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You are here: Home / Music / Open Thread: Live TV Musicals I’d Pay to See

Open Thread: Live TV Musicals I’d Pay to See

by Anne Laurie|  December 11, 201310:18 pm| 58 Comments

This post is in: Music, Open Threads, Television

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For all the internet hatred rained down upon Carrie Underwood, the live-broadcast Sound of Music was a ratings hit, so of course NBC plans to do more live musicals. The busy minds at NYMag‘s Vulture blog have a list of suggestions, including at least one that would definitely attract a non-Walmart-target-demo audience:

The Music Man
Trouble! Trouble right here in that there’s already been a TV adaptation of this back in 2003 — but it was pretty crummy, and no one remembers it. The solution is to get Neil Patrick Harris to grab his 76 trombones, and for Janelle Monae to be Marian the librarian.

I would absolutely pay money to hear those two duet “Goodnight, My Someone“…

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Reader Interactions

58Comments

  1. 1.

    Joel

    December 11, 2013 at 10:22 pm

    Threepenny Opera? They could even include the oft-excised lyrics from “Mack the Knife”.

  2. 2.

    Suzanne

    December 11, 2013 at 10:22 pm

    I have been AWOL for the last couple of weeks due to just so much life insanity, including my next exam one week from today, but I am reading as much as I can and I oddly miss y’all.

  3. 3.

    gogol's wife

    December 11, 2013 at 10:24 pm

    They’d better not touch Kiss Me Kate.

  4. 4.

    hildebrand

    December 11, 2013 at 10:25 pm

    Sweeny Todd – and the first victim should be Ted Cruz.

    I would pay to see that.

  5. 5.

    Yatsuno

    December 11, 2013 at 10:25 pm

    @Suzanne: :: hugz ::

    And sorry for the slight tease on Book of Faces. I know this hasn’t been a fun time of year for you.

    On topic: Miss Saigon. There is no way that could NOT be a hot mess.

  6. 6.

    Suzanne

    December 11, 2013 at 10:30 pm

    @Yatsuno: Oh, good LORD, no worries. I’m not sensitive (or caring or loving or compassionate). ;)

    Mr. Suzanne and I leave for our first December trip tomorrow. Exam next week. Then both Spawn birthdays. Then Christmas. Then second trip. I am tired and have that light chest pain that comes from feeling exhausted and stressed for extended periods of time.

  7. 7.

    Suzanne

    December 11, 2013 at 10:31 pm

    @Yatsuno: Oh, and Miss Saigon would be awesome. Love that one.

    But the one I REALLY want is The Book of Mormon.

  8. 8.

    Yatsuno

    December 11, 2013 at 10:33 pm

    @Suzanne: Miss Saigon takes some delicate handling. Plus imagine the uproar if the lead actress isn’t Asian. It’s also tough for me to hear anyone but Lea Salonga do that role, but I occasionally get snobby like that.

    The Book of Mormon could work, but only on Comedy Central. And only after the current run closes.

  9. 9.

    Suzanne

    December 11, 2013 at 10:38 pm

    @Yatsuno: My child just climbed up on the coffee table, stood there with her arms over her head like an Olympic gymnast, and shit her pants.

    This is my life.

  10. 10.

    maximiliano furtive, formerly known as dr. bloor

    December 11, 2013 at 10:38 pm

    I’d pay cash money to see Lady Gaga sing “Kind of Woman” in Pippin.

  11. 11.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    December 11, 2013 at 10:38 pm

    “West Side Story,” starring Justin Bieber as Tony and Mylie Cyrus as Maria. Special guest appearance by Beyonce as Anita!

    Also, too, G and I watched the new HBO documentary “Six by Sondheim” and it was just as great as people were saying. “Send In the Clowns” is a song that actually MAKES SENSE when you see the context.

    (The context: a woman re-starts an affair with an old lover, only to have him decide to stay with his wife. So the context is, Well, this certainly turned into a fucking farce.)

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 11, 2013 at 10:39 pm

    @gogol’s wife:

    “Brush Up Your Malcolm Gladwell”

  13. 13.

    Suzanne

    December 11, 2013 at 10:42 pm

    I would enjoy seeing Cabaret. And you know what silly musical I have always loved is A Silly Thing Happened on the way to the Forum.

  14. 14.

    gogol's wife

    December 11, 2013 at 10:42 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Somebody has posted the entire 1958 Hallmark Hall of Fame version with Alfred Drake on YouTube. Everyone else just has to bow down. I have a DVD of it now, but I used to go to the Museum of Broadcasting just to watch it over and over. I am not going to stand for their putting Adam Levine in there or some such abomination.

  15. 15.

    Yatsuno

    December 11, 2013 at 10:44 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    “Send In the Clowns” is a song that actually MAKES SENSE when you see the context

    Is saying it has nothing to do with the circus too spoilerrific?

    /River

  16. 16.

    chopper

    December 11, 2013 at 10:45 pm

    LOL. look, neil patrick harris is already going to be in Hedwig on broadway. just film that fucker.

  17. 17.

    gwangung

    December 11, 2013 at 10:46 pm

    Miss Saigon? Too many brown people. And the casting directors will give themselves mental hernias trying to find the requisite cast (and they’d be totally trampled by all the Asian actors stampeding the doors to get a part that, for once, that they don’t have to chuck a casting director upside the head to get them to consider said actor for a part).

  18. 18.

    maximiliano furtive, formerly known as dr. bloor

    December 11, 2013 at 10:46 pm

    @Yatsuno:

    Plus imagine the uproar if the lead actress isn’t Asian

    What? This part was created for Miley Cyrus!

    /Sid Kibbitz

  19. 19.

    gwangung

    December 11, 2013 at 10:48 pm

    @maximiliano furtive, formerly known as dr. bloor: Ahem. Katy Perry.

  20. 20.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    December 11, 2013 at 10:49 pm

    No love for Oooooooooooooooklahoma?

  21. 21.

    Yatsuno

    December 11, 2013 at 10:49 pm

    @gwangung: I am suddenly glad my digestive tract is relatively empty right now.

  22. 22.

    Suzanne

    December 11, 2013 at 10:50 pm

    @gwangung: Plus, it has such a bummer of an ending.

    Just….never want to see The Phantom of the Opera ever again. So over that shit.

  23. 23.

    karen

    December 11, 2013 at 10:53 pm

    I would LOVE to see “Avenue Q.”

    NBC would probably be firebombed.

  24. 24.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 11, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    Neil Patrick Harris as Harold Hill?

    Boffo, I tells yas. Boffo!

  25. 25.

    Bob In Portland

    December 11, 2013 at 10:56 pm

    The Boys From Syracuse, starring Justin Timberlake. He’ll bring sexy back to togas.

  26. 26.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    December 11, 2013 at 11:01 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Well, it was based on “Madame Butterfly.” As Bugs Bunny wisely said, “Well, what did you expect in an opera, a happy ending?”

  27. 27.

    Suzanne

    December 11, 2013 at 11:07 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): There’s no closing song or anything. Just….BANG, and CURTAINS.

    So I am planning to wear a vintage pelt of stone martens to this party on Friday night. They are kinda grossing me out. Yet they are so awesome. I must drink heavily.

  28. 28.

    Karen in GA

    December 11, 2013 at 11:09 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: That was on a few years ago with Hugh Jackman.

    Rocky Horror with Michael Sheen as Frank N. Furter. Because I’m pretty sure that deep down, he’s the second coming of Tim Curry.

    (How scary is it that I almost said Tim Conway? Although the cast of The Carol Burnett Show doing Rocky Horror would be a beautiful, beautiful thing.)

  29. 29.

    PeakVT

    December 11, 2013 at 11:09 pm

    I haven’t seen the Hobbit, so I found this trailer rather useful.

  30. 30.

    Yatsuno

    December 11, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    @Karen in GA: I’m still loving the Avenue Q idea. It’ll never happen, at least not in the US. But I missed the tour when it came out this way and I haven’t forgiven myself for it.

  31. 31.

    gwangung

    December 11, 2013 at 11:18 pm

    Which reminds me….I’ve a trip planned for NYC, so I need to start scheduling….

  32. 32.

    mouse tolliver

    December 11, 2013 at 11:20 pm

    Guys and Dolls.

  33. 33.

    Suffern ACE

    December 11, 2013 at 11:23 pm

    Hmmmm. In this day and age of globalism and diversity, I was thinking of something more sophisticated in a foreign setting. Maybe “Oh, Calcutta?” I don’t think it’s been on network TV before.

  34. 34.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 11, 2013 at 11:32 pm

    @Suffern ACE: The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade

  35. 35.

    Mary Jane Leach

    December 11, 2013 at 11:33 pm

    It would be fun to see Guys and Dolls with Harry Connick Jr.

  36. 36.

    MattR

    December 11, 2013 at 11:38 pm

    @gwangung: If you want a different type of show while you are in NYC. http://www.fuerzabrutanyc.com/ I have not seen this one, but it is the same guys who put together De La Guarda (which I saw 10 yearas ago and was a very cool experience).

  37. 37.

    mouse tolliver

    December 11, 2013 at 11:51 pm

    @Mary Jane Leach: Oh god yeah. Someone who could actually sing Sky Masterson’s songs would be nice.

  38. 38.

    Suffern ACE

    December 12, 2013 at 12:03 am

    @gwangung: the gentleman’s guide to love and murder is getting good reviews. Kinky Boots does participate in the ticket lottery and during the weeknights you might stand a chance of winning $37 tickets. I, of course, never win.

  39. 39.

    gwangung

    December 12, 2013 at 12:08 am

    @Suffern ACE: Like those choices!

    Im a little constrained. A friend is in a new musical from the Mouse, and another is debuting a musical, so I have to choose wisely….

  40. 40.

    Suffern ACE

    December 12, 2013 at 12:14 am

    @gwangung: Matilda also does the lottery. I did win that one. I loved Mrs. Trunchbull. The other lottery participants right now are kind of so so.

  41. 41.

    Radio One

    December 12, 2013 at 12:15 am

    As long as we’re mostly talking about insane options here, how about Godspell? I’ve never seen a staged production of the show live, but the 70’s movie is definitely one of the weirdest movies I’ve ever seen.

  42. 42.

    gwangung

    December 12, 2013 at 12:30 am

    Godspell would be fun. Hm. 1776 also.

  43. 43.

    ? Martin

    December 12, 2013 at 12:31 am

    Just got back from concert #4. Really, super impressed by how good these students are. Pleased to see that they are able to train a few students on the harp. Just so impressed at how good the music program is, particularly with virtually no funding from the school district.

  44. 44.

    NotMax

    December 12, 2013 at 1:13 am

    Annie Get Your Gun starring Miley Cyrus.

    /Bizarro NotMax

  45. 45.

    wasabi gasp

    December 12, 2013 at 1:15 am

    I’m not much into musicals unless they have transvestites in them. That’s one of those things I’ve noticed about myself, anyway, so with that limited scope and the mention of Neil Patrick Harris up top, I put Hedwig and Neil together. Then I surprise upon chopper’s comment and think, hey, I’m going to Broadway. Sounds like a good time.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    December 12, 2013 at 1:19 am

    @NotMax

    (No edit function.)

    Make that Miley Cyrus and Zac Efron.

    /Bizarro NotMax #2 (and, with hope, the last)

  47. 47.

    NotMax

    December 12, 2013 at 1:24 am

    @wasabi grasp

    So Oliver! is out of consideration, then.

    Although Rosie O’Donnell as Bill Sykes and Julian Clary as Nancy would be a memorable night off-off-off-Broadway.

  48. 48.

    YellowJournalism

    December 12, 2013 at 1:29 am

    I want them to do “Wicked” because it is probably the only way I will ever get to see it. My luck, they cast Kristen Stewart in the lead with whatever reject from Idol or The Voice as Glinda.

    I think “West Side Story” would actually work well for TV if given the right cast and director. I would love to see “Once Upon a Mattress” done with Carol Burnett in some role.

  49. 49.

    Ripley

    December 12, 2013 at 1:34 am

    Paint Your Wagon with the reunited cast of Deadwood.

  50. 50.

    wasabi gasp

    December 12, 2013 at 1:47 am

    @NotMax: Obama as Annie, I might do.

  51. 51.

    wasabi gasp

    December 12, 2013 at 1:54 am

    King – Hey

  52. 52.

    NotMax

    December 12, 2013 at 2:03 am

    Come to think of it, it has been like 35 years since the last made for TV production of Amahl and the Night Visitors.

    The story has always left me cold, but the music remains fetching.

    Also too, would want to see Neil Patrick in a Gilbert & Sullivan musical.

  53. 53.

    ascap_scab

    December 12, 2013 at 5:19 am

    Paint Your Wagon with John McCain, John Boener, and Miss Lindsey Graham.

  54. 54.

    maurinsky

    December 12, 2013 at 7:57 am

    I’d love to see Ruthless! The Musical, but I don’t know who’d they cast. There is a transvestite in the show, though, so wasabi gasp, you might enjoy it. It’s a rewarding show for lovers of musical theater and campy movies.

  55. 55.

    gogol's wife

    December 12, 2013 at 8:37 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Sorry I missed this last night, but in case you come back: I did the props for that charming little musical at a certain liberal-arts college in the frozen wastes. It was a blast — great show!

  56. 56.

    John PM

    December 12, 2013 at 9:41 am

    The Pajama Game with Hugh Jackman, although since the musical shows unions in a good light, it might be a non-starter.

    BTW, I was a “Steam Heat” dancer in my high school production, which is funny to anyone who has seen me dance.

  57. 57.

    Pluky

    December 12, 2013 at 10:57 am

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Especially as Mr. Sondheim began to (but didn’t finish) explain the reference: should an accident happen during a circus performance, the call goes out to “send in the clowns” to distract the audience from the unexpected tragedy.

  58. 58.

    hartly

    December 12, 2013 at 11:10 am

    Do Hard Days Night and Help count as musicals?

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