In recent years, hit movies have been fodder for some of Broadway’s biggest successes. This year was a banner year for screen-to-stage adaptations, with “Once” and “Newsies” among the most-nominated shows for this year’s Tony Awards, and “Bonnie & Clyde,” “Ghost,” and the beleaguered “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” capturing a few nods, too... which makes it an exceptionally good year for Hollywood on Broadway. It’s a partnership that has proven to be beneficial ever since 1966’s “Sweet Charity,” among the first movie-to-stage adaptations, with a book by Neil Simon based on Federico Fellini’s “Nights of Cabiria.”
Speaking of Newsies--in case some people still don't know, Christian Bale, Batman himself, starred in that musical. He was a teenager then, still in that awkward stage between child star (a much-acclaimed debut in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun) and grown-up A-list actor (from American Psycho onwards). Bale was reportedly uncomfortable and unsure of himself in a singing-dancing role, but Newsies director-choreographer Kenny Ortega assured him that Al Pacino, Bale's acting idol, had also done a musical (he hadn't). The ploy worked, and the young actor hoofed and warbled his way through the role (that's his real voice you hear):
Now, note how that rather melancholy song, Santa Fe (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman), has been supersized, given the full-throttle treatment in the Broadway version--to take advantage, I suppose, of the stellar young lead Jeremy Jordan's piercing stage pipes:
Discuss: What movies would you like to see transformed into a Broadway musical?