It’s not going to happen but I felt that this old bit of news was relevant to both this blog and this weekend as The New Harry Potter film opens up to theaters world wide.

I have two huge loves. 1) Movies. 2) Michael Jackson. Thats why this piece of news gets me all giddy inside. Here is a bit of news from Perez Hilton and JK Rowling.

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J.K. Rowling says she was approached by Michael Jackson to turn her Harry Potter novels into a stage musical.

But the author turned him down because she was convinced that the musical wouldn’t be a success.

Even though she has agreed to many merchandising deals and even a theme park, she told Oprah Winfrey that there were many things she rejected. She said:

“Michael Jackson wanted to do a musical. I said no to a lot of things. For me, I love the films, I love the books, and there’s elements that I love around it… like the theme park. But I only wanted to do it because I knew it would be incredible.”

- — -

Well, their you have it. I personally think it’s a good thing it didn’t happen but it does make me wonder what it would have looked and sounded like.

Well, at least we have Michaels new album in December to look forward too.

Until then, keep on dancing.

–Admiral Eo

Ok, so I don’t know a single soul who doesn’t LOVE the goonies film. It’s a classic. Apparently with the release of the 25th Anniversary DVD/BluRay, the powers that be announced they were working on a Goonies Musical for Broadway! Amazing idea right? Here is the interview with Richard Donnor:

“Hopefully we’re doing this as a musical on Broadway. It took forever to get on Broadway. It was a long, long process but it just got a lot shorter because there’s a great writer/producer (Tim Long) who does musicals on ‘The Simpsons’ which are classic. He just delivered a treatment on ‘Goonies’ as a musical and it’s friggin’ great.” — Richard Donnor

Not much but it’s something. I’m in. This is something I need to see!

Until then, keep dancing!

Admiral Eo

I thought for this week I would try to find the worst musicals of all time. I came across a website that listed the 10 worst and I thought I would share the top five from the worst ten. Why? Well, now we will know what show to run away from. Ladies and gentlemen, these are the best of the worst.

Lets get into it.

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1 CARRIE (1988)

This atrocious adaptation of Stephen King’s novel — taken by the Royal Shakespeare Company to Broadway where it folded after 21 performances — remains the primus inter pares of the musical flop. King’s story of a menstruating schoolgirl with telekenetic powers and a mad religious mother was served up with a ghastly gloop of rock-pop and fake blood. It was hailed as “a resounding mistake” in England and duly went on to be ferociously panned in New York, losing a neat $8 million.

2 WHICH WITCH (1992)

The brainchild of Benedicte Adrian and Ingrid Bjornov — members of Norwegian pop group Dollie Deluxe — this “opera-musical” was a cod 16th-century tale of thwarted passion that culminated in the young Italian heroine being burnt at the stake as a witch. King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway visited the Piccadilly Theatre to lend their support to “the most heavily panned London stage musical in a generation” — but it folded after 10 weeks. “Flops don’t come much floppier,” said the Telegraph. Nul points.

3 BERNADETTE (1990)

Described as “one of the most bizarre and spectacular failures in London musical theatre history”, the show — naively expected to pack out the Dominion — was based on the story of Bernadette Soubirous, a young peasant girl who had visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes in 1858. It was written by a piano-tuner and his wife, financed by readers of the Daily Mirror and an ex-chauffeur and, astoundingly, the Pope blessed the cast. To no avail: it lasted three weeks.

4 THE FIELDS OF AMBROSIA (1996)

A jaunty, taste-free US musical about capital punishment, set in the deep South in 1918. The hero, a state executioner, falls for a German femme fatale he’s due to fry — and eventually sings the finale from his own electric chair. The Daily Mail described it as “the biggest turkey, the floppiest flopperoo, the greatest slice of ham to hit the West End stage in years”. It didn’t last a fortnight.

5 JEEVES (1975)

Even Andrew Lloyd Webber has had his off-days. Riding high after Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph, the composer turned to Alan Ayckbourn to help bring the comic charm of Jeeves and Wooster to the stage, but the “heavy-handed affair” was denounced as “like a dream of all the Wodehouse novels combined in the ultimate ghastly weekend”. It lasted 38 performances.

— find the entire list here.

These are bad. I mean really really bad. I mean 10 cent hooker bad.

Until next time, keep dancing.

–Admiral Eo

As you all know we have been talking about the Spider-man Musical for sometime now, but recently in an interview on ABC news Julie Taymore had so much more to talk about.

This is what Julie Taymor had to say:

We do have the origin story…In writing with Glen Berger, the playwright, we’ve tried to craft something that’s a little different than what you’re used to…Our Doctor Osborn is more of a conglomerate of Doc Ock [and] of Osborn — he’s not a businessman…He’s a real scientist, who’s a real southerner — he believes he’s going to help combat the world as it is, environmental disasters…He believes that he has to prepare people, so he’s creating through DNA transfers and this and that, the ability for humans to protect themselves when the tides rise and global warming. It’s very current. It’s very very now, even though we do blend periods.

Spider-man the Musical is the most anticipated Broadway Musical of the year. I think that they could have something very special on their hands with this production. What do you guys think?

–Admiral Eo

Well folks, a new Peter Pan show has hit the stage (I think this is about the 4th Peter Pan Stage Show I have heard of) and it looks nothing short of amazing.

Thanks to “theaterinla.com” for the scoop! Here’s what they had to say:

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The tale of Peter Pan has been adapted many times including the Walt Disney animated film and a Broadway musical. However, it was not until this 2009 production, presented by threesixty entertainment, that a production was performed in London’s Kensington Gardens, where Barrie was first inspired to create him and where the original statue of Peter Pan has stood since 1912. This 21st century Peter Pan mixes history and magic in equal measure to present a Peter Pan story for adults and children alike.

In Costa Mesa, tickets to see Peter Pan start are $30 to $70. Premium ticket packages are also available, and include admission to the performance, drink voucher, souvenir brochure, Peter Pan audio book and Peter Pan memorabilia. Tickets go sale to the general public on Sunday, July 18. They will be available at OCPAC.org, at the Center’s Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling 714–556-2787.

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This looks spectacular, nothing short of amazing.

What do you guys think? Will you buy a ticket today?

–Admiral Eo

So I thought for this post I would take the time to talk about the Indie-Movie Musical. These days we don’t get very many musicals anymore. Their was a time in the world when musicals were coming out just as much as comic book films today. But, just as the comic book franchise is, it was over used and run into the ground by bid studio corporations. Instead of taking care and pride in the franchise the kept birthing new movie musical films until people just didn’t care anymore. Even Disney gave up on the musical for a moment with the animated film classics. With the success of Chicago, Moulin Rouge and of course High School Musical (yes even high school musical, the third installment alone grossed over 250,000,o00) people are starting to fall back in love with the genre again.

Now I have to say that we don’t get as many studio musicals anymore, however have you researched the indie-musical genre? It’s pretty impressive how much time and care is put into making these fine films. Here are a few examples from my research on the topic. (not in any specific order)

1) ONCE — Holy crap have you seen this yet??? You should. It won an academy award for goodness sake. For a film that cost about $100,000 to make, it grossed over  $20,000,000! Thats not to shabby if you ask me.

2) West Bank Story — This film is so campy and fun that I just love it. You can tell by the title it’s a creative take on the classic film, West Side Story. Give it a looksy, you won’t regret it.

3) When the Kids are Away — Director Jon Chu’s student thesis film (Director of Step Up 2 & 3D) that sets the bar for student films. It’s a very impressive campy short with a plot that is very creative.

Well their you have it. 3 great shorts to check out as soon as you can. I’ll try to keep my eyes open for the next short musical to blog about.

Till next time, keep dancing.

–Admiral Eo

I know we have talked about this show before, but last night I had the opportunity to view it up in Los Angeles, CA. Here is a quick summary of the show thanks to broadway world.

——-broadway world——-

In The Heights is a musical with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story explores three days in the characters’ lives in the New York City Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights. The score features hip-hop, salsa, merengue and soul music. The musical’s 2008 Broadway production was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards and won the Tony Award for Best Musical at the 62nd Tony Awards.

——-broadway world——-

First off let me just say that it is one of the best shows I have ever seen. It really does change the way I think about musical theater. Every aspect of the design is so incredibly detailed it blew my mind.

On November 7, 2008, Universal Pictures announced that they plan to adapt the musical as a feature film for release in 2011. According to Variety, Kenny Ortega will direct the musical and Mark Klein will modify the script. Original Broadway cast member and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda will reprise his role as Usnavi in the future release of In The Heights. The feature film is set to begin principal photography in August 2010.

So what do you guys think? Have you seen the show? Will it make a great movie?

–Admiral Eo

Ok, not sure what to say about this. An informant of mine sent me this link and I’ll just post what it said. If it’s true, what on earth is the world coming to?

————————— broadway world . com ————————–

Ray of Light Theatre (www.roltheatre.com), San Francisco’s inimitable non-profit musical theatre company, is pleased to announce that the sensational, award-winning musical Jerry Springer the Opera will open its 2010–2011 10th Anniversary Season. This hilarious, crudely delightful yet heartbreaking operatic farce will rage beginning on September 10, 2010 at The Victoria Theatre in San Francisco’s Mission District — home of the company’s wildly successful and critically recognized productions of The Who’s Tommy in 2009 (winner of 6 BATCC Awards), The Rocky Horror Show in 2008 (nominated for 5 BATCC Awards), as well as Bat Boy: The Musical in 2005 (named a Top 10 show of the year by The SF Bay Guardian).

Ray of Light is among a select few theatre companies across the United States to be granted permission to produce this work and is proud to be present its WEST COAST PREMIERE!

The only work in British history to win all of their Best Musical awards: Olivier Awards, Critic’s Choice, Evening Standard, and What’s On Stage — along with many others; Jerry Springer the Opera is a fascinating mix of the highest form of art and the lowest form of culture — opera and daytime television.

————————— broadway world . com ————————–

Well, there you have it. This might be one of the worst ideas ever but I guess it could make a ton of money.

Only time will tell.

–Admiral Eo

We have all been to a theme park and have seen a show. Here is my list of the shows NOT to miss.

1) FANTASMIC! A journey beyond your wildest imagination. My father took my brother and I to Disneyland when we were young specifically to show us the glory of Fantasmic. Do not underestimate how much I mean this when I say that this is the best theme park show ever. The. Best. Ever.

2) Water World. Ok, I know what your thinking, but this is a better show that it was a movie. It’s campy and very fun. The stunts are incredible (when everything works right and the actors care enough) and the set design is unbelievable. If you ever find yourself in Universal Studios Hollywood, don’t miss out on this awesome 30 minute stunt show.

3) Last but certainly not least we have World of Color! A new show at Disneyland that is mind blowing! Words cannot describe the beauty that is World of Color. It is the best water show I have ever seen. Their are no actors and is all done with projections and fountains but it will still make you cry and smile with joy. Go now.  Run, don’t walk.

Funny that all three of these shows take place on the water. What do you guys think? Did I leave any amazing shows out? Are these the best?

–Admiral Eo