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I don't know about all the brandname musicals hitting Broadway since I have never seen any of them, but one not coming from Disney should spice things up. Shrek on stage seems like it would be an interesting brandname show. Hopefully it lasts on Broadway long enough so that I may have a chance to see it since the critics seem to think it is a good show!
It's interesting how the entertainment industry has become so theatre-oriented that movies are now being made into plays instead of only the other way around. I'm sure if 'Shrek' ever made it to Broadway, it would have a huge fan base, just by its popularity now.
Is it wrong that I'm honestly sick of seeing the same plot used for multiple mediums without any changes? "Shrek" started as an amazing movie (and then spawned three not so memorable sequels), multiple video games, several books, a comic book series I think, and apparently now it's going to become a play. I'm willing to bet after this much Shrek I'm capable of quoting almost every notable line form the movie. I liked the theatrical adaptations of Lion Kind and Beauty and the Beast but they had just been books and movies prior to being plays. I guess what I'm saying is I'd rather see more things I dislike but have them be new and original then seem a play adaptation of something that I've already seen in multiple forms.
Shrek was a pretty hip commentator on other fairy tale movies when it came out which was pleasant, and I'm glad to hear that it is doing the same to its fellow fairy-tale stage adaptations. What strikes me is that Dreamworks is asserting itself as a player in the stage game, which is a great change from Disney. While not threatened by Shrek, I'm willing to bet that Disney will try to counter with a Pixar property to completely revolutionize visual design for these cartoon-to-stage shows.
Seriously? Do we need another musical based on a movie? There's plenty of new musicals out there that are unproduced, and as the commenter above said, don't have 2 (ultimately unsuccesful) sequels, a number of videogames, countless toy spinoffs and all of the random spawn that came out of the Shrek movie. At the same time, I guess they don't have the cultural cache. Too bad, because when the industry started looking at midwestern tourist ticket sales over actual art, it just started going down hill.
It kind of pisses me off that everyone is so desperate to see any film adaptation on Broadway fail. One of my favorite shows on Broadway was the recent adaptation of "Xanadu", which, although it made fun of the film, is still a film adaptation. I think Shrek could easily have the appeal to be a success on Broadway. The film was hugely successful in appealing to both children and adults, and I think the Broadway show will do the same thing. Although I do not think we are looking at the next "Lion King", Shrek will most likely be warmly received by NY critics as it has in Seattle as well.
I hate when producers think that just because a story was successful as a movie, they can turn it into a play, or when they try to turn books into movies. Sometimes it works, but more often then not, the media are not compatible. The amount of information that is in a book can never possibly be shown as a movie or play so you lose important plot information. Sometimes this is critical, sometimes not.
Now, I also think that this attack of big media conglomerates on Broadway needs to stop. We need more shows like In the Heights and other new works, not things that have a big fan base, so they will sell more tickets...grrrrr
I like Shrek the movie and everything, but this trend of spending billions and billions of dollars on the youth demographic disgusts me. Not because no one should care what kids are into, but because there are kids out there whose parents are giving their left foot to see Shrek the musical.
8 comments:
I don't know about all the brandname musicals hitting Broadway since I have never seen any of them, but one not coming from Disney should spice things up. Shrek on stage seems like it would be an interesting brandname show. Hopefully it lasts on Broadway long enough so that I may have a chance to see it since the critics seem to think it is a good show!
It's interesting how the entertainment industry has become so theatre-oriented that movies are now being made into plays instead of only the other way around. I'm sure if 'Shrek' ever made it to Broadway, it would have a huge fan base, just by its popularity now.
Is it wrong that I'm honestly sick of seeing the same plot used for multiple mediums without any changes? "Shrek" started as an amazing movie (and then spawned three not so memorable sequels), multiple video games, several books, a comic book series I think, and apparently now it's going to become a play. I'm willing to bet after this much Shrek I'm capable of quoting almost every notable line form the movie. I liked the theatrical adaptations of Lion Kind and Beauty and the Beast but they had just been books and movies prior to being plays. I guess what I'm saying is I'd rather see more things I dislike but have them be new and original then seem a play adaptation of something that I've already seen in multiple forms.
Shrek was a pretty hip commentator on other fairy tale movies when it came out which was pleasant, and I'm glad to hear that it is doing the same to its fellow fairy-tale stage adaptations. What strikes me is that Dreamworks is asserting itself as a player in the stage game, which is a great change from Disney. While not threatened by Shrek, I'm willing to bet that Disney will try to counter with a Pixar property to completely revolutionize visual design for these cartoon-to-stage shows.
Seriously? Do we need another musical based on a movie? There's plenty of new musicals out there that are unproduced, and as the commenter above said, don't have 2 (ultimately unsuccesful) sequels, a number of videogames, countless toy spinoffs and all of the random spawn that came out of the Shrek movie. At the same time, I guess they don't have the cultural cache. Too bad, because when the industry started looking at midwestern tourist ticket sales over actual art, it just started going down hill.
It kind of pisses me off that everyone is so desperate to see any film adaptation on Broadway fail. One of my favorite shows on Broadway was the recent adaptation of "Xanadu", which, although it made fun of the film, is still a film adaptation. I think Shrek could easily have the appeal to be a success on Broadway. The film was hugely successful in appealing to both children and adults, and I think the Broadway show will do the same thing. Although I do not think we are looking at the next "Lion King", Shrek will most likely be warmly received by NY critics as it has in Seattle as well.
I hate when producers think that just because a story was successful as a movie, they can turn it into a play, or when they try to turn books into movies. Sometimes it works, but more often then not, the media are not compatible. The amount of information that is in a book can never possibly be shown as a movie or play so you lose important plot information. Sometimes this is critical, sometimes not.
Now, I also think that this attack of big media conglomerates on Broadway needs to stop. We need more shows like In the Heights and other new works, not things that have a big fan base, so they will sell more tickets...grrrrr
I like Shrek the movie and everything, but this trend of spending billions and billions of dollars on the youth demographic disgusts me. Not because no one should care what kids are into, but because there are kids out there whose parents are giving their left foot to see Shrek the musical.
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