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Amid laughter and chatter with friends, you find your seats. Nestled in a plush, velvet red chair as the air conditioning sends a chill down your spine, the lights start to dim.
The screen fades to black, or the curtain rises, signaling the start of an immersive experience.
Cinema or theatre.
While both offer entertainment, should their worlds overlap?
The question is tricky, as live musicals, while grander than a movie, face the challenge of high ticket prices.
Attending a professional stage musical can cost anywhere from 50 to 200 hundred dollars.
Many, myself included, hesitate to spend so much on a show available on TV.
“As much as I love live theater I can’t afford it, cause I’m a teenage girl,” said Junior Lucy Tait. “I’d rather watch it at home.”
A subscription for most streaming services is about 15 dollars per month, which is ten times less than one musical performance, making movies a more accessible option for many.
But while movies are convenient, the experience of live theater is unparalleled
Yes, they are expensive, but not only do you get to share the experience with hundreds of people, but you get the opportunity to see everything live.
If an actor forgets a line or forgets where to walk to on stage, everyone experiences it.
Even if it might seem unprofessional, the whole crowd bursts into laughter and walks home with a memory unique to that performance.
Watching a movie with a large audience can feel similar, yet there’s an awkwardness — people munching on snacks and slurping drinks can be distracting.
Dress code, concessions or phone usage are all much stricter in the theater, providing a nicer experience overall.
People think of movies as perfectly made. They have been run, cut, and edited to perfection. Not a single line forgotten or a giggle out of place.
Yet, the imperfection of live theater is what makes it unique. The audience gets to experience every little mishap, not only with everyone else watching, but with the actors on stage as well.
Which brings me back to the question; do musicals belong on screen?
Yes, they do.
There are some movie-musicals that have been perfectly adapted, such as; “Chicago” (2002), “West Side Story” (1961), “The Sound of Music”(1965), “Moulin Rouge!” (2001), and “Mary Poppins (1964)”.
These movie-musicals were perfect not just because of the cast and crew, but because of how much they satisfy a theater kid.
However, not all successful stage musicals like “Mean Girls” (2017) transitioned well, as shown in the 2024 reboot.
Making a good movie musical comes down to casting, rewriting and concept.
Tina Fey, who wrote all three versions of “Mean Girls”, live and film, made drastic changes from each. The live 2017 version was “Mean Girls” (2004) with some song and dance. While the latest version was a mashup of 2004 film and 2017 live; ending in a 2024 disaster.
Sometimes it can be the cast that messes up the adaptation. Like in “Cats” (2019) and “Dear Evan Hansen” (2021).
While “Dear Evan Hansen” was enjoyable, casting 27-year-old Ben Platt as a high schooler detracted from the film’s authenticity.
And the star-studded cast of “Cats”, featuring Taylor Swift and James Corden, was distracting for some viewers.
A middle ground exists with live- recorded musicals, known as pro-shots, like “Hamilton” (2020) on Disney+, or “Come From Away” (2017) on Apple TV+, offering the full experience at home at a fraction of the cost.
Ultimately, movie-musicals succeed when thoughtfully adapted and cast, and preserve the essence of the original.
Whether on stage or screen, musicals remain subjective experiences shaped by audience perception.
This article originally appeared in the Fall 2024 print edition.
