Saturday, November 28, 2009
'Addams' tuner creeps toward B'way
Variety: "The creatives behind the $16.5 million tuner adaptation of 'The Addams Family,' playing an out-of-town tryout in Chicago ahead of a Broadway run that opens April 8, have set aside the property's familiar TV and movie incarnations to base the show on the series of single-panel Charles Addams cartoons in which the macabre clan originated."
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8 comments:
David, your students might be interested to know that Pittsburgh CLO is one of the project partners for this production.
The first time I heard that the Addam's Family was becoming a musical I was very skeptical. After reading this article I would actually be interested in seeing this show. As with most shows that take from previous popular material there is always a risk of being tied to the material. The authors seem to be doing their best to avoid this mistake. They want to focus on family, and on the different types of music each family member would perform. While most people hate these types of adaptations there is something to be said for showing a different perspective of something that was once so popular.
Its nice to see a classic story going back to its roots for it's Broadway remake. The disney tuners just add a few tunes (which no one ever even likes) and add them to the existing ones. It's refreshing to hear that the creative team seems to have really gone through the history of the stories.
Rather than vent about my usual anger towards films becoming musicals, I will try to look at this optimistically. I suppose it is nice to hear that they are trying to find a "necessary" story with these characters, rather than take a story that was already told and just retell with songs. I hope that they are creative in their brainstorming and come up with a story that utilizes these iconic characters in a smart way.
It is nice to see they are starting at the roots of this story rather than just remake the t.v. series. While I am still skeptical about this, seeing as they now must fight audiences perception of the series, it should be an interesting result.
Normally I am a little critical of musicals that are made from movies or series that have had great success in other forms (Shrek and Spider-Man mostly). That being said, I actually find the idea of an Addam's musical to make some semblance of sense. I think so long as the play retains what made the character so much fun, and does not attempt to make this a happy and overly upbeat production. I look forward to more on this one.
Surprise! It's a story we've heard and seen before but told in a different way! I'm so excited to fork out $100+ dollars to see 'the Addams family extravaganza! live!'. Looking at this in a more positive light though, I would say that from what i've looked at of Crouch and McDermott's work before - their adaptations seem rather interesting - and incredibly theatrical, which I feel could help and also in many ways hurt this piece.
With the recent popularity of Tim Burton type movies, I am not surprised that this musical adaption was created. I am pleased to hear that the writers have not relied on the popular storylines as a crutch and have actually taken a risk writing some original pieces. No one wants a tv series remake turned musical.
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