This week I'm featuring a few movie musicals that I'm
referring to as small movies because none of them,
although very good films (in my opinion), received
any Academy Award nominations for Best Film, Best
Screenplay or Best Direction. However, the films I've
selected are all based on Tony winning plays,
including two that won the Pulitzer prize. Some of
the films may have had some financial success and/or
good reviews from the critics, but they are generally
not considered "top" films. They are, however, in my
opinion, movie musicals worth viewing more than once.
I've seen each of them at least three times and enjoy
them more with each viewing. The movies I've selected
are "How to Succeed in Business without Really
Trying," "Flower Drum Song," "Evita," and "A Chorus
Line."
"How to Succeed in Business" was a huge success on
Broadway, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in
1962. It opened on Broadway in 1961 and it ran for
1,417 performances. The play won 7 Tony awards,
including the awards for Best Musical, Best Author of
a Musical (Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie
Gilbert), Best Composer (Frank Loesser), and Best
Direction of a Musical (Abe Burrows). [read more ...]
Although the "Flower Drum Song" did not win any major
Tony awards, the play was a success and it was
nominated for 6 Tony awards, including the award for
Best Musical in 1959. It opened on Broadway on
December 1, 1958 and it closed almost 1-1/2 years
later, after running for 600 performances. The
original Broadway production was directed by Gene
Kelly (his first Broadway direction) with
choreography by Carol Haney (Tony nominee). [read more ...]
"A Chorus Line" began in an Off-Broadway theater in
1975 and, after two successful months, the producer,
Joseph Papp, moved it to Broadway. Once on Broadway,
the play became a smash hit, running for a record (at
the time) of 6,137 performances. It was nominated for
12 Tony awards and it won 9 of the awards, including
the awards for Best Musical, Best Musical Book and
Best Director (Michael Bennett). In addition, "A
Chorus Line" won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Donna McKechnie, who had spent many years as part of
the chorus line of earlier shows, including "How to
Succeed in Business without Really Trying," played
the lead female role of Cassie in the original
production. [read more ...]
Although the film version of "Evita" was a financial
success, earning almost $140 million in profit, the
film did not reach the Broadway play's critical
acclaim and success. "Evita," unlike most of the musicals before it, did
not begin or achieve its first success on Broadway.
Instead, it started as a concept album in 1976 and
then two years later became a success on the West End
of London. It took another year to bring "Evita" to
Broadway and US success. The Broadway version starred
Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin and it ran on
Broadway for 1,567 performances, over a period of
close to 4 years. "Evita" received 11 Tony
nominations and it won 4 Tony awards, including the
awards for Best Musical, Best Book and Best
Director. [read more ...]
