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Broadway has long been the gold standard of theatrical excellence. A place where the stage comes alive under the glittering lights of New York City. From cult classics to blockbuster hits, Hollywood’s finest have made the leap to The Great White Way. Since creatives already have access to a completed story, why not make it into a musical. The results? Sometimes brilliant, sometimes baffling, but always a bold gamble on the intersection of cinema and live theater. Here are some of the shows to grace the big screen and the stage.
Little Shop of Horrors (1982)
While now better known for the 1986 movie musical based on the 1982 hit musical, Little Shop of Horrors began as a low-budget Roger Corman project in 1960.
Corman was famous for his empire of B-films. Low-budget films shot in impressively short schedules and sent out to cinemas to play as the latter half of the double feature, turning over significant profit. Beginning in the mid-1950s, Corman directed and produced hundreds of films, including The Pit and the Pendulum, Death Race 2000, Rock 'n' Roll High School, and Pirnaha. He launched the careers of Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Jonathan Demme, Francis Ford Coppola, and Robert De Niro through his constant stream of projects.
Little Shop in particular was shot over the course of only two days for a little over $22,000. As with Corman's previous films, it played as the second half of a double bill. Audiences ended up loving the film, leading to word-of-mouth recommendations. This led to the film making profits for the studio, and even got a short out-of-competition run at Cannes. Despite the success, Corman never seemingly bothered to copyright the film, leaving it in the hands of the public domain. 22 years later, the musical was made.
The original film and the musical follow largely the same plot. A bumbling florist grows a carnivorous plant with a taste for human blood. A bizarre and Corman-esque concept that seemed relegated to the backends of his extended filmography. But playwright and Disney songwriter Howard Ashman was one of the many teenagers who saw the original Little Shop when it played in cinemas. He decided to write a musical based on the film. The musical, of course, was a huge hit. With Broadway productions, countless revivals, high school drama projects, and the 1986 film.
Groundhog Day (2016)
The classic '90s comedy takes us through a day in the life of a cynical Pittsburgh weatherman as he covers the annual Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The classic '90s comedy takes us through a day in the life of a cynical Pittsburgh weatherman as he covers the annual Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The classic-
Wait, didn’t I already go over this?
Yes, I did. But Phil Connors didn’t get the memo. Originally played by Bill Murray, he becomes trapped in a time loop, replaying February 2nd over and over. The film remains one of the best by director and comedian Harold Ramis, who also co-wrote the script.
Much like a time loop, the 2016 production of a Groundhog Day musical was first proposed back in 2003 by legendary composer Stephen Sondheim. While Sondheim didn't end up seeing the project through, film co-writer Danny Rubin first announced he was working on a book for the musical in 2009.
While Rubin felt stuck in trying to figure out how exactly to turn his film into a musical, he was introduced to musician Tim Minchin. They began to workshop the show in 2014. While no, the characters do not sing the same songs over and over again, the show does feature a large anthropomorphic groundhog. Existential horror has never been so catchy.
Back to the Future: The Musical (2020)
Out of all the beloved '80s movies to need a musical soundtrack, Back to the Future is apparently one of them. The book for the show was written by Bob Gale, the screenwriter for the original film, with music by composer Alan Silvestri. As such, the stage version largely follows that on screen with some flashy musical numbers.
Back in 2004, at none other than a DeLorean Car Show, Gale announced his intentions to bring Back to the Future from the screen to the stage. The musical was originally scheduled to premiere in 2015 for the 30th anniversary of the film, but was pushed back a whole 5 years due to significant creative differences, before finally premiering in 2020.
Marty and Doc's adventures in 1955 get the show tune treatment, with catchy lyrics about McDonald's, "Whoa/I'm a man in uniform/Arches on my hat/And all I ever have to say:/'You want fries with that?'" Rhymes that include "arithmetic" and "hockey stick." And songs about really wanting to sleep with your future son, which is definitely not weird for the audience.
And to those wondering, yes, there is a time-travelling car on stage. And yes, it does fly.
Legally Blonde (2007)
Before there were musicals of Mean Girls, The Devil Wears Prada, or Heathers, the original chick flick on stage was Legally Blonde.
From the movie released in 2001, the book for the musical was written by Heather Hatch, who was also behind the 2003 Freaky Friday remake. The music was provided by husband-wife duo Nell Benjamin and Laurence O'Keefe, who, funny enough, would go on to do the music for Mean Girls and Heathers, respectively.
Not only a hit onstage, but Legally Blonde would be the first and only musical to get its own reality show on MTV. Legally Blonde: The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods was a competition program that sought to find a replacement for the original Elle Woods performer, Laura Bell Bundy. Contestants danced and sang their way through a series of musical theatre-themed challenges for their star on the stage.
Not just a question of turning Legally into a musical, but turning a book into a movie into a musical into a reality TV show and then the musical again. What, like it's hard?
The Producers (2001) /Young Frankenstein (2007)
First, Mel Brooks made a series of successful films, got nominated for three Oscars and won for Best Screenplay. Clearly, that wasn't enough. Not only did we get The Producers as a musical, but also Young Frankenstein.
Brooks' films already featured parody numbers, such as the songs featured in Blazing Saddles or the title track in High Anxiety. His first film, The Producers, has the uniqueness of already being about a musical. Namely, the attempt to put on the world's worst musical. Featuring hard-hitters like Springtime for Hitler, it took an actual Hollywood producer, David Geffen, to convince Brooks to turn his film into a full-fledged musical.
After the success The Producers had on Broadway, it was only a short wait before Brooks announced his next project. Which was a film adaptation of the musical featuring original Broadway performers Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane.
Five years later, Brooks decided he wasn't done with theatre just yet. Young Frankenstein only had its first workshop in 2006 before taking to the stage the following year. Although not as critically acclaimed as its predecessor, Brooks' background as a comedy writer and musician made the transition from screen to stage effective and still just as hilarious.
Ghost the Musical (2011)
Although I can't speak to how romantic singing ghosts are, this adaptation of the 1990 film is no typical Phantom of the Opera.
With a book and lyrics by original screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin, who won an Oscar for his script, and music from Dave Stewart of the musical duo, Eurythmics, Ghost stirs up a medley of pop songwriting that takes us through the sounds of the afterlife.
The show relies very little on traditional set dressing, instead opting for a series of large LED screens for scenery and special effects. With a heavy reliance on technological illusion, the show leaves little room for error. Except, of course, when the boards glitch or just fall down on the stage.
This cross-spectral romance includes the thrills of pottery, in-tune existential woes, and various other supernatural shenanigans. Catchy songs whose lyrics consist entirely of belting "I can't feel anymore/I can’t breathe/I can't help anymore/Help me!/Help me!" Freaky stuff.
Rocky the Musical (2012)
Nothing makes you want to sing more than a solid jab to the face. Rocky the Musical takes us through 15 rounds of hard-hitting showtunes as Rocky sings, dances, bobs and weaves his way through to his bout with Apollo Creed.
While Rocky doesn't scream bright lights and showbiz, the musical version remains largely faithful to Sylvester Stallone's original film. Yet Sylvester Stallone himself helped bring the underdog boxer to the stage, alongside Thomas Meehan, who also worked on The Producers and Young Frankenstein. The show premiered in Hamburg, Germany, in 2012 before making its way to Broadway in 2014 with moments set to lyrics like “In the ring / We was the bestest.”
The musical stays surprisingly faithful to the 1976 film, charting Rocky’s journey from down-and-out Philadelphia fighter to an unlikely contender for heavyweight champion. But by the final act, the bouts give way to full-throttle spectacle. Yes, Rocky and Creed spar on a massive spinning boxing ring that’s rolled out into the audience for the climactic fight. Because of course they do.
After all, if Rocky could become an Oscar-winning film franchise, why not a two-and-a-half-hour singalong? Maybe it's a good thing Sly stuck to writing.
Grey Gardens (2006)
David and Albert Maysles' cult documentary from 1975 had nothing to do with show tunes. The film followed Edith "Big Edie" Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Little Edie, relatives of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, in their titular decaying mansion. The Beales weren’t just eccentric, they were aristocratic hoarders holding court with raccoons, cats, and crumbling plaster.
With a book by Doug Wright and songs from Scott Frankel and Michael Korie, the first act of the play takes us through a fictionalized account of the lives of the Edies in the days before their estate became known for its neglected state, and was a hub of socialite activity.
The second act takes us right into the documentary, with much of the dialogue and story as we see in the film. Little Edie's prolonged rants get turned into full songs, and the bickering between mother and daughter is on full display. The sharp and intentional swivel between these two worlds attempts to show us just what could have happened to put these two into the situation the Maysles' find them in.
Perhaps the most raccoon-infested show on Broadway. Even the real-life crumbling of a family home and legacy made its way into the spotlight.
Carrie (1988)
And finally, one of the biggest flops in Broadway history. Such a complete and total mess was the ill-fated Carrie, that it's become a colloquialism for musical failure.
From the success of Stephen King's novel and subsequent film adaptation by Brian De Palma, the natural next step in the tragic story of bullied Carrie White was to take her and her psychic powers to the stage. However, the result was a clumsy mess of a musical that has found its place deep in the bowels of theatrical history.
The doomed production played for a whopping total of 5 performances before closing. With its own director, Terry Hands, having said before the premiere, ''I don't know anything about the American musical. This is my first time. But all of us on the show have been incredibly, unbelievably inexperienced. Rarely have such inexperienced but I suppose kind of naively enthusiastic people got together to try and make something work."
Clunky acting, bizarre choices, and dance numbers centered around killing a pig gave Carrie its reputation that continues as an enduring reference, called upon by theatre critics who have proclaimed the subsequent Broadway misfires as "The next Carrie."
While not every movie-turned-musical is destined for Broadway’s elite ranks, the process of adapting a film into a stage production remains a daring challenge. Some shows find their spark in a fresh format, capturing the magic of the original while adding a new dimension. Others fall flat, struggling to translate the magic of the screen to the stage. Either way, all these shows were selected to be large-scale romps of song and dance. Giving a new life and some new appreciation to beloved silver screen classics.
