Flashback Friday-Phantom Of The Opera (2004)

Phantom Of The Opera is a classic. Originally written as a novel by Gaston Leroux, the most famous adaptation is the Broadway musical. It opened on Broadway in 1986 and is still one of the most popular shows on the great white way.

In 2004, the stage production was adapted into a movie. Gerard Butler played the title character and Emmy Rossum played Christine. The supporting cast included Patrick Wilson (Raoul), Miranda Richardson (Madame Giry) and Minnie Driver (Carlotta).

Movie adaptations of Broadway musicals have to walk a fine line these days. In the 1950’s and 1960’s when musicals (especially ones based on Broadway shows) dominated the movie industry, a successful film was not that hard to come by. These days, the film has to appeal to the audience who loves the stage production, while also filling the seats with moviegoers who may not know the stage production.

The movie is simply okay in my eyes. Is it the best Broadway to big screen adaptation? No, but I’ve seen worse.

Do I recommend it? It depends, especially if you have not seen the show on stage.

 

Sense And Sensibility, The Musical

Today I had the pleasure of attending the spring meeting of JASNA‘s New York City chapter.

The subject was the musical adaptation of Sense And Sensibility.

While I do not see Broadway musicals very often (or any show on Broadway at all), I walked away from this meeting genuinely excited to see this production on a Broadway stage.

As with any adaptation, certain changes had to be made. But, based on the presentation by the creative team, I can confidently report that this musical will entertain the audience, regardless of if they have read the original novel. And if the result of seeing the show is to read Sense and Sensibility (in addition to the other novels), and join JASNA, then that is an end result that I happily look forward to.

Flashback Friday- From The Bright Lights Of Broadway To The Silver Screen-Chicago (2002) & Hairspray (2007)

Hollywood has a long tradition of making movies from Broadway musicals.  While movie musicals flourished during the golden age of movie making, the fervor for movie musicals has slowly dissipated over the past thirty years.  Hollywood has tried to resurrect the genre, but only a few of these movies have been successful.

In 2002, a movie was made based on the hit Broadway musical Chicago.

Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) are on death row, accused of murdering their significant others. Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) is the hot shot lawyer whose job it is to keep his clients famous and away from the  gallows.

I saw the musical on Broadway years ago. The movie is very true to the stage show. It is subversive, entertaining and a commentary on how fame and the justice system makes for strange bedfellows.

In 1988, indie filmmaker John Waters introduced the world to the movie Hairspray and a new leading lady: Tracy Turnblad.  Tracy is zaftig teenager in 1960’s Baltimore who just wants to dance on the local teenage dance show. But there are obstacles to her dream. In the early 2000’s, Hairspray was transferred to the Broadway stage and in 2007, it returned to silver screen, but as the musical.

Taking over from Ricki Lake in the original movie and Marissa Jaret Winokur on Broadway was Nikki Blonsky as Tracy. In the traditional John Waters style, John Travolta and Christopher Walken play Tracy’s parents, Edna and Wilbur.

While I did enjoy this movie, it is a very colorful, sort of family friendly version of the original movie. It looses some of the biting satire and subversive quality with the 2007 movie.  But, over all, it’s not bad.

I recommend Chicago, but maybe not Hairspray.