Category: Musicals

‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Remake in the Works

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I’m starting to believe there’s a fine line between tasteful and tasteless when it comes to remakes. As I’ve said before, I believe remakes should be kept mostly in the realm of taking “bad” movies and making them better, with a few exceptions.

Shocktillyoudrop.com just scored an exclusive bit of news regarding this much-debated topic with their announcement that ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ will receive another remake. Attached to direct in Declan O’Brien (Wrong Turn 3). So, here’s my take on this… and, bare with me… it’s not as straight forward as you may think.

The original was made in 1960 by legendary schlock-master Roger Corman. So, this brings me to my dilemma. Roger Corman is certainly not known for making the best movies on the planet, but at the same time his body of work is beloved the world over by devoted fans of his unique style of filmmaking and the fun that inherently comes with “successful schlock”.

Where do you draw the line on remakes of movies that, even if they weren’t hailed for their artistic achievements, are considered classics? The 1960 original was not a musical, however the 1986 remake by Frank Oz starring Rick Moranis (I hear you laughing!) was a musical and actually became a cult classic of it’s own, separate from the original but at the same time inherently connected.

This makes me ponder the question… What will THIS remake be like? Will it be a straight-forward, perhaps slightly dark comedy, or will it be another musical? Apparently, O’Brien has hinted that he plans to take the film in a totally new direction, for whatever that’s worth. He’s kept tight-lipped on it aside from that little teaser.

[source: ShocktillYouDrop]

Andy Fickman developing ‘Heathers’ Musical

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Remember ‘Heathers’…? Of course you do! The 1988 dark comedy about teens is a popular cult favorite and launched the careers of Wynona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty. Well, are you ready for Heathers: The Musical? No, I didn’t stutter. It’s true, but it gets even worse. Andy Fickman, you know… the auteur director responsible for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s masterpiece Disney films including ‘The Game Plan’ and ‘Race to Witch Mountain’… yeah, so he’s developing a musical stage adaptation of ‘Heathers’. Yipee!

The trio has worked on the production under the radar for some time, even doing readings this week in Endeavor’s screening room. The readings saw “Veronica Mars” star Kristen Bell playing the lead and Christian Campbell as J.D., with Jenna Leigh Green (“Wicked”), BrokeDown Cadillac lead singer Corri English and Christine Lakin (the CW’s “Valentine”) as the three Heathers. — HR

Fickman isn’t entirely foreign to the musical genre, having directed ‘Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical’ in 2005 with partner Kevin Murphy, with whom he is working with on ‘Heathers’. Fickman claims the original movie offers many “over the top” moments that would give the musical a similar appeal to John Waters’ ‘Hairspray’. Unfortunately, Fickman failed to consider one crucial element… Waters knows how to make an entertaining movie!

[source: Hollywood Reporter]

Jim Carrey and Jake Gyllenhaal Doing ‘Damn Yankees’

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New Line Cinemas has attached stars Jim Carrey and Jake Gyllenhaal to star in their updated adaptation of the musical ‘Dam Yankees’.   Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel are set to write the script, and Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the duo behind the new version of ‘Hairspray’, are producing.

“Damn Yankees,” which debuted on Broadway in 1955 and won seven Tony Awards, focuses on Joe Boyd, a happily married man whose devotion to a hapless pro baseball team prompts him to make a bargain with the devil to help the team. He’s transformed into slugger Joe Hardy, in exchange for Boyd’s soul. Boyd can break the deal, but the deadline occurs during the World Series. For good measure, the devil engages Lola, a gorgeous lost soul, to seduce the slugger and seal his fate.

Carrey is set to play the devil, and Gyllenhaal will be playing Boyd.   This is the first musical for each actor.   The intention is to get a script from Ganz and Mandel before meeting directors, and actresses who’ll want to play Lola.

The original was directed by George Abbott and choreographed by Bob Fosse, with music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, and book by Abbott and Douglass Wallop. “Damn Yankees” was turned into a 1958 Warner Bros. film that was directed by Abbott and Stanley Donen, with Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon re-creating their stage performances, and Tab Hunter playing the slugger.

Source: Variety

‘Spider-Man’ Musical gets an Opening Date

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‘Spider-Man’ is a HUGE franchise, but I’m not sure anyone expected to see it go musical on Broadway. The comic-turned-movie had been in theatrical development Hell for some time, but now can take a small breath of relief as it’s been given an official opening date of February 18, 2010.

The stage musical adaptation will be directed by visionary director Julie Taymor, with music and lyrics created by Bono and the Edge of the band U2. The production is reported to have a staggering $31 million dollar budget.

No casting has taken place yet, but apparently Taymor has been holding readings with Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood, both of whom starred in Taymor’s movie ‘Across the Universe’. While rumors suggest Strugess will not play Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Wood is allegedly enthusiastic and all over the role of Mary Jane.

[source: Hollywood Reporter]

Do you feel lucky… Broadway? ‘Magnum Force’ the Musical?

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It’s no secret that Broadway has been on a bit of a movie-to-musical binge lately, but this is really pushing the limits of what can be taken seriously. Guardian News has reported that singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock is apparently developing ‘Magnum Force’ (sequel to ‘Dirty Harry’) into a stage musical. Yes, you heard me correctly… a musical!

Hitchcock is said to be working alongside MTV executive Bill Flanagan to produce the 1973 modern action classic into a Broadway bound singing and dancing extravaganza, joining such other movie-to-stage adaptations as Dirty Dancing, Billy Elliot, Sunset Boulevard and yes, even Evil Dead. So, how exactly does one become inspired to convert a film riddled with violence and gunfights into a stage musical?

Hitchcock claims his relationship with Magnum Force is a longstanding one. “It’s a film that seemed to be on all the time when I was on tour,” he said. “By the fifth time [I saw it], I became addicted to it. It’s taken a very strange hold on my life.” — Guardian

[source: Guardian]

Review: ‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’

Travis:

Attention, everyone! The Rocky Horror Picture Show of the 21st century is here! No, it’s not a remake, a reboot or a sequel. It’s ‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’ and it’s totally friggin’ awesome! I know there are many of you out there that have already taken part in the theatrical experience, some of you multiple times, but for those who haven’t and won’t be able to, you really need to go out and rent (or buy) the DVD, which released on Tuesday, January 20. ‘Repo!’ is more than a musical. It’s a futuristic Goth rock opera for the 21st century, complete with costumes, gore, violence, drugs, greed, scandal, conspiracy, sex appeal and a damn good soundtrack. ‘Repo!’ is written by Terrence Zdunich and Darren Smith, based on their original stage play and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II-IV).

If you pay attention to what’s hot and what’s not in the movie world, you may have noticed that ‘Repo!’ is getting torn limb from limb by some of the “major” critics out there. Don’t listen to them! I’ll admit this movie is not going to be for everyone, but it’s a movie you MUST see for yourself and make your own decision. I truly believe anyone who liked ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ will like this movie and I loved Rocky Horror. I confess, I’m not amidst that infamous fan base that goes in costume, singing along and throwing toast, but it doesn’t mean I don’t love the movie just as much as anyone else. Same goes for ‘Repo!’ as the film’s already garnered a loyal and rapidly growing fan base, many of whom have shown up at the very limited theatrical tour dates in full costume with Zydrate viles in hand, prepared to belt out their favorite rock opera tunes. This is how ‘Repo!’ is truly meant to be experienced and the creators fully encourage it at the screenings.

In my opinion, there have been only three musicals that have had this captivating effect on the audience and can be called true cult classics. The first, of course, is Rocky Horror. The second would by Little Shop of Horrors and the third being ‘Repo!’ (although, I would add an amendment for Cannibal! The Musical, but it never really caught on). ‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’ takes place in the not-so-distant future after a global epidemic of organ failures devastates the population. Just in the nick of time, Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino) comes to the rescue with his company called GeneCo, specializing in organ transplants and various cures for various diseases and conditions. The only hitch is that these are expensive transactions. In response, GeneCo offers organ financing on strict payment plans. For the recipient, everything is hunky-dory so long as they keep up on paying their debt, but if they fall behind… beware! Miss a payment and GeneCo sends out the Repo Man to collect the unpaid property.

Largo has three grown children, all of whom have their own unique flaws. Luigi (Bill Mosley) has the worst of violent tempers, Pavi (Nivek Ogre) is obsessed with facial replacement and Amber Sweet (Paris Hilton) is addicted to surgery and Zydrate. The three of them are each vying for control of GeneCo once their father passes from his terminal condition that even he can’t cure. Rotti, on the other hand, can’t stand the sight of his kids and devises a plan of revenge against the Repo Man (Anthony Head) who happens to be Shiloh Wallace’s (Alexa Vega) father. Rotti wants to give full control of GeneCo to Shiloh because he feels she is the child he was meant to have with the Repo Man’s late wife, before she left Rotti. There is much more to the plot, but you’ll just have to watch the movie and experience it for yourself. The cast also includes Terrence Zdunich as Grave Robber, a sort of narrator in the film and vocalist Sarah Brightman as Blind Mag, an operatic singer with cybernetic cornea transplants that has a tumultuous business relationship with Rotti Largo.

‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’ is loads of fun and is an experience for the ages. Despite only having an $8.5 million budget, the filmmakers were able to pull off a visually arresting, perfectly paced orgasm of the senses. The special effects for the futuristic city are great and the costumes are fantastic. The special effects for the gory scenes involving the Repo Man are perfectly rendered and none of the movie feels amateurish or cheesy. Bill Mosely and Anthony Head are an absolute blast on screen to watch. Sarah Brightman is also fantastic, both as an actress and as a mesmerizing voice in the soundtrack. Which brings me to one of the most successful elements of this experience, the music. The Saint Louis screening was introduced by Bill Mosley, writer Terrence Zdunich and director Darren Lynn Bousman. They had some interesting stories about the process of making this movie, as well as creating the soundtrack. The music of ‘Repo!’ includes performances by Richard Patrick (Filter), Steven Perkins (Jane’s Addiction), Clown (Slipknot), Ray Luzier (Army of Anyone), Brian Young (David Lee Roth’s band), Richard Fortus (Guns & Roses), Sonny Moore (First to Last), David J (Bauhaus/Love & Rockets), Daniel Ash (Love & Rockets), Blasko (Ozzy Osborne), Tommy Clefetus (Rob Zombie’s band), Melora Creager (Rasputina) and of course, Sarah Brightman. The original cast recording soundtrack is now available on CD, so you can run out and own the movie and the music!

On an important side note, ‘Repo!: The Genetic Opera’ has experienced a loss of love from the studio who feels the movie is a failure based on it’s box office numbers, but the catch is that the filmmakers had to fight tooth and nail just to get the extremely limited theatrical screenings they’ve had. So, naturally the box office numbers wouldn’t be stellar without a decent number of screens playing the movie. The filmmakers stayed for a question and answer session after the film and also asked for the support of it’s fans to help get word out to others. Bousman said that there are a total of 12 prints of ‘Repo!’ and only six of them are circulating to theaters. Therefore, that means there are still six prints just sitting in a warehouse collecting dust. Bousman said the only thing keeping them from making runs in theaters is that no one has contacted the studio requesting them. With that said, anyone who wishes to have a run of this movie in their city now has a mission to work with their local theatre(s) and the distributor of the prints. Bousman made it clear that there is an audience for this film, we just need to make it known to the studio by requesting the prints, buying the CD Soundtrack and buying and/or renting the DVD.

[Overall: 4 stars out of 5]

‘Mamma Mia’ sinks ‘Titanic’ as highest grossing in UK

The musical movie adaptation of ‘Mamma Mia’ is now officially the highest-grossing movie ever released in the history of film… in the UK. This new record comes as a torpedo to ‘Titanic’ which was “king of the world” before Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan became musical stars. (really, i am still trying to figure that one out?)

Lloyd’s romantic musical comedy finally sank the 10-year grip “Titanic” has had on the record with her film singing its way to 69.1 million pounds ($105.8 mil million), while the James Cameron drama sailed away with 69 million pounds in 1998.

“Mamma Mia!” broke the longstanding record just days after the film picked up two Golden Globe nominations for best picture (musical or comedy) and best actress (musical or comedy) for star Meryl Streep.

[source: HollywoodReporter.com]

‘Fame’ chooses five for cast

The movie that made you want to dance is coming back with a an all-star cast for the faculty. Actors Megan Mullally, Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton, Bebe Neuwirth and Debbie Allen have all been cast to take on the  administrative and teaching roles in MGM and Lakeshore Entertainment’s remake of ‘Fame’. Choreographer Kevin Tancharoen will take on directing this  1980 musical about a group of dancers, singers, actors and artists trying to survive four grueling years at the prestigious New York City High School of Performing Arts. It’s going to be interesting to see who gets cast as the students for this upcoming feature.

Source: HollywoodReporter

Soderbergh building a cast for ‘Cleopatra’

Upon completion of his epic quasi-indie biopic ‘Che’, Steven Soderbergh has seemingly headed full steam into yet another more ancient biopic as he begins pre-production and casting of ‘Cleopatra’. Currently, Catherine Zeta-Jones is “officially” on board to play the lead of Cleopatra. Ray Winstone has recently signed on to play the part of Julius Caesar and according to DarkHorizons.com, its being reported that Hugh Jackman is nearly locked to play Mark Antony. Oh, and did I mention this is going to be a rock-n-roll musical? Yep, you heard me right! The script was written by James greer, formerly a member of the band Guided by Voices. The film will, of course, be directed by Steven Soderbergh and the music of Guided by Voices will be featured throughout the movie.

WAMG First Look: ‘Nine’

With principal photography just beginning, The Weinstein  Co. has released the first set photo from Rob Marshall’s ‘Nine’. Marshall, who previously directed 2002’s  Oscar winner, ‘Chicago’,   is back at with the ladies  in his adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical.  Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Dame Judi Dench, Penà ©lope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Fergie and Sophia Loren. The only one you cant see is Daniel Day-Lewis – his back is to the camera.

‘Nine’ is the story of Guido Contini, an Italian filmmaker who is balancing his latest movie project with  the many  women in his life, including his wife, mistress, and even his dead mother. ‘Nine’ is due in theaters next December 11, 2009….we’ll see if lightning strikes twice for another  Marshall musical  during next year’s Oscar season. Very excited about this one!

For a bigger, luscious  look, click here.