Movies Into Broadway Musicals, What’s Coming Up This Season!

Movies Into Broadway Musicals, What's Coming Up This Season!

Alright musical theatre gays! We got the low down as to what movies are becoming musicals and heading to the stage this upcoming season. We've had so many movies turned into musicals as of late. There's Beetlejuice, Back to the Future, A Christmas Story, Mean Girls, The Notebook, Legally Blonde, Almost Famous, Mrs. Doubtfire, Moulin Rouge, Mr. Saturday Night, 9 to 5, Pretty Woman, Waitress, Sister Act, and that's not even including the stuff from Disney. Some of these have worked out ok, some of these...have not. There's a lot of debate the movie musicals on Broadway are just playing to tourists and take away from the quality of musical theatre in general. There's the other camp that says this recent trend is keeping Broadway musicals alive, especially after COVID when it has been extremely hard to get butts back in seats. Well, here are the movies that are coming to the stage.

La La Land

The 2016 Oscar-winning film starring Ryan Goslin and Emma Stone is heading to Broadway. The same creative team behind the movie will be presenting the Broadway musical. It will feature the same music as the film. The movie won Oscars, but not for music. The stage version will be directed by directed by Bartlett Sher, known for his work on "To Kill a Mockingbird," "The King and I," and "South Pacific." Though the film was visually pleasing, the story was meh and the musical was unmemorable. We aren't sure this film has the same audience love that will flock to see the stage version. It will be interesting to see how they match the visual expanse of the film. No cast has been announced.

 

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The Greatest Showman

Disney at D23 announced that the movie musical The Greatest Showman (starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, and Zendaya) will now be a Broadway musical. The movie version has become a fan favorite and music from the film has become part of cabaret and mainstream music repertoire. There's even a medical commercial currently on TV featuring one of the lead songs. There is no timeline or theater location at this time, it is still in development. Ryan Vasquez, from Broadway's The Notebook, performed live at D23 as Hugh Jackman's character, so maybe that is a hint as to casting. We can see how easily this can transfer to the stage, this one might actually work.

 

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Thelma & Louise

This one is fun. Thelma & Louise has become part of movie history and the ending scene is iconic. This one has been in development for years but is finally finding its footing. It has been workshopped and there is already praise for the music. Here's the thing, this Broadway musical will star Amanda Seyfried (Thelma) and Evan Rachel Wood (Louise). We are excited about this. Our big question is, how are they going to drive off the stage at the end?

 

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The Devil Wears Prada

This one has been in development for a bit and received an initial run in Chicago and now the West End, with its ultimate goal of coming to Broadway. Elton John has penned the music and the diva herself, Vanessa Williams, is taking the title role. Unfortunately, it got terrible reviews from its Chicago run saying the musical was terrible and that nothing could save it. To be fair, Mean Girls as a Broadway musical is terrible but still gets audiences in subsequent productions and also became a lucrative film. The familiarity of the content may bring audiences in, but the gays will be squawking if it is not good!

 

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Crazy Rich Asians

Jon M. Chu who directed the film (and who is also directing the Wicked films) will oversee this as a Broadway musical. Tony-nominated Helen Park will write the music, she also wrote the music for the KPOP musical - yeah, we don't know what that musical was. Before it hits Broadway, it will get a limited run prior to work out anything that isn't working. The rich characters and endearing storyline do lend themselves to music, so this might be one to watch for.

Disney has its own slew of stage musicals coming out, that is nothing new for them. Among their roster is a new version of Hercules, Coco, and Tangled.

What other movies do you think should become part of Broadway?

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