12 more Broadway musicals based on films we’d like to see on the big screen
From Heathers to Young Frankenstein, these titles could follow in the singing, dancing footsteps of The Color Purple and Mean Girls
Film Features Broadway musicals
Clockwise l to r: Some Like It Hot (Marc J. Franklin), Waitress (Josh Lehrer), Spamalot (Joan Marcus), Legally Blonde (Paul Kolnik) Graphic: The A.V. Club
It’s nothing new for Broadway creatives to look to Hollywood for inspiration, but the trend has gotten a little out of hand in recent years. You can’t throw a stone in Times Square without hitting an advertisement for the latest musical based on a movie. But now it’s Hollywood taking the cue from Broadway’s successes. With the release of The Color Purple and Mean Girls, the movie-to-musical-to-musical-movie pipeline is entering a new phase. What project could be next in line to come full circle? Here are some of our suggestions.
20 Comments
Honestly, I feel like I don’t really need any of these. Especially not Sunset Boulevard – we already have a film masterpiece there, somebody doing an assuredly less good version based on the musical is not appealing.One that’s not on this list that I would love is The Band’s Visit (which was based on the novel / Israeli film). Especially if Tony Shaloub & Katrina Lenk reprise their roles from the musical. That show was incredible, the music was terrific and I think it would translate well back to the screen.
I definitely prefer the pro shot recordings of the stage productions. I haven’t seen Waitress, but the ones I’ve seen like Newsies, Broadway Bandstand, and Hamilton have been really good quality and still captures part of the danger and excitement from doing something live. I’m sure in the right hands/feet, this Holiday Inn number would be exciting in a film version, but I think it’s doubly impressive when shot onstage:
100% with you. Our old movie theater, may it rest in peace, used to do Met Opera simulcasts and there is nothing like a well-shot stage show. No movie version of any of these musicals could really do the staging or lighting any justice.
I saw the original Broadway run of Sunset Boulevard with Glenn Close. The only thing memorable was the expensive staging and that the audience that night had numerous celebrities. The music was meh.
Sunset Boulevard is such a perfect movie, I can’t imagine songs adding anything to it. But if the sets resembled the house in the movie at all, I bet they were incredible to see in person.
The Broadway run was at the Minskoff Theatre which had/has a massive hydraulic lift that can lift an entire set up and out of the way. So the primary set was the opulent house and the staircase and it took up the entire stage. When they wanted to have a scene somewhere else they would raise the living room set – in full view, without lowering a curtain or dimming the lights. The actors from the previous scene were often still on the set. They would leave the living room set visible at various heights. The whole thing screamed, “Look how much money we spent!”
I believe Madonna is just about ready to do the Sunset Boulevard movie. She’s practically been doing a live audition a la Sean Young for Cat Woman.
The Band’s Visit is exquisite and one of my favorite musicals. No intermission to break the mood. The pro shot recording (please tell me they did it) would be entirely sufficient and most welcome.
Sunset Boulevard is also an absolutely dreadful musical with only two good songs in the entire 2.5 hour run (and to be fair they are brilliant songs). I saw the recent Broadway revival with Glenn Close and she was magnificent, but the show is a slog.
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Battleship: The Musical of the Movie of the Popular Board Game!Does Battleship count as a board game? Is this like a ‘is a hot dog a sandwich’ kinda thing?
Isn’t there a Broadway musical version of Sister Act which is just Some Like it Hot but dressing up as nuns instead of cross-dressing? How about that for a transition back to the silver screen?
RIP Robbie.I’m sure if he wanted to, Eric Idle could turn Nuns on the Run into a musical.
Legally Blonde. Saw it on B’way in previews. No memorable music, cute show though.
How about fucking none of them, you money-grubbing greedheads. You’re supposed to be creative, why don’t you create something new for a change.
We see a lot of the touring shows at our local theatres. Seeing Mrs. Doubtfire Friday night. Only sorta looking forward to it, although I’ve read it’s better than the movie, which would not take much.Most surprisingly good production we’ve seen over last year was Six. Infectious songs. I’m not much of a Broadway soundtrack guy, but I’ve played that one more than a few times. Also nice cuz it’s only like 90 minutes long!!!Hoping Spamalot shows up soon if it’s still touring around next year.
Reefer Madness: the Musical is ballpark 20 years old from around the time they shot it and premiered it on Showtime. It shoulda been in theaters. Rerelease it in theaters Paramount you bastards!! If nothing else, for the Kristen Bell nuts out there.Seriously though, I think maybe it didn’t connect because musically its opening and closing numbers are average-ish … anyone listening to the album would skip the rest after listening to the first couple songs. But oh my god, the middle 5 or 6 songs are absolute dynamite.The show stopper (sorry no clips of it are on You Tube):
I would love to see what Greta Gerwig would do with just about any Sondheim musical. Perhaps A Little Night Music with Kate Winslet as Desiree or an adaptation of the gender swapped Company that was recently on Broadway and was genius.
I’d nominate School of Rock, a much better show than many of the others on here. Beetlejuice also has a incredibly rabid fan base and is. . . fine. Other than that there is a LOT of dreck out there, speaking as a survivor of the King Kong, Bring It On, Tootsie and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musicals. Ugh, and I forgot Finding Neverland which was almost totally without merit.