The Most Beloved Stage-to-Screen Musicals

We're all missing the live theatrical experience right now. Fortunately, Hollywood has adapted many of our favorite Broadway musicals for the silver screen! While some interpretations are more successful than others, here are TMTP's Staff picks for their favorite classic stage-to-screen selections. Just click on the photo or title to stream on AmazonPrime while "sheltering in place."

Jodi Kirk on Camelot
"I feel the film captures so much of the heart of the story, not only the ideals of King Arthur but the personal conflict of the love triangle between Arthur, Jenny and Lance which is beautifully and achingly portrayed. In addition, being able to fully experience the epic battle scenes and most especially the joust adds to the richness of this period piece."

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Joanna Cullinan on Dreamgirls
"The film so perfectly captures the look and feel of the music industry in the 1960s & 70s. The casting is delicious...Jennifer Hudson's breakout performance is one for the ages, but the supporting turns by Eddie Murphy, Anika Noni Rose and Beyonce are equally strong. And the new songs written for the film are knockouts!"

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Bill Rudman on Fiddler on the Roof
"Because the director Norman Jewison had a career-long dedication to exploring socially conscious themes, and we see that in Fiddler as powerfully as in any of his dramas. Though this film lacks the sheer musicality of the stage production, he tells the story without turning away from the harsh reality of life in a shtetl. The pogrom scene is perhaps the most harrowing ever conceived for a film musical."

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Heather Meeker on Into the Woods
"I saw the film adaptation before seeing a stage production and was blown away by Sondheim's clever concept. The musical teaches deeper lessons about the fairytales we've known since childhood. In my favorite song, 'I Know Things Now,'  Little Red sings, 'although scary is exciting, nice is different from good.' That's just so TRUE, as is the last lyric, 'Isn't it nice to know a lot!/ And a little bit not.'" 

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Heidi Lang on My Fair Lady
"Even though it always bothered me that Audrey Hepburn didn't sing in the movie, I have always loved how the movie really reflects everything I love about the stage show.  And the Ascot Gavotte gets the full Hollywood treatment! What's not to love about this show?"

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Bridie  Srsen on The Sound of Music
"When I was a little girl I wanted to play Gretl, and then I was old enough to play Marta, then Brigitta, Louisa and finally Liesl. But once I was finally old enough to play Maria as an adult was probably the most exciting. I grew up with all of these fantastic characters and this powerful story and I cannot wait to show my future children and sing all of the music with them!"

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Nancy Maier on West Side Story
"The ability to film it in that actual dilapidated section of NYC gave it such an immediate reality. The casting is perfect, even with the dubbed singing voices of Maria and Tony. And I think the decision to place a few of the songs differently, and also revise the song 'America' to include the Sharks’ men, worked better dramatically for the piece as a whole."