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From: reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.movies,net.theater
Subject: Re: Musicals: Stage to screen
Message-ID: <5879@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 6-Jun-85 14:54:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.5879
Posted: Thu Jun  6 14:54:27 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 9-Jun-85 03:33:10 EDT
References: <798@ssc-vax.UUCP>
Reply-To: reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (Peter Reiher)
Distribution: net
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 59
Xref: watmath net.movies:6582 net.theater:60
Summary: 

In article <798@ssc-vax.UUCP> adolph@ssc-vax.UUCP (Mark Adolph) writes:
>
>Seeing that movie got me to thinking about the whole business of
>translating theater to film.  
...
>
>What I'm trying to get at is that Hollywood seems to have a lot of
>troubling capturing the essence and appeal of musicals on film.  As
>evidence, I offer "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," "The Wiz," and
>"Cabaret."  
>...Why must musicals lose
>part of their appeal when they are moved to film?  Is this something
>that is a flaw of Hollywood, or is it a natural property of the two
>media?  Can the constraints of film vs the stage be overcome by exploiting
>the advantages that film has over a live performance?  Can a musical be
>done successfully on film any more without being a joke or looking silly?
>
Transferring Broadway musicals to the screen is a lost art, but it was once
done successfully on a regular basis.  "My Fair Lady", "The Music Man", 
"Oliver!", and "Oklahoma!" are some of the best examples, but lesser successes
were also gained with "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying",
"South Pacific", "Carousel" (of course, I didn't much like this musical to
begin with), and "Kiss Me, Kate", among others.  The important thing to note
here is that none of these were made after 1968.  Around this time there was
a changing of the guard among the creative people in Hollywood, for two reasons.
First, the great wave of talent that came into its own in the 1930s began to
grow old and die.  Second, the success of "Easy Rider" and the change in
standards of what could and couldn't be shown on the screen led studio heads to
replace old veterans with newcomers, who hadn't had the years of indoctrination
into the "Hollywood" way of doing things.  Another contributing factor was a
major change in what kind of musicals came out of Broadway.  "Cats" and "A
Chorus Line" are not the same type of shows as "My Fair Lady" and "Oliver".
Broadway is now exploiting the unique aspects of theater in a way it didn't
before.

>At the moment, Hollywood is busily producing a film version of "A Chorus
>Line," and I am *very* worried.  "Chorus Line" has no set, no costumes
>other than street clothing, and no real plot to speak of.  The pleasure is
>in meeting the characters through their songs and dances.  In short, the
>show is totally suited to the stage and a nightmare for the film director
>who needs to maintain visual interest.  No doubt, they will change the
>show to "fit" the screen.  I shudder to think what might come out of LA
>this time.  
>
Well, it really won't come out of LA in any important way.  It was shot in
New York and the director is Richard Attenborough, who is very British in
outlook, so it's hard to say what it will be like.  From what I've heard,
they do not plan to "open it up" much, meaning it will still be set almost
entirely in the theater.  The director, who was heard but not seen in the play,
will be seen in the film.  (Michael Douglas has that part.)  Directors have
solved the problem of working in very limited spaces before, but Attenborough
hasn't ever done this.  "Gandhi", "Oh, What a Lovely War!" (a very interesting
film version of a musical, by the way), and "Young Winston" all had lots and
lots of space to work in.  Hard to say what the results will be.
-- 
        			Peter Reiher
        			reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
				soon to be reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU
        			{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher