List of the day - film adaptations of musicals that need to be remade

With the slow resurgence of the movie musical, it would be nice if studios would revisit some musicals that have already been filmed but aren't very good.  That's not to say that they are not enjoyable and fun to watch, but there's a difference between fun and good.  Some are lacking in songs...which is important for musicals.  Some are lacking in musical abilities...yet another important factor in musicals.  Many of the originals were banking on star names and not star talents.  It would be great to see these films redone, honoring the original material with actors who can handle it.

1.  A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum

Great cast led by Zero Mostel.  It's a very funny movie, but remember it's also a musical.  Sondheim did write other songs for the show besides Comedy Tonight.  Hearing them would be nice.

2.  Mame

What should have been perfect casting was a dismal failure....Lucille Ball starring in the musical Mame.  She just did not have the vocal chops to sing these songs....and there are a lot of songs that Mame sings.  Even though her acting is fine and there are wonderful actors in supporting roles...Bea Arthur, Robert Preston...you can sense that everyone is working hard to pretend that this is a fun experience.  If Bette Midler did not think she could handle this role on stage 8 times a week, she should at least do a film version!

3.  A Chorus Line

Admittedly, I loved this movie when I saw it.  I taped it off of HBO and watched it repeatedly.  I listened to the soundtrack over and over.  And then, for my birthday, my Mom got me tickets to the touring company of the Broadway production.  It was then that I realized the hack job that had been done to this show in making the film.  It was like almost everything that the stage show wanted to achieve was thrown out in making the movie.  Cassie's "star" entrance in the movie had been thrown out very early in the stage version because they wanted her to be on an even playing field.  Oops.  Also, taking "What I Did For Love"  away from the company and giving it to Cassie as a solo was a horrible choice.  The song interpretation of following your dreams became just another noxious love song.  There are so many talented chorus people in the world, it would be awesome to film this again using those people....which was the whole point to begin with...the unknowns are the stars that keep musicals going.  And put Michael Bennett's original choreography down on film and maybe you won't have something that looks like a 2 hour 80's music video...which is what the ACL film is.

4.  Gypsy

Gypsy is heralded as one of the most perfect musicals ever written.  So, why make a film version and cast its leads with people who can't sing?  Karl Malden gives a fine performance and given the fact that the original Herbie, Jack Klugman, was no singer, you don't really notice his lack of voice.  Natalie Wood gives the best performance.  While her singing is definitely adequate, her transformation from Louise to Gypsy Rose Lee is exquisite.  Rosalind Russell, while ever the consummate actress, has about a 3 note range and that does not bode well for this score.  She has no problems embodying the spirit of Rose Havoc, but her singing leaves something to be desired.  While there are some musical theatre roles that an actor or actress can "speak sing" and get away with, calling it interpretation, Mama Rose is NOT one of those roles.

5.  Hello Dolly

If this had been Hello, Dolly! Jr, then the casing of Streisand would have worked.  I am a fan of Streisand's but she is clearly too young for this role here.  While she sings the score beautifully in true Barbra fashion and her comic abilities are allowed to exhibit, she simply lacks something in this role...a life experience that one does not have at 26.  The matchmaker's not 26 years old, but a woman who's been through a lot in her life and gained wisdom because of it.  Of course, Streisand could play it now...which isn't a bad idea really, but then she was too young.  But, on the heels of her successful film debut in Funny Girl, she could do pretty much whatever role she wanted.

6.  Gigi

Gigi is a visually stunning movie.  The top notch cast would have been stellar had this movie not been a musical.  Not one single person in this film can carry a tune in a bucket.  And Gigi walked away with the Best Picture Oscar as well as Best Song, among many others.  Maurice Chevalier has a character voice and is not a singer, but he fares better than the others.  The music is delightful and I can only imagine what it would sound like with people who could hit the notes.

7.  A Little Night Music

Sondheim does not always translate well to film and this one is no exception.  Being my absolute favorite of his musicals, I found this one to be lacking.  Surprisingly, it was not the musical aspects of it that I disliked.  The actors, Taylor included, I felt did well with their musical material.  If people argue that Elizabeth Taylor does not sing Send In The Clowns well, I disagree.  Her voice is not the greatest, but the role was not written for a great singing voice (Glynis Johns).  Anyway, what I would love to see in a remake of Night Music is the charm and romance that the story has.  This version is rather stiff and you don't get many of the fun nuances that are there for the taking.  It's like when people do Chekhov and don't ever find any of the sophisticated humor in it.  It could definitely do with a remake.

8.  Camelot

I remember being so excited to finally see the film adaptation of Camelot.  I absolutely loved the score, which I had on vinyl, and played it over and over.  King Arthur was/is a dream role of mine...oh well.  Anyway, when I finally saw the movie, I really did not care for it.  It was filmed beautifully and the design of it all was amazing.  I did not mind the fact that the movie is a darker than the stage version, but I don't like what they did to the score.  It seems as if all of the songs that were originally at a slow tempo were done fast and the fast ones slow.  That made no sense to me.  And while I find Vanessa Redgrave a consummate actress, I would love to see Guinevere played by someone who can sing her numbers as originally written.  I think this is definitely worthy of a remake!

9.  Rent

The long awaited film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning musical Rent waited a little too long.  The original cast was, for me, simply too old to pull it off.  While I am a huge fan of the show and an advocate for cast members recreating stage roles on film, something was just amiss here.  The young adults of Greenwich Village had become bitter 30 somethings and I really didn't care about them.  I'm torn, though, because it really is nice to have the performances preserved on film, but it would have been so much nicer had the original cast still been age appropriate for their roles.  There are lots of interesting personalities out there today that could really make a film version of Rent shine!

10.  Guys and Dolls

Frank Loesser's most famous work is butchered on film.  First, let's cast a big star in the romantic lead.  Can he sing?  Doesn't matter.  Is he tone deaf? Doesn't matter.  Can we cast Jean Simmons opposite him?  Doesn't matter...know one will remember her in their scenes.  Second, let's cast a big star in the 2nd lead and make it twice as big as it's supposed to be.  Let's write him some mediocre songs that he can use as filler on his albums.  He doesn't sing the title song in the stage version, but let's give it to him here.  Third, let's use an original cast member and then cut her number.  I mean, let's take the most popular song from the score in its day and replace it with some vapid chorus number so we can dress Miss Blaine up like a cat.  Wouldn't that be fun?  No, what would be fun would be to see a film version of one of the most popular musicals ever that stuck to the material as it was meant to be done.