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The Princess Bride Musical 342

Posted by samzenpus from the singing-rodents-of-unusual-size dept.
adamy writes "Maybe a good thing, maybe a bad thing. William Goldman has started collaborating on a musical version of the time-honored classic. Guess the only thing left to do now is go through the pockets and look for loose change."
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The Princess Bride Musical More

The Princess Bride Musical

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  • Am I on the right site? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Slashdiddly ( 917720 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @01:16AM (#13779684)
    I'm not sure

  • I never saw this one coming... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anti-Trend ( 857000 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @01:18AM (#13779695) Homepage Journal
    That being said, there are even more questionable [evildeadthemusical.com] musical adaptations out there.
    • a good musical will be on x files, where moulder scully and aliens all dance. aaaaa the truth dm dm dm dm the truth dm dmd dm dm issssss outtttttt threeeeeee!!!

    • Re:I never saw this one coming... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Hatta ( 162192 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @11:57AM (#13782641) Journal
      That being said, there are even more questionable musical adaptations out there.

      Yeah, like the Betty Ford clinic musical:
      Criminal: I'm checking in.
                All: He's checking in.
      Criminal: I'm checking in,
                All: Checking Checking In,
      Criminal: No more pills or alcohol,
                          No more pot or Demerol,
                          No more stinking fun at all,
                          I'm checking in.
                All: He's checking in, He's checking in.
          Doctor: No more looking pale and thin,
                          No more bugs beneath your skin.
      Criminal: Hey, that's just my aspirin.
                All: Check it out, you're checking in!


      Or even better, the musical adaptation of Planet of the Apes:

      Troy: I hate every ape I see,
                From chimpan-A to chimpanzee,
                No, you'll never make a monkey out of me!

      (Statue of Liberty rises)

                O my! I was wrong!
                It was Earth, all along!
                You've finally made a monkey,

      Apes: Yes we've finally made a monkey,

      Troy: Yes you've

      & Apes: finally made a monkey out of me!

      Troy: I love you, Dr. Zaius!

  • Why? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ericdano ( 113424 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @01:20AM (#13779703) Homepage
    Why can't people come up with NEW ideas? Geeze, we have remakes of Psycho, the Fog, etc, etc. Nothing new. Nada. Oh, except maybe Serenity........

    • Re:Why? (Score:5, Funny)

      by aussie_a ( 778472 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @01:44AM (#13779789) Journal
      Nothing new. Nada. Oh, except maybe Serenity........

      Good god! You're right man. Because nothing says originality like a movie set in the same universe as a television show.
    • Why can't people come up with NEW ideas? Geeze, we have remakes of Psycho, the Fog, etc, etc. Nothing new. Nada. Oh, except maybe Serenity........

      Easy answer: Because no one here cares.

      There are new ideas coming out all the time. You notice them so little as to complain that there are no new shows. This is the exact reason that remakes are so damn popular.

    • Re:Why? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anomylous Howard ( 666178 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @07:33AM (#13780667) Homepage
      I can't wait to see Nothing New: Nada .
      I hope it's even half as good as Nothing New: Zilch and Nothing New: The Return of /dev/null .
    • C.S. Lewis once remarked that originality is overrated.

      And I think he has a point. It's not that it's a bad thing, it's just that as a literary standard it's rather unobtainable, at least in the superficial way it's used as a tool of literary odium. From there it becomes the kind of brain dead dogma that can dismiss a project like this sight unseen.

      If this is the true standard, Puccini was an unoriginal hack because La Boheme had been published as a (not very good) novel first. Shakespeare plagiarized a l
  • I thought it was going to be weird with the entire script sung, but it was actually really interesting and the ways in which the tempo of the songs could be used to increase dramatic tension or emphasize humor was very cool.

    Hopefully this interpretation of the Princess Bride does justice to the movie which did justice to the book.
    • I thought it was going to be weird with the entire script sung

      This is hardly unusual... Ever heard of "opera?" It's not just a web-browser!
    • They made a book out of "Les Miserables"? Heathens!

  • ACs (Score:5, Funny)

    by darrell73 ( 69855 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @01:23AM (#13779713)
    My name is Anonymous Coward.
    You killed my post.
    Prepare to die.

  • Never get involved in a land war in Asia! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Leontes ( 653331 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @01:28AM (#13779728)
    Anybody want a peanut gallery perspective on this? It's inconceivable that this would be a bad thing. I trwoo luv the film, and I have a feeling, that if done in the right type of way, it could be done brilliantly. Like Spamalot and the Producers, it's smart to choose a film that has massive repeat value, material that has that 'i could see this a million times' quality. Other possible film to stage adaptations, in this vein, now that I think of it : Clue. Goonies. Lost Boys. Bad stage adaptations of films? I don't think they exist. So quotable. However, if they screw up, they should prepare to die. Why are you smiling?
  • Is it safe?

  • How can /. cover this... (Score:5, Informative)

    by callipygian-showsyst ( 631222 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @01:32AM (#13779749) Homepage
    How can /. cover this, and never ONCE mention that there's a musical version of the Silence of the Lambs [silencethemusical.com] now in production? Entitled "Silence!" it's now playing in New York at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. I suggest you run, not walk, to the BO and buy tickets!

  • Scandal! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 13, 2005 @01:52AM (#13779823)
    Any truly learned man would know that this William Goldman character is plagurizing the work of the real literary genius, S. Morgenstern.

    • Re:Scandal! (Score:5, Informative)

      by scovetta ( 632629 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @08:03AM (#13780850) Homepage
      I spent about a month trying to track down the original book (Princess Bride) by S. Morgenstern. I was redirected from rare book seller to rare book seller until one of them was kind enough to tell me that such a person does not exist.

      That tricky William Goldman...

  • Pot, meet kettle. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DaltonRS ( 825261 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @01:54AM (#13779826)
    "Nerds!"

    "I do not think that means what you think it means."

    Nerd, as a stereotypical or archetypal designation, refers to people of above-average intelligence whose interests (often in science and mathematics) are not shared by mainstream society. -From Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]

    Imagine if you would, for just a moment, that there is more to life than linux, sco, microsoft, google, nintendo, sony, etc. Imagine too, that someone out there, might be interested in this.

    However, slashdot does need a "Culture" section for these kinds of articles(ie, Serenity, the Raiders of the Lost Ark remake, Spamalot, etc...)
    • However, slashdot does need a "Culture" section for these kinds of articles(ie, Serenity, the Raiders of the Lost Ark remake, Spamalot, etc...)

      Demented and sad, but social.

  • OK I have to Admit it (Score:3, Interesting)

    by adamy ( 78406 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @02:04AM (#13779865) Homepage Journal
    The reason I found this news article was because I was looking to see if anyone was making a musical version of it because I have been writing one. Honestly. I have the vast majority of the Lyrics written, and a bunch of songs. That being said, I am still thrilled. I really want to see this.

    By the way, if you guys are going to qutoe the movie, you have to come up with some of the better, more obscure quotes:

    It's not my fault being the biggest and the Strongest. I don't even exercize.

    Get some rest, if you haven't got your health, you haven't go anything.

    I have no Gate Key
    Fezzik, tear his arms off.
    Oh, you mean this gate key?

    (You have to listen close for this one)
    I am waiting for Vizzini
    You really are a meany.
    Fezzik its you!
    That's true.

  • Aren't fantasy & RPGs nerd territory too? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Mistshadow2k4 ( 748958 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @02:22AM (#13779907) Journal
    I played D&D and read fantasy fiction long before computers were common and I was considered a nerd for that. Has that changed? Why doesn't anybody tell me these things?
  • Pleeeaaase, get out and see this when it opens. I'm on the other side of the planet, and it's up to those of you in the US to get the box office up so it's commercially viable to take it on the road! I'm more than prepared to grovel & otherwise debase myself for a chance to see TPB done in another format.

  • Inconceivable!! (Score:2, Redundant)

    by nzgeek ( 232346 )
    I'm really not sure why everyone is complaining about this story. Perhaps they are not aware that I am, in fact, left handed?

  • The Princess Bride as musical (Score:4, Funny)

    by Big Nothing ( 229456 ) <tord.stromdal@gmail.com> on Thursday October 13, 2005 @03:43AM (#13780084)
    The Princess Bride as musical?!? INCONCEIVABLE!

  • Oh no! (Score:3, Funny)

    by lahvak ( 69490 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @03:49AM (#13780103) Homepage Journal
    Not the kissing again!

  • Did you read the article? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Misagon ( 1135 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @03:53AM (#13780115)
    It's only a rumor, folks.

    The project was described as a fairy tale with swordfighting. Many movies fit that description, and it wasn't even mentioned as an adaptation of a movie. Duh!

  • It was bound to happen (Score:3, Funny)

    by SalesEngineer ( 640818 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @07:23AM (#13780619)
    After all, the movie has already produced this infomercial [dragoncontv.com]

  • Not Me! (Score:3, Funny)

    by spidergoat2 ( 715962 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @09:43AM (#13781645) Journal
    I'm waiting for 'The Princess Bride on Ice'!!!!

  • I owe my MARRIAGE to The Princess Bride (Score:5, Interesting)

    by blakespot ( 213991 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @09:57AM (#13781754) Homepage
    Long story short I met my wife in a fairly chance encounter when going to have a beer with a friend of a friend (and her roommate) at a bar in Williamsburg, VA where I lived. I was most taken by her roommate, and she seemed rather to be enjyoing my company as the evening began. However, the roommate had been broken up with less than 12 hours before our meeting. The last thing on her mind was getting into a new relationship.

    So the conversation turned to "favorite movies." I mentioned that The Princss Bride was mine. She was amazed and admitted it was hers, as well. I then revealed that I had read and enjoyed the book and she confessed to the same. I then took it even farther by pointing out that I sent in a letter to the publisher asking to receive the "missing" Reunion Scene, which I did receive a few weeks later. She did the same thing! So what was mild interest at first on her part, was now in her mind a situation with a flashing "Hey This Might Be Fate" light attached.

    Two months later I quit my job and moved to Charlottesville, VA where she was attending law school. Four months after that, we were engaged. We just had our seventh wedding anniversary and have been together almost nine years now.

    I guess I was her Man In Black. :-)

    (And it is nicer than an M.L.T.)


    blakespot

  • I can see it now! (Score:5, Funny)

    by PsiPsiStar ( 95676 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @11:40AM (#13782517)
    (to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody)

    It's inconceivable.
    You don't know what that means.
    Scaling a mountain
    Disrespectful to gravity
    Say your goodbyes

    The ropes gone but still there's me.
    I'm just a pirate. I need no sympathy.
    Because I'm ambidexterious
    You are two I guess.

    Any cup that you choose doesn't really matter... to me. ...to me

    Mama,killed the Sicillian
    Put some poison in both cups
    That loud bastard bottomed up,
    Mama,the chase has just begun
    But Buttercup has thrown me down a cliff
    Mama ooo,
    Didn't mean to make you cry-
    But now we've gotta run through the fireswamp.
    Look a big, giant rat.

    (cut foward in the song)

    She's a cute princess everybody loves her.
    She's just a poor girl from a poor family. Spare her her life with this man Humperdink.
    let me go. I'll kill myself. Stab myself to death.-
    Bismillah! no-,we will not let you go-let me go-
    Bismillah! we will not let you go-let me go
    Bismillah! we will not let you go-let me go
    Will not let you go-let me go
    Will not let you go let me go
    No,no,no,no,no,no,no-
    Mama mia,mama mia,mama mia let me go-
    But Humperdink has a dagger set aside for you... for you.... for you...

  • As a resident theatre geek... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by WesternActor ( 300755 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @01:32PM (#13783519) Homepage
    ...if not the resident theatre geek on Slashdot, I feel compelled to comment.

    The problem with this isn't Goldman (obviously). Nor is it the idea, which is solid musical theatre territory for a lot of reasons.

    The problem is the composer, Adam Guettel. He won a Tony Award this year for his score to The Light in the Piazza, but is--and will forever be--better known for being the grandson of Richard Rodgers, of Rodgers & Hammerstein and Rodgers & Hart fame. Piazza had/has snob appeal in a way that generally only Sondheim musicals these days do, which means it's generally hard to get a fair reading on its quality from anyone. It's one of those "important" shows that "important" people see and even more "important" people like.

    Or at least they're supposed to. Because that didn't happen in this case. The show won six Tonys, but it hasn't exactly taken New York by storm.

    Because, for all his talents as a musician (which are considerable, though I don't believe any sensible person can consider them equal, or even close to equal, to his grandfather's), Piazza is very cold and distant. It's about love, specifically the romance between a young developmentally disabled girl and an Italian boy who speaks almost no English, but examines the subject in a lot of theoretical and intellectual ways that--for most people--don't really strike the heart. Richard Rodgers could do that without thinking, and his compositions resonate today and will probably long after we're all gone. They're universal, they're simple, they're true. Guettel's music is none of these things. His greatest claim to theatrical fame is Floyd Collins, semi-based on the story of a prospector who gets trapped in a cave and dies.

    What does all of this have to do with The Princess Bride? Nothing. And that's precisely the point. Guettel is currently the "hot" thing, but he's not right for this. He can't write swashbuckling. He can barely write unbridled romanticism without resorting to tricks (nonsense syllables instead of lyrics or havng characters sing in Italian when they should be singing in English). He writes very heavy, he doesn't write light, he doesn't write fun. And what is The Princess Bride if not fun? It needs irreverence, it needs a devil-may-care quality about it that would make it (I would guess) more the purview of someone like David Yazbeck (The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) or Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Once on This Island, Ragtime).

    It's unlikely to get any of what it needs with Guettel writing the songs for it. So, everyone, don't get your hopes up too much--Goldman knows what he's doing, so his end of the bargain will no doubt be held up. But Guettel, as notorious for being a slow writer as he is someone who can't connect to his characters on the simplest, most heartfelt level, can't be expected to do the same. If we ever see this--which is a big if at this point; lots of shows have a way of getting announced and then vanishing--I have a feeling it will have a rocky road to success, if it even finds success at all.

  • And remember... (Score:3, Funny)

    by tuxguy_ga ( 530848 ) on Thursday October 13, 2005 @02:32PM (#13784104)
    Have fun storming the castle!

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