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RSS Melisa, Women

First, a warning: this post is not for the faint-of heart.

I have a major issue that’s been growing inside my brain for a while now. I think it all started when I began to notice snippets of classic songs from the ’80s being sampled all over the songs on today’s charts. I was able to contain my annoyance when the distinctive beat from Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” showed up as the backbone of Rihanna’s hit “SOS” . I was able to push aside emotional turmoil I felt when skinny jeans came back. Something is happening now though that I just cannot ignore, and I wanted to bring it to your attention. Ready?

They are turning the classic blockbuster movie “Dirty Dancing” into a Broadway musical. I’ll let you absorb that for a moment. Take a deep breath. Now let it out. Slowly…slowly…okay.

Let me assure you that I am not completely against “remakes”. I attended a performance of the second generation of “Grease: The Musical” and liked it a lot. I happen to think that the U.S. edition of “The Office” completely rocks. I don’t mind that Drew Barrymore resurrected the “Charlie’s Angels” franchise. This, however, is blasphemy.

Meaning no disrespect to the actors who will take on the roles of Johnny Castle and Francis “Baby” Houseman, (I’m sure they will find eventual success in show business, whoever they are) I just can’t stomach the idea of this particular remake. Wasn’t the poor showing for “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights” enough of a warning? Certain classics should be left to linger peacefully in the minds of a society.

I mean, nobody else in the world really has the right to exclaim “Nobody puts Baby in the corner!” other than Patrick Swayze…well, and me, when I’m trying to add some kitschy drama to a conversation. Are we, the audience, supposed to forget all about the fact that Swayze’s #3 hit “She’s Like the Wind” was only used as background music in the movie when they–no doubt–will turn that into a major part of the musical? I think not.

“Dirty Dancing: The Musical” opens here in Chicago this coming September on a test run before hitting Broadway. This is a common occurrence: we got “The Producers”, “Sweet Charity” and “Aida” first. Chicago audiences ate those up. Only one of them was an original piece. Am I being too harsh? Out of the three of those, I saw the remakes. “The Producers” starred Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. “Sweet Charity” starred Christina Applegate. “Dirty Dancing: The Musical” will star…nobody we know. None of Hollywood’s elite signed on to do it. That doesn’t bode well!

Are there no original ideas left to be had? Why do the people who are in charge of creativity in the arts constantly going backwards instead of forwards? Why does it seem like half of everything “new” is really just borrowed? Will we eventually see “Golden Girls: The Musical” open up on the Great White Way? These are only some of the burning questions that torture me daily. Any answers?

April 11, 2008 |


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7 Comments so far

  1. avatar
    CableGirl    , 30 Something April 11, 2008 3:16 am   

    Oh,let’s not forget all of those teen movies based on Shakespeare…. you know, the actual literature that most high schoolers find dull and boring.

    It’s a trend. and a sad one at that.

  2. avatar
    Joeprah    , Dads April 11, 2008 8:13 am   

    Yep, I think there are a lot of folks out there that thought the Scooby Doo movies were a good idea too…


  3. piper of love April 11, 2008 8:24 am   

    You are so funny Melisa, and I agree with you completely.

    It’s a rarity these days for anything fresh, or new for that matter, to pop up anywhere. What’s freaking me out is hearing hair metal on the classic rock radio station… makes me feel old, or like the world went crazy.

    There’s nothing new under the sun, right?

  4. avatar
    timbury    , P.C. April 11, 2008 8:57 am   

    You had to say it, didn’t you?… you just *had* to go there… “Golden Girls: The Musical”! Yikes! ;-)

    Of course, lifting the classics is nothing new. A favorite of mine from 1967, Procol Harum’s Whiter Shade of Pale, was based on Bach’s Air from the Orchestral Suite No 3 in D. Bach had no comment. The great composer was not above lifting a good tune himself. A soprano aria in Cantata 70 was borrowed by Bach from a bass aria in Handel’s opera Almira.

    Many believe the story of Noah’s Ark was based on the Epic of Gilgamesh, and that in turn was based on older stories that were based on a real flood of the Black Sea.

    There are a finite number of stories to be told, songs to be sung, games to be played, programs to be coded, etc. Mythologist extraordinaire Joseph Campbell believed there is only one story, the journey of the hero and his interactions with various archetypes.

    So, if it wasn’t Dirty Dancing: The Musical, it would be Passionate Pianos, an ‘original’ story about a young woman whose father forbids her to see the sexy piano teacher, with whom she then falls madly in love.

    Perhaps a family moves to a new town where the daughter attends the local university. Her father forbids her to see her sexy physics tutor (yes, I majored in physics), with whom she then falls madly in love. Sexy Seismology? Torrid Tuteledge? Arousing Astronomy? Naughty Nanoscience? There’s always the inevitable porn satire, Phucking Physics.

  5. avatar
    antman    , Antman April 11, 2008 9:07 am   

    Melissa it is simple, M-O-N-E-Y! If it worked once, then it’s gotta work again. Why take a risk, when ya got the sure thing. That is in the mind of the people behind it. No one wants to take a “RISK” on somethin’ new if they don’t have to. It is all about the benjamins baby!


  6. Katie April 11, 2008 11:20 am   

    I’m going to see Dirty Dancing tomorrow, here in Toronto. It was a birthday present from my aunts.

    I’ve never actually seen the movie… I think I’ll pretty much be one of the first people in the world to see the musical before I see the movie. LOL.

    And.. to answer your questions… working in the TV industry, I can totally say that you’re right about originality having gone out the window. But that’s because we have to turn a profit. Anything truly original will probably be embraced by a few, and shunned by the dozens. Which doesn’t bode well if you actually want to make something commercial. In our ADD generation, the way to succeed is by taking something that is a proven success, and making it bigger, bolder, brighter, and with more special effects. It’s actually kind of sad…

  7. avatar
    Melisa    , Women April 11, 2008 8:45 pm   

    Thanks for the feedback, everybody!

    Katie: be sure to let me know how the show is!!!!

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