, but "Mulan" and "Hercules" could also make for fun film-to-stage musicals too!
"You don't just stop posting horse s*** on the web!"-The [Title of Show] Show
#32
Posted: 2/22/09 at 1:51am
I was just thinking about this a couple days I think it would work well on stage if the retooled and reconstructed some things in the plot (rasputen character for instance) to make it well suitable for the stage but the score is truly broadway material.
#33
Posted: 2/22/09 at 1:51am
sorry double post.
but can we have Patti Lupone as Rasputen?
but can we have Patti Lupone as Rasputen?
Updated On: 2/22/09 at 01:51 AM
#34
Posted: 2/22/09 at 5:44am
"Now that I think about it, a musical about Rasputin would be much more interesting."
Apart from the musical that was mentioned, there have been at least two operas: one that was unsuccessful by Jay Reise at New York City Opera and more recently an acclaimed opera by the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara (and this one's available on DVD). And Rasputin's a character in Deborah Drattell's opera Nicolas and Alexandra, which was not well-received when premiered in Los Angeles in 2003 (the same year the Rautavaara opera premiered in Helsinki).
"LITTLE MERMAID is also on DVD, but I'd wager that Disney has no regrets about bringing that one to the stage, and dispite what many would argue is acrually a weak product, it's doing quite well."
No, it's not really doing quite well. It did well for the nine months or so of its run, but even then it was not doing the kind of blockbuster business for which Disney had surely hoped. Since the end of the summer, it's had at least a few (and possibly more than a few) weeks when it's been below its weekly nut. This is not good for a show that cost a fortune to mount.
It seems possible that it might eventually return its investment, but it won't make much profit. And it may very well close at a loss when it closes, which is certainly going to be sooner than Disney must have hoped when they embarked on the venture.
It's hard to figure these things out because only the folks at Disney know what the weekly nut is, but I think it's gotta be at least 650K and perhaps more like 700K (or even a little more). If business goes back up enough this summer, it may pay off. I'm sure business will go back up during the summer, but I'm not sure it will go up enough.
Apart from the musical that was mentioned, there have been at least two operas: one that was unsuccessful by Jay Reise at New York City Opera and more recently an acclaimed opera by the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara (and this one's available on DVD). And Rasputin's a character in Deborah Drattell's opera Nicolas and Alexandra, which was not well-received when premiered in Los Angeles in 2003 (the same year the Rautavaara opera premiered in Helsinki).
"LITTLE MERMAID is also on DVD, but I'd wager that Disney has no regrets about bringing that one to the stage, and dispite what many would argue is acrually a weak product, it's doing quite well."
No, it's not really doing quite well. It did well for the nine months or so of its run, but even then it was not doing the kind of blockbuster business for which Disney had surely hoped. Since the end of the summer, it's had at least a few (and possibly more than a few) weeks when it's been below its weekly nut. This is not good for a show that cost a fortune to mount.
It seems possible that it might eventually return its investment, but it won't make much profit. And it may very well close at a loss when it closes, which is certainly going to be sooner than Disney must have hoped when they embarked on the venture.
It's hard to figure these things out because only the folks at Disney know what the weekly nut is, but I think it's gotta be at least 650K and perhaps more like 700K (or even a little more). If business goes back up enough this summer, it may pay off. I'm sure business will go back up during the summer, but I'm not sure it will go up enough.
#35
Posted: 2/22/09 at 1:23pm
I already have the dream creative team for it.
Book by HEATHER HACH
Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS
Scenic Design by BOB CROWLEY
Costume Design by ANN HOULD-WARD
Lighting Design by KEN BILLINGTON
Sound Design by DAN MOSES SCHREIER
Special Effects Design by GREG MEEH
Musical Direction by DAVID LOUD
Orchestrations by DOUG BESTERMAN and MICHAEL STAROBIN
Dance Arrangements by DAVID CHASE
Incidental and Vocal Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
Choreography by CASEY NICHOLAW
Direction by MIKE NICHOLS
Book by HEATHER HACH
Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS
Scenic Design by BOB CROWLEY
Costume Design by ANN HOULD-WARD
Lighting Design by KEN BILLINGTON
Sound Design by DAN MOSES SCHREIER
Special Effects Design by GREG MEEH
Musical Direction by DAVID LOUD
Orchestrations by DOUG BESTERMAN and MICHAEL STAROBIN
Dance Arrangements by DAVID CHASE
Incidental and Vocal Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
Choreography by CASEY NICHOLAW
Direction by MIKE NICHOLS
"How could she just suddenly, completely disappear into thin water?" - The Little Mermaid
#36
Posted: 2/22/09 at 1:31pm
Don't even joke about Heather Hach so much as touching this book...
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
#37
Posted: 2/22/09 at 1:31pm
SporkGoddess, I agree with you! (About Autumn, but also about Heather Hach.)
It has no business being a musical because the whole premise is a lie. All of Nicholas II's immediate family were murdered in Etakerinburg in 1918.
Yes, but Anastasia' not meant to be historically accurate. It's using real characters in a very, very fictitious way. Like Pocahontas-- that's as historically inaccurate as they come. And a lot of Disney musicals based on works of fiction are just as untrue to the source material-- Ariel DIES at the end of The Little Mermaid because the prince won't marry her. The Hunchback of Notre Dame... well, read the book and you'll see what I mean, but Phoebus is not a knight in shining armor and Quasimodo is certainly not gentle.
It has no business being a musical because the whole premise is a lie. All of Nicholas II's immediate family were murdered in Etakerinburg in 1918.
Yes, but Anastasia' not meant to be historically accurate. It's using real characters in a very, very fictitious way. Like Pocahontas-- that's as historically inaccurate as they come. And a lot of Disney musicals based on works of fiction are just as untrue to the source material-- Ariel DIES at the end of The Little Mermaid because the prince won't marry her. The Hunchback of Notre Dame... well, read the book and you'll see what I mean, but Phoebus is not a knight in shining armor and Quasimodo is certainly not gentle.
In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy
Updated On: 2/22/09 at 01:31 PM
#38
Posted: 2/22/09 at 1:35pm
Anastasia has a good score. Not as strong as Beauty and the Beast, in my opinion, but definitely a very solid score. Really, the only thing that held the movie back was the largely unnecessary antagonist of Rasputin- portraying him as an undead sorcerer really conflicted with the slightly fantastical, but not supernatural, main story.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#39
Posted: 2/22/09 at 1:38pm
I totally think Lenin should have been the villain. 
But, yeah, everyone here wants Hercules made into a Broadway musical and that movie completely slaughters Greek mythology, so I don't get the "accuracy" complaints.
But, yeah, everyone here wants Hercules made into a Broadway musical and that movie completely slaughters Greek mythology, so I don't get the "accuracy" complaints.
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
#40
Posted: 2/22/09 at 3:20pm
I havent seen the movie in years and was just looking at the cast on imdb and never reilized how many well known people worked on this from both the film and broadway industries. I mean besides the big stars like: meg ryan, john cusack, kelsey grammar, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Kirsten Dunst and Lacey Chabert look at the broadway community involved: Bernadette Peters, Angela Lansbury, Andrea Martin, Liz Callaway, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Victoria Clark, Gregg Edelman, Darius de Haas, Michele Pawk, Billy Porter, Emily Skinner and Lilas White!!!!
I feel like that is ridiculous how many well known people from both communitys were involved. If you had say a fraction of that cast it would do well in NY.
I feel like that is ridiculous how many well known people from both communitys were involved. If you had say a fraction of that cast it would do well in NY.
<------ Me and my friends with patti Lupone at my friends afterparty for her concert with audra mcdonald during the summer of 2007.
"I am sorry but it is an unjust world and virtue is only triumphant in theatricle performances" The Mikado
"I am sorry but it is an unjust world and virtue is only triumphant in theatricle performances" The Mikado
#41
Posted: 2/22/09 at 5:28pm
People are complaining that Anastasia is not historically accurate because all of the Romanovs were killed, but somehow are okay with the parts of the film with a talking bat, "magic" viewing and spells?
I'd rather see a musicalized movie on stage, than a staged version of a movie musical. I'm still waiting for On the Road, the Musical and Catcher in the Rye, the Musical.
I'd rather see a musicalized movie on stage, than a staged version of a movie musical. I'm still waiting for On the Road, the Musical and Catcher in the Rye, the Musical.
#42
Posted: 2/22/09 at 6:43pm
check this out.
In 1995 Fox executives gave animation directors/producers Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, then newly appointed as the creative heads of Fox Animation Studios, the choice between creating an animated re-make of either My Fair Lady or the 1956 Fox film Anastasia. Bluth and Goldman chose to make the animated film Anastasia, which became the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film in 1997.
I would have liked to see my fair lady instead.
In 1995 Fox executives gave animation directors/producers Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, then newly appointed as the creative heads of Fox Animation Studios, the choice between creating an animated re-make of either My Fair Lady or the 1956 Fox film Anastasia. Bluth and Goldman chose to make the animated film Anastasia, which became the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film in 1997.
I would have liked to see my fair lady instead.
Updated On: 2/22/09 at 06:43 PM
#43
Posted: 3/6/09 at 12:53pm
I wouldn't. Especially if it turned into the mess that most of the animated "The King and I" was.
"There is no problem so big that it cannot be run away from."
~ Charles M. Schulz
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