All tagged The Wiz

Broadway and the Fairy Tale

Fairy tales and music: they are two things that played a big part of most of our childhoods. The combination of the two in an evening of entertainment is, for many of us, the ultimate form of entertainment bliss. With the Broadway musical Frozen, adapted from the animated film musical, which was in turn adapted by the 1884 fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson, working its way toward Broadway this spring, I thought it would be fun to look at some of the other musicals that have been adapted from fairytales and children’s stories. 

Stage to Screen: The 10 Worst Adaptations of Musicals

What plays beautifully on the stage might not necessarily translate effortlessly to the screen. Move musicals that have been adapted from popular stage musicals do not always make the transition successfully. For every West Side Story, The King and I, and The Music Man, there is a musical that just didn’t work so well when Hollywood got their hands on it. Here are ten of the worst stage to screen journeys that make us wonder just what happened.

Music is “Instrumental” to Broadway Musicals

Today, I was listening to some original cast recordings on a car trip, and I realized that three of the shows I had chosen to listen to included special instrumental pieces that were crafted special for their respective pieces. I am not talking about overtures or incidental music, but actual musical numbers unto themselves that, without lyrics, still managed to tell a great deal about the story. Here is a celebration of some of the best of these musical moments that are “instrumental” to Broadway musicals.