7,054 posts
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Post by Jon on Jul 26, 2018 13:32:38 GMT
I think Mary Poppins shouldn't count because it's not an adaptation of the film
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Post by Mr Snow on Jul 26, 2018 13:48:00 GMT
I actually wrote my OP whilst rewatching Chicago last night. One Nil to the Theatre! B Bear. OG 1st minute. |
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1,995 posts
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Post by distantcousin on Jul 26, 2018 14:06:55 GMT
And as such are destined to disappoint any discerning theatregoer when seen live. Cabaret. West Side Story. Chicago. Sound of Music Oliver! Stay home and put on the dvd. Right? Completely disagree with you on Cabaret and Chicago.
To add to that, I would say: Billy Elliot Priscilla Ghost
Most adaptations I've seen have STANK.
Also the film of Dreamgirls is far richer and expansive than the stage show which gets repetitive and is too much of "an entertainment" than a piece of theatre.
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Post by MrsCondomine on Jul 26, 2018 14:59:03 GMT
No performance of Chicago has ever lived up to the film version, for me personally.
I think CZ-J is the perfect Velma and Zellweger is stinkin cute as Roxie. The framing device of it being in her head (and her stupidity in yelling out in court, etc., being played up to the hilt) makes it for me.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2018 16:05:54 GMT
Hairspray, Grease and Sound of Music.
Hairspray needs to have a good producer to be done right, Grease the stage show is a bit tacky and flashy and tends to attract rowdy audiences, and Sound of Music just felt very long and dragged out on stage, and I’m yet to find a Maria who lives up to Andrews herself.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2018 17:05:34 GMT
I'm surprised to see Hairspray mentioned so much. The original production before it got downsized was perfection, the movie I find so flat with some poor casting choices
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2018 18:07:19 GMT
I'm surprised to see Hairspray mentioned so much. The original production before it got downsized was perfection, the movie I find so flat with some poor casting choices My main problem with Hairspray is the current run-down looking production out on tour. The cast are young, perky and enthusiastic and I’m sure it’s a great show for new actors, but the current production has virtually no set, faulty props and dirty looking costumes. |
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Post by sempala on Jul 26, 2018 19:05:16 GMT
I honestly think the Dreamgirls film is better than the musical! Better character development! Wow, really? I really hated the film, especially thought it was horribly miscast (Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and yes, even Jennifer Hudson) and some of the story arcs particularly involving Jimmy were ridiculous. The stage show characterisations just had so much more charisma and was so much tighter without some of the unnecessary new songs. I guess its a matter of personal opinion!  I preferred how they actually had a girl play Effie's daughter, Magic, rather than have her mentioned in a passing comment. I found that I also quite liked the end where Curtis comes to realizes who Magic is! I really do also think that Lorell and Michelle were very well cast and I warmed to them much more than the stage characters (I find Lorell on stage becomes almost a caricature, whilst Michelle is literally no one) |
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Post by distantcousin on Jul 26, 2018 20:37:55 GMT
Wow, really? I really hated the film, especially thought it was horribly miscast (Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and yes, even Jennifer Hudson) and some of the story arcs particularly involving Jimmy were ridiculous. The stage show characterisations just had so much more charisma and was so much tighter without some of the unnecessary new songs. I guess its a matter of personal opinion! I preferred how they actually had a girl play Effie's daughter, Magic, rather than have her mentioned in a passing comment. I found that I also quite liked the end where Curtis comes to realizes who Magic is! I really do also think that Lorell and Michelle were very well cast and I warmed to them much more than the stage characters (I find Lorell on stage becomes almost a caricature, whilst Michelle is literally no one) Agree with all this. Saw it once on stage. Enjoyed it, but no desire to watch again. The film, however, I would revisit time and time again (In fact I recently bought the 10th anniversary director's cut blu ray!) |
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1,929 posts
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Post by LaLuPone on Jul 26, 2018 20:50:47 GMT
I agree with the comments that the Dreamgirls movie adding more historical context, the CC/Michelle relationship and the death of Jimmy plus more was definitely a good choice but then I still feel the show on stage is leaps and bounds ahead of the film. The magic of Dreamgirls for me is the voices, hearing someone like Marisha Wallace belt out And I Am Telling You and seeing, hearing, feeling the emotion is just so exhilarating. All those incredible costumes, quick changes and crystal curtains really make the show for me too and all of this is lost on film. For me I just get so much more out of a live performance of this show.
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Post by steve10086 on Jul 26, 2018 20:53:18 GMT
I'm surprised to see Hairspray mentioned so much. The original production before it got downsized was perfection, the movie I find so flat with some poor casting choices My main problem with Hairspray is the current run-down looking production out on tour. The cast are young, perky and enthusiastic and I’m sure it’s a great show for new actors, but the current production has virtually no set, faulty props and dirty looking costumes. The original West End production was one big cardboard fest, with some added fake corpsing. Give me the movie any day! |
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Post by danb on Jul 26, 2018 21:05:30 GMT
I much prefer the Hairspray movie.’Ladies Choice’...tick. That glorious string coda at the end of ‘You Can’t Stop The Beat’...tick. Spot on casting...tick. They should give Adam Shankman some more musicals to make.
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Post by Dave25 on Jul 26, 2018 21:50:01 GMT
I also loved the way the real life scenes were transformed into the glamorous musical numbers seen through Roxy’s fevered imagination. I think they should do this with a movie version of Miss Saigon too. Many scenes take place in a character's mind, it's about their imagination. For example, last Night of the world should be something better than life, not the cold concrete small empty room that was probably realistic, but in their minds it is sweltering, passionate and soaring. Show what's in their minds. Thuy's death does not have to be in an alley between a trash can and a clothes line either, because when she shoots him, it's the end of the world for her. So instead of some pedestrians singing the choir, why not take Kim to a big, black undefined space, holding Thuy while a creepy smoke surrounds her that turns into a choir of 1000 ghosts, like shades of guilt, singing (not necessericly mouthing the words, but more like a voice over), really turning it into a very haunting scene. Non-literal. The essence of this artform. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2018 21:59:51 GMT
Mamma Mia! The stage version is bare in comparison and no one can out-do Meryl.
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Post by sherriebythesea on Jul 27, 2018 1:13:38 GMT
I’ve always thought the film Brigadoon was darn near perfect. The live performance was so long ago I doubt if there is anyone who could do a comparison. I’m not sure if revivals would count
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Post by phantz on Jul 27, 2018 9:22:33 GMT
To add to that, I would say: Billy Elliot .......
Most adaptations I've seen have STANK.
wat
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2018 20:07:33 GMT
Dragging this back up (and I know this is a slightly different case as the film isn't a musical), but I think there is a portion of people who go to see Matilda expecting it to be virtually like the 1996 Danny DeVito film because it is quite iconic, but don't really expect it to be more like Roald Dahl book. Although the story is more or less the same (with the addition of the acrobat and escapologist story), I think some people come away a little baffled.
Does anyone else think the same? I've noticed it especially as it's here in Birmingham for the summer.
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Post by mrtumnus on Aug 24, 2018 17:47:06 GMT
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was rank rotten on stage. Can't remember one of the original songs. And the amateur over the top acting from the screaming kids (or over the top direction) grated with every unintelligible syllable. Surprised Billy Elliot's been mentioned as I thought stage version was far grittier and had way more impact than the film.
Loved both stage and film versions of Hairspray and Sound of Music.
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Post by emsworthian on Aug 25, 2018 8:11:29 GMT
Liza is sensational in the film "Cabaret" but some people think she is too good to be believable as Sally Bowles. She plays a neurotic, insecure woman in a 10th rate Berlin nightclub and then she goes out and gives a performance that only a world-class entertainer can give.
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Post by indis on Aug 25, 2018 8:27:29 GMT
Tarzan is soooo much better on stage, i love the film but the musical is just  not keen on Lion King as film or stage version maybe i should watch Dreamgirls the movie to compare both, so far only seen the musical, was ok but nothing more Prefer Grease and Chicago as film by far to the stage version other way round with West Side Story |
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Post by SageStageMgr on Aug 25, 2018 10:15:10 GMT
Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz, West Side Story
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449 posts
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Post by SageStageMgr on Aug 25, 2018 10:52:47 GMT
Did you see the Regent's Park Open Air production, though? That was easily as good as the film - even scarier at the end when they transported the entire auditorium back in time to the actual Anschluss period. I'm afraid I didn't! I wish I had! I just find it hard because Julie Andrews is so synonymous with those roles - these films were my childhood. No matter how hard I try, I really struggle to get past it. I know this is my failing and no reflection on the shows themselves, they just personally left me cold each time I've seen them. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 25, 2018 11:05:53 GMT
Whilst there are a number of stage musicals that were adapted into great film musicals, it seems true that musicals written for film have found it far tougher to make the transition to the stage.
One of the problems with many stage-to-film musicals is that some songs tend to get lost in the transition - so you might well find a favourite number not making the cut. A number of scores were significantly compromised for the film version. But at least you get the majority of the core music.
Going the other way, many musicals created for film don't actually have enough songs to fill out an evening in the theatre. Sometimes the original creators can be brought on board to create the necessary new material. Often new composers/lyricists are brought on board to write stuff to fit round the film soundtrack. This can be done seamlessly. But it can also end up being very much a case of them and us in terms of quality.
For me, West Side Story is one of very few musicals that works as well on stage and film.
The Sound of Music never has worked for me in either form - I just find it overblown in both formats.
Cabaret is one where the two versions are so, so different that I just can't think of them as being the same piece. I love the stage version and just don't get on with the film (this, to many, is a heretical view - but I find it loses too much from cutting out the emotional heart of the piece - which has always been the relationship between Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz)
Oliver! comes close to being great in both forms - but again, too much good music is lost.
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Post by karloscar on Aug 25, 2018 11:22:05 GMT
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Calamity Jane have never had the magic on stage that they had on film. The casts, settings and choreography can never be equalled. Mary Poppins on film was always too saccharine and the children too nice, so I thought the stage version was far more exciting and also moving, and the new songs are even better than some of the originals. And much closer to what Pamela Travers would have wanted. Controversial I know.
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Post by distantcousin on Aug 25, 2018 12:27:26 GMT
Did you see the Regent's Park Open Air production, though? That was easily as good as the film - even scarier at the end when they transported the entire auditorium back in time to the actual Anschluss period. That I'd have paid good money for! |
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I preferred how they actually had a girl play Effie's daughter, Magic, rather than have her mentioned in a passing comment. I found that I also quite liked the end where Curtis comes to realizes who Magic is!
