Muppets to Broadway?

[Sondheimite]

I just heard that a variation of the Muppets live show that just played the Hollywood Bowl is coming to Broadway for a limited run.

Anyone know anything?

[BwayLB]

I haven't heard anything since that test run Disney did four years ago proposing the Muppets would be a Broadway musical based on the 2011 movie reboot.

[Islander_fan]

I do know that Hensen had always dreamed of doing something with the Muppets on the Broadway stage. Something that, sadly, never got to go further than just an idea. The closest thing that he got to that was Muppets Take Manhattan. 

[Call_me_jorge]

I loved the 2011 movie, so I would not mind that. 

[10086sunset]

How I want this to be true!

[Keiichi2]

Who do I have to kill in order for this to happen?

 

Someone brought up The Muppets Take Manhattan, and I've always wondered...Did they shoot the finale of that film in an actual Broadway house, or was that a set duplicating one?  I always assumed a set, but I was also always curious.

[Alex M]

The one thing i love more then broadway! The Muppets!

[Islander_fan]

Keiichi2 said: "Who do I have to kill in order for this to happen?



Someone brought up The Muppets Take Manhattan, and I've always wondered...Did they shoot the finale of that film in an actual Broadway house, or was that a set duplicating one? I always assumed a set, but I was also always curious."

I think it was a set. But, the exterior shots were done at the Biltmore (now named the Friedman) theatre. And, when they showed a shot of the playbill before the show starts at the end, it even says Biltmore theatre on it. 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Since I worked on the 2011 movie THE MUPPETS, I can tell you for certain that that stage was a set (built at Kaufman Astoria Studios). The fact is that the way Muppets numbers are staged has not changed in the 33 years since MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN was shot: Every stage floor is comprised of a series of 4' square panels about 3' high, any combination of which can be removed to allow the puppeteers to operate the characters while standing 3' below the apparent stage floor (in the pit as it were). Each scene is blocked and choreographed far in advance, and plotted out so that the grip crew knows in advance which plugs to pull the night before the number is shot. 

THE MUPPETS was unique in putting the Muppets cast into so many scenes staged in live locations rather than on soundstage sets. It posed constant challenges to the puppeteers who were used to standing upright in the substage to do their work, and were now being asked to do the same work while being crammed onto low dolly platforms and rolling "donut" seats to negotiate moving around actual plazas, offices and streets. It's a credit to all those intrepid actors/puppeteers that the final product was so seamless and funny and moving, despite the contortions they endured.

[BJR]

Islander_fan said: "I do know that Hensen had always dreamed of doing something with the Muppets on the Broadway stage. Something that, sadly, never got to go further than just an idea. The closest thing that he got to that was Muppets Take Manhattan."

Yes! In his published notebook sketches, his ideas for it looked wonderful. Since the idea preceded even The Muppet Show (and therefore, many of those leads stars were yet to be created), many ideas landed on the TV show.

I so hope this happens. I was so excited when Disney announced it and I think it's a fantastic idea, if they can pull off how to make it an evening.

[SNAFU]

I worked on Muppets Take Manhattan and it was indeed a set in Kaufman. Made all the singing wedding cakes amongst many other varied things. I think after the sucess of Muppets Live at the hollywood Bowl, Disney discovered that the old formula for the Muppets are what people craved. I wouldn'i be suprised of a show very much like that one with perhaps rotating guest performers. That is if Disney is SMART and doesn't try to infused weird Office like backstories to these well loved characters.

 

[SNAFU]

Oh and Disney. Use the original Muppet designers. Putting Elsa's eyes on Kermit's new love interest was an abomination! Jesus that thing was hideous!

 

[Littleshopofcarrie]

Any word on this? Would love for it to happen.

[MWShapiro]

I, for one, would love to see it! I've already come up with the idea of a series where the Muppets perform classic musicals. (The gang from "Sesame Street" and "Fraggle Rock" would show up where needed.) Several friends of mine have gone in on this with me as well. Not only would the Muppets perform the musicals, but there would also be a "mockumentary" afterwards (hosted by a Muppet resembling James Lipton and featuring interviews with both man and Muppet alike).

[ukpuppetboy]

SNAFU said: "Oh and Disney. Use the original Muppet designers. Putting Elsa's eyes on Kermit's new love interest was an abomination! Jesus that thing was hideous!

"

SNAFU? As someone lucky enough to have worked for The Creature Shop in London twice and with dreams of moving to NY to work on The Fraggle Rock/Sesame Street movies you just became my new hero. I could absorb stories of the Jim Henson days of the company for hours and hours. And hours and hours. And amen to all of your points about the treatment and handling of the Muppet characters and design. Though having been to Puppet Heap and seen the rows and rows of "puppet bibles" they have for each character I'm surprisd this is a pount that needs to be made.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

My personal vote, since Broadway is increasingly looking for seasonal material, is for The Muppets to come back each holiday season to do The Muppet Christmas Carol live. Seems a simple recipe to me, and the success of Menken and Ahrens' version of the classic tale at Madison Square Garden in the Nineties suggests to me there may be a target audience for family friendly material at Broadway prices.

It's not like it needs massive surgery to work:

* Re-add the musical material preserved on the soundtrack and eliminated in the final version of the film to pad out the running time some (things like "Room in Your Heart" and "Chairman of the Board," verses clipped from "Marley and Marley" and the finale, etc.)

* Thicken the script a bit by referencing Dickens' condensed text that he used for his public readings of the story (with Gonzo's narration, it's already fairly faithful, this just adds a little to the dialogue and mise-en-scène)

* Put in a revolving door of rotating celebrities in the human roles (one of the ubiquitous pop tarts of the day can get her chance to shine as Belle and put a personal stamp on "When Love is Gone," for example)

Do that, and you have something that could run perennially and make Disney some extra dough without lifting a finger.

[MWShapiro]

Awesome idea...how about casting John Lithgow as Scrooge too? (Wouldn't be the first time he's played one of Michael Caine's roles on Broadway!)

[Overkill]

The Muppets are my everything. Even more so than theatre, dare I say it. Although, they go hand-in-hand, considering their vaudeville inspirations, and how Frank Oz always described The Muppets relationship with each other as something as complex as a Eugene O'Neil play...

I have a friend who works with Disney Theatricals, and I just asked them about this project the other day!

They said, as of now, it's still in limbo. "On the shelf", as they said. BUT the president of DT is a huge fan of The Muppets and saw the success of the Hollywood Bowl show. Word is, it would definitely be a fleshed out version of that. He said that Bobby and Kristin Anderson Lopez have written some new songs for it, Alex Timbers is on tap to direct, and that the workshop a couple years ago was fantastic. So, it's not dead yet, they're just waiting for the right time to put it out there, and the time is definitely coming... 

This would be such a smart move on Disney's end. They haven't been able to figure out what to truly do with the Muppets since they purchased them back in 2004. There have been multiple fails. The BEST thing to come out of it wasn't the Jason Segel movie - because, let's face it, not only was it a blatant rip off of THE COUNTRY BEARS film, but it was a movie FEATURING The Muppets... in a movie titled, THE MUPPETS... - but the sequel, MUPPETS MOST WANTED, was the closest they've come to really capturing their original spirit, and keeping it about the Muppets, not the stars. Unfortunately, the sequel made less money than the first film, and even with the good reviews, fan approval, and making back it's investment, Disney considers that a "flop". Heartbreaking that they wouldn't green light another sequel, because of their impossible standards, all while mismanaging the brand. 

I think this Broadway show is exactly what they need - a return to their roots. A reboot of the original Muppet Show wouldn't work on television, because Disney would be using it as a commercial to broadcast their latest films/stars, as opposed to making it about THE MUPPETS. Also, the variety show format is, sadly, dead. The stage show would focus on The Muppets in their element, and who wouldn't want to see Kermit and the gang doing their thing on stage? If you haven't seen clips of the Hollywood Bowl show, go to YouTube and check it out! 

I hope this happens soon. The Muppets need to be revitalized - and a tad off-topic, but I think the best thing Disney could do, is to give the Muppets back to the Henson company, let them make the films/tv specials/whatever, and keep a distribution deal. Like they did with Christmas Carol and Treasure Island. As Frank Oz said (I'm sure I'm paraphrasing a little here), "It's like being a huge fan of Nascar, and thinking you know everything about it.. then you get behind the wheel and realize you don't know how to drive the car..." Bottom line, Disney needs help with The Muppets, but they're being stubborn teenagers about guidance of the brand... One of the reasons Steve Whitmire got sacked, because he was (as he put it) "the last samurai" fighting for Henson's way. Meanwhile, they don't advertise The Muppet brand/company when they spout off the companies they own.. like LucasFilms, Pixar, ABC, ESPN... no mention of Muppet Studios anywhere, because they don't see them as a popular or viable franchise... Which at this point, they almost aren't, and that's all on Disney, not The Muppets.

[MWShapiro]

"Meepmeep meep MEEP, meepmeepmeep meep MEEP!"