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It's not where you start, it's where you finish...

Posted by: FriendofDorothy 10:56 pm EDT 03/17/14
In reply to: Daily Beast: Is Broadway Brain-Dead? - ryhog 08:16 pm EDT 03/17/14

The inspirational source is, I think, far less important to the ultimate quality of the finished musical than what you do with the inspiration. I have said before that the idea of a musical based on a century old painting would have caused me to be quite a bit more than skeptical, and probably be bored to tears in the theatre. Yet Sunday in the Park... was the best night I ever spent in a theatre. An inebriated monologue part sung in a musical ouvre not of my usual taste turned into one of the most stirring visions of humanity ever put on stage. Hedwig took a tragically absurd story and entertained the hell out of me while making me feel more than good about self-acceptance and the nature of sex and love.

If creators of a show take a movie (or book or play) and simply set it to music and stage it, it becomes probably at best serviceable. But if they can find their own way to keep the charms of the source, while making it fresh and new and unique to the theatre, they can create something wonderful. I wouldn't care if every future musical came from a film, famous or obscure, if they work wonders with it. I just hope the producers say to the writers and directors, "Take this movie, understand the story, and then tell that story on the stage" rather than "Smoothly stage this movie."


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Previous: re: One thing to remember - ryhog 06:01 pm EDT 03/18/14
Next: re: It's not where you start, it's where you finish... - Michael_Portantiere 10:08 am EDT 03/18/14

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