(Local) Broadway to Books: Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a classic, am I right!? Yes. I am right. I recently read the book in anticipation of seeing this musical. Don’t ask me why I’m so ready to include musical theatre in my Approved Interpretation lists but not movies. But. There we are.

Hunchback is about a man of the church (arch bishop?) who adopts a deformed baby who becomes the bell ringer of a great French cathedral… Notre Dame. Duh. Stories vary about from whom and for why he adopts the kiddo but all sources agree that he's verbally abusive and over-controlling. The Arch-bishop becomes upset with a dirty gypsy woman who falls in love with a captain of the guard. As you might expect when a man of power loves someone who doesn't love him, hijinks ensue. As you might expect from Victor Hugo, people die. 

(Local) Broadway to Books: Sweeney Todd

Happy All Hallows Eve! I've got the perfect Broadway to Books post for such an occasion!

Sweeney Todd is one of the first musicals I saw recorded on stage and I loved it. So, it holds a special place in my heart. Plus you know I love a story with a little twist at the end. In Sweeney, Benjamin Barker returns to Fleet Street after being jailed to find that his wife is dead and his daughter has joined the household of his enemy. He is consumed by rage and revenge. Along with a shop- owner who makes the worst pies in London, he hatches a plan to get close enough to the people who wronged him.

Broadway to Books - Kinky Boots

SO glad to be finally doing this post. It was super hard! But I really wanted to do one of these posts for ... ::drum roll::

Book Tag: Broadway

Lookie what I found! A book tag based on musicals. Yep.  I guess these are like mini- Broadway to Book recommendations! DOUBLE WIN!

Book Tag created by Gabi and BooksABlog

Broadway to Books - Wizard of Oz

Welcome to my first Broadway to Books post of 2017. Wow. That makes me feel like a slacker! It’s already the middle of February. Ah, well. Life. AmIRight?

Today we (The Royal We) are thinking about a little Musical Magic called The Wizard of Oz, which should not be confused with that popular musical based on a Wizard of Oz retelling. See my Broadway to Books post for Wicked (one of my favorites!) here.

Let’s jump right in.

Broadway to Books: Matilda

This post was originally part of a larger post published over at Book Bloggers International on July 25, 2016.

Broadway to Books is a (possibly) unique feature that I do that I originated as a guest post (linked above) that was way too long and involved. I have pared it down and am hoping to make it a regular thing. Without further fondue...

MATILDA

Theme: Girls overcoming hard situations and finding their strength (especially against jerk adults)

Broadway to Books: Something Rotten

Broadway to Books is a (possibly) unique feature that I do that I originated as a guest post that was way too involved. I have pared it down so that I could make it a regular thing.

It was just recently announced that Something Rotten is going on tour… 

…oh. I fainted from excitement!! Yes, yall! One of my favorite musicals is going on tour! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!! Thusly and therefore, I changed my mind about doing a Broadway to Books post because I have been obsessively listening to the soundtrack since the announcement. 

I feel like I have to make a confession… I haven’t really seen THAT many musicals. I mean, I’ve probably seen more than the average person because average people don’t seem to understand the magic of musicals, but it’s not like I’m a Broadway critic or anything, who gets into theaters for free. IF you can hook me up with tickets to just about anything, let me know ASAP.

I saw Something Rotten this year on a family trip into the city to see Aladdin, which, TBH, paled in comparison. The musical is about the Bottom brothers, two playwrights who are attempting to come up with The Next Big Thing to compete with that rascally writer, Shakespeare, who has become an overnight playwright sensation. The eldest brother seeks the services of a Seer to predict what the next great play will be and ridiculousness doth ensue. The cast was AMAZING even after there was some technical problem and were super nice after the show. 

 

 

Book Recommendations:

Broadway to Books - Beauty and the Beast

Broadway to Books is a post idea that originally did as a guest post and have had wild and amazing plans to make a regular feature here on my blog. That first post was way too involved, even after I cut it… so I think I'm goign with one musical per post, because it's NaBloPoMo, and I’m an opportunist! 

Beauty and the Beast: I saw this play at the Auditorium Theater in Rochester a couple of years ago. It’s my favorite Disney princess story, though I LOVE all the Disney princesses so the margin is very fine, here. I’ll bet you already know the story but just in case: a very rich young man is an asshole to an old lady and turns him into a Beast until he learns some manners. He has to get someone to love him in order to return to his human form. And what is this!? A maiden desperate for adventure and to save her father falls into his paws and holds her as a prisoner. Guess what happens!

Locally, there are two organizations currently working on production of Beauty and the Beast. There is also a Junior and a Kids version so changes are you can see it staged somewhere near you.

Book Recommendations:

Broadway to Books: Wicked and Heathers the Musical (Guest Post Repost)

Thanks to Book Bloggers International for doing a month of posts focused on pairings. It gave me the chance to think about my two loves together. I love musical theatre. I love books. BOOM! This post was originally posted on their site on July 25, 2016. It's been modified here for length and formatting. 

A lot of musicals were based on books, so if you enjoyed one of these popular shows, reading the original text isn’t a terrible idea. Though tread lightly, because just like when your favorite book becomes a movie (just say no, y’all) there are often many things reinterpreted to appeal to a different format and audience. 

For the sake of brevity, here are two of my favorite musicals (I did three for the guest post)  At least, they were my favorite before I saw The Color Purple two weeks ago, which basically blew me away. You can expect another musical- book pairing post. This might be a great excuse to see more shows!

All right. Let’s start with something easy: