Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
#1Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 7:35pmLast year, the Bridges of Madison County was made out of a novel. This year, it's Fortress of Solitude. South Pacific was based on a collection of short stories. Which novels would you say have been the source for the best musical theater?
#2Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 7:47pm
Not the best but Wicked.
Violet was based on a short story if that counts.
#2Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 7:54pm
Wicked, Oliver, Little Women (no idea how great that was, I've only listened to a few tracks), Sweeney Todd (based off of A String of Pearls), Big Fish.
I can't really say what's been the "best source" because my taste is a bit different. AKA I just threw some books out there! Interesting topic, though!
#3Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 8:08pmGuys and Dolls is based off of short stories by Damon Runyon.
#5Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 8:21pmLes Mis
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KathyNYC2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/2/10
#7Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 8:23pmI forget the name of the book but it's about some ghost or something at an opera house.
#8Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 8:24pmThe Phantom of the Opera
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Showface
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/25/14
#9Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 8:25pmNo, no...that's not the answer...
nasty_khakis
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/15/07
#10Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 8:26pm
Phantom of the Opera
Les Miserables
Cabaret (The Berlin Stories)
Passion (the novel Fosca, but Sondheim says it was inspired by the movie)
Applause (again, they got the rights to the book, not the screenplay)
The Color Purple
Gentleman Prefer Blondes
House of Flowers
Legally Blonde
Light in the Piazza
Mame
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Once on this Island
Ragtime
Gypsy
The King and I
The Pajama Game
#11Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 8:26pmWhat is the name of that damn book?!
Fantod
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/3/14
#12Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 9:05pm
Wonderful Town
Peter Pan (had long term success)
Fiddler on the Roof
Cabaret
#13Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 9:25pm
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLORED DREAMCOAT came from the Bible, if that counts.
Also, JEKYLL & HYDE.
"Was uns befreit, das muss stärker sein als wir es sind." -Tanz der Vampire
Fantod
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/3/14
#14Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 9:27pmJekyll and Hyde lost money on Broadway, and the tour barely ran a year, so I don't think it recouped. Also from the Bible would be Godspell
#15Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 9:35pm
Awards wise, the original production of Passion was very successful. The recent revival was also critically successful and won a few awards. It was based on the italian novel Fosca.
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
Updated On: 10/21/14 at 09:35 PM
#16Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 10:44pmSome of these I'd question. As mentioned Sondheim has said that Passion was inspired more by seeing the movie (although they did have the novel translated to use as a source--the English translation wasn't published until after the musical.) Sweeney Todd is much more based on Bond's play than on the very different String of Pearls. The King and I uses a lot of the structure of the movie. Wonderful Town on the play My Sister Eileen etc.
beilis32
Understudy Joined: 7/12/14
#17Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 10:58pm
There's a musical version of the novel The Secret Garden, which I've just discovered and it's beautiful!
TheBoyFromNC
Chorus Member Joined: 9/4/14
#18Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 11:11pm
These obviously weren't all successful, but here's a few more.
Fun Home
Catch Me If You Can
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (based on Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal)
The Lord of the Rings (has played on the West End)
Flowers For Algernon was a Charles Strouse musical in 1979 (West End starring Michael Crawford) & 1980 (Broadway)
There was an Off-Broadway Frankenstein musical starring Hunter Foster in 2008
Into The Woods is based on Grimm fairy tales
I have an entire shelf of books that were turned into musicals. So I love this thread.
Edit: I forgot to look at my wishlist!
Shrek was originally a children's book, though the musical is obviously more based on the film.
Big River
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Book of Mormon?
Bright Lights, Big City
Carrie
Could you count Gypsy? She did write a memoir, but I don't know if they used it when writing the musical.
Jane Eyre
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Rebecca
The Woman in White
Updated On: 10/21/14 at 11:11 PM
#19Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/21/14 at 11:12pm
Here is a pretty exhaustive list of musicals based on novels from Wikipedia:
Musicals Based on Novels
Updated On: 10/21/14 at 11:12 PM
#20Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/22/14 at 10:13am
"Jekyll and Hyde lost money on Broadway, and the tour barely ran a year, so I don't think it recouped."
In terms of Wildhorn, it was still a success.
All kidding aside, the show has done fairly well in the foreign department, so we could argue that it's still successful internationally. (Just not with the American audience.)
Also, would A Very Potter Musical and its sequels count? It never went on Broadway or anything, no, but it has a HUGE fanbase online.
"Was uns befreit, das muss stärker sein als wir es sind." -Tanz der Vampire
Updated On: 10/22/14 at 10:13 AM
GilmoreGirlO2
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/13/05
#21Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/22/14 at 10:55am“Fun Home” is one of the best adaptations I have seen – a true case where I think the musical improves upon the source material. Which sounds a little crazy, considering the graphic novel is a memoir, but I just think that what the musical highlighted and the emotions that were able to be brought to the forefront because of the power of the score really fleshed out the characters and moments for me in the way the memoir didn’t. I recall reading an interview where Alison Bechdel says something similar – that the addition of music to the story was able to do something that was impossible for her to do on the page.
dreaming
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/24/09
#22Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/22/14 at 10:57am
I'm not convinced Fun Home improves the material. I think they had terrific source material to begin with (it's the first graphic novel ever named the #1 book of the year by Time magazine). Anyway, I think they are equally good-and very different in certain ways.
I have read the book several times and love it every bit as much as the musical. They are different animals I think-and both are beautiful.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#23Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/22/14 at 10:59amMany shows listed in the posts were not successful in terms of repaying investors. The fact that they were transferred to the stage in an entertaining form is something else again.
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henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#24Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/22/14 at 12:07pm
Show Boat
Porgy and Bess
Man of La Mancha
Lost in the Stars
The King and I
Oliver!
Big River
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Ragtime
Zorba
Updated On: 10/23/14 at 12:07 PM
#25Successful Musicals Made Out of Novels?
Posted: 10/23/14 at 12:56pm
I thought this article would be of interest:
Adapting Challengin New Novels Into Ambitious New Plays
....but the world goes 'round
