Much Ado Rewritten As Musical

[TradRadMan]

We've been working on a modernization of "Much Ado" as a musical called BAM! and would be curious to hear your thoughts/suggestions.

First, the story is set in NYC, 1967. Before things went totally crazy with Viet Nam War, riots, etc. Since our source music has a very 60's Pop vibe, including some swingin' songs, it's working quite well. Setting is Leo's magnificent penthouse where the returning "soldiers" (Merchant Marines) reside. Some of the characters have been renamed--Hero in now "Honor," Claudio is "Colton" and our most radical departure, Don John is a woman named "Dawn."

Next, we modernized the dialog. Gasp! OMG! :smilewinkgrin: Our goal is to reach the masses; telling Shakespeare's great story with the music is paramount. To that end, we've made Ben a good ol' boy to play against Bea's more cultured persona. Think Matthew McConaughey. He uses Will Rogers/Mark Twain quotes as barbs while Bea taunts with "Southern simpleton" remarks.

Finally, we created a couple new subplots. "Dawn" still concocts the evil deception that leads to the disaster at the altar. But she's also involved in smuggling rare gems for the mob. She gets her comeuppance when Claudio/Colton catches on to her scheme and thwarts her "big score." Dawn still has all the sullenness of Don John and her desire to cause mayhem with her half-brother Don Pedro drives her character. And we have Colton pleading to Honor with a song called "What Do I Have To Do?" instead of the "surprise bride" in the original.

Of course we didn't forget Dogberry! We've made him and "Virgil" a couple bumbling doormen/security people with the same tendency toward malapropisms.

As Ben might say, "What do y'all think?"

(If you search for "NYC Composer' on Google News, you will see more about the project.)

[Calidore]

You say you've changed the setting, changed the names, changed the dialogue, added music, and added subplots. Sounds like there's even less Shakespeare remaining than West Side Story. But West Side Story justfied itself with a good cast, Leonard Bernstein scoring, Stephen Sondheim lyrics, Jerome Robbins choreography, and Robert Wise directing. Even though the basic plot was Shakespeare, the movie stood on its own ingredients.

So now we know what's different about yours, but what makes it good?

[TradRadMan]

Ah, West Side Story! Greatest musical of all time IMHO.

The BAM! music is simply fun. Nothing that can touch Bernstein's magnificent score but the songs are catchy, memorable and touching at times. Isn't "Much Ado" considered one of Shakespeare's great comedies? We've made it a musical-comedy while trying to deal with the sudden mood change of the Claudio/Colton outburst that ends our Act I.

If we can interest even one young idiot who spends all his time playing video games and pique his interest in the thrill of live theatre, we will have succeeded. Since this is a quasi jukebox musical, it's been a battle finding the right vehicle to feature the music. After four years and five complete scripts, we believe "Much Ado" is perfect. If you go to our website tradradpictures.com/bam.html you can sample the music.

[Charles Darnay]

There have been Shakespeare plays into musicals that have been very successful (West Side Story, Kiss Me Kate) and I am sure there have been some that have failed miserably.

Listening to some of the music, it sounds more like an indie album than a musical (but that might just be the demo factor). I like "I'll Always Come Back To You" for it's Rat Pack style.

I few things I immediately notice when looking at your plot and music: it's too disjointed. Much Ado is already full of plots - adding more subplots seems a bit much. The music seems very over the place as well - some resembling the 50s, some contemporary music. Now, some musical can get away with this - but you have to be very careful with it - don't be overambitious.

Best of luck.

[TradRadMan]

Thanks, Charles. You are spot on with the indie album analysis. To me, an "indie album" often sound like a garage band (NOT the Mac app):wink5: from the 1960's. Another reason we chose 1967: Top hits of that year included, Ode To Billy Joe, Something Stupid, I'm A Believer, Can't Take My Eyes Off You, My Cup Runneth Over, Light My Fire, Penny Lane and THE perfect show-tune-not-from-a-show, The Happening. With a palette this diverse, believe we can make the music cohesive.

Pretty sure for every subplot we've added, we've deleted one of the Bard's. As I'm sure you're aware, two love stories always make for great musicals. Even attempted a rewrite of "Taming of the Shrew" for that exact reason; the Petruchio-Kate and Luciano-Bianca stories seemed perfect. Aside from the "Kiss Me Kate" comparisons, we could never get Petruchio-Kate resolution right in Act II.

Appreciate your thoughts! Our third reading is Wednesday evening. While BAM! isn't going to be exactly like "Much Ado," I feel that anyone who knows the play will enjoy the heck out of it.

[TradRadMan]

Just a quick fyi on why we changed Hero and Claudio's names. If you're a musical theatre fan you know that Hero is the young MALE in "Funny Thing..Forum." Claudio was my high school Spanish teacher. Some things you can't get out of your mind. :)