| MAN OF LA MANCHA, MAME, and A CHORUS LINE -- Bad Film Versions | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 08:39 am EDT 07/11/24 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 08:38 am EDT 07/11/24 | |
| In reply to: 'Dear Evan Hansen' was much more acclaimed onstage than on film - WaymanWong 10:40 am EDT 07/10/24 | |
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| Just IMO, I find the films Mame and Man of La Mancha to be two of the worst movie versions of hit Broadway musicals I have ever seen. For me both are unwatchable and in truth I have never been able to get through either one from beginning to end in a single viewing. Both were box office disasters. Some critics did admire O'Toole's performance so La Mancha's Rotten Tomatoes rating is 53%, while the rating for Mame is 36%. I'm not exactly sure why but I have always found the film of A Chorus Line to be watchable, although compared to the stage play, it is very disappointing. However, like La Mancha and Mame, it was a box office fiasco and its Rotten Tomatoes rating is 48%. Regarding Dear Evan Hansen, I am a big fan of the stage version. I saw it at 2nd Stage and twice on Broadway. However, I also regard its plot as being hopelessly contrived and unbelievable. I guess I'm a sucker for well performed and directed histrionics. As for the film, it was a bad decision for Marc Platt to produce it and then have Ben Platt (at 27 years of age) cast as Evan. The critics seized on the obvious nepotism and excoriated the film. Personally I found the movie version to be watchable and even quite moving. Whether or not the film will hurt the stage play's future viability is something we won't know for sure until it's available for licensing. However, if Wikipedia is to be believed, there were tours of Dear Evan Hansen (post 2021) in some 8 foreign countries in 2023 and 2024 as well as a second one in the United States so it's hard to see how the film's poor reception has damaged the stage play's reputation (at least commercially). Of coures, all of the above comments are just IMO. |
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