The Theoretical Film Storm, May 2008 Edition: Broadway, My Way

[GregMcduck]

Just call me GregMcduck, king of running features.

The Theoretical Film Storm is a monthly feature where you come up with the movies you want to see!

There's a lot of "Oh, this movie is going to suck, I could make a better movie then this" talk, not just on this forum but through the entire internets. Ok, hotshot, say you had unlimited resources and could make the film you want to see? What movie would you make? Each month I'll pick a theme for us to explore. You can be as detailed and as crazy as you like in your movie description, as long as it's the film YOU would like to see get made.

This month's theme is adapting Broadway to the screen. We've seen many, but very few seem to get anyone's attention. Given the task of adapting any Broadway play to film, what would you do? Which one would you choose? Do you think it's high time we had a Cats movie? Would you redo a performance that's already been made into a film? Did the film version of Chicago suck so much that you want to start from scratch? Would you keep your adaption 100% faithful, or would you play around with it? Would you keep Les Miserables in the 19th century, or bring the story it to modern times so that Enjolras was a key figure in the 2005 French riots, or maybe put Valjean in space?

It's all up to you! Remember, this is the movie YOU want to see, not a movie made to please the masses. What is YOUR ideal movie?

[bratpop]

My initial thought is they should make Robin Williams: Live on Broadway into a movie, but I'm holding out hope that they'll make the Broadway Spider-Man musical into a movie.

[Courtney]

Semi-related, I think Wicked will make a terrible movie no matter what they do to it, and should stay on the stage.  Too bad it's absolutely going to happen anyway, and no doubt without Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenowith.

I'm in the minority that actually likes the movie version of Rent.  However, I'd fix it by going back in time and making it while the original cast was still young enough that they made any sense in those roles (but I'd still keep Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms instead of the original cast members.  My timeline that I've created is confusing in my mind.) 

If done right, a film version of The Last Five Years could work.  If it was an indie movie and stayed out of the hands of Hollywood, it could possibly work. 

Good idea for a thread, sir!

[MontyServo]

Well, it wouldn't shock me to see Spamalot made into a film. If done with the original Broadway cast, it would probably adapt really well to a film.  They could film it in England using some of the same locations as Holy Grail.

An Avenue Q film could work also, if they used real city locations and not Sesame Street style soundstage sets.  Although everyone should try and see that on stage at least once.

I also enjoyed Rent, so you're not alone on that one.  I also really enjoyed Hairspray.

And I'm looking forward to seeing Mamma Mia this summer.

[Junkyard]

I'd like to see one of the old Greek plays adapted to film. Maybe the Theban Saga? Action, adventure, sex, intrigue, a CGI monster or two, and you've got yourself a film.

[Chaos]

Two broadway plays immediately spring to mind when I think about possible great movies.

1) Coming Attractions. A fan-frickin'-tastic satire about a man who tries to get famous by murdering people, on the advice of his manager, who first discovers him trying to rob a bank. When he is finally captured by the police, his manager attempts to get him off the hook by helping him pretend to be insane. It's an awesome musical with a lot of sarcasm and wit crammed into every moment. This is a show for a slightly more intelligent crowd than your normal band of modern movie-goers, but I would love to see it happen someday. In terms of how I would do it - I think the writer pretty much got it perfect across the board, so I would make the movie stay very true to the original.

2) Enrico IV. This is a bizarre little number that I freely admit upfront would probably appeal to a limited group of people, but it is my absolute favourite play of all time because it is just so wacky. It's about a jaded millionaire who gets struck in the head at a dinner party with his friends, and decides that he is sick of his old life and so uses the "injury" to pretend to forget who he is - instead, he pretends to believe that he is a fourteenth century monarch. His friends, not wishing to damage his mind further, play along, and obey all of his crazy royal proclamations. The whole play is ludicrous from top to bottom, with lots of zany twists and turns thrown in. I honstly don't know what the best way to adapt this story to the big screen would be, especially since one of the seminal parts of the play is intentionally breaking the 4th wall and dragging some of the audience members into the action. It would have to be severely rewritten to change it to a non-interactive storyline, but I think the bare bones of the story itself could potentially make for a great movie.

[doggans]

I just want to see a GOOD movie version of "Oklahoma".

There, I said it.

[Tripe]

I've got to disagree with Courtney, I'd love to see Wicked and I'm sure it could be achieved if we mixed in a little of the grit from the book to flesh it out a bit.

Fyero would have his tattoos back for one thing.

I'd also like to see Avenue Q which would be ace if done correctly, could we get Wetta Workshop in on that since Jackson has done subversive muppets before.

On the non musical front I've always wanted to do a film where the plot lines of Romeo and Juliet, Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Taming of the Shrew interscented since they all take place in the same rough geographical area. That might work better as a mini series however.

[bratpop]

Seussical?

[esoobaC .T bocaJ]

I'd like Young Frankenstein, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Spamalot to be made into films (with the original actors of course)

[Petey Wheatstraw]

Given the task of adapting any Broadway play to film, what would you do? Which one would you choose?

Frank Zappa's Thing-Fish. So what if it was never actually performed on Broadway. A feminist-type former blow-up sex doll turned into a human fucking a giant briefcase is pure gold!

[ImOscardotcom]

So since there's only a few days left in May and I'd like to hear some more potential musicals/plays-turned-films (plus it would be nice if Greg made a few more of these threads and I doubt he would be interested if it didn't really take off the first time) I thought I'd revive this topic. I'll have to think about what musical I'd turn into a film, thers's nothing to stop you guys.....

[mrbasehart]

I expect we'll see Spamalot in the near future come to the screen.  I have mixed feelings about that....I've heard the soundtrack and it's basically Monty Python's greatest hits, with a few newer ones thrown in.  Anybody seen the full thing?

[Courtney]

I expect we'll see Spamalot in the near future come to the screen.  I have mixed feelings about that....I've heard the soundtrack and it's basically Monty Python's greatest hits, with a few newer ones thrown in.  Anybody seen the full thing?

I saw it when it first started (it debuted here in Chicago with the original cast before moving to Broadway) and I loved it, but I know I wouldn't love it as much without Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, Hank Azaria and so on.  It was good, and I liked the songs, but I think most of my affections were for the players over the content. 

[Tyrant]

I expect we'll see Spamalot in the near future come to the screen.  I have mixed feelings about that....I've heard the soundtrack and it's basically Monty Python's greatest hits, with a few newer ones thrown in.  Anybody seen the full thing?

  Pak and I saw it in Vegas last year. It had a special Vegas-only alternate ending so we're still not sure how it's really supposed to end. We can only assume it resembles the ending in the Holy Grail (which, to this day, I still believe is the best ending for any movie ever in the history of movies). We had a good time and, as a person who typically doesn't care for such things, I found it to be extremely entertaining. I went all art-geek and also rather enjoyed the ambiance effectively supplied by the awesome sets.