Monday, June 04, 2007

Frankly, My Dear... WTF?

Hugh Jackman has played a variety of roles (no, not "top and bottom") in film and on the musical theatre stage.

He's played movie bad-asses...





















A couple of showtune heavies...




















(Yes, that IS Hugh as Gaston in BEAUTY & THE BEAST... maybe not a "Showtune Heavy," but still, the picture is fuckin hilarious!)

And Mr. Jackman has even played a big ole' Aussie Queen...


(Quiet Please, There's a Lady on Stage.)


But is Hugh Jackman ready to step into this man's shoes?





Well, if the initial rumors are correct, it just might happen.

Here it is folks. Direct from Playbill.com. Believe it or not...

Trevor Nunn to Direct Gone with the Wind Musical

It has been confirmed that a new musical version of Gone with the Wind will be directed by Trevor Nunn and receive its world premiere at the West End's New London Theatre in April 2008.

It is thought that show will be based more on Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning epic novel rather than the 1939 movie version starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh.

Casting has yet to be announced, but as with the film there will be huge interest in who plays the starring characters of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara.

Previous reports have linked Tony Award winner Hugh Jackman and Curtains star Jill Paice to the roles.



Well, good for Hugh if it's true, but Trevor...

Trevor, Trevor, Trevor...

Did we learn NOTHING from the movie IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES?

12 comments:

jer said...

gross. pardon me as i jump out of my window.

Aaron said...

"Did we learn NOTHING from the movie IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES?"

Yes. Sharon Stone couldn't act then, either. Oh! You mean about Hugh Jackman playing Rhett Butler? Oh, yeah--gag me with a spoon...they should just leave that one alone completely. (But I bet it makes a bundle.)

whimsical brainpan said...

Unbelievable!

Is Hollywood so strapped for ideas that all they can come up with is remakes, sequels, and turn TV shows and comics into movies? Not that I'm complaining about the TV to movie thing (for at least one good reason) or the comics, but still...

Stephen R. said...

Jer - I know. Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the theatre...

Aaron - I dearly love you and the fact that you know it was Sharon Stone in that movie!!! We were DEFINITELY separated at birth!!

Whim - Keep the comics to movies coming... well, at least the good ones... but GWTW as a musical?!?!

Five will get you ten that they make "I Don't Know Nothin' 'Bout Birthin' No Babies" into a fuckin' SONG!!!

Anonymous said...

And the finale song will be "Tomorrow's Another Day"....and they will borrow heavily from the music of that other beloved "Tomorrow" song!

Yuck to the whole idea!

Anonymous said...

As a southern girl, Gone with the Wind is dear to my heart. (Not that I'm into slavery, unless it's S&M.) I'm not sure how I feel about GWTW: the Musical. But it would be kinda nice to see the rest of the story that the movie left out. I think...

Stephen R. said...

KarenB - The horrible part about what your saying is YOU ARE PROBABLY RIGHT!!! "If I have to lie, steal cheat or kill, I'll never see a bad GWTW musical!"

Lance's Friend - I have never read the book. Maybe this will push me to read it and find out all the brilliant scenes left out of the movie... and then be angry when the musical screws THOSE up, too!! :)

Anonymous said...

Now I love -- not like, but love -- the book -- because apparently when it comes to the printed page, I have no qualms about being the biggest homo on the block -- and neither did my female family members who encouraged me to read it at a young age.

But to the idea of the musical including "the rest of the story that the movie left out", I must say:

WTF?!?!

Are we forgetting that the movie is already nearly 4 hours long? Sure you can't burn down Atlanta for the stage, but assuming that the songs only make the story longer, if the musical adds even more story, there will be more sore asses on Broadway than when...

God there's so many endings to that metaphor that I can't choose a winner. So in memory of Charles Nelson Reilly, I'll allow you to play Match Game.

That said, if you know anybody with equal parts musical talent and bad taste, I am free at any time to write the lyrics for "Birthin' Babies (I Don't Know Nothin' About)"

Until then, I'll just have to fill my imagination dreaming and dreading how they'll use the sad slow reprise of "Fiddle Dee Dee" to show us just how much Tara -- and by extension Scarlett -- have changed.

--M

Stephen R. said...

Mike - Alright, you got me. Less is definitely more when it comes to making Broadway musicals out of incredibly long novels (Southern or otherwise).

Less is always more. Unless you're Cher.

You know - - I mean, there is no doubt at all - - that there is already a song with the title FIDDLE-DEE-DEE sitting on a piano somewhere below 14th Street.

The only saving grace for me that GWTW will be a musical is if someone is writing a song from my favorite line in the movie.

Well, it's really my favorite line reading in the movie.

Mammy talking to Scarlett about how she'll be in Atlanta waiting for Ashley to come home...

"You sittin' there waitin' for him, just like a spider!"

PLEASE someone write a song with the title JUST LIKE A SPIDER! Please!!!

Anonymous said...

Okay, seriously, between "Birthin' Babies", "Just Like a Spider" and the tragic reprise of "Fiddle Dee Dee", I'm afraid we're slowly creating a hit that will never see the light of day.

On one hand, I swear at others for never producing an original idea. On the other hand, I wish that they would leave those ideas sitting around so I could use them.

Did you know that they are publishing another sequel of GWTW as told from Rhett's perspective?

Anonymous said...

Brilliant! Next someone should do a musical version of "Carrie" starring....

Oh...wait...

Stephen R. said...

Mike - ANOTHER GWTW sequel?!?! Did we learn NOTHING from that wretched TV movie starring Timothy Dalton?!?!?

First he almost killed James Bond and then Rhett Butler. I'll bet he's plotting to do a sequel to CASABLANCA and REALLY piss me off!!!

Alex - Carrie: The Musical!! Excellent idea!! We could get that incredible Debbie Allen to do the choreography. And Betty Buckley could be that crazy mother who always talks about "dirty pillows." You're onto something here.