At the time of this post, Mean Girls opens this weekend. No this post is not being written in 2003, the musical version has now been given a big screen adapatation, where it was orignally made for streaming platforms. I will not being seeing the film on opening weeked but I do plan on watching it, and how it technically inspired this blog to be what it is now. Where I am exploring filmed musicals from TV to movies, pro shots, made-for-TV musicals, and everything in between. Looking into that, I was surprised when this movie was announced and wondered to myself, "Why make movie musicals and not just film pro shots?"
Waitress recently got an excellent pro shot that was aired in the movie theathers, Hamilton, before it was put on Disney Plus, was slated to be a pro shot that aired in Theathers, and Newsies was a pro shot aired in movie theaters on multiple occasions before being put on streaming. Waitress was even so successful in its limited run that they added another week of showtimes. I did not get to see in the movie theater as the showtimes were only once a day, and they were spaced out to inopportune times. It made me ask myself as stated earlier, why not just air the pro shot as a regular movie? It was performing so well, so why make it a limited event? Why do they keep making movies with non-theater-trained celebrities? well for that last one, it is to bring in as much revenue based purely on a name as possible, hoping status will make a box office smash.
Now this post is not addressed to movie musicals that are not based off of any previous source, so no La LA La Land or Greatest Showman today, those will be talked about at another time, or even the promise of bringing things like that to the stage. I am talking purely about when a popular musical, say West Side Story is suddenly made into a feature film, cutting content, changing the story, and sometimes even adding new songs.
One of the strongest examples I can use is In The Heights which is night and day, for better and for worse, a complete far cry from the stage version. With some changes being good, and some being baffling. Cut songs that were not the strong point of the show, and some of the strong emotional focal points of the stage show were left on the cutting room floor. Overall leaving a mixed bag of emotions, loving some changes and questioning others.
Both have their positives and negatives, seeing a pro show means that someone can discover or rewatch a show in its original form at any time or anyway, replicating the live theater experience when needed. A movie can change course and add things that make it stand even ahead of what it came from, making the movie the prime example of something someone can also watch over and over, whenever, to feel the joy that musicals bring.
Movie versions sometimes can change something for the better, but most times you may find they can change too much. Movie adaptations have the pressure of that latter word. Adaptation. Having to live up to something beloved and critically acclaimed, while not just being what someone saw on stage. But for some who can not see a stage show, this is the only version of the source material some people may ever see. That is why I am going to use this blog to go through both, to see the good and bad of a TV series, a single episode, a pro shot, and a film. To see what is done well, and what isn't, what is better on the stage, and what works on the screen. Whether the material is new or a new spin on something we have seen. If a performance was aired on TV, filmed before a live audience, or made for cinemas across the world. This is From The Stage To The Screen, and welcome.
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