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Jillianne Hamilton.
The Jukebox Musical: Friend or Foe?
By Jillianne Hamilton
(06/01/09)
I watched the film version of Mamma Mia! last night and started thinking about jukebox musicals.
A jukebox musical is a stage or film musical that uses previously released popular songs as its musical score. (Thanks Wikipedia!)
Some popular jukebox musicals include Mamma Mia!, Across The Universe, We Will Rock You and Jersey Boys. Heck, even Green Day's 2004 album American Idiot will debut in musical-form this September.
Sure, the making of the musical likely does great things for the original artist of the music. I'm sure Billy Joel is enjoying the success of Movin' Out, the West End musical based on his music.
Movin' Out debuted in 2002 on Broadway, features characters like "Sergeant O'Leary", "Brenda", "Eddie" and "Piano Man" and most of Joel's best-known songs. Joel even won a Tony for Best Orchestrations.
But I think as long as the musical is done in the style of the artist, then I think it's OK.
Now, I've never seen Mamma Mia! on stage. I've heard great things. But I have to say, I didn't care for the movie. But that's just me. I found it cheesy beyond words. But I think cheesy often times works a lot better on stage than it would for film.
Don't get me wrong, Meryl Streep was delightful and Christine Baranski was fabulous. Thankfully, ABBA music is generally as cheesy as this film, so it all works out in the end.
Across The Universe, which features music of The Beatles, is my favorite movie. The music is wonderful and the songs seem to fit effortlessly into the storyline- and not the other way around. The feelings and ideas that the 1960s are known for are represented brilliantly and the
trip-tastic scenes make the movie fun and unique. But could this film be put on stage? Not likely. Would I like to see someone try? Heck, yes- as long as they do it in a way
that won't cheapen the quality of the original film.
Related links:
+ Movin' Out at IBDB
+ Across The Universe official site
+ Mamma Mia! movie site
+ Mamma Mia! musical site
Go back to Books/Film/OSTs.
Go back to Reading Material.
* * * * *
Jillianne Hamilton is a writer, blogger and a lover of indie music, funny movies, artsy things and the color red. She is studying Journalism at
Holland College, had an internship at the
Truro Daily News
and blogs for various college and pop culture websites. To contact Jill, visit her
website.
