Movie to Musical Adaptations

[Johnno1980]

Hey guys. Came across this article and wondered what musicals that have been adapted from big movies are people's favourites? I love Legally Blonde.
Best Movie to Musical Adaptations

[EricMontreal22]

This subject has come up a lot--but I was surprised to see on that list Peggy Sue Got Married, a musical I had completely forgot ever even existed. I remember it didn't get all that bad reviews, but barely played several months...

Obviously there are some classics, of which I'd include Promises Promises, Sweet Charity and A Little Night Music, although I suppose to American audiences only Promises Promises was a "big" movie (Wilder's The Apartment). Little Shop would have to make any list as well...

[Johnno1980]

I love Little Shop and Sweet Charity too. So few of Broadway's top running musicals are based on these types of movie. Why is that?
Broadway Long Runners

[RainbowJude]

Most of the musicals on that list have no business being on a best movie to musical adaptations list. Certainly A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, SWEET CHARITY, NINE, THE FULL MONTY, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, GREY GARDENS or even ELF are far better than several of the shows listed there.

Of course, the field is more limited because the author has chosen to consider only musicals based on non-musical films, but still...

[WOSQ]

Ah, the old movie-to-musical debate.

To me most of the best movies made into musicals have been adaptations and not a scene-for-scene telling of a story we already know. Look at Nine, Sweet Charity, Night Music and the relatively recent Full Monty.

There is a basic question when adapting any property. "Can we tell the same story better?" Prime example is Big. Not a bad show at all, but it gave me the exact same story as the movie with some nice but not terribly memorable songs added, and I could have bought the movie for 20 bucks anywhere.

The Producers is an exception to that rule, but after Lane and Broderick left, maybe some seams began to show in the script.

[Gaveston2]

I love Little Shop and Sweet Charity too. So few of Broadway's top running musicals are based on these types of movie. Why is that?

PHANTOM and LES MIZ are technically based on novels, but if their creators claim they never saw the movie versions, I wouldn't believe them. Likewise and IIRC, THE KING AND I was technically based on a novel that was itself based on Anna Leonowens' memoirs, because Rodgers and Hammerstein didn't have rights to the film version, but they had seen the Rex Harrison/Irene Dunne film; I believe it was the movie that originally attracted their attention, but they didn't want to pay for or couldn't get the rights to the film.

[dry2olives]

Although Shaw's play came first, Lerner and Loewe actually used the film of Pygmalion as their guideline for writing My Fair Lady.