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All Musicals Are Adaptations: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"So start off on the right foot and select a story that is all prepared for you. The translation of that story to musical form is quite complex enough. Within that frame you will find more than adequate challenge to your originality and enough on which to experiment."''
|'''Alan Jay Lerner''', ''Advice to Young Musical Writers''}}
Many musicals - arguably most - are adaptations. There are two major reasons for this tendency:
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'''b) Commerciality.''' Primarily, musical theatre has always been a commercial medium that tries to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Moreover, as the sheer costs of staging a Broadway or West End musical continue to skyrocket, producers are under increasing pressure to guarantee their shows will be smash hits. Audiences are more likely to come see a musical (or play, or film ...) based on a property with which they are already familiar, so adaptations are a safer bet than original works, though of course they're not sure hits (as proven by the line of unsuccessful musical adaptations of ''[[Cyrano De Bergerac]]'' stretching back to 1899).
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]]s are also adaptations of older material... and a fair number of ''them'' have been turned into musicals.
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Incidentally, this is why so many so many musicals are subtitled [[Title: the Adaptation|The Musical!]]
{{examples}}
== Aversions ==
* ''[[The American Astronaut]]''
* ''[[Annie Get Your Gun]]''
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== Parodies ==
=== Film - Live-Action ===
* ''[[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.▼
* ''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''.▼
=== Live-Action TV ===
** 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.."▼
* On ''[[30
* ''[[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).▼
=== Periodicals ===
* ''[[MAD|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 [https://web.archive.org/web/20170610091451/http://www.fellowshipthemusical.com/ adapted].)▼
=== Theatre ===
* In Andrew Lippa's version of ''[[The Wild Party]]'', the brothers d'Armano write a musical called ''Good Heavens'', based on the Bible.▼
=== Web Comics ===
* ''[[Fans!]]'' once had a character perform in a musical adaptation of the Book of Leviticus.▼
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' had Zoe and Kent go see "[https://web.archive.org/web/20030826075141/http://beta.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=030810 The Cylon King]," a Broadway musical based on
=== Web Original ===
* The web series
=== Western Animation ===
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' has done this several times, often parodying the concept by having its musicals draw from bizarre or inappropriate sources. Marge starred in a musical adaptation of ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (opposite Ned Flanders) whose cheery closing song managed to [[Comically Missing the Point|completely miss the point of the original source]]. Then there's ''[[Planet of the Apes|Stop the Planet of the Apes: I Want to Get Off!]]'', which featured [https://web.archive.org/web/20101203072752/http://www.hulu.com/watch/20840/the-simpsons-mcclures-comeback breakdancing chimps and spontaneous piano solos]. Smithers also wrote a musical inspired by Malibu Stacey dolls, providing an example of a musical based on a pre-existing concept while not being a direct adaptation.
{{quote|'''Mr. Burns:''' A musical about a doll? Why not [[Cats|a musical about the common cat]]? Or [[The King and I|the King of Siam]]?}}
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** And who could forget "Kickin' It: A Musical Journey Through the Betty Ford Center"?
** And the musical adaption of ''[[Show Within a Show|Itchy and Scratchy]]'', parodying the style of the Broadway version of ''[[The Lion King]]''.
▲* ''[[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 OddParents]]'' 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 [https://web.archive.org/web/20170610091451/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''.
* A cutaway reveals Peter once performed in ''Red Dawn - The Musical'' on ''[[Family Guy]]''. "I'm a Wolverine/And my hatred keeps me warm..."
* ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' had a scene featuring Terry taking Bruce Wayne to a musical about...Batman. The sad part is that the idea for it came from the fact that someone [[Real Life Writes the Plot|actually proposed a Batman musical in real life.]]
{{quote|Bruce: ...you hate me, don't you.}}
▲* ''[[Fans]]'' once had a character perform in a musical adaptation of the Book of Leviticus.
▲* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' had Zoe and Kent go see "[https://web.archive.org/web/20030826075141/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]].
** Also, ''[[Notre Dame de Paris]]'' premiered in 1998.
* ''[[Rugrats]]'' has ''Reptar [[On Ice]]'', an Ice Capades-like musical show based on a [[Godzilla]]-like action film franchise.
* In a recent{{when}} 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]]''.▼
▲* 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]]''.
* One episode of ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' revisits one of their early adventures:
{{quote|"Y'know Ferb, one of the best times we ever had was when we built that
{{reflist}}
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