Another Stageshow, Another Feature Film

[Jezebel38]

In other stage/movie thoughts... I saw a production of Sweeney Todd at San Francisco American Conservatory Theatre last night, which reminded me of the upcoming Tim Burton movie. The trailers have started popping up in theatres. I wonder how bloody he'll make it? Can any of those actors sing? Alan Rickman has one of the best speaking voices in the world; I'm betting he can sing too.[/quote]

I had read about this SF production in the paper - said the action was being placed in an insane asylum!? Did they set this premise up at the start, or was it revealed at the end of the story, a la Caligari? Did it work for you?

I have mixed thoughts about the upcoming release - I have always liked the Burton/Depp films but am concerned about the musical being watered (or dumbed) down to be more commercial. My hopes are that the score will not be sublimated to the overall style of the film - Sondheim is not for everyone.

[Moraldo Rubini]

I had read about this SF production in the paper - said the action was being placed in an insane asylum!? Did they set this premise up at the start, or was it revealed at the end of the story, a la Caligari? Did it work for you?

I have mixed thoughts about the upcoming release - I have always liked the Burton/Depp films but am concerned about the musical being watered (or dumbed) down to be more commercial. My hopes are that the score will not be sublimated to the overall style of the film - Sondheim is not for everyone.

It is set up in the beginning. That is, the opening "narrator" enters by being led in a straightjacket. They remove it and the story unfolds. But like flashbacks in a movie that one forgets when they get involved with the story, by the end of Sweeney Todd, I'd forgotten that opening. And as he ended up in a straight jacket again -- Caligari is precisely what I thought of.

Did you hear that there is no pit orchestra in this production? The actors play all the instruments! It's impressive that they were able to find the talent who could 1) act; 2) sing; and 3) play instruments. So when Mrs. Lovitt wasn't singing, she was playing the tuba; Joanna played the cello, etc. But it all seemed like a cheap gimmick; I found it distracting to the play.

I don't think Tim Burton will "dumb it down", but I too fear that the music will be compromised. But then, I'm in the pro-Sondheim camp.

[Moraldo Rubini]

The latest in the screen-to-stage mix was announced in today's NY Daily News: Brokeback Mountain writer Annie Proulx has given the go-ahead to an opera based on her story about two gay cowboys, we hear. Fellow Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Wuorinen will compose. I believe Wuorinen's last opera was Haroun and the Sea of Stories, based on a children's tale by Salman Rushdie. Brokeback will be produced by Beckett Swede, who is also creating Popra: Famous for 15 Minutes ... My Years With Andy Warhol written by former Warhol superstar Ultra Violet.

[Moraldo Rubini]

Musicals aren't the only stage productions to be inspired by film. Broadway bound, the stage production of Hitchcock's The 39 Steps is getting great reviews. Looks like a fun romp!

And Army Archerd reports on the musical version of 1956's dramatic movie The Catered Affair. Debbie Reynolds stopped by to check Harvey Fierstein in the Barry Fitzgerald part (newly reimagined for Harvey).

[Moraldo Rubini]

How about a musical version of War of the Worlds?

[mrsl]

Broadway must be where Walt Disney got his idea of re-releasing his wonderful full length cartoon movies every 5 to 7 years so each generation could enjoy them as new.

I know Broadway has always done 'revivals' but since CATS ended, it seems like everything 'new' on Broadway has been either a revival or a revamp of either a movie or a TV show or something.

How about something brand new for a change?

It's almost as bad as the movies. Nobody is writing anything nowadays.

Anne

[Moraldo Rubini]

This, from a recent interview with Johnny Depp regarding the upcoming film version of Sweeney Todd:

Were you conscious of what previous actors had done as Sweeney?
Tim [Burton] and I early on said, "We've got one shot. I don't think we need to go where Len Cariou went or Michael Cerveris went. We should go somewhere else. This could be the punk-rock Sweeney, you know. The alternative Sweeney."

So who did you look to for inspiration?
I'd say if there was someone hanging around the back of my mind, it had to have been Peter Lorre from Mad Love. He was kind of my ghost for it.

[Moraldo Rubini]

Rob Marshall to direct film musical "Nine"
They won the best picture Oscar with 2002's blockbuster "Chicago," and now director Rob Marshall and producer Harvey Weinstein plan to adapt another hit Broadway musical for the screen. This time, the production is "Nine," which won the Tony for best musical.

The Weinstein Co. said Thursday that Marshall will direct the adaptation, with Maury Yeston, the composer and lyricist for the original 1982 production, reprising his songwriting roles. A screenwriter has yet to be named; the original book was written by Arthur Kopit. John DeLuca, who worked with Marshall on "Chicago," will choreograph.

Adapted from Federico Fellini's autobiographical "8½," "Nine" is a surreal look at the professional and personal struggles of fictional Italian filmmaker Guido Contini. A 2003 revival of the show starred Antonia Banderas and won two Tonys, including best revival.
Wow!
I would have never thought of "Nine" as a possible film project but it excites me to think it may happen. This is more fun than the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp "Sweeny Todd" project. Being so cinematic in its concept gives it a definite boost to transferring to film successfully.

Now, who would make a good middle-aged Italian to play the lead? (Antonio Banderas, who did the revival in 2003 better not get the role.)

The latest word on this is that the writer's strike has delayed the start of this movie version of Nine. And yes, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz are slated to star in it...