here
is a growing trend in live theater that has caught on like wildfire. More
and more, plays are taking their cues from the movies, and it's proving to
be a formula that's working both critically and financially.Julie Taymor transformed the hit animated feature The Lion King for Broadway audiences in 1997. Elton John, who won an Oscar for the song "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," signed on to write a couple more tunes, and with the help of some fabulous costumes, and some brilliant staging, a hit was born.
The show won a number of prestigious awards, including a Tony for best musical, and is still selling out on Broadway. There are now thriving productions of The Lion King in London, Tokyo, Toronto, and Los Angeles that could all potentially play for years.
Musical theater is generally a crowd pleaser and if it appeals to the entire family, all the better. The Lion King, Beauty and The Beast and Grease are all shows that kids and parents can enjoy together, thus increasing box office revenue. Not to mention all the souvenirs and cast recordings that can be sold during intermission.
There have been dozens of hit musicals that have been adapted for the screen; for example, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, My Fair Lady and The Music Man, to name a few. However, over the last few years, it's hit movies that have been influencing what we see on stage.
"Musicals are a safe bet, especially ones that have been adapted from popular films," says John Karastamatis, Director of Public Relations and Marketing at Mirvish Productions in Toronto. "People are familiar with movies, which makes them feel a lot more comfortable when they are spending the money to see a live show. When Rogers and Hammerstein were writing musicals they had great literature to pull from, but these days people are not reading as much. They are watching television and going to the movies." When Cameron MacIntosh decided to turn Les Miserables into a stage musical, there were already an unbelievable 35 film versions that had already been made.
Toronto theater producer David Mirvish, who is enjoying the success of The Lion King at the Princess of Wales Theatre, has at least three new musicals in his current subscription series that have been adapted from movies. "We have The Full Monty, Saturday Night Fever and Peggy Sue Got Married, which is currently in production in London's West end," said Mirvish. "I think that the audience wants to see these on stage because of the recognition factor and if you are doing a very large scale musical you want something that the audience will connect with quickly." In addition, he adds, "to make it work you have to add something to it that will make it in some way different from the movie."
John Travolta, one of the film's original stars, has not seen the live show, and is in no hurry to go. He does, however, speak fondly when he looks back at the role that literally got him started in movies. "Well, it feels like a long time ago, but I do have good memories. After all, it began my career," Travolta said.
"When I see that Saturday Night Fever is a Broadway show it's kind of interesting. It's like okay, wow, I've never really gone that route. I mean I did Grease, which was originally a play that became a movie, but to do a movie and then it becomes a play, it's kind of interesting to me."
The Full Monty, which played to packed houses at Toronto's Elgin Theatre, has been a huge success in New York and London. The movie, also a hit when released in 1997, received four Oscar nominations and has grossed approximately $256 million worldwide. While the film was not a musical, according to David Mirvish it was the only way it could translate to the stage.
Case in point, the phenomenal success of the latest addition to the Great White Way, a live musical version of Mel Brook's classic 1968 film, The Producers. The show, starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, is the talk of the town, recently pulling in 15 Tony nominations and winning a record-breaking 12, including one for best new musical. There's not a ticket to be had until the middle of 2002.
One of the longest running successes of movies turned into a musical has to be The Phantom of The Opera. Garth Drabinsky's former company, Live Entertainment, turned the Pantages Theatre in Toronto into the musical's permanent home. The show ran for ten years, with a change-over of actors playing the Phantom which included rocker Paul Stanley from Kiss.
Mary Anne Farrell, V.P. of Marketing and Sales of SFX Theatrical Entertainment Group, agrees that musicals are, bar none, crowd pleasers. "We have had great response to the shows that we tour across the country. We had Beauty and The Beast on the road in Canada just wrapping up with a phenomenal two week run in Ottawa. Next year we are very excited about bringing Ragtime (another movie turned into a musical) to Western Canada for an unlimited engagement."
Not all musicals are instant hits. There have been some shows that made it to Broadway that just did not translate. Footloose was more popular with moviegoers than theater
enthusiasts,
but those are few and far between.The movie-turned-musical looks like it's here to stay. This fall, Broadway is preparing for a number of new shows that will include Thoroughly Modern Millie, adapted from the 1967 film starring Mary Tyler Moore and Julie Andrews. Also on tap to hit the stage are Moonstruck the musical (written by John Patrick Shanley who also wrote the screenplay), The Summer of '42 and The Sweet Smell of Success.
- Bonnie Laufer-Krebs