CW: fake blood
It’s popular for musicals to get inspiration from other forms of entertainment. Musicals can even find inspiration from the silver screen. Sure, there are popular screen-to-stage adaptations like Hairspray, Kinky Boots, and Once. There are plenty of silver screen musicals ready to be adapted for the stage. Here are five musicals I’d like to see adapted for the stage.
Anna and the Apocalypse
Anna and the Apocalypse has become one of my favorite Christmas movies since it first premiered in 2018. Set during Christmastime in a small town in Scotland, Anna and her high school friends have to fight off a recent zombie apocalypse. It might not actually have anything to do with Christmas, but I appreciate how campy it can be. The music is catchy and the choreography is fun. One of my favorite scenes involves Anna and her friend John walking to school completely oblivious of the zombie apocalypse happening behind them. This would be a great musical for the stage to embrace the campy side of theatre and have fun playing with fake blood onstage.
The Greatest Showman
One of my favorite musicals is Dear Evan Hansen, which features music from the writing duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Because of this writing duo, I was excited to see their work in the movie The Greatest Showman. This movie, which premiered in 2017, is a loose adaptation of the life of P.T. Barnum and his famous Barnum’s American Museum. The chemistry between Zendaya and Zac Efron is enough reason to fall in love with the idea of a screen-to-stage adaptation for this musical drama. The spectacle of The Greatest Showman would be the perfect fit for the stage.
Repo! The Genetic Opera
Another screen-to-stage adaptation with a lot of fake blood? Count me in! Repo! premiered in 2008, and involves a futuristic society where everyone needs organ donations. If you fail to pay for your donation, your organs get repossessed by the Repo Man. Meanwhile, the Repo Man’s daughter, Shiloh, wants to venture outside and see the world and is completely oblivious to her father’s true profession. Repo! The Genetic Opera isn’t a popular film, but it’s gained a cult following. Similar to how Rocky Horror Show has been adapted for both the silver screen and a screen-to-stage adaptation, Repo! could easily become a cult classic for the stage.
Enchanted
It’s always fun to see Disney poke fun at itself. Enchanted would be the perfect Disney musical to be adapted for the stage. The movie features Giselle, a future Disney princess that gets magically transported from the 2D world to real-life New York City, where everything is not a fairy tale. The musical involves all the clichés of Disney princess movies: random singing, true love’s kiss, an evil stepmother, and woodland creatures that want to help the protagonist.
Burlesque
With a cast that includes Cher and Christina Aguilera, you can’t go wrong with this movie. Burlesque involves Ali Rose, a struggling actress, taking a job at a burlesque club. Her performance as a burlesque dancer and singer skyrocket the profile of the burlesque club overnight. The best part about this musical is that it gives women the chance to shine. The music from this movie was written by Aguilera and Cher, so you know it will be a bomb cast recording.
Did I miss any movies that should be adapted for musicals? Let me know in the comments!
It’s been soooo long since anyone brought up Repo! I love the musical and it was actually one of the first I ever watched – my hubby still refuses, but I’ll get him to watch it one day! And I completely agree with The Greatest Showman, they did an amazing job with casting in my opinion and their natural chemistry makes it all the better.