My Fair Lady. Once again, a renowned classic adapted from Broadway. The movie is about a young, poor lady selling flowers on the street, Eliza Doolittle, who gets plucked out of her horrid situation by Henry Higgins, a speech therapist. He corrects her thick accent and passes her off as a beautiful debutante, but not before falling in love with her. This is my all-time favorite Audrey Hepburn film, purely because when I watch it with my sisters, they get very annoyed with Eliza's (Audrey Hepburn) sandpaper-esque Cockney drawl.
West Side Story. Les Miserables. Phantom of the Opera. Chicago. The list goes on. All of these movies were adapted from Broadway musicals, and they were all very, very successful. I wonder why this is. Is it because theatre viewers are in love with the shows so much that they support them in the box offices? Or is it because deep down, everybody loves a good song-and-dance? I cannot be sure, but I sure do love them.
It also works inversely. Quite successful movies and books, when turned into Broadway shows, are also very successful. Legally Blonde, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid and Spiderman are among many who've transitioned from the silver screen to the live stage. I personally am not a huge fan of these because I think they're overhyped and attract a crowd that don't necessarily know show etiquette, like in the case of Legally Blonde. What was a pretty good show turned into somewhat of a loud mess because the audience (consisting of teenage girls) didn't act appropriately for the setting, taking away from the overall experience.
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