Movie Adaptations on Stage

Musical theatre has long looked to other artforms for plot sources and inspiration. In 1927, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II based Show Boat on Ednar Ferber’s 1926 novel of the same name. Since then, musicals have been adapted from novels (The Phantom of the Opera, The Color Purple), short stories (Guys and Dolls, The Light in the Piazza), plays (Oklahoma), operas (Aida, Rent), and comic strips (You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Annie). With the rise in popularity of the cinema in the twentieth century, musicals began to look to the movies for inspiration. Stephen Sondheim wrote A Little Night Music after being roused by the 1955 Swedish film Smiles of a Summer Night, while Maury Yeston’s Nine is based on Federico Fellini’s 1963 film 8 ½.

This guide will explore the different types of musical theatre adaptations of popular films and identify key examples that have achieved huge success.

Terminology

• Cult following: a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a theatrical production.
• Jukebox musical: a musical that features hit songs of a popular music group or genre.
• Movie musical: a motion picture consisting of a plot integrating musical numbers.

Key Dates & Events

• 1984 - La Cage Aux Folles won the Tony Award for Best Musical; the 2004 and 2010 Broadway revivals also won the Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical.
• 1993 - Premiere of Beauty and the Beast, the first Disney movie adapted for the stage. It ran on Broadway for 13 years (1994-2007).
• 2001 - The Producers won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
• 2003 - Hairspray won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
• 2005 - Spamalot won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
• 2009 - Billy Elliot won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
• 2011 - Legally Blonde won the Olivier Award for Best Musical.
• 2015 - School of Rock opened on Broadway, beginning a four year run.
• 2016 - Waitress opened on Broadway, commencing a four year run.