Miles's blog

Sometimes the lack of creativity on the part of those who create and produce Broadway shows is alarming.  Disney movies have led to shows for a while: The Lion King, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid.  Other movies have become shows, too, for example Legally Blonde, The Wedding Singer, and Sister Act.  Now on Broadway are shows based on the movies Once and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.  Coming soon are Ghost, Leap of Faith, and Newsies.

However, this trend has reached its ridiculous extreme.  Opening recently was the second attempt at a musical based on the Stephen King gorefest Carrie.  Playing off-Broadway is Silence, based on Silence of the Lambs (although that is a parody).  I mean really.  A musical from a movie (which of course is based on a book) about a high school student who murders classmates, teachers, and her mother strikes me as, at a minimum uncomfortable and insensitive.  I just don’t think murder is a good musical topic in most settings.  Just where will this trend end?

·        Psycho?  Creative staging could emphasize a duet between Norman and his mother and the shower sequence could lead to a big ending to the first act.

·        Night of the Living Dead?  Somebody is actually doing this.  Really.  It is hard to believe the zombies will be very energetic on stage, seeing as how they barely moved much in the original.

·        A Nightmare on Elm Street?  Freddie sings! Freddie dances!  Freddie slashes!  All at the same time.

·        Halloween?  Maybe they can get Jamie Leigh Curtis to make her Broadway debut (hard to believe an actor of her caliber has never been on Broadway—that was sarcasm) recreating  her iconic role in the original, but this time as a tap-dancing almost-victim of Michael Myers.

·        Invasion of the Body Snatchers?   A group of talented aliens takeover the bodies of some boring Midwesterners and the town puts on the best darn musical this side of Andy Hardy.

·        In Cold Blood?  What would lead to a more enjoyable evening that seeing a couple of murderous thugs rob and kill a family, go on the run, ultimately get caught, convicted  and executed?  The possibilities for songs are endless.