The Playgoer: Because Zombie/Vampire Musicals Do So Well!

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Monday, January 26, 2009

Because Zombie/Vampire Musicals Do So Well!

Talk about reviving the corpse of Broadway...

In times like these, is optioning Michael Jackson's Thriller as a mega-musical a case of go-for-broke genius, or just plain desperation?

Producer James L. Nederlander says he has acquired the rights for a stage version of Mr. Jackson's iconic music-video spoof of horror films. The show will include songs from two of the pop king's best-selling albums, Thriller and Off the Wall.

"The Nederlanders and Michael Jackson represent live theater and musical excellence, so let the music begin,'' a spokesman for Mr. Jackson said Monday, in a statement.

"I love the idea of making Thriller a musical. Girl meets boy, they fall in love, boy has big secret, now what?'' said Mr. Nederlander, head of the company that owns nine Broadway theaters.

Hard to say which of these press releases is more ridiculous.

Have Broadway producers finally found someone of even lower moral authority to do business with?

Would this be the first Broadway musical based solely on a video? Doesn't seem like a good strategy, when the original's available for free...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Feh. A-ha's "Take On Me": now that would be a show.

Anonymous said...

I agree with James. "Take On Me" would be quite the show.

Hopefully it will be better than "Lestat."

Collin said...

Where was Broadway when Evil Dead was running? That was a Zombie Musical - perhaps one of the best and most enjoyable evenings I have spent in a theater, and it closed before anyone I cared about could see it.

Were the "powers that be" opting not to attempt a transfer because of the poor sales? Or was it that Evil Dead lacked both taste and substance?

Obviously, MJ is artistically far superior. "Girl meets boy, they fall in love, boy has big secret, now what?" definitely does not fall under the category of 'Everything Else' our Theater Inc. ties a neat little bow on.

This is America. This is 2009. Where is the progress? Where is the Change? Has none of those "powers that be" been inspired like the rest of the country? Uhg.