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With this month’s arrival of the movie version of the Kander and Ebb musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, we thought it would be a good time to look at other Broadway musical-to-film transfers to see how they fared. For very Wicked there’s A Chorus Line, for every Les Misérables there’s The Phantom of the Opera. A hit Broadway show does not always translate into a hit movie. Sometimes things just work better on the stage.
Even composer Stephen Sondheim had mixed results with his body of work. There’s also a trend in his musicals to put non-singers in lead roles. For 1962’s Gypsy, by Sondheim and Jules Styne, Rosalind Russell was cast as definitive stage mother Mama Rose. Most of her vocals were dubbed by Lisa Kirk. Still, Russell was a force of nature in the role. Natalie Wood as Gypsy Rose Lee was also no thrush. And Ethel Merman, the originator of Mama Rose on Broadway, was considered not a big enough draw at the box office (the film did earn globally nearly three times its $4 million budget).
This happened again when Elizabeth Taylor was cast as Desiree Armfeldt in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music (1977). Taylor does a decent job on the shows’ signature song, “Send in the Clowns.” She is that good an actress. (Glynis Johns, who originated the role on Broadway, also was not known for her vocal range). Len Cariou and Hermoine Gingold from the original Broadway cast were utilized for the film along with Diana Rigg and Lesley-Anne Down. Even though Hal Prince–who directed the Broadway production–also directed the movie, and Harold Wheeler–who wrote the Broadway book–contributed the screenplay, the film landed with one big thud commercially. It does still have its moments; the “A Weekend in the Country” number is filmed cleverly and performed well.
When it came to filming another Sondheim project, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) was likewise cast with actors not known for belting it out. Johnny Depp was tapped to play homicidal hair-cutter Sweeney and Helena Bonham Carter to play crafty Mrs. Lovett. Carter was, of course, director Tim Burton’s off-screen partner at the time. Despite their lack of major pipes, the film was a success (although the ads for it slyly hid its musical aspects).
Finally, for 2014’s Into the Woods, director Rob Marshall was hired to direct after having great success with the screen version of Chicago, which won a Best Picture Oscar in 2002. He also helmed Mary Poppins Returns and Nine. Into the Woods is Sondheim and James Lapine’s tale of various Brothers Grimm fairytale characters woven into a new plot and what happens once “happily ever after” is achieved. A major cast was assembled, including Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, Anna Kendrick, and Depp. Some songs from the original Broadway production were eliminated and a few character storylines were changed. Despite some tampering of the beloved show, the film was a worldwide hit and earned three Oscar noms.
The same stage-to-screen troubles have been felt by other folks’ shows as well. 1985’s A Chorus Line is an example of the old adage some things are better left alone. The innovative Broadway smash (which just celebrated its 50th anniversary with much fanfare) was reimagined for the screen with some bad results. Songs were cut out or given to a different character, the dancer’s stories were truncated, and most of the realness, heartbreak, and charm which played so strikingly on stage were lost here. Michael Douglas stars as the extremely unlikable Zach, the God-like choreographer who decides to make the dancer’s audition for a Broadway musical a study in human behavior. He prods and harasses these hoofers to reveal their inner lives to him. And complicating Zach’s psychotherapy session is the arrival of old flame Cassie (Alyson Reed), who needs a job desperately. What started out as a cattle call, is winnowed down to 16 dancers with only eight to be chosen (four women and four men). And Zach reluctantly allows Cassie to be in the running.
Some of the largely unknown cast do break through, though. Terrence Mann is solid as assistant choreographer Larry. Vicki Fredrick is perfect as Sheila, a tart-tongued, “seen it all” veteran. And Cameron English is touching as Paul San Marco, whose start in the business was in a drag show. Nicole Fosse, daughter of theater legends Gwen Verdon and Bob Fosse, is also featured. And Audrey Landers of TV’s Dallas fame plays Val, who sings the provocative song about plastic surgery, “Dance Ten, Looks Three.” For the paying public, however, it was “No Thanks, No See” (Meow!).
When it was first announced in 1989, the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera was going to star original Broadway leads Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. That changed when Webber and Brightman divorced. Over the years the casting for the Phantom went through many incarnations, with John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, and Antonio Banderas each being considered. For the role of Christine, Anne Hathaway was hired but had to drop out because of her commitment to The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Director Joel Schumaker decided on Gerard Butler (another non-singer) and Emmy Rossum to star. The supporting cast included Patrick Wilson, Minnie Driver, and Miranda Richardson.
The 2004 release opened to mixed reviews. Some thought Butler was too young to play the Phantom, while others criticized Schumaker’s direction. In an interview with BBC Sounds, Webber hinted there might be another screen version coming. He also said he would like an older actor to play the Phantom. There currently is a new theater version of Phantom called Masquerade playing in New York that is immersive and takes place at a former art shop on West 57th St. Formal attire is required to attend. For real.
Another not-so-successful transfer was Paint Your Wagon (1969), based on a 1951 Lerner and Lowe musical set in Gold Rush-era California. Remember, in Hollywood the mantra is always “go with the non-singer,” so Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, and Jean Seberg were tapped to star. Seberg’s singing was dubbed. Ironically, Marvin had a Number One hit in the UK with his rendition of “Wand’rin Star.” The film was met with mixed reviews. With its high production and marketing costs, Paint Your Wagon’s $31 million gross was not enough for Paramount Pictures to realize a profit.
As for the aforementioned Kiss of the Spider Woman, it looks like another musical bites the dust. The box office receipts have been disappointing. There have been positive reviews about Jennifer Lopez’s dancing and for Tonatiuh as gay window dresser Luis Molina (the role which won William Hurt a Best Actor Oscar in 1986’s original drama), but the audience has not shown up. For this translation some key songs were eliminated and new ones introduced. Kiss of the Spider Woman was a successful show, which means it had a built-in audience if done right. One reason might be that Jennifer Lopez is polarizing. Another might be you shouldn’t mess with the source material too much. But that’s Hollywood!