How is Hilty going to play fourtish, Lisa and Oliver are in there forties and fifties during the events of the original television show. It's part of why it's such a culture shock to them in the first place, they have spent years and years in the city. They also have been married for a long period of time before the events of the story, they are not just some old man-younger woman romance.
I'll admit it. I don't know anything about this musical: the creative team, whose involved, nothing, therefore I shouldn't say anything against it - unlike some people on this board. However, I can't be the only person who feels that this is poor material for a musical. Not to mention hardly necessary. It really only speaks to a baby boomer generation, no one under the age of like, 35 has any idea what Green Acres even is. Why are we wasting so much money on revivals and unoriginal adaptations when there's such great original unproduced stuff out there?
Anyone under 35 who has a television knows what Green Acres is. All the popular 60's sitcoms aere in constant reruns. Hell, they are even re-running flop sitcoms like The Mothers-in-Law with Kaye Ballard and Eve Arden.
Since when does the ORIGINAL have any bearing on current? (Just look at Newsies for recent clarification.)
With today's culture the idea could still function: you take a Paris Hilton type and through her into the boonies. THAT'S the premise. Gee, anyone know another TV show like that. Wouldn't Paris Hilton be great in that experiment?
I have no interest, and my soul died just a little bit.
I remember Green Acres when it showed on tv. Also, I barely recall "Mothers In Law" too. It's an interesting to show to present on Broadway. Of course, the producers will gauge the viability of this show. It's a business after all. Hopefully, the material is presented in a good manner. Besides, it's always great that a show is proposed for the Great White Way. There are many, many actors who are looking for the opportunity....and employment. from rC in Austin, Texas
I have to agree with missthemountains on this one. I am under 35 (not by much, but still) and while I know that Green Acres was a tv show and I think I may have seen the opening credits at some point ... I know that I have never seen, or been interested in watching, an episode nor do I know anyone my age that has or would want to. And I am a pretty big fan of classic tv. Nick at Nite was my go to channel as a child (before they started playing shows from the 80s and beyond ... Lucy, Bewitched, Jeannie). It's not that I don't see how the general story could work as a musical but I think people are assuming the name "Green Acres" still holds some cultural relevance when it really does not. Crowds will not flock to this show just because it's based on the tv show because, as I said, not that many people know this show anymore.
Hell, they are even re-running flop sitcoms like The Mothers-in-Law with Kaye Ballard and Eve Arden.
Okay, I'm totally on board with a Mothers-In-Law musical.
I think with any of these adaptations, if they rely heavily on the audience's familiarity with the source material, they can run into trouble. If it's a parody, an homage, or they expect people to know the full backstory, they could alienate the "youngins."
But if they approach it as a fresh story, they include everyone ... the ancient people who remember what "brought to you in living color" means, and the newbies to the planet Earth who can't wipe their butts without texting first.
The premise of Green Acres is timeless- the fish out of water. And the style of the show- slightly surreal, slightly absurd but always very down-to-earth and simple could really make for a great show.
I think it has much more potential than a Addams family Musical, actually.
^^^ I agree that a Green Acres musical has potential if well done. The fish out of water premise, added to a town full of eccentrics. This is one I wouldn't dismiss out of hand, unlike Gilligan's Island: The Musical.
Any decent GREEN ACRES musical will have to show the meeting, wooing, marriage, life on Park Avenue AND transformation to High-Filootin' Farmers of the main characters. Hence they will need a younger Actress (Hilty) to portray many ages. This is an Epic-like story we're talking here. Remember that wierd girl in the overalls? Who was she?
I think this would be a very interesting musical if done right. Instead of trying to make it a stupid comedy, highlight the fish out of water urbanites communing with rural eccentrics, show how truly human the rurals are (i.e., make some urbane in their thinking and interests like real rural people are). contrast the trust and community feel you have in rural setting vs the (sometimes) cold and isolated urban living situation.
In other words, write a witty emotional book/lyrics without devolving into one liners, stereotypical characters and one-note thinking about rural living.
This situation is chock full of potential if done right. Just because it is based on a 60's sitcom doesnt mean it has to be stupid and awful.
Example, re-imagine Lisa and Oliver as youngish city dwellers who fall into ownership of a farm in a rural area. Oliver goes there to sell the place and falls in love with the town and its people. He decides they will move there against Lisa's wishes similar to the TV show). After moving there, Lisa reads about several theater openings and longs for NYC. The local townspeople start to work among themselves to put on a show for Lisa and Oliver and start delving into the works of current playrights and mount a performance of one of the recently openend shows.
All through the show, there are numbers outlining how much Lisa and Oliver love one another, how open the townspeople are to their new urban neighbors, highlight some fish out of water situations (both for Lisa and Oliver and for the townspeople learning about them and their life in NYC). Show how some of the small town machinations match BIG city living (Mr. Haney being the best example of the bad side of NYC commercialism and even politics living in a small town).
If done right, it could be a great and entertaining show with heart and soul.
Why does it have to be something people remember in order to be successful? Were young people familiar with the book or movie of The Light in the Piazza? It just has to be good and marketed for itself and what it is, not as a reproduction of an old TV show your mother watched.
I think it has potential if they come up with a good, new comedy-with-heart-fish-out-of-water story, then use the TV characters to tell that story.
SFFrontRow- I like your ideas, but so much of what you describe already reminds me of Plain and Fancy, minus the community putting on a show for the couple. The show itself is charming, if slight, and definitely seems to come from a different time.
Properties like Green Acres, Golden Girls, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie, etc are better suited for parody, IMO, than musicalization or translation to another medium. The shows were very episodic with huge gaps in continuity. They played on repeating similar jokes based on character traits, rather than stringing along storylines. Charles Busch could do well with Green Acres (perhaps he already has), or someone of that ilk.
The best feeling they could create with a full-fledged musical would be to capture a Lil Abner vibe. That of course might prove too old-fashioned for a lot of people.
In one of my fav episodes, Gabor's character gets amnesia and spends the whole show saying "Who's Lisa?" in that kooky Hungarian accent. I hope they use that. Does Bill Berloni train pigs?
I had forgotten that Arnold was the pig. from RC in Austin, Texas
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Posted: 7/22/12 at 11:19pm