I'm seeing it on Sunday and in prep, watched the film which I haven't seen in decades. About the only thing that sings to me is the central love story. Donna Reed has a nice speech toward the end about being a proper woman that could make for a good song, and there's an opportunity for a rollicking bar room number. I'm eager to see how they adapted it. It got middling notices in London. It's a story where you see everything coming from a mile away so creating a sense of urgency is going to be tricky.
RippedMan, I don't go for the scene changes. I go to see what kind of a musical they've created. But if you are, perhaps, a set designer, I can appreciate your frustration.
Even though I go to these stage to screen shows I am always frustrated that the camera is not always where I want to look. Have the same problem with porno--maybe I should have been a Director !!
I understand that, Wilmington, but the point of seeing theater is that you take in the overall look. When it's filmed they try to force it into a movie type format. It's not built like that. If you're seated in the front Mezz you're seeing the whole picture all the time.
Had tickets, but my girlfriend wasn’t feeling well, so we ended up not going. Had some family members who did go and called during intermission, telling us that it was laughably bad. The plot they were describing sounded horrendous, they said the acting felt like it was straight out of community theatre, and they were only staying for the second half because it was so bad, it became funny. They were also the only ones in their theatre.
Is this really aiming for Broadway in 2015? The ads I see here on BWW all say that, but I don’t remember hearing much about it.
It sounded like it was more the structure of it and what was actually shown/not shown in the musical. They talked about how suddenly, relationships were established and characters seemed like different people, but the audience didn’t get to see any of that change or development - more that the audience was just expected to accept these things as is.
If the film was intended to raise awareness and anticipation for a Broadway opening...it may have failed if these anecdotal reports are indicative of a greater lack of interest.
I thought the show was okay. I didn't think it was bad. I just didn't think it was "wow" either. I have never seen the film so I was surprised at how dark the story was. Apparently it was based more on the book than on the movie. Because of this darkness, it was hard to accept the two love stories as being believable. I can't imagine being attracted to Mrs. Holmes when she is anything but nice to Sgt. Warden. Lorene was a little bit more effervescent but the attraction was purely based on looks. The production design was very dark too. It was beautiful but dark and not reflective of its supposedly romantic setting. One might say that it was supposed to be dark because it was set during the war but this was not a story about the war. It was more about the two relationships, the harshness of the military and the treatment of homosexuals… the war was just incidental.
The leads were quite good performance wise but the material they had to work with was subpar. The tunes were good enough to convince me to download the cast album but they didn't really advance the story in the context of a musical. The nice thing about watching "From Here to Eternity' on screen was getting lost in Robert Lonsdale's eyes. That guy is dreamy though few of the show's stills seemed to have captured that quality.
There is a question that needs to be asked by the creative staff of any adaptation. This includes writers, composers, directors, choreographers, producers.
"Can we tell the same story better?"
I didn't say differently. The addition of song and dance is different, but will it add to the impact of the work?
If the answer is in doubt, find another property.
See Big, Rocky, Young Frankenstein, and alas, From Here To Eternity.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable."
--Carrie Fisher
I'm still interested in seeing this, but I think I'll wait for the DVD since it will be about the same price as the ticket to watch it in the theater. I have listened to the score and I enjoy it for the most part. I am intrigued by the idea of going back to the original uncensored version of the novel and including some of the homosexual elements that were banned from the original published version and thus not included in the film. I don't think anyone should ever try to remake the film, although I'm sure Hollywood will eventually get a round to it, but I think utilizing those elements from the novel that were initially cut was the most interesting reason to adapt the property for a new medium. It just sounds like it wasn't executed as well as it could have been.