Movie Musicals That Could Be Great for the Stage
Lora Korpar
From “Once” to “Frozen,” tons of famous movie musicals (or movies with music in them) have been adapted to Broadway recently. Stage musical adaptations build upon already good movie musicals by adding more songs and scenes. There are tons of movie musicals that haven’t gotten this treatment but really deserve it. Here are my top five picks.
1. “Across the Universe”
Everyone loves a good jukebox musical! Honestly, it’s surprising no one has tried to bring The Beatles to Broadway before.
This musical follows the love story of Jude and Lucy as well as a cast of eccentric, Beatles-inspired characters during the era of the Vietnam war.
The movie lovingly pays homage to these classic songs while also changing them up and making them their own to fit in with its plot. I think audiences would get a kick out of hearing their favorite songs in this new context.
2. “La La Land”
This one should really go without saying.
“La La Land” is already a brilliant, vintage-style musical with several great songs like “City of Stars” and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” and tons of grand, toe-tapping dance numbers.
Centering around the love story of two Los Angeles dreamers, all this story needs is a few more songs to make it a Broadway-caliber musical.
3. “Burlesque”
“Burlesque” might not exactly be the most PG musical, but for a mature audience, this would be an awesome story to bring to the stage.
Based on the 2010 movie starring Christina Aguilera and Cher, “Burlesque” tells the story of a small-town girl who moves to LA to pursue a music career and finds herself working at a failing burlesque lounge. But can her talent and innovation help to revive it?
People might have forgotten that this movie existed, but it actually had some show-stopping numbers that could look and sound amazing live, such as “You Haven’t Seen the Best of Me” and “Show Me How You Burlesque.”
4. “The Greatest Showman”
Another movie musical with songs written by Pasek and Paul, “The Greatest Showman” tells the story of P.T. Barnum through the power of cheery pop music.
Yes, the movie has its flaws, but I think that if a few more character-developing songs and scenes were added, the ending would feel earned and the crowd would leave the theater with smiles on their faces.
Also, the circus-centric scenes like “This Is Me” and “The Greatest Show” would look absolutely epic on a live stage.
5. “The Princess and the Frog”
There are many Disney movies that could have its own musical, but “The Princess and the Frog” was the first one that came to mind for a few reasons.
First of all, Louisiana-style jazz has been proven to work in a Broadway setting (“Hadestown,” anyone?), but it’s still uncommon enough that its uniqueness would draw audiences in. I can already imagine the fun audiences would have hearing such catchy songs with a live band.
Also, the effects would look great. Puppets worked wonders for musicals like “The Lion King” and “Avenue Q,” so I don’t see why frog puppets wouldn’t work for a show like this.
It’s a classic story with upbeat music. It’s a recipe for a good time.