So Fetch! BWW Readers Want Musical Versions of MEAN GIRLS, THE BREAKFAST CLUB and More High School Classics
By: Sally Henry Jul. 25, 2015
High school movies are undeniably beloved.
They might not be Orson Welles caliber; you probably won't study many of them in film classes, and they certainly wouldn't receive Oscars, but despite all that, high school-centric movies are still close to our hearts.
Since we've learned that sequels rarely improve on or add much joy to the original (I'm looking at you, MEAN GIRLS 2), making a musical seems to be the only way to expand on classic high school flicks.
For instance, just last season, a musical version of HEATHERS played Off-Broadway. Every few months, Tina Fey comes out from wherever she is to give some kind of update on the MEAN GIRLS musical she's promising us, and of late, BroadwayWorld has been bringing readers updates regarding the progress of the musical version of CLUELESS, the Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd film based on Jane Austen's EMMA.
So many high school movie musicals! What will be next? No really, we asked our readers, and they gave us some great responses. Check out their ideas and my personal, completely objective and not at all biased breakdown below!
Highlights from our Twitter crowd:
@AlyssaIsNerdy: THE BREAKFAST CLUB
@_cydnie:The Craft and/or Jawbreaker
@caseygwilliamx: breakfast club!!!!
@BrooksDslbrooks: Ferris Buellers Day Off!
@LauHale: sixteen candles, the breakfast club and ferris bueller's day off
@caseygwilliamx: CRY BABY
Highlights from the cool kids on Facebook:
John Heidrich: EMPIRE Records and 10 Things I Hate About You.
Billy Murphy: Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Marina Toscano-Guerrero: Girls just want to have fun
Julia Levine: BREAKFAST CLUB!
Crystal Marie Hall: Mean girls or perks of being a wallflower
Sarah Coradi: Weird Science
Michaela Mak Kruger: The outsiders I think would be good
Asia Denise Nicholson: Pretty in Pink!
I've unwittingly made a tradition of giving naysayers their moment, so here are some dissenting opinions:
Will Johnson: When will producers realize that the longest running shows are all original works, while all these adaptations of movies close after one season (or sooner)... Why would you put yourself in direct competition with Netflix?...
Kevin Gratton: None. Broadway needs more original work and fewer productions of mediocre films.
5. Back to the Future
I'll go ahead and say that if this musical doesn't include some rockin' version of "The Power of Love," I'm not interested. This classic '80s Michael J. FOX movie tells the story of an accidental time traveler who ends up running into his parents as teens and almost completely destroys their future. Bless the person who finds a way to rhyme "1.21 giggawats" and "flux capacitor" with ANYTHING.
4. The Breakfast Club
Dramatic, unpredictable, angsty teens who each have their own set of issues and LOTS of feelings? Just add some songs, and this might just become GLEE the Musical: '80s Throwback Edition. It's difficult to imagine how this score could be anything besides angst ballads (the technical term), but in the right hands, it could happen! Maybe get SPRING AWAKENING's Duncan Sheik, Steven Sater on it?
3. 10 Things I Hate About You
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW set in a '90s high school, starring Julia Stiles, a pre-DARK KNIGHT Heath Ledger, and a post-ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD Joseph Gordon-Levitt- it's golden for the nerds who like to brag about A) knowing the movie is based on Shakespeare, and B) loving JGL before anyone else. There are already a couple of musicals based on Shakespeare's comedy, namely Cole Porter's KISS ME KATE, and SHREW! The Musical, but adding high schoolers to the mix somehow makes anything more interesting. Obviously the burning question on everyone's mind is: will Patrick woo Katherine on the football field singing "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" or an original song...? I think the only writer who could do this show justice is Jason Robert Brown.
2. Mean Girls
It's so obvious that this needs to happen, it's not even funny. MEAN GIRLS creator Tina Fey has even said the show is in production (somewhere in the infinite pre-production musical universe, probably hanging out with BACK TO THE FUTURE). Tina, may I strongly offer some song title suggestions? What about: "She Doesn't Even go Here," "And None for Gretchen Weiners," and the obvious: "Fetch"? It's a work in progress.
1. The Princess Diaries
Note: The fact that this is my favorite movie of all time makes me only slightly biased. But nevertheless, the story of the invisible Mia Thermopolis (pre-LES MISERABLES Anne Hathaway) who learns that not only is her grandmother (JULIE FREAKIN' ANDREWS, Y'ALL!!) the queen of a totally fictitious obscure European country, Mia herself is the sole heiress to the throne, made an adorable coming of age film. I could see this making a very sweet musical, maybe by Pasek and Paul.
My only request to producers: to reduce redundancy, PLEASE stagger these openings by a couple years. (See: that time JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and GODSPELL opened in the same season)
Follow Sally Henry on Twitter for more sassy opinions: @BwayGinger
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