Musical Adaptations of Literary Works

[kelby_lake]

They can be great successes (Phantom of the Opera, for example) or great failures (Gone With The Wind).

What are your favourite musicals which are based on books and which novels/plays/poems/short stories, etc. do you reckon would make good musicals?

[Lokasenna]

Well, Les Miz is probably the finest musical ever created...

I once spent time that I should have spent revising composing Richard III - The Musical - it was more fun than revision, but probably less useful in the long run...

Having once sung as part of a choir in Macbeth - The Musical, I can attest that Shakespeare doesn't always transfer well to other mediums...

I'd like to see a musical based on Beowulf - that'd be fun!

[Emil Miller]

They can be great successes (Phantom of the Opera, for example) or great failures (Gone With The Wind).

What are your favourite musicals which are based on books and which novels/plays/poems/short stories, etc. do you reckon would make good musicals?

I have enjoyed musicals in the past such as Carousel which is based on a novel by the Hungarian writer Ferenc Molnar, and also The King and I; also based on a novel. In general though, I don't care for present day musicals and I was recently asked to go to see The Phantom of the Opera but declined the invitation. I don't have any ideas about which books might be used for musical presentation but, bizarrely, I recently read that there is an opera of A Streetcar Named Desire by Andre Previn.

[Lokasenna]

Oh, I know what I forgot to mention! I once went to a do they were holding in church near here, which involved several of the university's staff reciting bits of Paradise Lost, with a bit of limited (but live) music to go along with it. The effect was very powerful indeed, and I think it could be applied to the entire poem relatively easily.

[OrphanPip]

Well Cabaret can be traced back loosely to Isherwood's Berlin Stories.

If you bring opera into it, it's hard to think of an opera not based on a previous literary work.

[Emil Miller]

Well Cabaret can be traced back loosely to Isherwood's Berlin Stories.

If you bring opera into it, it's hard to think of an opera not based on a previous literary work.

True, but one doesn't easily associate Tennessee Williams with opera.

[dfloyd]

the most succesful transference of literature to a musical is George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion into My Fair Lady. The most unlikely story transferred to a musical format is Sweeny Todd. A couple of years ago, I saw a musical rendition of Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was quite good. I saw Les Mis, but it could have been the fact it was put on by a touring company that made it so bad. Too many actors strolling about singing, if not off key, unharmoniously. I saw the late Richard Harris in Camelot, and it was a tremendous production. I would have liked to have seen the original Broadway production with Robert Goulet and Richard Burton.

As to what literary property would make a good musical? How about the Oresteia. It has war, sex, murder, betrayal, matricide, revenge, and forgiveness. What more could you want.

[stlukesguild]

I can attest that Shakespeare doesn't always transfer well to other mediums...

I would beg to differ. What of Verdi's MacBeth, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Bernstein's West Side Story, Delius' A Village Romeo and Juliette, Purcell's Fairy Queen (which was a series of masques to be inserted between acts of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Thomas Adès' Tempest,Rossini and Verdi each composed an opera to Othello, and there are undoubtedly a great many more if I were to just think a bit longer.

True, but one doesn't easily associate Tennessee Williams with opera.

Give it time, Brian... I haven't listened to Previn's work, but I would suggest that Benjamen Britten would have been up to the task. He was able to set Mann's Death in Venice, after all. Perhaps Thomas Adès will get around to doing it up right... in proper campy fashion. Following Powder Her Face Williams would be right up his alley.

[L.M. The Third]

Well, Les Miz is probably the finest musical ever created...


Really? Catchy.. but...
What kind of music was Paradise Lost accompanied by?

[Lokasenna]

I can attest that Shakespeare doesn't always transfer well to other mediums...

I would beg to differ. What of Verdi's MacBeth, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Bernstein's West Side Story, Delius' A Village Romeo and Juliette, Purcell's Fairy Queen (which was a series of masques to be inserted between acts of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Thomas Adès' Tempest,Rossini and Verdi each composed an opera to Othello, and there are undoubtedly a great many more if I were to just think a bit longer.

True, true! It was merely Macbeth - The Musical that was dreadful! Any production that is trying to take itself seriously, but has a chorus of the dead singing 'woogie, woogie' over and over again cannot be believed.


What kind of music was Paradise Lost accompanied by?

They had a piano, a chap on the organ, and a lone violinist - and they weren't all playing at the same time. Still, the effect was a good one!

[LitNetIsGreat]

In general though, I don't care for present day musicals and I was recently asked to go to see The Phantom of the Opera but declined the invitation.

Same here on both counts. The problem is that Mrs Neely is desperate to go and see Phantom of the Opera and brings it up from time to time. When I offered to take her to see a real opera le nozze there was no interest at all, she wouldn't even come to the production in Sheffield, never mind. I expect that I'll end up enduring it some day though, just to keep her happy/quiet.

When it comes to musicals, as I've said before, I fancy to write a stage adaptation of Jude some day (musical or non-musical I haven't decided as of yet). It would be fantastic. Full of drama and pathos - a real tear-jerker for the ladies!:ihih: I can see the ending right now: Jude walks away in solemnity, head down, to the chorus of Hey Jude which eventually builds and builds in a crescendo. Throw in a more and more people in the chorus, some kids, a cute dog maybe and then - wham! *Spoiler*


a symbolic meet-up with the dead children, a dream or ghost-like family reunion on stage, no words, they just stand there facing each other in a circle and eventually hug gently - no emotion other than peace and the kids dressed in long flowing white gowns - the music ends and everyone turns and bows to the audience for a standing ovation - calls of "author, author" maybe too? Wham, count the money£

I'm going to write it when I've got time - in about 20 years. Anybody who steals my idea's dead... :argue:

[kasie]

I can see the press blurbs now, Neely - 'Gloom! Doom! General Despondency - I loved it.' That should get 'em queuing at the Box Office.

[kelby_lake]

Having once sung as part of a choir in Macbeth - The Musical, I can attest that Shakespeare doesn't always transfer well to other mediums...


But doesn't this sound great? ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockabye_Hamlet

Maybe there could be a Titus Andronicus musical, with a Gothic style of course.

Or The Boys From Syracuse? Bonus points if you can tell me which play it's a musical version of.

[Emil Miller]

But doesn't this sound great? ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockabye_Hamlet

Maybe there could be a Titus Andronicus musical, with a Gothic style of course.

Or The Boys From Syracuse? Bonus points if you can tell me which play it's a musical version of.

The Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Boogie ????

God help us all.

[kelby_lake]

Spring Awakening wasn't a bad musical either.

[Seasider]

Kiss Me Kate was good and Cole Porter's not bad either.

[Wilde woman]

Les Miserables is probably my all-time favorite, though it oversimplifies Hugo's novel. But quite frankly, no three-hour production could ever capture the full scope of the massive novel.

I think Wicked is a nice adaptation of Maguire's book, though again it oversimplifies. But having just seen the musical, I think the glossing over is a good thing; it really brings out the emotional heart of the story, which is the relationship between Galinda and Elphaba.

[Sapphire]

@Neely
Now that I'd like to see :) Do let me know when you've got it all up and running.

I agree with DFloyd on the adaption of Pygmolion into My Fair Lady - great idea. I think I watch that movie-musical once every year :lol:

The only musical I ever saw live, was an adaption of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and I enjoyed it immensely, but whether it was because I was for the first time on Broadway and so impressed by it all or whether the musical was really that good... I really can't say :blush:

As for Victor Hugo and Les Miserables: yes, but I personally prefer "Notre Dame de Paris". I really like those songs, take for example Belle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH--RU1QjB0) and Le Val D'amour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUQrt2i3mbQ). Or in the English version My heart if you'll swear (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TOZQm7Rb0w) and the Bohemienne song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqjM4uypLf0). Ow, and Dechire/Torn apart :lol: I can go on and on :brickwall.
I guess it is very personal though - I've always liked the book better than les Miserables...
I am not particular crazy about the Disney movie, but that might have something to do with the fact that they made Phoebus "the good guy"! The gargoyles and the goat are awesome ;)