Albums that would make a great Broadway show?

[hayleymills728]

Hi everyone! This morning I was thinking Pink Floyd - The Wall would make an incredible stage show – the film was incredible! 

What other high concept albums would be a great fit? 

[Sutton Ross]

Bon Iver – ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’

[Jordan Catalano]

Tori Amos - “Little Earthquakes”

[Jordan Levinson]

I wonder how Bat Out of Hell would have done if it had reached Broadway. 

Otherwise, my suggestion would probably be The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. Would kinda be an American Idiot 2.0 though. 

 

[Jordan Catalano]

“Bat Out of Hell” is a God-Awful show with its only redeeming quality being that its so terrible you have a great time wondering how it ever got up on the stage.

[sabrelady]

I've always thought the Beatles catalogue  would make a good juke box musical- lots to pick from.

[FindingNamo]

For some I combined consecutive albums to make it two acts of music:

 

The National, "Trouble Will Find Me/Sleep Well Beast"

Janelle Monae, "Dirty Computer" (this would have to start at NYTW)

Orville Peck, "Pony/Show Pony"

Oasis, "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?"

Thomas Dolby, "The Golden Age of Wireless"

 

 

[uncageg]

Sutton Ross said: "Bon Iver – ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’"

 

Interesting choice. It would be interesting to see what they would do with the orchestrations. I would love to see what the do with the song "Blindsided". If it were ever to happen I think I would like to see it done at Circle in the Square. It is a pretty low key recording and, for me, the space there would open it up and draw me in more that a regular proscenium house. It would also be interesting to see if it told a story or was based on the circumstances under which it was composed. (I revisited the album after your post. I tend to listen to the "i,i" album more.)

 

The first album that came to my mind was Ashford & Simpson's "Street Opera". I have always wondered how it would play out as a staged production. It is a bit of a muddled concept album but contains some of their best music, in my opinion. I think a decent story could be wrapped around the songs.

 

[fosterfan2]

I wish a "Sergeant Pepper" musical could be made that would be TONS better than that awful film from the late '70s. But The Beatles have so many other great songs too.

[ucjrdude902]

I've always thought Adele's 21 has potential. In fact, her entire catalog is just waiting to be utilized.

[darquegk]

Namo, I was actually in talks with Dolby’s manager to do a pitch for a musical based primarily on that album, but I burnt out trying to figure how to make it work. Maybe someday I’ll have a brilliant idea to fix my submission and reach back out.

[FindingNamo]

WOW. That's really cool and I am sure a tough nut to crack.

[uncageg]

I didn't realize how good Dolby's album was until years after it was released. At the time "She Blinded Me With Science" came out I was still heavy into R&B and it was a crossover track. Back then , you ran to the record store and bought the 12' single with the remix on it. We played that to death. And even with my musical tastes expanding then, I just never listened to or bought the album.

[darquegk]

And unless you bought the digital era reissue, you still don’t get the whole picture, since the varying track listings for US, UK and the EP weren’t assembled together until then.

[theblackumbrella]

“Love on the Inside” by Sugarland. That album is full of characters.

[yankeefan7]

"The Wall" - Pink Flyod.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Janelle Monae makes such theatrical albums, you could adapt "Electric Lady," "ArchAndroid," or "Dirty Computer" for the stage.

Likewise, Amy Winehouse's  "Back to Black," with supplemented songs from "Frank" and "Lioness."

[uncageg]

yankeefan7 said: ""The Wall" - Pink Flyod."

 

Weren't their plans to bring this to Broadway a number of years ago? I seem to remember talk about it. 

 

[SmoothLover]

The new Carpenters musical sounds interesting based on Close To You.

[Sutton Ross]

Weren't their plans to bring this to Broadway a number of years ago? I seem to remember talk about it.

I remember is was being talked about too, but nothing ever came of it. I think it would be more of an off Broadway thing. 

[darquegk]

I've got a feeling, post Trump and post Alt-Right, "The Wall" isn't going to be staged any time soon. The notion that a disenfranchised celebrity would have the hallucinatory nightmare of becoming a populist leader and resurrecting the Nazi Party during his overdose was meant to seem surreal and impossible. Instead, it's all too close to reality for the satire to play as satirical.

[Victoriadoena]

I love it! Fantastic! Spectacular! 

[thejcm]

I don’t know know if it qualifies as high concept but I’ve always thought that No Doubt’s “Tragic Kingdom” is cohesive enough to be a good base for a musical. Though it’s mostly relationship focused, and one-sided, I think there is something there (maybe the No Doubt catalog as a whole rather than Tragic Kingdom). I could just imagine how great “The Climb” could be as a solo 11 o’clock number.