The stage shows of Broadway and the silver screen of Hollywood have had a long, symbiotic relationship together, with many of the finest movies of all time, including Grease, Chicago, Cabaret and The Sound of Music, having been adapted from classic stage musicals. Recently, however, there has been a huge influx of the reverse: movies being adapted into stage productions.
Legally Blonde, Aladdin, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Pretty Woman, The School of Rock, Matilda, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are just some of the movies that have received the Broadway makeover and gone on to enjoy success on the stage. For some movies, the move to Broadway seems like a no-brainer; for others, it certainly requires a bit of tweaking, a lot of imagination, and a little stardust to give it what it takes. Nowadays, it seems like no movie is off-limits when it comes to musical adaptations. Below are 9 great movies that inspired successful Broadway (and off-Broadway) stage productions.
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9 Hairspray
New Line Cinema
The original 1988 comedy film, directed by legendary cult director John Waters, is an outrageously fun feel-good summer movie with plenty of heart. It follows the “pleasantly plump” teenaged girl Tracy Turnblad as she encounters stardom as a dancer on a local television dance show and rallies against racial segregation. The Broadway adaptation is known for its casting of a male in the role of Edna Turnblad, Tracy’s mother, who is agoraphobic and ashamed of her obesity, continuing the tradition of having a man in drag portray the character, as seen in the original 1988 film, which starred drag queen Devine. The stage version won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical in 2003.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
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8 The Little Shop of Horrors
The Filmgroup
Based on the low budget 1960 horror comedy of the same name, The Little Shop of Horrors musical premiered off-off-Broadway in 1982 before moving to the Orpheum Theater off-Broadway. Interest spiked after the release of 1986 cult classic musical movie adaptation directed by Frank Oz and starring Rick Moranis and Steve Martin which went on to find huge cult success. Based on a florist who discovers a Venus flytrap that feeds on human blood, this whacky oddball of a show has since gone on to appear on Broadway and abroad, to critical acclaim.
7 Nights of Cabiria
Paramount Pictures
A classic, but not everyone might know that this mega successful musical production was in fact based on the screenplay for the 1957 Italian film Nights of Cabiria. Fair enough, it did play a little thick and fast with the source material, making it a little more accessible by making the lead character a ‘dancer for hire’ instead of a sex worker. It still follows the same story of her romantic woes, nonetheless. Since its first appearance on Broadway in 1966, when it was nominated for nine Tony Awards, it has since gone on to enjoy numerous revivals on Broadway and the West End over the subsequent decades. It was adapted again for the big screen in 1969 with Shirley MacLaine as Charity and John McMartin recreating his Broadway role as love interest Oscar Lindquist.
6 Monty Python and the Holy Grail
20th Century Studios
The stage musical Spamalot is based (loosely) on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, one of the more controversial Monty Python movies, about the life of King Arthur. Somehow, some way, Spamalot has managed to outdo its source material and reach new levels of irreverence and absurdity with the addition of more song and dance. This 2005 Broadway production, adapted by original Python Eric Idle, received 14 Tony Awards nominations, winning in three categories, including Best Musical.
5 School of Rock
School of Rock is an example of a movie that seems as if it was always destined for Broadway. Loved by children and adults alike, the movie was universally acclaimed, not just for Jack Black’s career-highlight performance, but for the performances of all the supporting cast (especially the children), as well as the script, humor, and general gleeful tone. School of Rock is about a failing rock musician, who poses as a substitute teacher in an attempt to use the students to form a band and enter into a competition and win a cash prize. There’s plenty of heart and laughs, and it’s no surprise that with a little help from the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber, it has gone on to become a huge Broadway hit across the board.
4 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Orion Pictures
While movies like School of Rock, Footloose, Dirty Dancing or even Pretty Women all seem like obvious choices for stage adaptations, one that certainly would have caught a lot of people off guard was the 2005 Broadway musical adaptation of the classic 80s comedy about ‘con men’ Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine. Somehow, it managed to subvert expectations and kept the feel of the original, just with an added fun factor, thanks to the addition of some great singing and dancing. A surprise hit that was described as “best musical to hit Sydney this century” by the Sydney Morning Herald, when it first hit Australia.
3 The Producers
Embassy Pictures
This is where things get a little meta. The Producers is a 1967 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Mel Brooks and starring Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, and Kenneth Mars. It follows a couple of down-on-their-luck fellas, who come up with a scam that involved creating the worst possible stage musical they could possibly think of (just think lots of insane dancing Nazis). Naturally, this film about making a stage musical was later adapted into a stage musical, and much like in the movie, the stage musical was absolutely ridiculous yet hugely successfully.
2 Matilda
TriStar Pictures
Matilda the novel was originally published in 1988 and later became a feature length movie in 1996. The movie was directed and co-produced by Hollywood legend Danny DeVito, who also acted as narrator and as Matilda’s father in the film. Played for laughs in what is possibly the purest Roald Dahl book adaptation, when examining the plot a little closer, there’s still a girl who is the victim of family neglect and is terrorized by a teacher who locks disobedient schoolchildren in a closet lined with broken glass. The movie is tremendous fun, nonetheless, and much of this is due to the committed performances from the cast, including Mara Wilson as Matilda, Rhea Pearlman, Embeth Davidtz, and Paul Reubens, alongside DeVito. Despite much critical acclaim and praise aimed at the movie and especially DeVito’s direction, Matilda performed disappointingly at the box office. Regardless, Denis Kelly saw the potential for the leap to the big stage and brought in Australian comedian Tim Minchin to help with the music and lyrics, and the rest is history. The musical has received widespread acclaim and has been a huge hit, so much so that a movie adaptation of the musical is now in production.
1 The Lion King
Walt Disney Pictures
Disney’s The Lion King is nothing short of a phenomenon. At its time of release in 1994, it broke numerous records and went on to become the highest grossing animated movie of all time. It was then remade in 2019 and introduced to a whole new generation who rushed out in droves (along with nostalgic parents) and helped the remake become the highest grossing animated movie of all time all over again. In 1998, a stage adaptation hit Broadway to huge critical acclaim and went on to become — you guessed it — the highest grossing Broadway production of all time. Definitely a pattern emerging here. And when it comes to the stage show, it’s not hard to see what the fuss is about. The soundtrack from Elton John and Tim Rice is one of the strongest ever put together, and the stage costumes, puppets, and choreography are truly mesmerizing and entertaining for audiences of all ages.
