I’ve been thinking a lot about adapting movies into musicals these days.  Maybe it’s because we’ve got a couple movie-turned-musicals coming up this season.  Or maybe it’s because we’re working on a killer infographic on adaptations.

Or maybe it’s because I just really want to see Magic Mike XXL.

But as I was thinking about these tricky adaptations, I stumbled upon a takeaway to help me determine the types of movies that make good adaptations . . . and more importantly, the ones that don’t.

Here’s my warning to myself and to us all.

Be careful about movies with big stars as the central characters.  Often big stars, because of their talent, because of their charm, or more simply, because of their celebrity, make the source material seem better than it is.  Strip the star from the source material, and you’ve got less than you think.

Great actors, comedians, etc. make scripts and stories seem better.   And never is that more clear than when you adapt a screenplay into the musical medium.

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