When Broadway and Hollywood Don't Mix

Recently, Glenn Dunks discussing how much Frozen resembled the stage play Wicked, which I had the pleasure of seeing for the first time this past autumn.  Like any cinematic writer worth their salt who is writing about Wicked, they pointed out how absolutely bizarre it is that no one has transferred the worldwide phenomenon to the screen.  After seeing it for the first time, I have to admit I’m stumped too; this is born for a big-screen adaptation, and Anne Hathaway/Amanda Seyfried would be aces for the leads if they cast it quick enough.

However, this also got me into a Broadway sort of mind, and I decided to take a look at the Top Ten longest-running Broadway shows that have never gotten the big-screen treatment (or been big-screen to begin with).  Here’s a look:

10. Dancin’ (39^th-longest running)

For the purposes of this list, this Bob Fosse dance musical probably shouldn’t be considered, as it’s hardly cinematic and really is just a dance showcase, not an actual plot and story.  However, it ran for 1774 performances in the late 1970’s, and is the 39^th-longest running production on Broadway, so it starts out the list.

Chances of It Coming to Theaters: Zilch

9. Aida (35^th-longest running)

This was a mainstay on Broadway earlier in the millennium, and was blessed with the Broadway gold combo of Elton John and Tim Rice.  Looking at the musical, I’m stunned that it missed out on a Best Musical Tony nomination (it won four trophies, including Best Actress and Best Score, which almost always gets you a shot at the top prize, and was critically-acclaimed).

Chances of It Coming to Theaters: The sheen has worn off quite a bit on this, and the best shot at this being made into a movie is probably the rumor that was circulating six years ago, when Beyonce Knowles was set to play Aida.  If the film does get made, it will go through Disney, which owns the rights.

8. The Magic Show (33^rd-longest running)

This is actually a bit of a quandary, as are several films of on this list which have had filmed versions of the plays that were sold on VHS or DVD (or may have aired on television or in select theaters).  Of those films, The Magic Show is the most difficult to figure out, as the cast isn’t quite the same in the 1983 film that was listed on IMDB, and if someone could correct me I’ll re-order the films listed.  Until then, though, this stays.

Chances of It Coming to Theaters: Really poor-this is the least known of all of these musicals.

7. Pippin (31^st-longest running)

Like The Magic Show, Pippin was videotaped and distributed on videotape, but a film proper has never been done of the musical.  I saw the revival of this a few months ago, and it was superb, and definitely has the grandiosity to translate to the big screen, though it doesn’t have the fanbase that Mamma Mia or Les Miz did prior to their translations.

Chances of It Coming to Theaters: This has been rumored for decades (Harvey Weinstein owns the rights, I believe), and at one point James Ponsoldt was attached to direct, but I’m not sure where that’s going.  Still, better shot than some on this list.

6. Smokey Joe’s Café (30^th-longest running)

Inspired by the songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the stage musical revue boasts a stunning 39 songs and was a smash hit in the late 1990’s.

Chances of It Coming to Theaters: None-this is a revue with no characters and no dialogue.  Like Dancin’, it doesn’t translate to the cinema.

5. Avenue Q (23^rd-longest running)

Known by some outside the theater as that puppet musical that beat Wicked for the Tony, Avenue Q is a hilarious musical with some of the naughtiest songs to play Shubert Alley (before Book of Mormon, it was the sauciest musical on my iPod).  The show still has a pretty strong following, as it moved from Broadway to another strong Off-Broadway run in 2009 after six years on the Great White Way.

Chances of It Coming to Theaters: While it isn’t as impossible as Dancin’ or Smokey Joe’s, it would make far more sense simply as a filmed play than trying to give it a big-screen treatment (perhaps some of the characters could make a cameo in the red-band trailer for the next Muppet flick)?

4. Jersey Boys (15^th-longest running)

All right, so this is cheating, because in a few months (theoretically) this will be released, but films have a way of disappearing and Clint has been saying he’s going to do A Star is Born for an eternity now, so I won’t believe it until I see a preview.  Either way, it’s really weird that this film, which is a jukebox musical, managed to nab a film deal and the top three are still waiting.

Changes of It Coming to Theaters: 99.9%, provided Clint doesn’t get stuck in the editing room.

3. Miss Saigon (12^th-longest running)

Claude-Michele Schonberg and Alain Boublil managed to get their other major Broadway smash musical pushed to the silver screen last year to overwhelming critical and commercial success.  It just makes sense, therefore, that this, one of the longest-running shows on Broadway and a property that still is well-known across the world, could make the jump to the movies as well.

Chances of It Coming to Theaters: This has been rumored for decades, and I won’t believe it until I see it, but I have to assume that Schonberg/Boublil, neither of whom are young men, will want to get this under way soon.  Cameron McKintosh, the most powerful man in theater, said that if Les Miz was a hit his next film project would be Miss Saigon, so who knows?

2.Wicked (11^th-longest running)

The puzzling thing about Wicked is that the Broadway play almost works better as a movie.  It’s a teensy bit of a stretch to include it (considering it is inspired by The Wizard of Oz so fully), but it’s obviously a very different property so I’m keeping it on the list.

Chances of It Coming to Theaters: Doubtful-if it was going to happen, it would have happened by now, right?

1. Cats (2^nd-longest running)

Like several other entries on this list, I’m including a film that has been made into a television movie before, but never actually into a motion picture.  Cats is a mammoth production even though it has multiple detractors, and I’m kind of stunned that it’s never even been rumored for a major film, even if it would be difficult to translate.

Chances of It Coming to Theaters: Small-Andrew Lloyd Webber had a pretty significant hand in the 1998 filmed play, and may consider that the Cats “film.”

It’s also worth noting that while I looked at plays on this list, none of the longer-running ones could take out Dancin’, for two reasons: plays are considerably less expensive to transfer to the big screen and musicals tend to run longer on Broadway.  In fact, there are no plays that have run over 1000 performances without either being based on a film or being made into a film later.