All Musicals Are Adaptations: Difference between revisions

▲This trope is common enough that it would be more useful to list [[Averted Trope|exceptions]] and parodies than straight examples, and it is often said "great musicals are not written, they are ''re-written''". Note, however, that it can be difficult to define what counts as an "adaptation". Whilst many musicals draw their narrative structure directly from the movie, novel, stage play, comic book, short story, ancient Greek myth etc. on which they were based, many other musicals take their inspiration from a variety of unusual sources - a historical figure or event, a painting, a concept - but provide an original narrative. Going back to the roots of musical theater, a large number of [[Opera|operas]] are also adaptations of older material... and a fair number of ''them'' have been turned into musicals.

▲* ''[[The Producers]]'' notes a musical adaptation of ''Hamlet'', called ''Funny Boy''; it isn't depicted, but [[Take Our Word for It|its audience informs us]] "It's the worst show in town!" in the first scene of the stage version, which takes place on its opening ''and'' closing night.

▲* ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'' is another twofer: ''Waterworld: The Musical'' and, as a [[Continuity Nod]] to the episode parodying action movies, ''[[Cowboy Cop|Loose Cannon Cop Who Doesn't Play by the Rules]]: The Musical''.

▲* MAD Magazine had "Keep on Trekkin'", a ''[[Star Trek]]'' musical that addressed the post-cancellation success of TOS in reruns in [[The Seventies]]. It ends with the cast turning down a network executive's offer of a [[Revival]] because they're making so much money already -- it was written before the movie franchise was established in 1979.

▲** "Coming Musicals" in MAD #41 suggested that, when Broadway starts running out of likely source material, new musicals could be based on telephone directories, railroad timetables, and cook books, producing song hits like "The Bell-Box Of My Heart" and "Oh, Your Lips Say Central Standard."

▲** MAD #100 did an article conceiving musical versions of ''[[Moby Dick]]'', ''[[Julius Caesar]]'', ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'' and ''[[Tarzan]]''.

▲** Later issues had musical versions of ''[[Star Wars]]'' ("The Force and I") and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' ("The Ring and I"). Note that ''Moby Dick'', ''A Tale of Two Cities'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'' have since been adapted into serious stage musicals, and Disney's ''Tarzan'' received a [[Screen to Stage Adaptation]]. (''Lord of the Rings'' has also since been... rather ''less'' seriously [http://www.fellowshipthemusical.com adapted].)

▲** ''MAD TV'' did a skit in the late 1990s spoofing how campy the [[Batman (film)|Batman movie franchise]] had become by having the 5th one done as a Broadway musical. In fact, Warner Bros. actually had Jim Steinman and David Ives working on a ''Batman'' [[Batman the Musical|musical]] for several years, but it didn't pan out.

▲** Don't forget ''Erin Brockovich'': "I may dress like a cheap table dancer / but give me a call if you think you've got cancer.."

▲** The only thing preventing a ''Star Wars'' musical is George Lucas's dignity (dear God, we're screwed). But it has been adapted into an opera.

▲*** Except that [http://www.infauxmedia.com/ it exists.] And is brilliant.

▲**** [http://www.macms.org/DDK/ Twice!]

▲* ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is also staged as a musical (''Two Cities'') in the Martin Short comedy ''A Simple Wish''.

▲* In the movie ''The Tall Guy'' Jeff Goldblum's character, trying to get into serious drama, finds himself starring in ''Elephant!'', a musical version of ''The Elephant Man''.

▲* On ''[[30 Rock|Thirty Rock]]'', Jenna has been in musical versions of ''Con Air'' and ''Mystic Pizza''.

▲* ''[[Fans]]'' once had a character perform in a musical adaptation of the Book of Leviticus.

▲* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' had Zoe and Kent go see "[http://beta.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=030810 The Cylon King]," a Broadway musical based on ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined|Battlestar Galactica]]''. Kent remarks they should have gotten tickets to "[[Flash Gordon (comic strip)|Thoroughly Merciless Ming]]" instead.

▲* ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'' had the castaways staging a musical of version of ''Hamlet'' to try to persuade a producer to return to civilisation and take them with him. He steals their idea, returns to civilisation and leaves them stranded.

▲* In a ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' sketch, E. Henry Thripshaw announces that he hopes to turn his next disease into a musical (after his first disease became an [[In Name Only]] film).

▲* The web series "The Battery's Down" parodies this with ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off|Ferris Buellers Day Off]] The Musical'' and ''Home Alone The Musical''.

▲* An episode of ''[[The Critic]]'' features Jay and Doris going to [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]]'s newest musical, ''Hunch!'', an adaptation of ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (novel)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]''. The sequence takes swipes at the commercialism ("Brought to you by Toyota: the hatchback fit for a hunchback!") and strange staging common to ALW's musicals. Note that this episode predated the Disney adaptation of ''Hunchback'' -- which had its own problems trying to make the story a musical that could also move merchandise -- by two years, making this [[Hilarious in Hindsight]].

▲* In Andrew Lippa's version of ''[[The Wild Party]]'', the brothers d'Armano write a musical called ''Good Heavens'', based on the Bible.

▲* In a recent episode of ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'', Rusty wants to make a musical about his life (a Johnny Quest boy-adventurer sort of childhood with its own cartoon show), though this never gets off the ground. He does get a duet with the in-universe version of Spiderman, the Brown Widow, which might be a parody of ''[[Spider Man Turn Off the Dark]]''.