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Lost in Translation

There are definitely some downfalls to being a musical theatre fan. I mean, let’s face it, show tickets are expensive! I think that’s probably the biggest thing. Even though I’m a train or bus ride away from New York City and have easy access getting into Philly, I usually can’t afford to buy show tickets. There have been a few exceptions, and of course there’s some great stuff at local theatres, but for the most part, I’m sort of stuck without getting to see shows that I actually really want to see.

So in some ways, movie adaptations of musicals are a lucky thing. It makes musicals much more accessible, and gives people the chance to see things they might not get to see otherwise. Which is definitely pretty cool, and something that I’ve been grateful for for many shows turned movie. Especially with musicals I’m not as familiar with, such as The Last Five Years. And while I’m still not a huge fan of that show (and don’t know much about it in its original form), Anna Kendrick should have gotten more recognition for that. She killed it.

I think my problem, and yes, I admit it is a problem, is that I get really touchy about changes made to musicals turned movies. I feel furious when I even think about the RENT movie. I’m definitely one of those people who picks things apart. And I really try not to, because I recognize that changes have to be made. It’s just a part of changing the medium of something.

And sometimes I’m mostly okay with it. I thought In the Heights was great, despite all the changes. Cabaret with Liza Minelli? Bring it. I even thought the Hedwig and the Angry Inch movie was great, although it shares very little with the stage show. But some things I don’t understand why they had to be changed. I can be very set in my ways, and if I think something has been changed pointlessly, or a storyline is cut for no reason, or it just doesn’t work in my head, I’m going to be very unhappy with what I’m watching.

(Okay, so sometimes I still get a little pissed about In the Heights.)

There is, of course, the flip side. Sometimes, when the Universe aligns just right, I find a movie musical to be better than the original version. Granted, some of these shows I’ve only seen grainy bootlegs of, but hey, I’m still watching the show. And even if I’m not getting the experience of sitting in a theatre, I’m getting the general idea.

The tick, tick…BOOM! movie blew me away. I discovered Jonathan Larson’s first musical as a freshman in college, when I was diving more into lesser known musicals (a post for another day!). I found one of those grainy Youtube bootlegs and watched the hell out of it. It was great, because of course it was. It was one of those musicals I got really into back then, and didn’t have any other way of seeing it.

Lin-Manuel Miranda brought this show to movie form last year. It has one helluva cast, and had a lot of intrigue around it. Before this, I don’t think tick, tick…BOOM! had ever gotten much attention. It had been buried in a long history of musicals that didn’t get the love they should have. In this case especially, as it was Jonathan Larson’s first musical. But the announcement of this movie was monumental. Suddenly, we would all have access to this wonderful piece of art.

Honestly, I liked the tick, tick…BOOM! movie a lot more than the show. They really did it right. I loved the cast, and how they adapted the three person musical to a full cast movie. I don’t often feel this way about musicals turned movies, but this did it for me.

A big difference from RENT. I think the biggest problem here is that the musical had meant so much to me from a young age. I had seen the show in person by then, and was excited that most of the original cast would reprise their roles on the silver screen. But it was one of those things that didn’t really translate for me. It was okay, but not much more than that. The original cast was too old, and the new ones looked too young. I didn’t get the feeling from it that I got from the stage show.

Not everything is to the extremes, though. And there are a lot of shows that I really enjoy the movie version of. Especially ones that, although I would love to see live, are much lower on my list. Like The Producers. There are those classics that got me into musicals, like Guys and Dolls. I could name a million more shows, and I feel different about each and every one of them. I guess there’s a lot to it, like my personal relationship to shows, what I’ve seen and haven’t seen, and the interest I have in any of it (I still have yet to watch Dear Evan Hansen…I’ve listened to the soundtrack a million and ten times and have no interest in the movie).

Movie adaptations of musicals really do span a wide range. And I’m definitely not one to judge how people feel about them. Hell, I’ll probably watch Dear Evan Hansen after I’ve finally gotten to see it on stage. They’re good for a lot, and sometimes, they go just a little bit further. Find in them what you will…that’s the important part.

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