Get Ready to Wax On, Wax Off for ‘The Karate Kid’ Musical — Plus Your Guide to Hollywood on Broadway

’13 Going on 30′

The Movie (2004): Christa B. Allen plays a teenager with boy problems who wishes she was an adult and has her wish come true with Jennifer Garner playing her adult version. Needless to say, no matter her age, Jenna discovers there’s issues with the opposite sex.

The Broadway Show: Currently in development with a book by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa and music and lyrics by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner. Directing is Andy Fickman, who said in a statement, “The story has all the elements of a great musical: comedy, romance, an empowering message, and a touch of magic.”

’17 Again’

The Movie (2009): Unhappy adult Mike O’Donnell (Friends star Matthew Perry) desires to be young again, and finds himself back in time as his younger self (Zac Efron), who can correct previous mistakes — though he risks changing things in the future in ways he can’t imagine.

The Broadway Show: In development with book by Marco Pennette, music and lyrics by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner. Directing is Adam Shankman. Given that Alan and Michael are the writers behind both this and 13 Going on 30, it will be interesting to see if both actually go into production.

‘Aladdin’

The Movies (1992 and 2019): Disney’s animated classic was released back in 1992 and became a sensation. Even bigger was the recent live-action film (which has pulled in over $1 billion), with Will Smith taking on Robin Williams’ role as Genie.

The Broadway Show: The stage version kicked off on March 20, 2014, at the New Amsterdam Theatre and it’s still going strong.

‘Beetlejuice’

The Movie (1988): Only a Tim Burton film could have a plot like this! A family moves into the home of a couple that recently died, and the ghosts of the former owners bring aboard a very strange demon (the title character, played by Michael Keaton) to drive them out.

The Broadway Show: This musical opened on April 25 at the Winter Garden Theatre. Book is by Scott Brown and Anthony King, score by Eddie Perfect, with Alex Timbers directing. At a press conference, Anthony commented, “For me, the most exciting thing about this show was getting to play in Tim Burton’s world. We grew up with these characters.” Adds Scott, “It’s been a long journey, but once Eddie Perfect came on board, it started to feel real and from there has been incredible.”

‘The Bodyguard’

The Movie (1992): The film stars Kevin Costner as former secret service agent Frank Farmer, and Whitney Houston as R&B singer Rachel Marron as the woman he’s been hired to protect. Needless to say, romance blossoms. Gradually.

The Broadway Show: Book by Alexander Dinelaris from the Lawrence Kasdan movie screenplay, with music from a variety of composers. At this point, Deborah Cox has been cast in the role of Rachel. The show debuted in London and is on a North American tour, with word still waiting to be heard on when it will reach Broadway. “It’s a lot of pressure,” Deborah admitted to TheSource.com. “It’s high expectations on what the show is going to look like. And it’s a brand new musical coming to the US, never been seen here before. I know the audience’s expectations are very, very high. Our beloved Whitney is an artist we treasure and we love her legacy of music, so this show really has a lot of that in it. I know and understand the integrity that needs to be kept with the show and the storytelling. Myself and the cast, we really try to honor that onstage.”

‘Bull Durham’

The Movie (1988): And Kevin Costner’s at it again, this time as baseball player Crash Davis who finds himself drawn into a relationship with Susan Sarandon’s baseball-obsessed fan, Annie Savoy.

The Broadway Show: Ron Shelton writes the book, with Susan Werner writing the music and lyrics. Back in 2014, there was a run of the show in Atlanta with Will Swenson in Kevin Costner’s role. Playbill reports Ron Shelton saying, “It’s very un-Broadway. It’s real roadhouse. You  pull over to the side of the road, back in the day, in North Carolina or Mississippi, this is the music that might be going on.”

‘The Devil Wears Prada’

The Movie (2006): Anne Hathaway is college graduate Andy Sachs who end up as the assistant to Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly, who is the editor of a high fashion magazine and who has expectations that most humans simply can’t meet.

The Broadway Show: The book is by Paul Rudnick, but the music is by none other than Sir Elton John with lyrics by Shaina Taub. As Shaina explains to Billboard.com of the film’s transition to the stage, “It so naturally expands and heightens into a musical. The fashion world is so larger than life and theatrical, the movie itself is so theatrical, and the characters — in Andy, you have everything you want in a protagonist, someone with big dreams and huge ambition who has to deal with the reality of the world and adulthood for the first time.

“And I haven’t quite seen a relationship like [Andy and Miranda Priestly’s] between two women onstage. The movie is such a delicious comedy, with real stakes and heart. It really excites me to put that in a musical. It just feels natural — making the outline of songs, things jump off the page really easily. I was re-watching the movie recently while working on the lyrics and was like, ‘It’s Wednesday afternoon, I’m watching Devil Wears Prada, and it counts as work — I’m doing something right.'”

‘The Flamingo Kid’

The Movie (1984): IMDB describes the film as follows: “A recent high school graduate unsure of his future gets a summer job at the Flamingo beach club, and meets the charismatic Phil Brody.” The graduate is played by Matt Dillon, Phil Brody by Richard Crenna.

The Broadway Show: Book and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman with music by Scott Frankel. The movie script was written by the late Garry Marshall, who was recently represented on Broadway with Pretty Woman. It’s currently in the works for Broadway.

‘Frozen’

The Movie (2013): It’s Elsa, Anna, and Olaf. C’mon, you know the rest. Just let it go…

The Broadway Show: It debuted at the St. James Theatre on March 22, 2018, and is a huge hit (it’s Disney, is anyone surprised)? Notes producer Thomas Schumacher to Town And Country, “The Lion King and Frozen share certain things. Although they’re both delightful entertainments, they each have a serious catalytic event. In Frozen you have two young women. One has seriously injured her sister because of a superpower that was uncontrollable at the time. Then they lose their parents tragically and are torn apart.”

‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’

The Broadway Show: Not technically based on a film, it’s nonetheless a sequel to the entire Harry Potter saga. Premiering in the UK before its arrival in New York on April 22, 2018, it’s currently playing at the Lyric Theatre. Of the themes of the story, writer Jack Thorne explains in an exclusive interview, “It’s about the pain of history and how we deal with it. Harry has not overcome his childhood and it takes his child, who is unable to cope with being the son of Harry Potter, to overcome it. By the end of the play, he has got a completely different relationship with history.”

‘The Honeymooners’

The TV Series (1955-56): A true example of Classic TV comedy, in The Honeymooners Jackie Gleason is bus driver Ralph Kramden and Art Carney is his best pal, sewer worker Ed Norton. They dream big, but never quite make it.

The Broadway Show: Still in development for Broadway, it had a 2017 run at the Paper Mill Playhouse last year. The book is by Dusty Kay and Bill Nuss, with music by Stephen A. Weiner, lyrics by Peter Mills. In describing their approach, Bill told theatermania.com, “We felt that we needed to turn it into a two-hour conclusion of The Honeymooners that you never got to see. The first act is very traditional, like your father’s Honeymooners, but the second act is very, very different. We felt that them winning a jingle contest and winding up as jingle writers on Madison Avenue would make them fish out of water. The story is really about the pursuit of the American dream, getting over that bridge from Brooklyn to the big time, and what success costs you in terms of friendship and loyalty.”

‘King Kong’

The Movies: The giant ape and his “relationship” with aspiring starlet Ann Darrow has been told in movie versions from 1933, 1976, 2005, and 2017, plus a battle with Godzilla in the works.

The Broadway Show: The musical version made its debut at the Broadway Theatre on November 8, 2018 and closed in August 2019. One of the biggest things they wanted to accomplish, says writer Jack Thorne, is create empathy for Kong: “At this moment, in the place we are as people, it seems to be a challenge for us to be able to empathize with other humans and other things, and I do think the basic question this show asks is about our empathy and what we want to be, and what we want our relationship with our own success and the pain that costs others to be. I’ve always thought that the Kong story is a great one about exploitation and the journey that Ann goes on is one of realization that she is not prepared to pay the cost of exploiting another being in order to gain her success. It’s a play that frames itself around our own ambition and what it costs to get the success or the comfort that we feel like we innately deserve.”

‘The Lion King’

The Movies (1994 and 2019): Yet another Disney animated classic — Simba, Mufasa, Timon, Pumba, etc. — that  became a live-action film in 2019.

The Broadway Show: The stage version features actors in portions of costumes to convey the characters, and it’s stunning in its successfulness. It’s currently playing at the Minskoff Theatre (after a run at the New Amsterdam) and made its debut on Nov. 13, 1997.

‘Mean Girls’

The Movie (2004): Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) has spent much of her youth in Africa, where she is raised by her scientist parents. They end up moving to America, where she starts to attend public school, discovers social cliques, and falls in love for the first time. Befriended by Janis Sarkisian and Damian Hubbard, she ultimately finds herself on a personal quest to take down Regina George, leader of “The Plastics” clique, and pretty much the cruel ruler of the student body. In the process, though, Cady teeters dangerously close to losing herself.

The Broadway Show: Take the plot of the movie, add some incredible music, and you’ve got a hit. It made its debut at the August Wilson Theatre on April 8, 2018, and is going strong. Erika Henningsen, who plays Cady, explains in an exclusive conversation regarding the success of the musical version, “Music is emotion, and it’s just something that can’t be accomplished in a 90-minute movie in terms of the emotional catharsis. Going back to the thought of what it’s like being on the other end of it, when everybody’s dancing on stage and singing together, and then we talk to the audience? That just cracks your heart open. Even if you’re not expecting it to, there’s just something about seeing this young cast, on stage enjoying one another’s energy, and then sharing it in this sort of communal atmosphere of the theater, that you can’t accomplish on screen.”

‘Moulin Rouge!’

The Movie (2001): Describes Wikipedia, “It tells the story of a young English poet/writer, Christian (Ewan McGregor), who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and courtesan Satine (Nicole Kidman). It uses the musical settings of the Montmartre Quarter of Paris, France.” It was nominated for eight Academy Awards.

The Broadway Show: Book by John Loegan, directed by Alex Timbers, and starring Aaron Tveit, Karen Olivo, and Danny Burstein, the show opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on July 25, 2019. Says Aaron to Broadway.com, “I’ve been a fan of the movie since it came out and I was thought it would translate so well to a stage. And I think the adaptation that you know, Alex [Timbers], John [Logan], and Justin [Levine] are doing is incredible. We’re kind of honoring what’s there in the movie, and then trying some new stuff, too. So it’s gonna be cool.”

‘Mrs. Doubtfire’

The Movie (1993): Mrs. Doubtfire is the nanny who’s really a manny (played by Robin Williams) in a desperate attempt to be close to his kids after he and his wife (Sally Field) break up.

The Broadway Show: Beginning previews March 9 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, it is written by John O’Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick, the latter of which will take on music and lyrics with Wayne Kirkpatrick, with Jerry Zaks as director. Fox Stage Productions’ McCollum and Bob Cohen issued a statement on the show, commenting, “Mrs. Doubtfire is such a beloved story, both laugh-out loud hilarious and extremely moving. Getting this team together and crafting Mrs. Doubtfire for the stage has been pure joy. We can’t wait to get into production.”

The cast features Rob McClure, from the stage version of Beetlejuice, who takes on the Robin Williams title role; with School of Rock‘s Jenn Gamatese in Sally Field‘s role of Miranda Hillard and Mark Evans (The Play That Goes Wrong) as Stuart Dunmeyer, who was played by Pierce Brosnan in the movie. Portraying the kids will be Brad Oscar (Frank Hillard), Analise Scarpaci (Lydia Hillard) and Jake Ryan Flynn (Christopher Hillard).

‘Network’

The Movie (1976): In a nutshell, Peter Finch is former television news anchor Howard Beale, whose, says IMDB, “ravings and revelations about the news media” is being exploited by his former television network in the pursuit of profits.

The Broadway Show: No music in this one. It recently ended its run at the Belasco Theatre on Dec. 6, 2018. Bryan Cranston played Howard Beale. “If we had done it in 2015, prior to the election, I don’t know if it would’ve had that much of an impact,” he muses to Vulture. “But in 2018, it’s just going to rock the world, because the world has changed. I do feel it is important, I do feel it’s timely, and the irony of something that was written over 40 years ago that has so much meaning now, and resonance, is not lost on me. It won’t be lost on the audience, especially in New York. We have a man as our president right now who knows how to stimulate, he knows how to manipulate, and he knows how to distract, and he knows all those things.”

‘Pretty Woman’

The Movie (1990): A ruthless businessman (Richard Gere) needs an escort for social events, and he locks on to a hooker (Julia Roberts). The last thing he expects is that she’ll change his world and that he’ll fall in love with her.

The Broadway Show: Until recently running at the Nederlander Theatre, like Mean Girls it has taken a popular film, added a dynamic score and packs a stage punch. Taking on Julia’s role is British actress Samantha Barks, who tells Vanity Fair, “I’m trying to be true to the character — and trying to remove the pressure of Roberts, who obviously is so well loved for this performance. You have to try do do your own thing and use your own instincts to rad the character like you’re reading the script for the first time.”

‘The Princess Bride’

The Movie (1997): Directed by Rob Reiner and based on William Goldman‘s bestselling novel about the love between the Dread Pirate Roberts and Princess Buttercup, it stars Cary Elwes as Westley (aka the Dread Pirate Roberts) and House of Card’s Robin Wright as Buttercup.

The Broadway Show: After many fits and starts beginning in 2006, it’s moving back into active development as a musical. All that’s known at this point, though, is that the book is being written by Bob Martin and Rick Elice, whose recent credit is The Cher Show. The composer and lyricist is David Yazbek, a Tony winner for The Band’s Visit and Tootsie.

‘Tootsie’

The Movie (1982): Desperate for work, actor Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) decides to go on an audition as a woman and scores a soap that changes his life and impacts women around the country. Complicating things is his falling in love with his co-star (Jessica Lange). A truly amazing romantic comedy.

The Broadway Show: Book by Robert Horn, music and lyrics by David Yazbek, and Scott Ellis is the director. It opened on April 23, 2019 at the Marriott Marquis Theatre and closed January 5, 2020. In an interview with ChicagoWoman.com, actor Santino Fontana, who’s playing Michael Dorsey and Dorothy Michaels, was asked about how his preparation has enlightened him to women. “Since we started working on the show, I’ve become so aware of all the things that men just never have to think about. A couple nights ago, a female friend got asked if she wanted to be walked to the subway, and I realized I’ve never been asked that. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

‘Waitress’

The Movie (2007): Jenna (Keri Russell) is a pregnant, unhappily married waitress in the deep south. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness.

The Broadway Show: Not to sound like a broken record, but, again, it’s all about the music that takes a film story and makes it so much more. Debuting on April 24, 2016 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, it closed January 5, 2020. Music is by Sara Bareilles, with book by Jessie Nelson. Sara tells Elle that she actually really connects with Jenna’s arc over the course of the story, despite the fact their experiences are very different.

“She’s an extraordinary pie maker who gets pregnant by way of her abusive husband and has an affair with her gynecologist. It doesn’t look very similar to my life, but she does have this moment of reckoning where she realizes that the person she has become is not the person she thought she would be. That sort of what the whole story behind ‘She Used to Be Mine’ is. That song, in particular, resonates very deeply with me. I can very much relate to waking up inside of your life and saying to yourself, ‘How did I get here?’ And sometimes that’s a really wonderful thing, and sometimes you can surprise yourself in a not so great way with your own choices.”