Lord, A Plague Is On The World
Remember when they announced the movie version of "The Dukes of Hazzard?" There was a thought that crossed your mind. The first thing you thought. That immediate flicker. Remember what your brain said to you in that instant? It said to you, "Christ. Hollywood is finally out of ideas."
There was the movie version of "Starsky and Hutch," remakes of "Alfie" and "The Italian Job," and the third sequel to "Scary Movie." You had to figure that those folks in LA had finally grown so desperate for money that any recognizable concept would trump originality. That the left coast had finally and utterly proven its cultural bankruptcy and New York could laugh at us for all time. Well, you were wrong. The cannibalization of ideas is not the scourge of Hollywood. It is the scourge of Broadway.
"High Fidelity" is being turned into a Broadway musical.
Now, normally I wouldn't give half of a low-flying fuck about anything that prances onto a Broadway stage. High Fidelity is special, though, and it's about to be massacred. How do I know? This quote from one of the producers:
"I thought, 'This must be my next musical,'" Seller said. "It's a great story about a guy who can't figure out how to hold on to a girl."
This is not what "High Fidelity" is about. It isn't about a guy who can't hold onto a girl any more than "Fever Pitch" was about a guy whose girlfriends didn't like soccer as much as he did. Those are romantic stories. Broadway loves romantic stories. Nick Hornby does not write romantic stories.
He writes stories about men who are crippled by obsession, be it to sports or music. They are trapped in nostalgia. They can't "hold on to a girl" because they aren't capable of seeing around what is, in effect, depression.
Yes, Hornby can be incredibly funny. That doesn't change the fact that "High Fidelity" is at heart a very dark story. The movie treated it like that and largely succeeded. "Fever Pitch" was turned into a romance and failed miserably (taking my Sox down with it).
Broadway will fail "High Fidelity." Don't worry, though. I hear "The Dukes of Hazzard" is opening at the Winter Garden Theater next year. They can't screw that up.
There was the movie version of "Starsky and Hutch," remakes of "Alfie" and "The Italian Job," and the third sequel to "Scary Movie." You had to figure that those folks in LA had finally grown so desperate for money that any recognizable concept would trump originality. That the left coast had finally and utterly proven its cultural bankruptcy and New York could laugh at us for all time. Well, you were wrong. The cannibalization of ideas is not the scourge of Hollywood. It is the scourge of Broadway.
"High Fidelity" is being turned into a Broadway musical.
Now, normally I wouldn't give half of a low-flying fuck about anything that prances onto a Broadway stage. High Fidelity is special, though, and it's about to be massacred. How do I know? This quote from one of the producers:
"I thought, 'This must be my next musical,'" Seller said. "It's a great story about a guy who can't figure out how to hold on to a girl."
This is not what "High Fidelity" is about. It isn't about a guy who can't hold onto a girl any more than "Fever Pitch" was about a guy whose girlfriends didn't like soccer as much as he did. Those are romantic stories. Broadway loves romantic stories. Nick Hornby does not write romantic stories.
He writes stories about men who are crippled by obsession, be it to sports or music. They are trapped in nostalgia. They can't "hold on to a girl" because they aren't capable of seeing around what is, in effect, depression.
Yes, Hornby can be incredibly funny. That doesn't change the fact that "High Fidelity" is at heart a very dark story. The movie treated it like that and largely succeeded. "Fever Pitch" was turned into a romance and failed miserably (taking my Sox down with it).
Broadway will fail "High Fidelity." Don't worry, though. I hear "The Dukes of Hazzard" is opening at the Winter Garden Theater next year. They can't screw that up.
posted by Matthew at 4:25 AM
<< Home