Friday, January 20, 2012
‘War Horse’ Stage and Screen Versions Help Each Other
NYTimes.com: FOR decades Broadway producers regarded Hollywood as the agent of death. They fought to delay film adaptations of “West Side Story,” “Hello, Dolly!,” “The Wiz” and other shows for fear that those movies would decimate ticket sales for the Broadway originals and their national tours. But this winter producers of the hit Broadway play “War Horse” have been cheering Steven Spielberg’s new screen version, while those on the musical “Rock of Ages” have been helping rush the movie version (starring Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin) toward a June release.
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3 comments:
Normally I am not overly supportive of movie versions of plays or novels being released at the same time the original is still getting major sales. However, in this particular case, I have only heard good things on both ends. I believe the article is correct in stating that the movie has helped the play and vice versa. I am not certain the same "dynamic duo" effect would have been had if the movie had been released at a much later date. Thus, with the cinematography and portrayal of the story being superb in the movie, and the play being moving in a right all its own, I believe the correct decision was made on all fronts. I believe War Horse will continue to be successful in both venues for the forseeable future.
This article has opened my eyes a little bit more about the movie industry and the show industry. There were some ideas like fear and competition that I was semi- aware of. When a show is turned into a movie or vice-a-versa, there is a conflict and there is a choice for the audience as to which one they want to see or if they want to see both. What I didn't realize was what a movie could do for a show and a show for a movie. I didn't really consider each to benefit the other in the ways that they have. In the past, movies like Chicago or Phantom of the Opera, etc... changed the game. The plays were still as important and popular as the movies, and maybe even more so.
At the moment, War Horse is split into these two art forms and I think the show is doing better than ever. I know trying to grab a ticket to the show was near to impossible. Other people have shared that they would either, rather see the show again before seeing the movie, or leaving the magic to the show and never seeing the movie. I'm not sure how well the movie is doing, but the theater's fear in the movie catching the spotlight isn't even an issue. I think in the future, shows and movies will be confronted with a clash more and more and the way they handle it, the better experience in one or both of these forms.
I have always found the adaptation of movies to plays and vice versa to be an odd thing. In my opinion, the original creator must have chosen their medium, whether it be writing a book, making a film, or writing a play, for a reason. However, in the case of something like War Horse, where both the stage play and the movie are adapted from the original children's book, I can see how the two play off each other. War Horse as a play works because it uses the conventions of theatre, such as puppetry, to its advantage. To do the same in movie form wouldn't be effective as movies don't need the same suspension of disbelief to get the audience where they need to be. Overall, however, I thought this article was interesting as I had never really considered the playoff between movies and plays from the financial side of things.
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