Hairspray, A Casting Success

   

   The second installation of the Broadway Musical Hairspray had wise casting techniques. With a budget of $75 million, the civil rights movement musical film held an open casting call to cast unknown actors. After over eleven hundred candidates, Nikki Blonsky, a high school senior from Great Neck, New York was choses to stare as the movies protagonist, Tracy Turnblad. With the incorporation of unknown actors, the producers were wise to include major celebrities in the casting. John Travolta, Queen Latifah, and Zac Efron were casted bringing a massive fan-base and anticipation. Not only was there already a hype about this famous casting but the fact that Travolta was playing a woman  (Tracy's mother) brought a lot of discussion and popularity to the film. 

   Since the movie consisted heavily on complex choreography, it became a major focus for the producers to hire multiple choreographers and pay over a hundred and fifty dancers in total. 

"Appropriately enough for a movie with such a democratic sensibility, there is plenty of credit to go around. Mr. Shankman (director and choreographer), drawing on long experience as a choreographer, avoids the kind of vulgar overstatement that so often turns the joy of live musical theater into torment at the multiplex."

   "Hairspray is a musical full of different styles of music.  The different styles of music are comedy, dancing, feel good, classic Broadway, old-fashioned, high-octane show dancing, high jinks, emotion, rocking Motown, electric blues, 60’s sock Hop, blues, pop, doo-wap, and lover’s duet. The diverse musical genres also helped make the movie drift from the typical cheesy musical."

  “Hairspray” is a great musical.  It has history, different productions of it including a 1988 film and a new musical film 2007.  It can be analyzed in multiple ways, research, listening to music, watch youtube, see production of it, and compare it to other events in the world, yours or history." 

   Ending its domestic run on October 25, 2007, Hairspray has a total domestic gross of $118,871,849 and $202,548,575 worldwide. The film was able to adapt well and portray the musical on the big screen successfully. The real reason why this movie was successful was mostly because of its diverse, famous, musically talented cast. 

URL:

http://ttkag87.wordpress.com/final-analysis-of-hairspray/

Article Title:

Final Analysis of "Hairspray"

Website Title:

Kristi Musical Lover

Publication date:

2009-12-04

URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairspray_(2007_film)#Box_office

Website Title:

Wikipedia

URL:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427327/

Article Title:

Hairspray

Website Title:

IMDb

The Musical Catalyst That Is Chicago

   "It's been a critical favorite and an award winner from the beginning, but perhaps the most surprising element about the Miramax musical "Chicago" is its red-hot box office success" said John Burlingame about the film adaptation of the broadway musical "Chicago". From the first few weeks the film premiered for a general audience Chicago was successful in attaining a wide audience (greater than just theatre geeks). The movie was able to reach $100 million at the box office. " You can't do $100 milllion  at the box office and have a narrow appeal. You really have to cross lines". 

   The film won 6 academy awards including best picture. An early exit poll taken at one big-city theater showed that 28% of viewers were over 50, 24% were their 40s, 15% in their 30s and 18% in their 20s. At first the film attracted an older demographic. The producers started releasing the movie to more and more movie theaters and even the male demographic increased, which is rare because of the genre. 

   Chicago is a commendable production because not only was it successful in portraying the musical in a good light but it also was able to break the stereotypical demographic barriers of genre and make the general public relate to the intriguing plot about America's society and legal system. Since its premiere in January of 2003, the 113 minute film has remained a classic and has given musicals a good name. Chicago was actually one of the first musical film adaptations in the 2000s because of its success, it became the catalyst that led to the releasing of many musical adaptations that are classics as well today.

URL:

http://articles.latimes.com/2003/mar/12/entertainment/et-burlingame12

Article Title:

From musical to a movie for the masses

Website Title:

Los Angeles Times

Publication date:

2003-03-12

URL:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299658/

Article Title:

Chicago

Website Title:

IMDb

URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_(2002_film)#Awards_and_nominations

Website Title:

Wikipedia

URL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b24qpxrg63k

Article Title:

Chicago (2002) Trailer

Website Title:

YouTube

   

Jersey Boys Ignored By The World

  

The well known Tony Award winning Broadway Musical Jersey Boys was adapted to a screenplay in the beginning of this year. Directed by Clint Eastwood and adapted by the same writers responsible for the Broadway version, the movie had high expectations to make the same impact as the musical has made. " By casting the original Broadway and tour actors, Eastwood preserved the musical and presented it as itself... not with the gimmicks and glamour that Hollywood often flaunts, but rather  the beauty and rawness of the Theatre". 
   Broadway fans may agree that the casting of the Broadway actors made the movie more raw and channeled the characters better; but in a marketing stand point that was the last thing the film should have done. With incorporating the cast with only these type of actors, it limited the audience demographic and made it difficult to publicize. With no big actors that could now tweet and use other social media accounts to tell their followers to get excited for the movie, this movie was mainly reached out to Theatre fans. The big marketing was left to the production company, Warner Bros. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. did not make big efforts to launch a big platform for the film. " Yet for some strange reason, there've been few TV trailers, hardly any talk show appearances, and generally, a complete lack of efforts to make the public aware that the movie exists". 
  
 The sad thing is that this movie could have been extremely successful. As the thirteenth longest-running show on Broadway, there could have been so many things done differently. It is truly a production responsibility ( casting-wise and marketing-wise ). 
   Besides the bad publicity which caused the movie a lot of its income, the 134 minute production did earn $47,034,272 in the U.S. If it could be redone, it would be probable that  a lot of the choices that Clint Eastwood as a director and these Broadway writers and their whole entire team would be different to save their movie. 

URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Boys_(film)#Background_songs

Website  Title:

Wikipedia

URL:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1742044/

Article Title:

Jersey Boys

Website Title:IMDB

URL:

http://theatremama.com/jersey-boys-the-movie-go-watch-it/

Article Title:

Jersey Boys The Movie: Go Watch It

Website Title:

theatreMAMA

URL:

http://www.bustle.com/articles/28706-why-clint-eastwoods-jersey-boys-is-being-totally-ignored-despite-all-its-promise

Article Title:

Bustle

Website Title:

Bustle

URL:

http://screenrant.com/jersey-boys-movie-reviews/

Article Title:

‘Jersey Boys’ Review

Website Title:

Screen Rant

"Sweeney Todd a marketing challenge"

   The publicity for the Stephen Sondheim musical film adaptation "Sweeney Todd" was not considered easy. Being a rated R melodramatic musical horror of a serial killer barber starring Johnny Depp,  director Tim Burton had to consider the different audiences that the movie would attract. The following were theatregoers, Tim Burton fans, and Johnny Depp fangirls. The film appealed to a Venice Film Festival, where the first screening of the movie took place. Along with reaching out to a film festival the production advertised in international Comic-Con events, and through Entertainment Weekly. The problem with the advertising was that it was done too late. A marketing review article stated that "The questions about how to release the movie are reflected in a two-headed approach that's tried to keep a lid on hype while still aiming big at the box office". All the major posters and publicity was done only 5 weeks before the movie premiered for the general audience. 

   The producers also had to be careful to have a good balance of horror and musical feel to it in the trailers to reach out to the whole spectrum of the audience. "A few posts down came a reaction that may encapsulate the DreamWorks challenge more succinctly: "Whoa, wait -- this is a musical?". The real problem really was that the movie wasn't entirely ready. This caused the trailers and publicity that involved video to be delayed and limited. Although it was given positive reviews, the film was critiqued for not being publicized as a musical. A lot of people did not know that they were going to the movies to see an hour and twenty minutes of singing. Although the misguided marketing, the film depicted the horror and darkness of the Broadway musical and served respects to Sondheim's Tony Award winning master piece. 

   If the movie was finished earlier, there would have been more time for better marketing, it is most likely that the demographic of the audience would have alternated. If the production would have reached out to more global platforms instead of festivals and conventions mostly, this would have also benefitted it exponentially. Productions like these must use media outlets in smarter ways. It was said also in the marketing article that if the film was established in a different light it could have probably been nominated for even an Academy Award. Publicity in fan-based areas and events is not enough to get such a specific type of film out to the masses. Although this movie premiered in 2007, there could have been more hype and a wiser execution of getting the word out. Now today, there is even more of a reason with the variety of the outlets available. If this movie was made today, there could probably have been multiple more ways to market the project because of the rapid advancements in cross media convergence.

 URL:http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/11/16/film-sweeney-1-dc-idUSHAR53434220071116

Article Title:

Sweeney Todd a marketing challenge

Website Title:

Reuters

Publication date:

2007-11-15

URL:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408236/

Article Title:

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Website Title:

IMDb

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd:_The_Demon_Barber_of_Fleet_Street_(2007_film)#Marketing

Techniques For Success

   When a film adaptations for any kind of medium is considered successful, it depicts the original production in the best possible way. There needs to be a balance of connectivity to the original thing and an adequate transition to a movie platform. 

   As for theatre, the process of taking a musical or a play to the big screen is not a matter of length, but a matter of attaining the viewers attention. As this adaptation technique Article states "The film medium requires a fundamental transition from verbal to visual effects and a much greater economy on the textual level". The dramatic content of the drama has to be reduced to a more humane amount in the acting. "The result is a gap that must be filled with visual means of expression". Good screenwriter should be able to translate and adjust amazing monologues or dialogues in a way where they could work in a movie. 

   In the adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, the French historical novel that was in fact brought to life on stage as a musical Tony award winning production for the first time in 1980 and then later adapted as a film in 2012 by director Tom Hooper, the producers were challenged to create the same musical phenomena in a two and a half hour film. 

   The casting choices were wise by incorporating musical theatre actors in the movie, like Colm Wilkinson who was the first Jean Val Jean in the first production in West End and Broadway. This got the fan-base excited to see the film along with the casting of famous actors like Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, and Russell Crowe. 

      What set this movie apart from past adaptations was the innovative live recording of the vocals on set rather than a pre-recording in a studio. This made the film have a more raw and real feel to it that was actually used as a marketing strategy. Three months before the film premiered, on September 20, 2012 a first look of the production was released on the official Facebook page that discussed the production strategies. 

   Les Miserables premiered on the 25 of December 2012 in 2,808 theatres, placing first at the box office with $18.1 million. This amount broke the record for the highest opening day gross for a musical film and was nominated for 8 academy awards and won 3 of them. The marketing and production techniques successfully translated the famous classic into an immaculate production through the help of a social networking cite. Facebook was the real benefactor that posted most of the movies propaganda. From online posters, to sneak peaks and full length trailers, fans were able to comment and interact with each other bringing more excitement to the fan-base. 

URL: http://www.amadeus.mak-sima.com/3.html

Article Title: Amadeus -- The adaptation technique / The transfer from stage to screen

Website Title: Amadeus -- The adaptation technique / The transfer from stage to screen

URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2092428/Les-Miserables-movie-Stars-original-stage-version-encore-join-film-cast.html

Article Title: Stars of original Les Miserables get an encore as they join the cast of new big screen remake

Website Title: Mail Online

URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1707386/

Article Title: Les Misérables

Website Title: IMDb

URL: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/les-miserables-critics-review-the-big-screen-adaptation/

Article Title: "Les Miserables": Critics review the big-screen adaptation

Website Title: CBSNews

URL: https://www.facebook.com/LesMisMovie

Article Title: Les Misérables

Website Title: Facebook

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwgQjfg0hZw&feature=plcp

Article Title: Les Misérables -- Extended First Look -- Regal Movies

Website Title: YouTube