Why can't Broadway musicalize tomes - except Les Miz?
The Broadway Maven, David Benkof, interprets Broadway
This is the monthly FREE issue of The Broadway Maven’s Weekly Blast for September. For a full weekly subscription ($36/year), press this button:
Shalom!
This week, The Broadway Maven looks at Les Misérables:
• On Thursday, September 2 at Noon and 8 pm ET, there will be a FREE Zoom class exploring that revolutionary French musical. Register here.
• This Weekly Blast looks at other thick novels that couldn’t match the success of Les Miz on Broadway; RANTs about the Dear Evan Hansen film’s casting controversy; a student RAVE about exactly what she loves about A Chorus Line; and links to two funny YouTube GEMs about Les Miz.
Les Misérables isn’t the only heavy tome (2,783 pages) adapted for the musical stage. But it’s the only smash hit (6,680 performances), or really the only hit in that category. The others, despite originating in much shorter novels, didn’t have nearly as much success:
Exodus (called Ari on stage, 1971): 626 pages, 19 performances
Shōgun (1990): 1,152 pages, 72 performances
Moby Dick (1990): 635 pages, flopped in London and never made it to Broadway
Doctor Zhivago (2011): 592 pages, 23 performances
Now, Les Misérables is a remarkably complex musical (trust me, the book is even more so). I attended a (Hebrew) performance in Tel Aviv in which a couple arrived during intermission and asked me, “What did we miss?”
Composing a quick summary of the first act is a ludicrous task. “Well, you see, there’s this prisoner…”
But blessedly, the creators of Les Miz the musical found a way to weave together the story’s many threads with compelling characters and tightly written numbers.
The other musicals? Not so much. Despite a lengthy and detailed plot summary in the Playbill, Shōgun still confused audiences - even after it was considerably shortened. And The New York Times called Ari “one of the least lighthearted musicals in Broadway history.“
Note that successfully adapted novels tend to be hundreds of pages shorter, like Phantom of the Opera (314); Wicked (406); and Ragtime (270).
A common complaint about the trailer for September’s film version of Dear Evan Hansen regards the age of star Ben Platt, who won a 2015 Tony for playing the title role (when he was 22). Platt is now 27, and a variety of self-appointed critics and trolls are laughing at - and mocking - the casting.
For example, a BuzzFeed headline read, “I Just Want To Know Who Thought Ben Platt Could Pass For A High Schooler.”
Well, Hollywood casts older actors as high school students all the time. Famously, Stockard Channing played Grease bad-girl Rizzo in the 1978 movie when she was 33 years old. And TV’s Glee was filled with actors who were barely believable as high school students.
In Platt’s case, the casting is even more worthwhile because his Evan on Broadway was, well, pitch-perfect. Let’s give him a chance to wow us on screen before we decide he’s no longer any good at the role.
(Now, the complaints about his hair are justified. But it’s not as bad as his occasional mustache, as worn when he sings a Hebrew song here.)
Anita Weisenfeld: A mid-1970s performance of A Chorus Line thoroughly "wowed" me for several reasons: it defied theatrical convention by presenting a bare stage, no real props to speak of, no elaborate costumes (except, of course, for closing number “One”), and a story based on the unsung gypsies of the theatre world. The lack of "bells and whistles" one usually associates with a Broadway production made me focus more closely on the stories of the dancers. I was rooting for all of them and would have happily remained in my seat at the show's conclusion and watched it all again.
A YouTuber named Cal has compiled a delightful (if occasionally uneven) series of clips from YouTube videos relating to Les Misérables. Even when the clip is just a cover of part of a song, it’s entertaining; but you’ll have the most fun with the clips by James Corden, Seth Rudetsky, and Keala Settle.
Here, “Mayor of Broadway” Seth Rudetsky plays Les Miz tunes at the piano, challenging master impressionist Christine Pedi to sing each in the voice of a different musical theater diva, including those of singers as diverse as Julie Andrews, Eartha Kitt, and Joan Rivers.
Fun!
Les Misérables is a worldwide phenomenon that has wowed audiences throughout the globe. This structurally complex musical has lovely songs like "I Dreamed a Dream"; "On My Own"; and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" - and a fun number called "Master of the House."
Who's the protagonist of the show, and how do you know? (It may not be Valjean.) How do you adapt a massive, classic novel into a manageable libretto? What's the role of humor in the show? What are some of the challenges of staging the second act?
Sign up here: bitly.com/MavenLesMiz
For Thursday’s class on Les Miz, watch the video below with 12 high school girls singing “I Dreamed a Dream.” Which Fantine do you like best, and why? Put your answer in the comments. If you need a tie-breaker, here’s a video with the full performances of each student.
Note: links to register for ALL classes are ALWAYS available at TheBroadwayMaven.com.
Thursday, September 2 Les Misérables (FREE, Noon and 8 pm ET)
Monday, September 6 NO CLASS (Rosh Hashana)
Thursday, September 9 Rodgers and Hammerstein and Hart (FREE, 90-minute class, Noon and 8 pm ET)
Monday, September 13 NO CLASS
Monday, September 20 NO CLASS (Jewish holiday: Sukkot)
Thursday, September 23 Wicked (Noon and 8 pm ET, ALL-ACCESS Passholders only)
Monday, September 27 NO CLASS (Jewish holiday: Shemini Atzeret)
Note: The Broadway Maven will take a much-needed break during the month of October, and return in a new form in early November.
What about “Chicago”?
Taken from true events, the journalist wrote the newspaper account and a book.
Most performances ever and as they say in the biz, it’s got legs. Especially because of Bob Fosses’s brilliance.
Saw it first in Chicago, 1976, Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera. Simply the best… Edge of my seat. And still after seeing it at least 30 times it makes me smile, laugh and thoroughly enjoy, love.
BYW, detested the film. Bob Fosse was nowhere to be seen.
I have the CD of "Dr. Zhivago." The songs are great. I am surprised that the show was not more successful.