Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Novels that could be musicals/plays?
jesse benet
Swing Joined: 7/18/20
#1Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/10/20 at 5:14pm
I'm sure this has been a thread before but was wondering if you've ever read a novel/memoir/whatever and thought damn, this'd be a great show! I remember after reading Toni Morrison's Beloved I could instantly see it staged and the technicalities of a haunted set design, maybe not necessarily a musical but the thought of a southern ghost story sung through spiritual is pretty powerful.
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#3Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/10/20 at 5:39pm
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
NOLAguy
Understudy Joined: 8/28/17
#4Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/10/20 at 6:16pm
"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
#5Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/10/20 at 8:00pm
Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls (The Musical)
Non sibi sed patriae
Scott Stephen
Understudy Joined: 10/21/19
#6Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/10/20 at 8:07pmTheir Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Has some fantastic potential!
#7Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/10/20 at 8:41pm
The Great Gatsby
Carmilla
The Book of Esther (from the Bible)
"Was uns befreit, das muss stärker sein als wir es sind." -Tanz der Vampire
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#8Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/11/20 at 12:35amDamon Runyon's LADY FOR A DAY
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
#9Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/11/20 at 12:42am
There was, apparently, a hopeful "Broadway-bound" stage version of Fried Green Tomatoes back in 2006.
https://www.playbill.com/article/stage-version-of-fannie-flaggs-fried-green-tomatoes-is-broadway-bound-producer-seeks-playwright-com-125817
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#10Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/11/20 at 7:15am
BrodyFosse123 said: "A STAR IS BORED by Byron Lane"
I am reading this right now, and I am LOVING it!
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#12Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/11/20 at 11:40amAt first I thought “A Star Is Bored” was made for “one gay man show,” but I realized I was superimposing “Buyer and Cellar” onto it.
ImaginaryManticore
Understudy Joined: 7/18/19
#13Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/11/20 at 1:06pm
Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter. It could start out small as she starts describing her life from her dressing room, but then could expand as the events get wilder and more surreal. (Like Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill transforming into Cabaret in form)
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#14Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/11/20 at 7:18pm
Myra Breckinridge/Myron should be Lin Manuel's next show
#15Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/11/20 at 8:10pm
I recently finished reading Daisy Jones & The Six and spent much of the book thinking about what it would look like as a musical. I could see it being staged as if it were a bio-jukebox musical (a la Jersey Boys, Beautiful, etc.), albeit about a fictional band and with an original score. So long as they do a good job with the songs, I think it could actually be quite good.
I also was recently telling someone that I think The Great Gastby could make a great musical with the right team, and then came the announcement that Florence Welch has one in the works.
Some other novels I'd like to see on stage:
Sally Rooney's Normal People (with a score by Shaina Taub)
E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (I actually think this could be a good potential project for Disney)
Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#16Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/11/20 at 8:23pm
Sally Rooney's Normal People (with a score by Shaina Taub)
Brilliant
#17Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/12/20 at 1:02pm
I'd love to see an adaptation of some of Bradbury's short stories into an anthology-style play or musical titled October Country. Similarly, Ted Chiang's short stories have a lot of promise. A musical of Arrival could be really interesting, particularly in playing with musical concepts like lietmotifs to communicate the concept of foreknowledge. The music could indicate something to the audience before the characters speak it, and it could structurally loop around back on itself.
#18Novels that could be musicals/plays?
Posted: 8/15/20 at 1:38pm
Station Eleven could be really interesting with a director who could make it all work. I'd love to see some really inventive staging to clarify the two timelines.
