{"id":9122,"date":"2020-04-17T09:17:33","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T13:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=9122"},"modified":"2020-04-20T10:51:23","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T14:51:23","slug":"adaptation-stage-and-movie-musicals-in-the-20th-and-21st-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=9122","title":{"rendered":"Adaptation: Stage and Movie Musicals in the 20th and 21st Century"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inspiration for the creation of films can come from just about anywhere, but over the decades Hollywood has consistently borrowed stories from its sister entertainment world – Broadway. Stage musicals especially have been the fodder for film since the 1930s, with movie musicals existing for at least a decade before that. So what came first? The musical? The movie? The musical that became a movie? The movie that became a musical? Or, in at least one case, the movie, that became a musical, that became a movie musical.*<\/p>\n

Movies have exhibited musical numbers since the advent of sound in film. Song and dance were an easy way to entertain and engage audiences, but in many cases in the early years of movie musicals, the numbers did little to further the story and rather served as spectacles to highlight the actors\u2019 talents and the studios\u2019 set budgets. However, it was different for the adaptation of stage musicals such as Show Boat<\/a>, My Fair Lady<\/a>, Oklahoma!<\/a>, <\/i>and West Side Story<\/i><\/a> – these were already successful, money making productions with engaging stories, drama, pathos, zingers, romance, humor, and sweeping, memorable music already crafted for audiences that loved them. Lights, camera…action!<\/p>\n

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West Side Story<\/em> souvenir program featuring the characters Anita and Bernardo, 1957. Broadway souvenir programs collection, C0182, Box 5, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Anita and Bernardo, played by Rita Moreno and George Chakiris respectively, in 1961’s West Side Story<\/em> film adaptation. Image source<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Some musicals that have been adapted into films are classics in their own right. Today\u2019s audiences are more likely to hold Natalie Wood lip syncing<\/a> \u201cI Feel Pretty\u201d in the 1961 adaptation of West Side Story <\/i>more dearly to their heart than Carol Lawrence singing<\/a> the exact same number on the original cast recording. Movies musicals have the advantage of wider viewing and better accessibility, with the same songs and stories available for a nominal fee, rather than an often impossibly expensive and hard-to-get Broadway ticket. In some cases, this accessibility trumps the actual quality of the adaptation. Take 2008\u2019s film adaptation of the hit ABBA jukebox musical Mamma Mia! <\/i><\/a>Critically on the fence, and with questionable singing talent from the actors involved, Mamma Mia! <\/i><\/a>is now a modern cult classic, even spawning a (questionably necessary, albeit very fun) sequel film in 2018<\/a> (a sequel stage musical does not exist). Sometimes, the film adaptation of a musical irrevocably influences the original stage version. The 1978 film version of Grease<\/i><\/a> became so popular, that original music was cut and songs which only existed in the film were added into the 2007 Broadway revival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Photograph of \u201cCasting of Grease<\/em> Performing on Stage,\u201d October 30, 1975. Broadside Photograph collection, R0135, Box 11, Page 66, Item 2, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Behind the scenes on the 1978 film Grease<\/em>. Featured are Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta performing “You’re The One That I Want.” Image Source<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

In many cases, stage musicals are just begging to be adapted to film. The other way around, however, is another story. Movie musicals adapted into stage musicals – even beloved films, such as Gigi<\/i> and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers<\/i> – are generally not as successful as the reverse (with the big exception of Disney\u2019s myriad film-to-stage productions). For instance, the films of Italian surrealist auteur Federico Fellini are the furthest kind from direct musical adaptation. His films – without a musical number in sight – are gritty, disturbing, grotesque, romantic, hilarious, sexy, and stylistically singular. It would take a brave soul to adapt a Fellini film into a stage musical, especially one of his most beloved and important films, 8 \u00bd<\/i><\/a>. But, Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit chose to do just that, and in 1982 Nine<\/i><\/a> premiered on Broadway and won five Tony awards that very year, including Best Musical. In Nine\u2019s<\/i> tradition, it does seem that the best film-to-stage musical adaptations were risky ones that didn\u2019t immediately lend themselves to musical theatre adaptation, such as Monty Python\u2019s Spamalot<\/i><\/a> (adapted from Monty Python and the Holy Grail<\/i>), Kinky Boots<\/i><\/a>, Billy Elliot<\/a>, The Color Purple<\/a><\/i>, and Sunset Boulevard<\/a>. <\/i>Even the 1980 roller skate fantasy film flop Xanadu<\/i><\/a> was adapted into a critical and commercial stage musical success.<\/p>\n

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Nine\u202f: the Musical, 1983. Yeston, Maury., Fratti, Mario, and Kopit, Arthur. ML50 .Y48 N5 1983, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Three Guidos – Clockwise are Marcello Mastroianni in the original film 8 1\/2<\/em>, Raul Julia in the Broadway production of Nine<\/em>, and Daniel Day-Lewis in the musical movie adaptation of Nine. <\/em>Source: Google Images.
<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Regardless of the origin, movie musicals and musicals derived from movies are now some of the most beloved objects of entertainment in the world. I would wager that as long as both mediums exist, we will continue to enjoy these unique and sometimes Russian Doll-like adaptations for decades to come.<\/p>\n

*Rob Marshall\u2019s movie-musical Nine<\/i><\/a> is itself an adaptation of the stage musical Nine<\/i>, which is itself an adaptation of the film 8 \u00bd.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cShowing Us Our Own Face\u201d: Performing Arts and the Human Experience will be on display until May 2020 in Fenwick Library, 2FL.<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow SCRC on Social Media and look out for future posts in our Travel Series on our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0accounts. \u00a0To search the collections\u00a0held at Special Collections Research Center, go to our\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0and browse the finding aids by subject or title. You may also e-mail\u00a0us at\u00a0speccoll@gmu.edu<\/a>\u00a0or call 703-993-2220 if you would like to\u00a0schedule an appointment, request materials, or if you have questions. Appointments are not necessary to request and view collections.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inspiration for the creation of films can come from just about anywhere, but over the decades Hollywood has consistently borrowed stories from its sister entertainment world – Broadway. Stage musicals especially have been the fodder for film since the 1930s, with movie musicals existing for at least a decade before that. So what came first? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101014,"featured_media":9141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,3,5,121],"tags":[22,445,541,540],"class_list":["post-9122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exhibits","category-news","category-scrc-interest","category-scrc-picks","tag-exhibits","tag-film","tag-musical-theater","tag-performing-arts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/banner-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1043&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-2n8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6936,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=6936","url_meta":{"origin":9122,"position":0},"title":"The Virginia Nelson Playbills Collection – West Side Story","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"October 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello there! 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Humans - the only creatures on earth able to conceptualize realities other than the present one \u2013 over the millennia have followed the urge to present these realities to each other in a multitude of ways. This need to witness and empathize with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "exhibits"","block_context":{"text":"exhibits","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/SCRCArtsExhibit.Spring2020.LCD_.1920.FIXED_.FINAL_.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/SCRCArtsExhibit.Spring2020.LCD_.1920.FIXED_.FINAL_.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/SCRCArtsExhibit.Spring2020.LCD_.1920.FIXED_.FINAL_.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/SCRCArtsExhibit.Spring2020.LCD_.1920.FIXED_.FINAL_.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/SCRCArtsExhibit.Spring2020.LCD_.1920.FIXED_.FINAL_.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10112,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10112","url_meta":{"origin":9122,"position":2},"title":"Exploring the Martin Cohen Theater Collection","author":"Kelsey Kim","date":"March 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, I took a turn away from my standard digital work to do something I haven\u2019t done since I was a teeny weeny undergraduate student about\u2026.ten years ago (hey, 30s are the new 20s)\u2014PROCESSING! And I got a great collection to jump into.\u00a0 The materials belonged to a late GMU\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Finding Aids"","block_context":{"text":"New Finding Aids","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=710"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eight playbills for different theater shows are laid out on a wooden table.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Playbills-min-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Playbills-min-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Playbills-min-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Playbills-min-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Playbills-min-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9530,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=9530","url_meta":{"origin":9122,"position":3},"title":"New and Updated Finding Aids – Part Three","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"April 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"All collections mentioned were processed by Amanda Brent. Martha Swope photographs of Jerome Robbins rehearsing with ballet dancers for \"Antique Epigraphs\" \"Two black and white photographs of Jerome Robbins rehearsing with ballet dancers for 'Antique Epigraphs' at the New York City Ballet, taken by Martha Swope in early 1984. Both\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Finding Aids"","block_context":{"text":"New Finding Aids","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=710"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/kosloff_002-scaled.jpg?fit=944%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/kosloff_002-scaled.jpg?fit=944%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/kosloff_002-scaled.jpg?fit=944%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/kosloff_002-scaled.jpg?fit=944%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11930,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=11930","url_meta":{"origin":9122,"position":4},"title":"From the Archives: The Visit by Friederich Du\u0308rrenmatt, adapted into English by Maurice Valency\u00a0","author":"admin","date":"May 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog post was written by Maris Tiller, SCRC Research Services GRA. Maris is\u00a0a Graduate student pursuing her Master\u2019s in Creative Writing with a concentration in fiction. \u00a0 Swiss playwright Friederich\u00a0Du\u0308rrenmatt\u2019s tragicomic play\u00a0Der\u00a0Besuch\u00a0der\u00a0Alten\u00a0Dame\u00a0(direct translation:\u00a0The Visit of the Old Lady)\u00a0premiered in\u00a0Zurich in\u00a01956\u00a0to\u00a0great success.\u00a0That same year, playwright Maurice Valency brought the play\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Translation-for-Comparison-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Translation-for-Comparison-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Translation-for-Comparison-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6178,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=6178","url_meta":{"origin":9122,"position":5},"title":"George Mason University Mentioned in the Film Hidden Figures","author":"Bob Vay","date":"March 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When was the last time you heard George Mason University mentioned in a major motion picture? 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