Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
#1Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 1:15pm
I just saw on Montego Glover's website that she'll be participating in a reading on Friday of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE: The Musical, directed by James Lapine and featuring a score by William Finn.
Has anyone else heard anything about this? The quirky subject matter seems right up Finn's alley.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#2re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 1:52pmWow. This sounds (in theory) like a great idea and perfect pairing of artist(s) and source material. I miss SPELLING BEE...
#2re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 2:14pmYes, it's true and it sounds very interesting. At Broadway Jukebox last Sunday, Michael Winther said he is participating in this reading.
RentBoy86
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
#3re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 2:15pm
Hm...could, maybe, possibly work.
#4re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 2:21pmBeing a big Finn fan, this material sounds like a perfect match for him. I hope this works out!
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
PiraguaGuy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/08
#5re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 2:48pm
Richard Hoover: Norbert Leo Butz
Sheryl Hoover: Alice Ripley
Grandpa: John Cullum
Olive Hoover: Rachel Resheff
Dwayne Hoover: Jonathan B. Wright
Frank: Michael Berresse
Formerly SirNotAppearing - Joined 3/08
#6re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 3:12pmPirag- That's an amazing cast.
I'm a professional. Whenever something goes wrong on stage, I know how to handle it so no one ever remembers. I flash my %#$&.
"Jayne just sat there while Gina flailed around the stage like an idiot."
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#7re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 3:29pmI vote Toni Collette (sp?) reprises her role!!!
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#8re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 3:49pmShows that depend on kids are awfully tricky.
#9re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 3:53pmAww only if Abigail Breslin could sing...
I'm a professional. Whenever something goes wrong on stage, I know how to handle it so no one ever remembers. I flash my %#$&.
"Jayne just sat there while Gina flailed around the stage like an idiot."
#10re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 4:06pmThough it would never happen, I would love the idea of Toni Collette reprising her role for this, if only to get her back to the stage. Plus she was kind of excellent in the film.
timote316
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/04
#11re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 4:11pmDepending on timing, Collette probably wouldn't be available as US of Tara was picked up for a second season.
#12re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 4:27pm
NEW BILL FINN!!! 
I don't care what the subject is, that is always great news.
"I seem to have wandered into the BRAIN load-out thread... "
-best12bars
"Sorry I am a Theatre major not a English Major"
-skibumb5290
-best12bars
"Sorry I am a Theatre major not a English Major"
-skibumb5290
#13re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 6:09pmOh god let it be true.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#14re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 6:16pmWhen I first saw this fabulous movie I thought it would make a great piece of musical theatre. With a score by the genius that is William Finn this could be something really special.
THEATRE 2020: CURTAINS**** LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE GIRLS***** WICKED***** KEITH RAMSAY TAKING NOTES WITH EDWARD SECKERSON***** KAYLEIGH MCKNIGHT CONCERT***** RAGS***** ON MCQUILLAN'S HILL** DEAR EVAN HANSEN***** THE JURY***
TheCharleston
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/18/08
#15re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 6:20pm
Really?
See, I don't find that there's much of an ARC in the story.
That's a matter of opinion but maybe others see what I'm saying.
Of course the climatic part of the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant is that ARC but it's kinda flat.
this movie has such an awesomely subtle tone to it that, I personally believe, would be hard to really portray on stage.
Am I talking crazy?? Finding it hard to convey my perception of "Sunshine"... such a great movie.
walkedthroughmany
Leading Actor Joined: 3/25/07
#16re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 6:24pm
I mean, Little Miss Sunshine has as much of an arc as Spelling Bee.
William Finn is brilliant when it comes to pieces that focus mainly on the characters involved and not on enormous plots.
I am thrilled to see something new from him.
#17re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 6:53pmI don't think I've heard of a better match when it comes to Composer/Librettist and Souce Material.
You're reminding me of people you hear at the movies asking questions every ten seconds, "Who is that? Why is that guy walking down the street? Who's that lady coming up to him? Uh-oh, why did that car go by? Why is it so dark in this theater?" - FindingNamo on strummergirl
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
killertofu333
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/23/08
#18re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 8:03pmThis sounds very promising. Much like others, I too would be thrilled if Toni came back to the stage. It's such a wonderful piece of cinema that it just seems like a natural transition to musical theater.
"I have the prettiest mother..."--Rhoda Penmark~~~ The Bad Seed
#19re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 9:08pm
What about Sami Gayle instead?
Updated On: 4/12/09 at 09:08 PM
#20re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 9:50pm
I actually don't think this movie would make a good musical at all. First of all, I think a road trip movie is really hard to transfer to the stage. Also, I really am against the recent trends to transfer popular recent films to the Broadway stage, because I think the film performances and story are so freshly kept in the audiences' minds than anything that is on stage comes off as an imitation (see THE WEDDING SINGER, LEGALLY BLONDE, SHREK, etc). Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, and Steve Carrell all did a brilliant job in creating these roles. Yes, I know the stage is a different monster, but I just don't see why anyone should tackle those parts so recently.
I guess I'll have to wait and see, but unless this adaptation is completely different from the film (in the same way that say A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and NINE are different from their film counterparts), I don't think there's a reason for the show to happen.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#21re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/4/09 at 10:07pm
Finn's shows are never conventional and always surprising, not to mention generally focused more on the characters themselves than the story arc. If there's any composer who can make this work, it's Finn.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
somuchtodo
Featured Actor Joined: 4/4/07
#22re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/29/09 at 4:21pm
Actually, the Olive Hoover role was played by Georgi James in the recent reading.
Updated On: 3/29/09 at 04:21 PM
#23re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/29/09 at 4:24pm
somuchtodo, do you know who else was in the cast?
I heard Carolee Carmello played the Toni Collette role.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
#24re: Finn and Lapine Working on LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?
Posted: 3/29/09 at 4:40pmKelsey Fowley as Olive
I'll have them clawing at eachother, like drag queens at a wig sale"
