Amph The Magic of Musicals - for lovers of shows on stage or screen: Revival of Sweeney Todd

5. Spamalot (Broadway debut: 2005)

"How do you make Monty Python and the Holy Grail even funnier? Take the film's clopping coconuts, horseless knights, killer rabbits, and unforgettable lines (''Just a flesh wound'') and add a voluptuous love interest named the Lady of the Lake (a ''watery tart'') with her sexy singing Laker girls and a subplot about taking the holy quest to Broadway. The Python humor is clearly ''not dead!''

 

Saw this one earlier this year and thought it did a good job with incorporating he best bits of the movie while still being original and adding some depth to the characters (well as much depth as can be added in a show as ridiculous as this one.) I probably liked Lancelot the best.

 

A very fun show. I missed it when Tim Curry was playing King Arthur though

 

Love this show! I haven't seen it yet (hopefully that will change soon since the tour is coming close to me), but the cast recording is great fun. The Lady of the Lake character works well enough as far as fitting in with the rest of the material.

 

Looks funny, but I'd miss stuff from the film like the credits, for instance.

 

In a similar vein to the credits joke, they have a fake playbill for a totally different play inside the real playbill.

 

4. The Producers (Broadway debut: 2001)

"In 1959, a down-and-out Broadway moneyman and a young accountant scheme to make bank by putting on an expensive flop for cheap and running off with the rest of the money once the play closes. Their pick: A musical by an ex-Nazi called Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp With Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden. The rub: It becomes a hit. Adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film, The Producers set the bar for the film-to-stage musical transfer, scoring a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards and making gobs of money."

Did not see this onstage, but did see it in the movie adaptation. Though I'm a fan of the original movie, the musical adaptation worked, too.

 

The Producers is great, I liked the movie with John Barrowman performing in Springtime for Hitler.

 

They made several changes, but it still worked.

 

Movies should make some changes, you have more possibilities with film than you do on stage (although it doesn't always work).

 

No kidding. I've seen some screen adaptations that didn't work at all. ("Damn Yankees" comes to mind)

 

I saw The Producers live in Manchester and it was awesome. I'd happily go and watch it again if it was to tour again in the UK

I'd love for Young Frankenstein to tour the UK as well. I understand it's not been as well received as The Producers but I'm sure it's still amusing

 

I didn't know they had tried with YF...which is his best movie, to my mind.

 

3. Avenue Q (Broadway debut: 2003)

"Picture Sesame Street gone bad. Give every character a quarterlife crisis. Make grownup child star Gary Coleman their super. And hand them some drugs and booze. Now you have this early aughts musical about young New Yorkers (both puppets and people) that taught us about life (''Everyone's a little bit racist''), relationships (''The more you love someone, the more you wishing him dead''), and a sexy blond, lounge singer puppet called Lucy T. Slut."


Not heard of this one.

 

It finished here last year, but was very highly rated. The adult comedy puppet show, I never did see it but I heard positive things from those who did.

 

I love this show. It's the first Broadway I ever really liked, way back when I was just a wee teenager. Now as a 24 year old, post college, no good job, it's sorta the theme of my life, ha.

I usually describe it as "Sesame Street on Crack," and was surprised at how easy it is to just ignore the actors and focus on the puppets.

Favorite songs include "What do You do with a BA in English?", "The Internet (is for Porn)" and "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist."

 

Try "What Can You Do with a BA in History" and you've got it...

 

Looks the Les Mis Movie is going to go ahead, with Hugh Jackman as Valjean and Hathaway as Fantine (also apparently rumoured Paul Bettany to be Javert).

 

Am I the only one who thinks Jackman is terrible casting as Valjean? I've yet to see a really soulful performance from Jackman; his best performance to date is The Prestige and, while I found it effective, I just don't know that he can really handle a role like Valjean, which requires . . . well, I'm just blown away by that character and the depth and range of it. Bettany isn't a bad cast as Javert, but if he camps it up, I'll kill him.

Les Miserable is both my favorite novel and my favorite musical. I've long wanted a great film version of the musical. But it will have to be very good indeed to meet my standards. This is the greatest book ever written outside the Bible; the greatest story ever told. I don't know how any movie can really do it justice.

I really cannot express how deeply I love the novel and the musical. I mean, they changed my life, quite literally. I think about Valjean and Javert and what their relationship meant a lot. I just . . . will never forget seeing the musical live and then just immersing myself in that world for months. Incredibly powerful music, incredibly powerful story; we need some incredibly powerful actors too.

 

I'm not thrilled with Jackman as Valjean, but I've only seen him as Wolverine so he may surprise me.

I'd go for Hathaway as Fantine though. She's got a good voice and I think she could pull it off.

 

Calm down Rogue, it's not like Les Mis is Star Wars or anything

I hope the movie is not botched-up the way the Phantom of the Opera movie was. There was great, long-running beloved stage show that could've been even greater with the nearly endless possibilities of the big screen and it ended up being like the Prequels. Les Mis hopefully won't be like that, for one at least it seems to have a decent director.

 

I have seen avenue q seven times. and it is fabulous. especially for a muppet nut like myself. the entire original cast or puppeteers all came from working on sesame street and other henson company shows. in fact, ric lyons, the original trekkie monster, nicky, and bad idea bear, was big bird, in central park for an opening credit sequence. lyons also designed the puppets for 'q'. and he is a star wars fan too. his site has a shot of him in a stormtrooper costume.
to see all the various techniques that go in to sesame street was awesome. from the one actor voicing a puppet being held by another performer, the two person puppets like trekkie monster and nicky, to the rod puppets like rod and princton. it was amazing, again and again. my favorite 'moment' is during 'if you were gay' when, in the original cast, jennifer barnhardt and ric lyons, playing nicky, just play with his hands. and later when nicky goes through his duffel bag. the two of them, lyons and barnhardt, in such awesome synch. it was awesome.
And the songs too. spot on satires of sesame street and electric company. love that, instead of spanish, we learn german for happiness at the misfortune of others. aka schadenfreude. and the nod to sesame street live and the muppet movie. truly one of the best shows i have ever seen. and i cannot wait to see book of mormon. written, partly, by bobby lopez from 'q'
and for those who want to see something really sweet...may i suggest avenue jew.

ok, you asked for it...

the gffa
go there every day
i love the galaxy far far away

oh my oh my
light and dark jedi
i always getting a thrill watching the falcon fly

give it for chewie, han, luke, and a leia too.

and i leave saying may the force be with you...

(to the tune of the final bit of beggars at the feast)

 

Nice to find someone else with high standards in regard to Les Mis. I first read the book and saw the show when I was 12 and loved both. I wrote about it for my Literary Theory class in college, and my English Capstone research paper/project was all about the women of the novel. I haven't seen all of the film versions, but if you mention the '98 Liam Neeson take around me, I usually go off into a rant about just how much they screwed up (it's a movie I truly hate as a result). I'm terribly picky when it comes to the musical; loved the 10th anniversary concert, did not enjoy the 25th aside from the Javert, Eponine, and Enjolras. Yep, I'm a geek.

All that said, I am viewing this movie with a bit of dread. If they can give it fair treatment ala Sweeney Todd (which is not perfect but handles the material decently), I'll be satisfied. If it becomes another Phantom, I'll probably be ticked.

As I've posted earlier, I'd much rather see Jackman as Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard. The man has a nice voice, as evidenced by his performance on The Boy from Oz cast recording, but I'm not sure it's a Valjean voice. A famous story from the early days of the first London production notes that when the original Valjean, Colm Wilkinson, first sang "Bring Him Home" in front of the cast, someone said, "We knew this show was going to be about God, but you didn't tell us you'd arranged for Him to sing it!" All possible auto-tuning aside, does Jackman really have a voice to pull it off? Also, to be reaaaaaaally picky, can he pull the rugged convict/aging look off?

Also, in regard to Fantine, I'm not sure Anne Hathaway will work. Don't get me wrong- I'm a fan of hers, I like her work and she does have a pretty voice, but is it a powerhouse/heartbreak combo like the role seems to call for? She might be too old and not have a high enough range, but I see her as more of adult Cosette than Fantine. Keep in mind, she was a favorite for the role of Christine in the film version of Phantom, and there's a world of difference in the voices required for that part and Fantine.

I really do hope it turns out well. I do. I'm just overly worried that it's going to be a disaster, and I don't want to see that happen to such a powerful show. There's a reason why it's so popular and so loved, and it has nothing to do with big names or auto-tuning.

 

It depends how money-hungry the makers are. ALW gave too much creative control fo the Phantom movie to Joel Schumacher who made stupid decisions but also ALW clearly expected the name to attract viewers rather than making the effort to do a good job.
Hathaway couldn't have done Christine, that is a soprano part meant to be played by someone with a degree of operatic training (even Minnie Driver who is a competant singer was dubbed as Carlotta because she couldn't do the opera vocals).

There is a lack of star power in Hollywood who can sing well and also act. A guy like James Marsden could do well in Les Mis, maybe even as Marius. He has done Hairspray & Enchanted as is a reasonable actor.