Movies Closest to Musicals?

[PalJoey]

Call Me Madam

[CarlosAlberto]

@My Oh My: You have some cool stuff on your channel. I subscribed.

[Mister Matt]

I love the Little Shop movie, but it cut several numbers from the score (Mushnik & Son, Closed for Renovation, Call Back in the Morning, Don't Feed the Plants), replaced You Never Know with Some Fun Now, cut other musical material (Sominex, the bulk of The Meek Shall Inherit, sections of Now), added Mean Green Mother From Outer Space, AND changed the ending.

And if A Chorus Line is the worst adaptation ever, try watching the films for Godspell, Jacques Brel and The Fantasticks. After that, you'll be grateful for A Chorus Line.

[henrikegerman]

The film adaptations of Lost in the Stars and Annie are also terrible.

[PennybankBill]

Mack The Knife, a film adaptation of The Threepenny Opera takes away all the biting satire and political statement in an attempt to make it a lavish Broadway musical complete with dancing sequences, but the performances of Raul Julia (who played Macheath in the 1976 revival) as Mack and opera star Julia Migenes as Jenny should not be missed in my opinion. Unfortunately, it's not available on DVD and rare on VHS and Laserdisc.

[tkts]

The Producers was very close. Read some of the old threads on here from the time it came out and being "too close" to the original was one of the complaints.

[best12bars]

lupone76---movie adaptations that were better than the Broadway show?

Chicago
Oliver!
West Side Story
The Sound of Music

(all Best Picture winners)

I'll add in:

Fiddler on the Roof
Cabaret

[Pammylicious]

i'll add to better movie than show: The Rocky Horror Show

[ClapYo'Hands]

The Phantom of the Opera is pretty close.

Another better than the stage show: Annie (1982).

[CarlosAlberto]

Annie (1982) is no way better than it's stage predecessor.

I thought this thread was about Movies that were CLOSEST to the musicals they were based on. Why are people posting movie versions that were no where near close or better to the original stage version? It kind of loses the point of the whole thread.

[henrikegerman]

^I agree completely. We just fell into weighing in; as you did.

Excellent list best12, although I disagree that the movie of Fiddler, as fine a film as it is, is better than the show on stage. My Fair Lady is a great film, but nowhere near as good as on stage, mainly because its so greatly diminished by Eliza's dubbing.

But MFL on screen is otherwise indeed very close to the show.

[MikeInTheDistrict]

The OP also asked which films diverge the most from the stage versions. (At least that's what I think s/he meant.)

Probably one of the most radically altered stage-to-screen adaptations was Milos Forman's HAIR (1979), probably by necessity. The stage version does not exactly lend itself to a traditional film. The forth wall was non-existent, the plot was little more than a pretense to string the brilliant songs together and convey some soundbytes of the counterculture movement. I like the film well enough (Berger dying in Claude's place was an especially affecting departure), but nothing captures the magic of the stage version, which wasn't just a musical but a totally immersing experience.

[Jay94]

They are actually remaking South Pacific (apparently), http://www.broadway.com/buzz/152949/south-pacific-movie-remake-in-the-works/

The Producers was often described as a filmed version of the stage play which opened it up to much criticism

I would also have loved to have seen a faithful version of Sweeney Todd with people who can actually sing

[PattiLover]

Fiddler on the Roof is nearly exact in film and stage form, besides John Williams' new orchestrations for the film.

[Jonwo]

Oliver! is a superb stage to film adaptation even if they do slightly alter the context of Oomph Pah Pah.

The best film musicals aren't just carbon copies of the stage show, changes need to make to be made in order for it to work on screen even if that means cutting songs and altering the script.

Although it's not exactly loved, the film of Mamma Mia! is a decent adaptation of the stage show. It'll be interesting how they'll adapt other hit shows like Jersey Boys or Wicked as film musicals.

[Jay94]

Wicked is bound to happen

[Playbilly]

Jersey Boys will probably make a good transition due to the subject matter. Like Dreamgirls.

[FANtomFollies]

that article about another 'south pacific' film in the works is 2 years old. any recent news on it?

i have to say 'evita' is my favorite film adaptation. text/song wise it's quite close to the show, and i think the visuals (cinematography, costumes, etc) are breathtaking. although i'm not a huge fan of Madonna, I thought she did a pretty good job.

[Playbilly]

I don't think Universal is in any rush to make a Wicked movie. The show is till making plenty of money, and there will always be young actresses to play the leads.

[CarlosAlberto]

That's great because I could live without a film version of WICKED.

[JulesReverie]

It's funny, Cat Ballou borders on being a musical so much that I grew up thinking it was a movie adaptation of a musical and I still can't believe it wasn't.

Was Harvey Girls based on stage musical or was it just a movie musical?

OT The Way We Were was never turned into a stage musical, right? My friend keeps insisting that it was in the early 80's and never made it past workshops yet I can't find any proof of its existence she so swears by.

[henrikegerman]

"Fiddler on the Roof is nearly exact in film and stage form, besides John Williams' new orchestrations for the film."

"Now I Have Everything" and "The Rumor/I Just Heard" were cut. While I like them well enough in the show, it was a very good choice for the movie to omit them.

[JohnyBroadway]

Hello Dolly? Now I know somethings were rearranged for Barbara, musically wise. But I found the screenplay pretty faithful to Michael Stewart's book.

[CarlosAlberto]

I never saw a stage production of HELLO, DOLLY! so I can't vouch if it's a faithful adaptation of the stage show or what was deleted or added for the film and I am well aware that the movie wasn't a hit upon release and that Barbra was too young for the role but despite all of that I really, really love the film...and I didn't for a very long time.

[ClapYo'Hands]

"Fiddler on the Roof is nearly exact in film and stage form, besides John Williams' new orchestrations for the film."

Which are simply divine and makes the score at least far better for me.

[Gaveston2]

Are people talking about the current revival of CHICAGO when they say the movie is better? Because there's no way the film (as much as I liked it) is better than the 1970s original. For one thing, the two leads can neither sing it nor dance it as well as Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera.

To me, CABARET is the best example of a film that improves on the musical (as it was being performed in 1972).

Both PAJAMA GAME and DAMN YANKEES seem reasonably faithful to the stage originals, even if a few numbers or reprises were dropped.

For a film that leaves the stage original almost completely behind, I love HAIR. I think it's far superior to the mess that was the stage production in the 60s, while preserving the wonderful score. It's really more akin to an old MGM musical, using a flimsy plot to highlight an excellent score.