Poll

You use the word 'travesty' very freely here, Cary.

I venture the opinion that most of these artists might have been delighted that their work has been reinterpreted and repackaged to a different audience. I hardly think you could call 'Lis Mis' a 'travesty' (sic) of Hugo or 'Phantom of the Opera' a 'travesty' of Leroux simply because they contain popular music. These productions take the well-known, well-loved *insert medium here - book, film, play, idea* and give it a new spin.

'Les Mis' is never presented as being 'BETTER THAN HUGO!' 'BOUBLIL AND SCHONBERG IMPROVE ON DUSTY OLD FRENCH NOVEL!'. Rather, a brilliant story is brought to the stage, and gives countless more people the chance to enjoy the story that Victor Hugo first came up with. Another example is the somewhat flawed, but still entertaining 'Jekyll and Hyde' - while Bricusse and Wildhorn's score and book are not exactly Robert Louis Stevenson, it is still thrilling and emotional, and publicises very clearly that it is "From the novella 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' by RL Stevenson". Is it the form of theatre that you object to, or is it adaptations as a whole? Do you think Shakespeare is spinning in his grave over '10 Things I hate about you', or even 'Otello' for that matter? It's a sad state of affairs that adaptations and remakes dominate our culture these days - the most successful Broadway shows in the past few years have been either revivals ('Guys and Dolls', 'Cabaret') or adaptations of other works ('The Producers'). What these adaptations do, however, is revalidate the relevancy of works which might otherwise have been lost in the mists of time (don't howl in protest - I said MIGHT) but by reinterpreting (yes, even to a musical theatre score) these tales are kept alive for years to come. And I guarantee you that more people have seen or heard of Llyod Webber's 'Phantom' than Leroux's. Travesty? Perhaps, if you want to be as markedly melodramatic as you were in your last post - but the truth is, Lloyd Webber's 'Phantom' is still Leroux's 'Phantom' - just repackaged.

Eliot would - 'throw up' - if he saw 'Cats'? Who are you kidding?
If you have such a problem with the medium, don't go to see Music Spectrum's 'Lis Mis' and then whinge about how it's not Hugo. Just don't go at all. Sit at home and read your original texts, and we'll all get on just fine.

Toby