wow, everyone's comments were really good and insightful. This certainly would be the team to pull it off, however, a big difference between this and Grey Gardens is that there were two larger-than-life characters in Grey. Seems like it might be harder to write for more of a "slice of suburban life" from the fifties. As I say, it will be fascinating to see their vision.
My doubts about this are similar to those others have posted. It is hard for me to imagine a more intrinsically cinematic movie than FAR FROM HEAVEN (or at least intrinsically cinematic in so far as it relates to and conveys the film's power and beauty). Then again it is hard for me to imagine a more intrinsically theatrical stage musical than CHICAGO. I wish the creators of FAR FROM HEAVEN the same luck and success the filmmakers of CHICAGO had in confounding my skepticism.
I wish them luck, too. It won't be easy to adapt for the stage, but the challenge should make it all the more appealing.
As long as they don't take a conventional approach with recent film-to-stage adaptations, the possibilities are intriguing and exciting.
I'm also very glad that someone is attempting to adapt a film with mature themes and not just flying nannies and furry animals that talk. This is definitely not one of those "everybody knows the movie, so we thought we'd capitalize on that!" properties.
But many thought Grey Gardens was a strange and "un-adaptable" film, and it was one of my favorite musicals of the last 20 years.
GREY GARDENS was absolutely breath-taking, IMO, I just thought the music so perfectly captured the mood of the musical in both acts, and it had haunting performances that were captivating. I think the same team can capture something similar in a FAR FROM HEAVEN adaptation, I feel they should try to maybe find the "Douglas Sirk" of musical theatre and perhaps create something owing to that much like Haynes uses Sirk to tell his version of a similar story. I agree with Besty that they need to take some risks and not gives us run of the mill balls about how hard it is to live in the 50s, that would make the story kind of stale.
I saw the film for the first time today. HOLY SHIT! The SCORE. The ART DIRECTION. The COSTUMES. The DIRECTION. The PERFORMANCES. The SCORE. THE SCORE. THE SCORE. So beautiful. A lovely little masterpiece of a film. How can it be that no one has ever recommended it to me until now?
During the credits (yes, I watched the entire credits, mesmerized, which is artful in itself), as I listened to the underscoring, I couldn't help but think that the basic plot line could make for a lovely ballet piece.
Speaking of what kind of score the musical should have, I assume most have already read this, but the Williamtown site does say "With a lush score that is both jazz-inflected and hauntingly lyrical".
I did not know, Eric. Thanks. Sounds like the right approach to me.
I think the movie is perfection which unfortunately in my humble opinion it can only go downhill from there. And truly i hope I'm wrong but I just don't think I am.
Case in point Ghost (ruined as a musical) Sister Act and Legally Blonde (mediocre and certainly not as good as their movie counterparts.)
Other masterpiece movies that fizzled as musicals Exodus, Shogun,
Sometimes its best to leave perfection alone. I'm willing to be surprised but I just don't see how they can improve it with music and lyrics.
I was really sad when the movie's wonderful period score didn't win the Oscar. It's among my all-time favorites.
Elmer Bernstein wrote one of his very best. He was also responsible for To Kill a Mockingbird (another iconic film score that failed to get him the award).
Far From Heaven was Bernstein's swan song for feature films. He died in 2004.
In addition to Mockingbird and Heaven, he also scored hundreds of other movies, including The Magnificent Seven (everybody knows that theme even if they don't know why), The Age of Innocence, Sweet Smell of Success, The Ten Commandments, Summer and Smoke, Hud, Animal House, Ghostbusters, Airplane!, My Left Foot, The Grifters, Thriller (Michael Jackson's), The Black Cauldron, Rambling Rose ...
... and his only Oscar was for Thoroughly Modern Millie.
goldenboy- There are also examples of great films being turned into equally good if not better musicals. Stuff like Smiles of a Summer Night, The Light in the Piazza and Scott Frankel's own Grey Gardens are all improvements on their source material.
Can you imagine if Grey Gardens had been musicalized by the creative teams of Ghost, Sister Act or Ari?
I'm not saying it will be easy, but I don't think it's a lost cause before it's started. After Grey Gardens (and being one of three people who actually liked Happiness) I will forever give Frankel the benefit of the doubt.
Interesting examples, but I'm not sure I'd agree; fun as Smiles of a Summer Night is, it's definitely not Bergman's pinnacle. A good movie, but great?
I don't think Light in the Piazza is a particularly good movie - de Havilland is arch and posy, Hamilton doesn't convince as an Italian, and the story does drag.
Grey Gardens is a documentary, not a plot-driven "movie." It's delightful, but the musical is an almost entirely different animal, creating a lot of invented story using ideas of the characters as a mere springboard.
For the first two, I'd say the musical improved upon the source material; for the third, I'd say the musical is almost entirely different from the source (which can be the best way to go sometimes).
I would hope that the Far From Heaven musical would use that last approach, rather than trying to stay true to the film.
I'll give you that compared to Scenes From a Marriage or Persona, Smiles is merely good, but compared to most movies I'll still give a "great" rating.
You're right that Piazza is far from a perfect movie, but in some ways no worse than Ghost or Legally Blonde as the examples above of "great" movies ruined in their musical adaptations.
Also the second act of the Grey Gardens musical is so much like the documentary, brilliantly weaving the dialogue into the lyrics even, that I really consider it "movie-musical." Even act one cleverly takes much for the documentary.
Also I just thought of La Cage aux Folles and 8 1/2. La Cage is merely fun fluff, but so is the musical, and thanks to Harvey's book I find it much better. 8 1/2 and Nine might be the best example of a film and it's fostered movie being both masterful works.
My only point was that one can take great/good movies and make good musicals out of them. Just like one can take good books and plays and adapt great musicals too. There's no reason to be disheartened simply because Far From Heaven is a good movie.
Oh, yes - 8 1/2 and Nine are a great movie and a great musical, and they are a terrific example of how to adapt a source. The musical departs radically in tone and story from the source, while staying true to the ideas and creating new variations upon them. Perfect example.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, for those who worship the mediocre), most writers lack the talent, skill, and imagination to adapt a good work into a better or equally good work. Most will just take the source, cut out scene changes and characters in the interest of economy, and plug in irrelevant songs and call it a musical. And lots of people will buy tickets and leap to their feet at the end.
I'd rest easy on FAR FROM HEAVEN. I heard Kelli O'Hara, Steve Pasquale and Brandon Victor Dixon do 3 songs and I thought it was amazing. The creators talked about what we were going to see and one thing they said was they were using the songs to aurally suggest what the visuals in the movie provided. Once I heard the opening number I understood what they meant. We did not hear the whole number which I believe includes more of the cast , only Kelli and the 2 kids. I believe the song is called Autumn In Connecticutt. There was also a great number between her and the gardener at an art gallery as they each talk of there feelings about a Miro piece. And Pasquale did a number where he comes out to his wife. It was enough for me to arrange to see it at Williamstown. Yes, this is indeed on the level of GREY GARDENS. I think you all will be very happy when you get to see it.
Oh, Whizzer, please. LA CAGE is one of the great film farces of all time. The American musical adaptation is a moderately good sit-com at best. (Personally, I don't agree that NINE can compare to 8 1/2, but I'll allow that that may be simply a matter of taste.)
But the main difference between FAR FROM HEAVEN and LEGALLY BLONDE, et al., is that FAR FROM HEAVEN wasn't such a huge commercial hit that we need worry the adapters are writing their play for any reason other than love of the story and characters. They aren't assuming they have a sure financial success and they certainly aren't writing for teenaged girls.
finebydesign , it's funny you mentioned that. I went up to Scott Frankel after the presentation to tell him how impressed I was with the songs and how he used the word Connecticut so well. I too thought that this couldn't have been an easy word to get right in a song. But trust me, he did.
Wow, listening to that sitzprobe video, it sounds an awful lot like Grey Gardens, and not the most memorable moments either ... mostly like "Daddy's Girl."
So no one has seen a performance yet? I'm very interested in hearing how Steve Pasquale delivers as Frank, the closeted husband. I wish I could get to Williamstown, but logistics prevent that. I hope someone who's actually seen the show will report.
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Posted: 6/23/12 at 09:19am