With The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do The Time Warp Again showing this Thursday on FOX and Hairspray coming to NBC December 7, more and more musicals are coming to the small screen. We’ve seen huge hits with The Wiz and Grease, and less so with The Sound of Music and Peter Pan. And the silver screen is getting back into the act as well, putting up a movie version of Wicked. So what musicals would make it on my wish list?
Originally a low-budget horror movie starring Jack Nicholson, Little Shop was remade into a musical, most notably into the movie version with Steve Martin and Rick Moranis. I would LOVE to see this redone as a live musical or a movie musical, AND recast so that skid row is multicultural. No completely-white main cast in Skid Row, cast EVERYONE as POC. Bonus points: Get Bill Murray to reprise his role as the creepy dental patient.
GUYS AND DOLLS
I adore Guys and Dolls, and the whole song about Adelaide and getting sick because of her man and their situation was the first I ever heard of emotions physically making you ill- and it’s actually true. I keep hearing rumors of a movie remake but I’d love to see this done on TV. All those zoot suits!
I grew up watching this on TV tape with Barbara Streisand, and her body type was the first on film that I saw that was like my own. Little did I know that she was singing with a young Phantom of the Opera as the Senior Clerk. I’d love to see this done on TV, with the full on Victorian costumes. Bonus points: Get Barbara to be the band conductor.
Disney does some good things, and some of their really good things are movies and musicals. I’m excited for the new live-action Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson, and I’d love to see the Aladdin musical come to life on TV. I’ve seen what they did in the little theater at Disneyland, and to replicate that on TV would be amazing. Disney owns ABC and hasn’t touched this market yet, and I just wonder why?
This musical is one of the most beautiful ones I’ve seen, with the artistic interpretations of the animals and the landscapes everywhere. The animated movie was groundbreaking, and the now announced “live version” surely will be, but I would love to see this accomplished on TV.