What source material would never work as a musical?

[Alex Kulak2]

Musicals have been adapted from everything from plays to books to movies to paintings to photographs to early 1960's counterfeiting cases. What's a story that you think would never be able to be musicalized?

[phan24]

Springtime for Hitler

[littlemouse921]

Its not really fair to say that something would never work as a musical. It all depends on how it would be framed during the show. Some of the most unconventional topics from 9/11 to War and Peace to the Wife of an Argentinian President have been covered.

Some topics may of course be trickier to musicalize, but never work would be a stretch.

[Miles2Go2]

Any source material can work if the right creative team is involved.

But just for giggles, I’ll put forth: Jaws.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Not so much a fan of this thread topic. I think you can be skeptical of a lot of musical source topics (today's announcement of the Princess Diana musical is one for me, for instance), but when in recent years alone we've had a rap musical about Alexander Hamilton, a pop opera about War and Peace, a contemporary piece centered around a high schooler killing himself, and a folksy-sounding musical about a Canadian town on 9/11, it's hard to rule out anything as never working as a musical.

It's really all about having the right creative team. Always.

[dramamama611]

A Christmas Story (based on the tv production)

Carrie

Alice in Wonderland

 

 

It's impossible to say going forward, only going backwards.

[Malinda5000]

Holla If Ya Hear Me...Horrible Horrible Show

[Lot666]

Miles2Go2 said: "Any source material can work if the right creative team is involved.

But just for giggles, I’ll put forth: Jaws."

 I'm trying so hard to imagine this!

[newintown]

Ulysses.

[green waver]

Just off the top of my head:

                                        

                                          The Scarlet Letter

                                          The Grapes of Wrath

                                          The Metamorphosis (unless Bialystock and Bloom are paroled, and choose it for their followup to SFH)

[JSquared2]

A musical about cats

A 3 1/2 hour musical about the French revolution

A musical about a lesbian and her gay dad who ends up killing himself

A musical about the signing of the Declaration of Independence

 

Kind of a silly thread.

 

[newintown]

I believe you're conflating the current thread with this one:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.php?thread=1105230#4989156

[JBroadway]

I agree with the sentiments already in this thread - anything has the potential to make a good musical if (a) the right creative team is behind is and (b) they go in the right direction with it and (c) they actually manage to execute it.

I would even go so far as to say that many of the terrible musical adaptations we've seen in the past not only had great potential to be good musicals, but actually made a lot of the right big picture decisions, and they mainly screwed up in the execution. Take Spider-Man for example: many will disagree with me, but I think the decision to make it a huge-budget spectacle with rock music and a forced perspective comic-book look was actually spot on. If the book and score has just been better quality I think it could have been a surprise artistic success like Spongebob has been. 

And I think that's the case with many bad musical adaptations; that they were sort of "almost there," but screwed up in a major way with the execution. 

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Otherwise known as "the thread that producers/writers will be looking to for ideas."

Ooh boy...

[humbugfoto]

Jurassic Park.

Would the T-Rex be a tenor or a baritone?

[ChildofEarth]

Reality tv? You can make a show based on a reality tv show but you can’t make “Reality Broadway.”

[Mister Matt]

A 3 1/2 hour musical about the French revolution

Do you mean Les Miserables?  Because it wasn't about the French Revolution.  That would be their first show, La Révolution Française, which is fascinating in its own right.

 

[CindersGolightly]

A CPR handbook, probably.

[newintown]

That's the really wonderful thing about Les Miz - so many of its fans have absolutely no idea that it's not about the French Revolution.

[Lot666]

humbugfoto said: "Jurassic Park.

Would the T-Rex be a tenor or a baritone?"

Oh my. That would be almost as good as Jaws.

[BroadwayConcierge]

CindersGolightly said: "A CPR handbook, probably."

I’ve heard this is LMM’s next project.

[green waver]

newintown said: "That's the really wonderful thing aboutLes Miz - so many of its fans have absolutely no idea that it's not about the French Revolution."

 And if you correct someone by saying it depicts the June Rebellion of 1832, you'll get some really blank stares.

[dearalanaaaa]

Vine or Instagram as a musical. Just everybody screaming damn Daniel and two bros chilling in a hot tub five feet apart because they're not gay wouldn't sell well

[Mister Matt]

If it has this guy, I don't even care what it's about.

 

 

[SharksVsJets]

Comic Sans! (The first musical based on a font)