Books We Wish Were Musicals

By Margaret Bristol and Robbie Olson for Bookish:

The upcoming premiere of NBC's "Smash" got us thinking: With all the books finding their way to the screen, it’s time get more on the stage. Broadway musicals like "Wicked" and "The Color Purple" were based on books, as well as a number of less-successful shows—talks have been going on for quite some time about a "Fight Club" musical, a "Lord of the Rings" musical had a short stint in London, not to mention the show centered on a certain comic book hero with a propensity for crashing. But what will be the next big show-stopping book? We have some suggestions.

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Comments

[emeraldcite]

04:07 PM on 02/19/2012

I can't wait for Cujo, the Musical. I can just hear a lovely tenor voice rolling the r's on "Raaabbbbiiieeess. The dog has rrrrrrrraaabbbiiieeesss."

[Ridda Fatima]

11:24 AM on 02/14/2012

jafo

[Bruce Forbes]

07:14 PM on 02/10/2012

Really?

[Max Shaw]

02:55 PM on 02/09/2012

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.

[Max Shaw]

02:53 PM on 02/09/2012

Who picked these?? These are ridiculous choices.

[baritonepride]

11:25 AM on 03/03/2012

The Steve Jobs musical actually might work.

[Skyhawk]

12:59 AM on 02/09/2012

Helter Skelter.

[Jeff Lassiter]

02:50 AM on 02/08/2012

The Lovely Bones.

[KalNJ]

10:43 AM on 02/07/2012

The Instruc­tions by Adam Levin or The Amaz­ing Adven­tures of Kava­lier & Clay by Michael Chabon

[travelingheidi]

06:17 AM on 02/07/2012

FWIW, there already is a (fan-created) Hunger Games musical - more info at http://www.hungergamesmusical.com/the-musical.html - and in a fandom crossover moment, the creator will be showcasing some of the songs at Ascendio, the Harry Potter fan event in Orlando in July (hp2012.org)

[orthobobsuruncle]

02:00 AM on 02/07/2012

Why? Why would anyone at all want to see a musical of Fight Club? Then again, I don't know why anyone would want to see any musical at all, so...

[Skyhawk]

01:13 AM on 02/07/2012

Lolita.

[3fingerbrown]

07:48 AM on 02/07/2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8h1QbISQoM

[ProgressivesWin]

12:35 AM on 02/07/2012

I'm writing a Revue based on The Reader's Digest.

[ProgressivesWin]

12:34 AM on 02/07/2012

The Very Hungry Caterpillar?

[Max Shaw]

02:54 PM on 02/09/2012

HAA! Or The Giving Tree maybe??

[kareemachan]

01:09 PM on 02/11/2012

Everybody Poops?

;-)

[UncleJimbo]

12:09 AM on 02/07/2012

How about "Mein Kampf"?

[FearlessFreep]

10:59 PM on 02/06/2012

THE ILIAD?

[UncleJimbo]

12:12 AM on 02/07/2012

The Odyssey!......All them Singin' Monsters!

[3fingerbrown]

07:55 AM on 02/07/2012

There was a musical based on The Odyssey, from the same folks who gave us Man of La Mancha. It was called Home Sweet Homer, starring Yul Brynner, and it's considered one of the great fiascoes in musical theater history. I think it closed at intermission.

[standish]

02:56 AM on 02/08/2012

Believe it or not there were musicals of both the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." "Home Sweet Homer" (yes!!!) was created by the people who brought you "Man of La Mancha" and starred Yul Brynner as Odysseus, and surely has one of the most awful titles in musical comedy history.
But even better, Erich Siegel, who wrote "Love Story," back in his days as a Yale classicist wrote the lyrics to a musical called "Sing Muse!" about the Trojan War. There actually is a vinyl recording of it that is worth its weight in gold to musical comedy collectors: One of the ditties is a lament by Helen who has grown a little suspicious about the lack of "ardor" of her abuctor: "His Name May Be Paris But I'm Gonna Call Him Gay Paree." I'm not making this up!!!