We can all agree that musicals are amazing. There have been over 14,000 Broadway musicals in the last century, not including off-Broadway.
It is unfortunate, however, that most musicals are copies of something else. It seems that the majority of famous musicals are not original ideas made for Broadway, but versions of an already existing story, but this time with music!
Some musicals are based on movies, books, plays, legends, and even history itself, all of these being examples of retellings. This then begs the question of whether Hollywood’s exploitation of original ideas ruins the heart of the story.
In an age where mankind will never have a real original idea again, it’s truly inspiring and captivating when a form of entertainment, like musicals, brings a brand new perspective to an already existing story, or a completely original idea.
Typically a story may go from a movie to a musical, or a book to a musical, or a book to a movie to a musical, but on several occasions, a story has gone from a musical to a movie, or even a musical to a book to a movie. Take for instance Dear Evan Hansen, one of my favourite musicals of all time.
Dear Evan Hansen was an original musical and was extremely well received during its years on Broadway from 2016-2022 for its heart-wrenching, empathetic, hard-hitting, yet amusing and relatable story. It was a story of an anxious, socially awkward teenage boy from a broken home who accidentally found himself in the arms of another broken family and, in an effort to feel loved and valued, dug himself deeper and deeper into a devastating lie.
During its running, it was nominated for numerous awards. Then with its massive hit on Broadway and skyrocketing fame, the creators made a novel version of it, telling the story without the songs and score.
Reading the novelization of the show offered a deeper look into the story. It allowed the audience to take the time to really understand the characters and see things from an extensive perspective.
The decision to create a novel version was a very humble and honest one for those reasons. They weren’t doing it to grab extra money (although I’m sure that was a bonus) but to enrich the story they were trying to share with the world.
Unfortunately, in 2021 they made a movie adaptation. At first, I was excited for the movie. For years I was stuck with only clips and bootlegs of it on the internet and my own memory of seeing it, so I was intrigued by the idea that I would get to watch the whole version of one of my favourite musicals at home whenever I wanted. When I saw the cast, however, I became a little nervous.
My friend and I shared this anxiety as it was one of both of our favourite shows. The movie’s cast had less than half of the original Broadway cast that we had grown so familiar with. It made me concerned that this movie wouldn’t do the musical or the story in general justice. Then we went to see it. The unnerved glances towards each other, the shared cringes, the incidental bursts into laughter we shared, and the look of disappointment–the movie was bad.
This was very disappointing. I understood why they had made the movie, even the book, but there
was always a part of me wondering if and when they were going to stop. This movie was definitely when. In this version, they portrayed the characters in an almost unbothered, shallow way, in deep contrast to the actual story. Yes, the emotional scenes did remain emotional, but it was the other scenes that seemed to take away from the raw, guttural feelings this musical brings out in you. It was a good idea in theory, but not so good in practice, sorry Evan.
A musical I think Hollywood has done a remarkable job of adapting into a film is the now even more infamous Wicked.
The way they portray the characters, even though the cast is not the original Broadway’s, is so spot on that it impressed the Broadway actors. The actors in this movie’s roles trained and prepared for years before the movie’s final release, and every bit of that showed. The camera work, the lighting, and even the CGI all represented the story so well because of the effort and care put into them. It was obvious the cast and crew had a real passion for this already beloved and incredible musical, which made this adaptation one of the few movie-turned-musicals that did the story justice and was executed with grace and love.
This isn’t to say that all other movie adaptations of musicals and vice versa are bad. West Side Story is my favourite musical and one of my favourite movies as a result, and since I wasn’t alive to see the actual Broadway show, I’m grateful they made a movie adaptation. Most people only know about West Side Story because of the movies and not the actual Broadway show which makes them feel necessary and important in the telling of the story.
Unfortunately, unlike Wicked and West Side Story, most musical-to-movie adaptations are poorly done and do a disservice to the world of the original musical, even though they may be well-received and conventionally acceptable.
Of course, Hollywood will continue to milk everything they can until it’s completely dried out, from adaptations, to spin-offs, to who knows what–and we can’t really do anything about it because there will always be that one person who “loves it”.
We can continue to be undoubtedly disappointed with every other cash-grabbing spin-off or adaptation Hollywood pulls out of nowhere and still take comfort in knowing there will be diamond in the rough.
