With their new movie imminent, which musicals would you like to see given the Muppet treatment on the big screen, and how would you cast it? So far, I'm holding out for:
The Muppet FOLLIES: When Kermit and the gang gather one last time at the Muppet Theatre, they're haunted by the ghost of past guest stars and their own lives and loves. In the final 'Gloveland' sequence things become meta-theatrical as Kermit works a puppet of Jim Henson in homage to the great man.
The Muppet EVITA: Casting - Miss Piggy (Eva), Kermit (Che), Fozzie Bear (Magaldi), Sam the Eagle (Peron), Mistress (Janice), The Army played by Doctor Teeth & the Electric Mayhem, featuring special drum pattern breaks from Animal during 'Peron's Latest Flame'.
And in Broadway's first Species-Blind Casting......
The Muppet CATS: Miss Piggy as Grizabella the glamour cat; Kermit as Munkustrap; Fozzie Bear as Old Deuteronomy; The Great Gonzo as Mr Mistoffoles; Scooter the Gopher as Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat; Animal as the Great Rumpus Cat.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
So, I'm the one to make a serious suggestion? Based on Tom Smith's filk...
The Rocky Horror Muppet Show
Starring Kermit the Frog as Dr. Frank N. Furter Miss Piggy as Janet Weiss Scooter as Brad Majors Gonzo the Great as Riff-Raff Annie Sue as Magenta Janice as Columbia Dr. Strangepork as Dr. Everett (Von) Scott Link Hogthrob as Rocky Horror Fozzie Bear as Eddie Sam the Eagle as the Criminologist ... with special guest appearances from Statler and Waldorf as the audience participation
"There is no problem so big that it cannot be run away from."
~ Charles M. Schulz
Rose - Miss Piggy Herbie - Kermit Louise - The one human actor Dainty June - Prairie Dawn (sure, Sesame Street, but the Muppets are low on females) Tulsa - Scooter Tessie Tura - Gonzo Electra/Miss Cratchitt - Janice Mazeppa - Skeeter (sure, never been a major puppet, but low on females) Pop/Cigar - Statler Uncle Jocko/Kringelein - Waldorf Mr. Goldstone - Fozzie Bear
I'm pretty sure I suggested this in a similar post before, but...
The Muppet of the Opera
Christine - Any current interchangeable pop singer The Phantom - Gonzo Raoul - Kermit Carlotta - Miss Piggy Piangi - Fozzie Bear Firmin & Andre - Statler & Waldorf Madame Giry - Hilda Meg Giry - Yolanda Rat Buquet - Scooter Reyer - Dr. Teeth Opera Orchestra - Electric Mayhem + Rowlf
"Your lyrics lack subtlety! You can't just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!"
^ That's actually not bad. I've tried like mad to put together a Muppet cast of JCS for years, and haven't put one together that easily.
Confession: A friend of mine and I have actually created several all-Muppet casts for Annie, Rent, Phantom (yes, Gonzo with his distinctive schnoz gets a mask of his own), Fiddler, Little Shop of Horrors, Sweeney, it's great fun really. The best part is going through the script and finding spots for Statler and Waldorf to interject without ruining the spirit and points of the musical in question. We were initially developing it as a proposal for Disney and the Hensons, but Avenue Q reintroduced an edgier version of the Muppets, and so we were unable to move ahead quite as planned.
"There is no problem so big that it cannot be run away from."
~ Charles M. Schulz
^ Re-discovered some of my old Muppet casts from the above post and decided to put them here. Keep in mind, a lot of these are for comedic value, and keeping the hierarchy of the Muppet company in mind; also, full scripts were developed for each of these that ABC rejected. Highlights from each show are seen below. Unless Kermit has a lead role or a walk-on, he is usually just the director of the whole insane production. Orchestrations are always performed by the Electric Mayhem.
We even thought it out further, with featurettes including interviews with Sondheim (or creators of other shows) and so forth. We eliminated it from our final proposal because we were worried the "Muppet theater" idea was getting too involved.
Some casts:
Little Shop of Muppets (hehehe, get it? oh boy, it's cringe-inducing from here on out) Seymour.............Scooter Audrey..............Miss Piggy Mushnik.............Sam the Eagle Orin................Gonzo Crystal.............Janice Ronnette............Annie Sue Pig Chiffon.............Skeeter Audrey II...........voiced by Dr. Teeth, Muppeteered by Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Sweetums Peter Bernstein.....Clifford Mrs. Luce...........Mildred Skip Snip...........Rizzo Patrick Martin......Convincing John Wink Wilkinson......Fozzie Bear Arthur Denton.......Crazy Harry
Highlights of the above production would have included Scooter taking an extremely long time getting Miss Piggy inside the plant puppet, and when she's pulled through, she can be audibly heard screaming "WATCH IT!!!!"; Sam the Eagle discovering his inner performer during the course of "Mushnik and Son" and extending the "Tevye moment" by about 20 minutes; and let's not forget the special gas mask (accommodated to fit Gonzo's head). Kermit has a walk-on as the first customer who wants to buy $50 worth of roses. (And he does break the fourth wall in doing so. After his first line, he says "I'm in this one too, folks, but only for a little bit.") The Audrey II-type character from Fraggle Rock puts in an appearance attempting to upstage everyone during "Ya Never Know" while Scooter holds him.
Also, a special post-bows moment: after curtain call, the shop set splits in two to reveal the traditional Electric Mayhem set. Audrey II Pod 4 is then pushed to the back of the stage under a spotlight (with Sweetums still inside to lip-synch), and the Electric Mayhem take the stage to perform "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space."
Annie Annie...................Prairie Dawn Daddy Warbucks..........Kermit Ms. Hannigan............Miss Piggy Grace...................Annie Sue Pig Rooster.................Gonzo Lily....................Janice Sandy...................Sprocket FDR.....................Sam the Eagle Bundles McCloskey.......Fozzie Bert Healy..............Dr. Teeth Company.................Everyone else
Why Gonzo, you might be asking? Think about his obsession. Would you put it past him to play a character named ROOSTER? The main running gag in this one was that Miss Piggy schemes to play Annie, even though she's WAY too old for the part (although most Muppets don't have a specific age, this would imply that she's at least in her early 40's). The other big gag we were thinking about doing was having the always-smiling Dr. Teeth play Bert Healy, thus turning "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" into a jazz/fusion number. One gag we were forced to drop because it seemed more of a copy than an homage was Fozzie Bear playing FDR, and constantly forgetting that he wasn't supposed to stand up, a bit I originally saw done on The Simpsons where Krusty the Clown is in Sunrise at Campobello and forgets to stay in the wheelchair.
Chicago Velma Kelly..........Miss Piggy Roxie Hart...........Skeeter Billy Flynn..........Gonzo "Mama" Morton........Janice Harrison.............Sam the Eagle Amos Hart............Droop Mary Sunshine........Mildred Bandleader...........Dr. Teeth Go-To-Hell Kitty.....Mokey Ensemble.............Everyone else
Note: Mildred's casting was only if we went with the Christine Baranski interpretation. If not, the role would have been played by the Newsman in drag. And of course, Camilla would cluck her way through the role of the Hunyak.
"There is no problem so big that it cannot be run away from."
~ Charles M. Schulz
This thread made me think of my own Muppet Cast for Anything Goes. Here's what I came up with:
Billy Crocker: Kermit The Frog Reno Sweeney: Miss. Piggy Hope Harcourt: Like the Phantom idea of Christine being played by a human pop singer, I thought the same idea would fit here. Moonface Martin: Fozzie Bear Sir Evelyn Oakleigh: Gonzo Erma: Janice Reno'a Angels: A bunch of female pig puppet characters Elisha J. Whitney: Sam The Eagle Mrs. Evangiline Harcourt: Mildred Ching and Ling: Animal and Crazy Harry Bishop Henry T. Dobson: Scooter Captain: Bunson Honeydew