Michael C. here in the aftermath of the Tony's to return the focus to where it belongs: Movies.
The film version of Porgy & Bess (1959) is rarely seen. Audra McDonald & Norm Lewis in the Broadway show, with movie star looks and thrilling voices, suggest its cinematic potential
As I've written before in this column, as a rule I don't go in for the sort of rose-colored nostalgia that assumes pop culture is on some kind of inexorable decline into the sewer and if only we could return the Golden Age of the 30's or the 70's or whenever then we would experience some kind of artistic renaissance. It is now as it ever was - a little quality, lots of junk.
But one trend I do resist, one that I mark as the undeniable decay of the natural order of things, is the movement toward reverse-engineering successful movies into Broadway shows and away from the reverse. I will fight this trend to my dying breath, or at least I will stand outside the stage production of Ghost and shake my old man cane at it like Carl from Up.
Yet there is hope. With Les Miserables finally landing in theaters this December, and August: Osage County getting the Streep treatment as we speak, maybe there is still a chance to return to the glory days of stage to screen transfers the way that Thespis intended. But with only so many big Broadway titles left unfilmed that brings me to this week's Burning Question: Are there any current Broadway shows that deserve the big screen treatment?
Let us start with the most obvious title:
The Book of Mormon
It should be no surprise that Trey and Matt have already confirmed a movie adaptation is in the works for this monster hit. There is every reason to believe that the sprawling story that travels from Utah to Uganda to an elaborate Spooky Mormon Hell Dream will make the leap to the big screen in spectacular fashion. Like most theater-goers I have not been able to procure tickets to the show but I've been enjoying the soundtrack immensely even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. But of course that's a high bar to clear, what with South Park being the best movie musical since Beauty and the Beast (ducks to avoid frenetically edited assault by Moulin Rouge fans)
Peter & The Starcatcher
Peter and the Starcatcher
If any title was ill-served by the Tony Awards show on Sunday it was this terrific Peter Pan origin story. The decision to show two minutes of out-of-context shtick completely failed to capture the wonder of watching the game cast deploy the basic tricks of theater to whip up a magical pirate adventure right in front of your eyes. This simple show captures the Pan spirit better than any movie I've seen, including the solid 2003 production. I am wary the simple child-like sense of play the stage show captures so thrillingly would be lost in a slick mega-budget film. If someone like Jean-Pierre Jeunet could lend a cinematic Starcatcher the same handmade quality he gave Amelie, then I think it could survive the translation in tact. That there is talk of adapting the material to a 3D computer animated film does not fill me with optimism.
Venus in Fur
If I could green light just one play for a top tier movie adaptation it would be this one. David Ives' play is the best theaterical experience I've had since Tracy Letts' magnificent Osage County in 2009. The deceptively simple story of the shifting power dynamics between playwright and actress during one long audition may seem too slight or stage bound for wide release but a great director can make even the most claustrophobic scenario as cinematic as Lawrence of Arabia. Think 12 Angry Men or Glengarry Glenn Ross or the riveting Natalie Portman/Clive Owen pas de deux from Closer. And if you believe in the tradition of film adaptations immortalizing the great performances of the stage like Brando in Streetcar or Barbra in Funny Girl - and you should - then you will agree that Nina Arianda's Tony winning work is too electric not to be preserved.
Nina Arianda & Hugh Dancy in "Venus in Fur"
Can you think of any more theatrical properties that demand to be on 3000 screens? Should I get over my belly-aching about broadway cash-ins and go see Newsies? Let me know in the comments.
You can follow Michael C. on Twitter at @SeriousFilm or read his blog Serious Film.