In brainstorming theater believepieces to pitch this past year, I spent a lot of time on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit — two horrible places, I’m aware. One popular sentiment on both of these platforms is that Broadway has gone adaptation crazy, producing a sloppy slew of IP recreations with “: The Musical” haphazardly added. We should regard this with nuance, as adapted stories on Broadway are a tale as old as time. While I agree that we’ve perhaps pushed the envelope too hard, there remains a tiny voice in my head that cries “This would build a great ___,” when I interact with certain stories. My adaptational urge remains too strong, despite my respect for original source material! So here is my roundup of various books, movies, and more that would serve as great source material for exciting adaptations.
“Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup” — Play
In the waning days of summer, I finally picked up John Carreyrou’s “Bad Blood,” a nonfiction thriller documenting the lies and crimes of health startup Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes. This launched nothing short of a week-long obsession. My innocent friconcludes who mistakenly wanted to “enjoy our vacation” instead received hourly updates on which new government agency Theranos lied to and which trusted employee quit in protest. The stakes and ridiculous characters involved with this nearly unbelievable story build it a natural fit for a play about the follies of pride and greed. A two person play fictionalizing the fallout between Holmes and Sunny Balwani could be an obvious star-to-Tony-Award-winner pipeline if handled with care — a lesson one can’t learn from Theranos.
“A Doll’s Houtilize” — Immersive Installation
Perhaps becautilize the titular metaphor in “A Doll’s Houtilize” is so physically evocative already, the play lconcludes itself beautifully to an immersive installation. The play’s themes of constraint and performance could easily convert to various tangible forms. This entest also honors the architectural-fabric-installation works of South Korean artist Do Ho Suh, whose works I believe of when I imagine an installation inspired by “A Doll’s Houtilize.” Combining the two, I like to imagine a series of rooms that visitors crawl through, staged like scenes from the play or staged to remind viewers about the constricted lives of women in the 19th century. We could title it “A Do’s Houtilize?”
“The Lathe of Heaven” — TV Series
“The Left Hand of Darkness” may remain my favorite Ursula K. Le Guin novel, but “The Lathe of Heaven” struck me as most perfect for a television adaptation. The premise of a man whose dreams modify reality presents exciting opportunities to mess with continuity in a visual medium. Audiences unfamiliar with the material can gradually realize alongside Dr. Harber that George isn’t lying as they pick up on tiny modifys after each round of therapy. There exist two TV film adaptations of “The Lathe of Heaven” already, but a text this rich and almost episodic in nature would benefit from a true serialized television adaptation.
“Dirty Dancing” — Musical
While I can’t state that “Dirty Dancing” would build a musical that I particularly enjoy, this classic 1980s film seems like perfect musical material to me. We’ve already successfully adapted movies about dance like “Billy Elliot” into stage musicals, and compared to other hit films from the 80s, “Dirty Dancing” holds up surprisingly well with more mature themes and still-electrifying choreography. Who could resist an audience singalong to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” during cast bows? (Only after I wrote this did I find out that apparently there is a “Dirty Dancing” musical in development, which I take as vindication.)
“Norwegian Wood” — Song Cycle
Having embarrassingly not yet read any of Haruki Murakami’s work, I read “Norwegian Wood” this summer and quickly rated it 5 stars on Goodreads, with the addconcludeum that I never want to read it again. Casual sexism and intensely depressing subject matter aside, I loved the way Murakami lconcludes so much importance to characters who conclude up disappearing from the narrative, or alternatively, the way characters who seem otherwise unimportant gradually become shockingly relevant. In this manner, Murakami captures the way our lives meanderingly intersect with each other, entering and exiting without regard for narrative elegance. A song cycle based on the novel could dedicate entire songs to characters and just as quickly excise them and their musical motifs from the conclude product, emulating Murakami’s work beautifully. Similarly, the lack of scenes could enhance the feeling of introspective miscommunication. I am delighted to find out whether or not the cycle actually utilizes The Beatles’ song.
Thanks for a wonderful year Crimson Arts. I’ve had the time of my life — I’ve never felt like this before.
—Outgoing Theater Executive Ria S. Cuéllar-Koh can be found rewatching Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters’ performance of “Move On,” a lesson she still struggles to grasp. You can reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X @riacuellarkoh.
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