Stage

Kinky! Strange!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008 | 12:29 PM

"Kinky Boots," Julian Jarrold's comedy about how a sassy but soft-hearted (sigh) drag queen, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, saves a struggling, stodgy shoe company (sigh) by teaching them to make footwear for cross-dressers, is the latest film set to become a Broadway musical. From the Hollywood Reporter:

The British comedy and 2006 Miramax release has been acquired for the stage by veteran Broadway producers Daryl Roth ("August: Osage County") and Hal Luftig ("Movin' Out"), who aim to turn it into a Broadway musical. Jerry Mitchell, who directed the Broadway adaptation of "Legally Blonde," is in talks to direct the stage project...
Mitchell is no stranger to film-to-stage adaptations. The Tony winner served as the choreographer for the Broadway productions of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "Hairspray" and "The Full Monty," which like "Kinky Boots" is a raunchy but goodhearted British comedy with class overtones.

Stage to screen is a two way street -- Spike Lee is filming the current Broadway production of "Passing Strange" for a film that, according to Entertainment Weekly, will probably air on TV. The musical was developed at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab in 2004 and 2005.

[Photo: "Kinky Boots," Miramax, 2008]

+ Broadway set to get 'Kinky' (Hollywood Reporter)
+ Spike Lee to film Broadway's 'Passing Strange' for TV (Entertainment Weekly)

By Alison Willmore in Stage | Link | 0 Comments | (2)

Tags: Jerry Mitchell, Julian Jarrold, Kinky Boots, Passing Strange, Spike Lee

"Brokeback Mountain" becoming an opera.

Monday, June 9, 2008 | 6:23 PM

From BBC News:

Brokeback Mountain, the story by Annie Proulx that became the basis for an Oscar-winning film, is to be made into an opera. The New York City Opera has commissioned Charles Wuorinen to compose an opera based on the 1997 short story.
The opera is scheduled to premiere in spring 2013, the company said.

Upcoming operas adapted from films:

"The Fly," based on David Cronenberg's 1986 film, is set to have its world premiere in Paris on July 2nd.

Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" is, fascinatingly, being adapted by composer Giorgio Battistelli to become part of the 2011 season at Milan's La Scala.

And "Dancer in the Dark," already halfway there, is being adapted by composer Poul Ruders and librettist Henrik Engelbrecht for the 2010-2011 season of the Denmark Royal Theater.

[Photo: "Brokeback Mountain," Focus Features, 2005]