The Broadway Musical Blog – Musical theater news and gossip from the Great White Way
Dishing out daily (or almost daily) Broadway musical news and gossip. The companion site to The Broadway Musical Home (broadwaymusicalhome.com), a directory of Broadway musicals with the story, songs, merchandise, video clips, lyrics, tickets, rights & awards for almost 200 shows.Archive for Broadway Musicals on Screen
Lin Manuel Miranda to star in Universal’s film version of In the Heights!
According to our good friend BroadwayGirlNYC, Lin Manuel Miranda announced at a concert last night that he will need to “get off his ass and start working out again, because when they start filming the movie, he has to have his ‘tickets to the gun show back.’ Usnavi’s gotta be hot in the film version, as well, and ‘healthy as a horse.’”
Universal Pictures acquired the rights to produce a film version of the Tony Award winning best musical In the Heights back in November of 2008 and rumors are still circulating that Jennifer Lopez might be eyeing a role in the film, but this is the first announcement that Miranda will not only produce but also star in the film version of his hit show.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait!
“Hair: Let the Sunshine In” Documentary to Air on the Sundance Channel Tonight
“Hair: Let the Sunshine In,” the new documentary tracing the birth of the musical Hair, will air on the Sundance Channel tonight at 9 PM ET.
Directed by Pola Rapaport, the documentary “captures preparations for the recent, Tony Award-nominated revival as it weaves together archival footage (including a cast performances on ‘The Tonight Show’) with the candid recollections of ‘Hair’ veterans, including co-creator/ star Rado, composer McDermot, director Tom O’Horgan and performers Melba Moore, Ben Vereen, Keith Carradine and Mary Lorrie Davis.”
The DVD for the documentary is also available online.
Spike Lee’s Passing Strange Documentary Hits Theaters Aug 21
A documentary of Passing Strange by Academy Award winner Spike Lee and Annie Dorsen hits movie theaters on Aug 21. , Filmed during one the Broadway production’s final performances, the multicamera coverage of the on and off-stage action “involves the audience in not only the text but the electricity of the ensemble’s onstage adventure.”
With book/music/lyrics by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, the film features performances by original cast members Stew and Rodewald, as well as de’Adre Aziza, Daniel Breaker, Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo, Chad Goodridge and Rebecca Naomi Jones.
The documentary will also air on PBS’ Great Performances series in 2010.
Julianne Hough to star alongside Chace Crawford in Footloose Film
Dancing With the Stars’ Julianne Hough will be starring opposite Gossip Girl‘s Chace Crawford in the upcoming Footloose movie remake. He was voted People’s hottest bachelor, and 20/20 named her one of the “very best dancers on the planet” – you can’t fight that they look good. It’s rumored that the remake of the 1984 film that launched Kevin Bacon to stardom will be more “mature” than the original.
Watch the New Fame Movie Trailer!
Watch the trailer for the MGM remake of Fame, starring Megan Mullally, Bebe Neuwirth, Debbie Allen, Paul McGill and Naturi Naughton. Scheduled to arrive in theatres Sept. 25, the remake of 1980 film has a screenplay by Allison Burnett and Aline Brosh McKenna and choreography and direction by Kevin Tancharoen.
Film to Broadway and Broadway to Film…
Broadway to the Silver Screen…
The Tony Award wining musical, City of Angles, with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by David Zippel and book by Larry Gelbart, is being adapted by the original librettist and lyricist for the silver screen. Barry Levingson (Wag the Dog, Rain Man, Bugsy) will direct and Marc Shaiman (Hairspray) will provide additional music and musical direction.
Films eyeing Broadway musical adaptations…
The same producers bringing City of Angels to Hollywood will be working the other way round as well – transforming Elf, the movie starring Will Ferrell, for the Great White Way, with a book by Thomas Meehan (Hairspray, The Producers) and Bob Martin (Drowsy Chaperone) and a new score by Matt Sklar and Chad Beguelin (Wedding Singer). Workshopping soon, the show is hoping to hit Broadway during the 2010 holiday season.
And they’ve got plans to adapt another film, Secondhand Lions, which starred Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Haley Joel Osment, for Broadway. With a book by Rupert Holmes (Edwin Drood, Curtains) and a score by Michael Weiner and Alan Zachary, the production will be directed by Matt August, appearing on Broadway in 2011.
Chess in Concert with Menzel, Groban & Pascal
A concert version of Benny Andersson, Bjorn
Ulvaeus and Tim Rice’s cult musical Chess, featuring the talents of Wicked’s Idina Menzel, Rent’s Adam Pascal, and the internationally renowned vocalist Josh Groban will be broadcast on PBS on Wednesday, June 17 at 9 PM (ET) as a part of their Great Performances series.
A DVD version
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