The announcement of the new Cats adaptation had the internet in an uproar. The deeply unsettling CGI feline abominations made the rounds on social media. Those already exposed to the trailer spread it around to see their friends react in real-time to the furry nightmare. The cast is star-studded, the cats are naked, and everyone was left asking “why?”
Well, the answer is that Broadway adaptations are frequently very well received. There are a lot of good musicals out there that began their lives on the stage. We know you might need something to help you forget about the tiny cat people. Here are some of the best Broadway adaptations to scratch that musical itch.
Grease (1978)
The film adaptation of Grease starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John has become the definitive version of the musical. There are probably people out there who didn’t even know it was originally a Broadway play.
The movie follows high school greasers Danny and Sandy after they fall in love over summer vacation. Sandy transfers to Danny’s school but finds out he presents himself very differently to his friends. In the end, Danny wins Sandy back by way of winning a street race, and they fly away in his car. The movie was the highest-grossing musical film ever at the time of its release and is still considered one of the best films of 1978.
Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Starring Betty Hutton and Howard Keel, Annie Get Your Gun loosely follows the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Originally, Judy Garland was cast in the role of Annie, but she was fired after clashing with the director.
Hutton, after replacing her, felt that most of the cast and crew treated her coldly, specifically her costar Keel. However, despite these difficulties, Hutton was widely praised in the role, even earning a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. The film itself was well received and won four Academy Awards.
Chicago (2002)
Chicago was the first musical to win Best Picture since Oliver! in 1968. It stars Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones as two murderesses jailed together in Jazz-age Chicago. Richard Gere plays Billy Flynn, their smooth-talking lawyer whose plan is to turn his clients into celebrities. The two women chase fame and try to reinvent their identities to win over public opinion and save their own lives.
The overwhelming success of Chicago (along with Moulin Rouge! and 8 Mile) is considered to be responsible for the resurgence of the musical genre in the 21st century. So while you give this excellent film a watch, keep in mind it’s partially responsible for Cats (2019).
The Sound Of Music (1965)
Perhaps the definitive movie musical, The Sound of Music was originally given only a limited theatrical release and received a mix critical reception. However, it was an unprecedented commercial success. It was the highest-grossing film of 1965 and by November the following year had surpassed Gone with the Wind as the highest-grossing film of all time.
It stars Julie Andrews as Maria von Trapp, who has just been assigned to the villa of a retired naval officer (Christopher Plummer) to act as governess to his seven children. She then brings the joy of music into their lives and marries the officer. The film’s legacy speaks for itself, but if you need more convincing, the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry for its “cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance.”
Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
This musical follows Tevye (Topol) as he tries to maintain his Jewish traditions in the face of encroaching outside influences. His daughters all want to marry for love, with each of their chosen husbands moving further away from the customs of the family’s faith.
Tevye also has to contend with a new edict from the Tsar evicting Jewish people from his town. The movie won three Academy Awards and Topol, who played the same role in the play’s London production, received a nomination for Best Actor.
West Side Story (1961)
A modernized adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story follows Tony, co-founder of the Puerto Rican Sharks gang, and Maria, the younger sister of the leader of the Jets, a white American gang. The two fall in love despite their friends’ and family’s feud. If you’re familiar with Shakespeare’s work, you might be aware that the film probably doesn’t have a happy ending.
However, it did win a whopping ten Academy Awards, breaking the record for most wins for a musical. It received massive critical praise for both its story and its technical design.
Funny Girl (1968)
This was Barbara Streisand’s film debut after she starred in the Broadway production of the same name. Funny Girl loosely follows the life and career of Broadway and film star Fanny Brice and her relationship with Nick Arnstein.
The plot of the film itself is considered somewhat melodramatic and might not have translated well to film if someone else had been cast as Brice. However, Streisand is the shining star of the show and her talent in the role elevates the entire musical.
Hairspray (2007)
This is a movie based on a Broadway show that was itself based on a 1988 John Waters comedy of the same name. Still, in spite of going through a game of telephone, Hairspray is one of the freshest and most fun movie musicals out there. It was the record-holder for the biggest opening weekend for a movie based on a Broadway musical. It was one of the most critically and commercially successful musical films of the decade.
The story follows “pleasantly plump” teenager Tracy Turnblad as she pursues her dream of being a dancer and tries to make her debut on a local television show. However, Hairspray isn’t just a colorful campfest. It also tackles themes of racial segregation and inequality, and Roger Ebert said that there was “a lot of craft and slyness lurking beneath the … goofiness.”
Cabaret (1972)
This film musical is a much looser adaptation of the 1966 Broadway musical of the same name. Only a few of the show’s songs were kept for the film; however, the show’s original songwriters wrote the replacement songs. It differs from the stage production in that rather than being a traditional musical, where characters sing to express their feelings, almost all the film’s songs take place in context inside the club. The only exception is “Tomorrow Belongs to Me.”
Critics praised the movie for daring to break the convention that musicals had to be bright and happy, and that Cabaret chose instead to embrace the darkness of its themes. It was also Liza Minnelli’s first chance to sing on screen and netted her the Academy Award for Best Actress. The film also took home seven additional Oscars.
My Fair Lady (1964)
The plot of My Fair Lady follows a poor Cockney flower seller named Eliza Doolittle, played by Audrey Hepburn, as she’s involved in a wager made by phonetics professor Henry Higgins. Higgins bets that he can teach Eliza to speak “proper” English and then make her presentable to high society.
My Fair Lady won eight Academy Awards and was later ranked the 91st greatest American film of all time by the American Film Institute. It was produced on a budget of $17 million dollars, and while that might seem small today, it was the most expensive film shot in the US up to that point. Luckily, it was a commercial success as well as a critical one, earning $72 million dollars domestically.
