While Broadway and Hollywood are often thought of as their own entities on the opposite side of the United States, they share a lot more in common than one might think. Particularly, a ton of popular and very good musicals over the years have been created thanks to the movies they are based on. Check out all these instances of Broadway musicals being inspired by Hollywood movies!
The Lion King
Following Disney’s The Lion King becoming the highest-grossing animated movie of all time upon its release in 1994, it was developed into a rare stage musical that has gone on to become one of Broadway’s mainstays. The Lion King musical reimagines the 2D animated epic into an impressive visual experience complete with elaborate animal costumes and giant hollow puppets. The stage show also includes six indigenous African languages which are spoken throughout the show.
Little Shop Of Horrors
In 1960, director Roger Corman made The Little Shop Of Horrors, which is about a florist’s assistant who grows a plant that turns into a flesh-eating monster. Twenty years later, legendary composer-lyricist duo Alan Menken and Howard Ashman developed a musical version of the storyline which premiered off-off Broadway in 1982 to a successful five-year run. It has since been on Broadway numerous times. Plus, the musical was adapted into a movie in 1986 starring Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, John Candy, James Belushi, and Bill Murray.
Waitress
In 2007, Adrienne Shelly’s Waitress became an indie darling when it premiered at Sundance at the front of the year. The movie stars Keri Russell as a small-town waitress who unexpectedly gets pregnant amidst an abusive marriage. In 2015, with the help of Sara Bareilles, who wrote the music and lyrics, Waitress became a smash hit on Broadway from 2016 to 2020. The musical is so beloved, the production was filmed and brought to theaters in 2023.
Hairspray
Back in 1988, John Waters made a cult classic in Hairspray. The movie follows an overweight teen Tracy Turnblad living in Baltimore, Maryland in the year 1962, who dreams of appearing on the popular local TV program The Corny Collins Show. In 2002, it was turned into a Broadway musical that would go on to win eight Tony awards, including Best Musical. Its musical version was adapted into a movie in 2007.
School Of Rock
One of the best music movies of all time has to be School of Rock starring Jack Black. The Richard Linklater movie is about Dewey Finn, a down-on-his-luck musician who impersonates his roommate and becomes a substitute teacher for a prep school where he forms an underground band on campus made up of his students. The 2015 Broadway musical, composed by the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber, ran in New York until 2019.
Some Like It Hot
One of Marilyn Monroe’s most famous movies is 1959’s Some Like It Hot, which also stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. It's about two men who make their escape from Chicago after witnessing a Mafia murder by dressing as women and joining an all-female jazz band, led by Monroe’s sultry singer character. In 2022, the movie was turned into a musical by Hairspray’s composer, Marc Shaiman. The show is set to embark on its first North American tour in the fall of 2024.
The Color Purple
In 2023, The Color Purple stage musical was turned into a movie. The release came nearly 20 years after the Broadway version of the story first opened with the likes of Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey as producers. Before The Color Purple ran from 2005 to 2008 and had a successful revival back in 2015, it was first a novel by Alice Walker before Steven Speilberg adapted it in 1985. The beloved story revolves around an African-American teen named Celie as she is raised in rural Georgia in the early 1990s.
Beauty and the Beast
Disney’s “tale as old as time” became a Broadway musical just two years after the animated hit became a huge success for the House of Mouse in 1991. Just like the movie, the stage production is about the book-loving Belle who stumbles upon an enchanted castle while looking for her father where a Beast lives. While she’s initially held there against her will, she starts to fall in love with her captor, who is a lot more than meets the eyes.
The Producers
Back in 1967, Mel Brooks wrote and directed The Producers starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. It’s about two con artists who decide to oversell a stage musical in order to get rich. While it was controversial when it came out, it later became a cult favorite and in 2001 a Broadway version of the storyline was created starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. The show won a record-breaking 12 Tony awards (out of the 15 it was nominated for) including Best Musical.
Back To The Future
When it comes to the best ‘80s movies, Back To The Future instantly comes to mind! The blockbuster is unforgettable for its quotable dialogue, great banter between Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd’s Doc Brown, and its iconic DeLorean, of course. In 2020, a musical version of the movie, with a book by one of the movie’s writers, Bob Gale, emerged in England and quickly became a hit. Back To The Future: The Musical made its Broadway debut in the summer of 2023 and is going strong in New York City, with a tour on the way.
Kinky Boots
2005’s Kinky Boots had Joel Edgerton playing a shoe factory owner who ends up teaming up with a drag queen, Chiwetel Ejifor’s Lola to save his dying business by making footwear for other drag queens. Shortly after, Kinky Boots was developed for the stage with none other than Cyndi Lauper working on its music and lyrics. Like many shows on this list, Kinky Boots is one of those Broadway shows that have been so popular that they’ve run for a crazy amount of time.
Billy Elliot
Set during England’s miners’ strike in the ‘80s, 2000’s Billy Eilliot is about a young working-class boy who falls in love with ballet. After Jamie Bell played the leading role at the age of 13, Elton John helped develop it into a stage musical for the West End. (Fun fact: Tom Holland famously once starred as one of the West End Billy Elliots before he was Spider-Man, which Zendaya can do an A+ impression of.) It later moved to Broadway, of course!
Moulin Rouge!
Baz Luhrmann wrote and directed a stunning jukebox musical movie starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor back in 2001 with Moulin Rouge! The romantic drama takes place in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris where a writer (Ewan McGregor) stumbles upon a troupe of performers and helps them write a show. In the midst of this, he falls in love with Kidman’s Satine. While its musical started in Boston, it quickly moved to Broadway a year after its premiere.
The Little Mermaid
Disney’s big “Under The Sea” masterpiece, 1989’s The Little Mermaid, was a no-brainer for a Broadway show after its smash commercial success. The musical went to Broadway in 2008 and has since gone across the globe.
Beetlejuice
Tim Burton’s beloved horror comedy, Beetlejuice, saw Michael Keaton playing a hilarious and rather creepy poltergeist that is hired by a recently deceased couple to drive away the new inhabitants of their home. A Broadway musical version of the movie debuted in 2019. The show unfortunately had a short first run due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but since returned, toured, and may even be better than the original movie.
Once
John Carney’s Once is a sweet romantic musical from Ireland about a busker who forms a connection with a Czech immigrant woman over their love for music. A few years after the 2007 movie won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Falling Slowly”, it was transformed into an equally sweet Broadway musical in 2011.
Sunset Boulevard
Back in 1950, Sunset Boulevard, which continues to be thought of as one of the greatest movies of all time, hit theaters. It’s about an aging movie star, who once ruled the silent film era, who hires a screenwriter to help her make a comeback. Forty years later, the black-and-white classic was brought to the stage with music from Andrew Lloyd Webber. There’s an interesting story behind it because the star of the original actually worked on a musical version back in the ‘50s, but it never came to fruition. Luckily, the musical implemented some of Gloria Swanson’s work.
Bring It On
About a decade after Bring It On became a cult classic of an early ‘00s flick about the world of cheerleading, Bring It On: The Musical took its school spirit to Broadway. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tom Kitt wrote the music and allowed its cast to bring some impressive gymnastics from the popular sport to a massive NYC stage.
Shrek
Dreamworks’ hit spin on fairy tales, Shrek, turned into a Broadway in 2008. Brian d’Arcy James and Sutton Foster originated the roles of Shrek and Fiona in the original Broadway production about a love story between a green ogre and a princess. Unlike many movies-to-musicals on this list, Shrek The Musical borrows from multiple Shrek movies that were made over the years.
Mean Girls
“Fetch” may never happen, but Mean Girls has certainly become not only a favorite high school flick, but one of the best movies of the 2000s. After Tina Fey wrote the original script about a new student who shakes up the dynamics of her school’s hottest clique, the SNL alum wrote the musical’s book. Recently, a Mean Girls remake was released based on the stage production as well.
Newsies
Back in 1992, two Disney legends came together to make a new musical called Newsies. Director Kenny Ortega, who would later do the High School Musical movies, and Alan Menken, who composed the music. The movie about newspaper boys during the newsboys’ strike in 1899 stars Christian Bale, Bill Pullman, and Robert Duvall. Twenty years later, a stage version hit Broadway with tons of new numbers not seen in the movie.
An American In Paris
Gene Kelly dazzled with his mega-star power in the 1951 musical comedy (and Best Picture winner), An American In Paris. He even choreographed many of the dance numbers himself! It follows his character Jerry Mulligan, a World War II veteran who tries to make it as an artist in Paris. In 2014, a stage version premiered in Paris before coming to Broadway the following year.
The Band’s Visit
2007’s The Band’s Visit is an Israeli movie that starts when a group of eight men that comprise Egypt's Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra arrive in Israel to play at an Arab cultural center. However, through a miscommunication, they accidentally end up in a small town in the Negev Desert where they are taken in by a small restaurant owner. In 2017, the Broadway version became a Tony-winning Best Musical that initially starred Monk’s Tony Shalhoub.
Aladdin
“10,000 years will give you such a crick in the neck!” So why keep the Genie in the bottle? It only took about twenty years for Disney to take its Arabian Nights animated movie into a Broadway production that continues to be a popular ticket for those to grab while they are in New York City.
Sister Act
Whoopi Goldberg will always be remembered for her hilarious leading role in 1992’s Sister Act. So, it’s no wonder that the comedy about a lounge singer who is placed in a convent as a nun after witnessing a murder would be a great place to start for a stage production. Alan Menken composed the music, and Goldberg produced the production that first debuted in Pasadena, California back in 2006 and continues to tour more cities.
Finding Neverland
Funny enough, 2004’s Finding Neverland, was based on a play called The Man Who Was Peter Pan from a few years prior. The movie, starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, told the story of J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. Since its release, it has been adapted for Broadway, where it had a 17-month run in New York City.
Mary Poppins
Walt Disney and the Sherman Brothers made an all-time great movie musical in 1964 starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. It was only a matter of time before it found a place on Broadway, wasn’t it? Audiences have been having a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious time with the British nanny since it debuted at the West End in 2004.
Anastasia
In 1997, audiences learned the tune of hit songs like “Once Upon A December” and “Journey To The Past” with the animated film, Anastasia. The movie loosely based off the legend of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia starred Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria and Angela Lansbury. Two decades after the children’s movie came out, it landed on Broadway with a mix of its fan-favorite songs and new ones.
Footloose
After Kevin Bacon’s Footloose overturned the ban on dancing in a small town with the hit 80s movie, Ren McCormack was revived for the stage with the 1998 Broadway musical, yes, with Kenny Loggins among the creatives in the mix.
American Psycho
Yes, even movies about serial killers can be fodder for Broadway! Back in 2013, Doctor Who’s Matt Smith actually debuted the role of Patrick Bateman on the stage in London before the musical went to Broadway three years later. American Psycho was a 2000 movie starring Christian Bale, and based on a 1991 novel by Bret Easton Ellis.
Frozen
Do you want to build a snowman? After Disney’s Frozen became a certified phenomenon with its earworms that had stars like Kristen Bell hilariously apologizing to parents, the production became an on-stage extravaganza to see on Broadway in 2018. The story is about Elsa, a royal who embraces her longtime secret powers by freezing her kingdom and her sister’s journey to find her.
Tootsie
After Tootsie, led by Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, became one of the biggest movies of the ‘80s, it was transformed into a Broadway musical in 2019. The production follows an actor who decided to present as a woman in order to land a job following a disintegrating reputation. While the movie is about a daytime soap opera, the musical version is about Michael trying out for a Broadway musical.
And this trend is not expected to stop! A lot of musicals based on movies are also rumored to hit the stage in the years to come.
