BROADWAY TO CONTINUE GRABBING HITS FROM HOLLYWOOD

Although in the past a hit Broadway show almost inevitably led to a hit Hollywood movie, the reverse process is increasingly occurring these days, the New York Post observed on Sunday as it laid out a long list of movies that are being developed for Broadway or that have already made the schedule for fall debuts. The newspaper quoted Broadway producer Manny Azenberg as saying, “A hit film is a brand, and it gives you that recognition factor.” Ken Davenport, a producer who is currently preparing to mount the 1980 Christopher Reeve time-traveler Somewhere in Time on the Great White Way, dismisses criticism that such shows lack the creative innovation that is expected of a Broadway show that people often pay hundreds of dollars to see. He told the Post: “Totally original musicals that aren’t based on anything are unbelievably rare, and have a big failure rate. I look for source material that will make a great musical, and I don’t care if it’s from a book, a movie or a postcard!” Among the movies in the process of being transformed into stage productions are: Animal House, Back to the Future, Big Fish, Bullets over Broadway, Flashdance, and Sleepless in Seattle.