Variety: George R.R. Martin is facing something even more menacing than White Walkers: New York theater critics. The fantasy maestro is bringing “Game of Thrones” to the stage, hoping to transform the novels’ machiavellian power moves into Broadway magic that will please even the most jaded reviewers.
7 comments:
This is probably the worst idea I have ever heard. I don't think I've ever had such a visceral negative reaction to the idea of a play. That includes SpongeBob the musical and at least that one turned out good. In what world would Game of Thrones make a good stage play? I have never seen the show, but from what I know a lot of it relies on the special effects. On the stage, that can't save you. You can look at The Cursed Child. Sure, it made a lot of money, but ask pretty much anyone and they'll tell you "the effects were amazing, but I can't say the same about the book". Every time a new Broadway production is announced that is based on something else, I can't help but cringe. This is not what people want from Broadway, at least not the people who really love the theater. I won't even go into how putting blockbuster properties on Broadway push underrepresented stories out of theaters, but honestly, I just want to see something new.
As much as I love Game of Thrones this proposal worries me. A lot. I suppose that placing this show in pre-magic times may negate some of my fears about the lack of CGI and the need to create this fantasy world on stage. However, there's so much of the books and show that is in the authenticity and closeness you find in the characters from watching them develop and change that I can't imagine you can get into 2-3 hours of viewing. Also setting this before the time of the majority of the characters fans have learned to love may either be a very good idea as it allows the play to stand on its own or will go very badly as people aren't as invested in people they have no familiarity with. I suppose that depends greatly on the quality of the writing. Putting a large franchise name on anything new is always risky because if it does badly it can taint the name forever. I'd like to say they should stop while they're ahead but given the abysmal quality of the last season maybe this is what they need as the serie's redemption arc in the eyes of its fans.
Hm… Not sure how to feel about this one. As others have commented, I just am not sure how the GOT world will come across on a live stage, without CGI to help them. The “Cursed Child” mention made me laugh a little– I was able to see that play in New York.. the tech and design in that show was spectacular but barely made up for the storyline (that’s my personal opinion at least). Often, I think that certain stories are meant for film, others meant for books, and yet others meant for the stage. How many times have you heard that the book was way better than the movie? I know I’ve said that a bunch! I think the same idea can apply here– there are stories that can be absolutely magical on stage, but I’m struggling to imagine and GOT play to be one of them. Only time will tell, I suppose!
As others have mentioned above, I am not sure that this is the best idea I have ever heard. While this might bring in a new audience who loved Game of Thrones, but are not typically theatergoers, it could also be a really expensive endeavor with a not awesome return. I have to admit I did not watch a lot of Game of Thrones, just bits and pieces, but I can only imagine the production of it would be extremely large and expensive. This makes me think of the production of Lord of the Rings, that I believe was in Toronto. I know it was a wildly expensive process, and it did not turn out to have a very successful run. As much as I love live theater, I genuinely believe not everything is meant for the stage, some things are better left as movies, or television, or books. I will be very interested to see how this goes, and I think it will certainly be visually impressive.
I simply do not know how this is going to work. If it does happen, I have no doubt that the tech will be very innovative; it will have to to meet what is the fantasy of Game of Thrones. I binged all eight seasons of the HBO Game of Thrones show in freshman year (I have never read any of the books, though) and by the end of it I thought, "That was okay," and then basically never thought about it unless someone else brought it up. I just don't think Game of Thrones is a story for the stage. For one, it is an extremely long story with a lot of plot points and side plots to cram into one, reasonably sized show (or even two, as in the case of the Cursed Child). Second, a lot of Game of Thrones is just gratuitous sex, violence, or sexual violence, which I don't think we really need to see on the stage. I suppose we'll see how this goes.
Oh god. That's bold. I have been a Game of Thrones fan since middle school (which was honestly too early for me to be ingesting that sort of content but I thought it was super interesting. I read all of the books that have been released so far and I had actually read them before watching the tv show because my parents thought the show was too inappropriate for me to watch. Honestly I think the show did a good job adding all the insane things George R. R. Martin had added to the books and even then there were parts that had to be cut out. I just can't imagine adding so much plot, so many characters, and so many different timelines into a live performance. I think having a fantasy novel turn into a live show is just a recipe for disaster. I truly don't believe that everything is meant for the stage or that every story should be told in every medium out there. I truly think Game of thrones would also be way too mature and grotesque for a stage and it just would not be pleasant to watch.
This idea is absolutely terrible. My current stance on adaptations of television, movies, books, music albums and other existent media being transformed onto a Broadway stage is already very negative. Most revamps that hit the big time are doomed to flop either in my mind or on a stage. Some prime examples of this include: Frozen, Tuck Everlasting, The Lightning Thief, Spongebob, King Kong, etc. The same goes for this Game Of Throne soon-to-be adaptation. To start, I am not even a fan of Game Of Thrones, but I do know many people who are. There are a total of eight seasons of the show and five books worth of content to jam pack into less than two hours. That is simply not enough time for the story to be all-encompassing, or even good. The Cursed Child was different in the sense that it was split into two separate plays, yet I do not think I would subject myself to even four hours of the Mother of Dragons Daenerys and her incestous family.
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