From film to stage

In years past it was a common thing for musicals to begin on the Broadway stage and then be made into a film, and there's been somewhat of a revival of that in recent years--Chicago, Sweeney Todd, Hairspray and others. But right now some of the biggest hits on Broadway went in the other direction: Mary Poppins, Newsies and Once. I saw the movie Once and I liked it. i didn't love it, and I didn't want to go out and buy the soundtrack recording. Then last June I saw Once the musical on Broadway and I did love it and I do want to buy the cast album. The film was somewhat of a fairy tale take on making music, but it was basically realistic. The musical was extremely "stagey" and I mean that in the best possible way. The actors carried scenery in and out and sometimes a prop morphed from one use to another while you watched. All the musicians are on stage and they all participate in the story as characters as well as instrumentalists. The movement isn't really dancing, but it's ingenious and affecting, and the performers are often moving and playing at the same time. When it was over I wished I could go right back in and see it again, and the people around me seemed to be similarly affected.

i haven't seen Newsies but I know several people who have and they loved it. Another example of a really wonderful transition from film to stage is The Lion King. I'd be interested to see if others have seen musicals that began as films and which version they like better.

I'm not sure I would it is better but I saw Re-animator the Musical a couple of weeks ago. It was great fun if you can accept the blood and guts. Definitely not the most likely of films to make the crossover but it still has that one great crossover factor in its favour - it is a known commodity. That's why we are seeing an upturn in musicals based on films, the fact the audience already knows what they are getting should mean that the risks are lower. As long you don't screw it up your audience may already be out there waiting for you.