Could Lds Make A Good Broadway Play?

[cinepro]

With all the hubbub about The Book of Mormon musical and its blockbuster success on Broadway (9 Tony Awards, sold out through the end of the year...), there's one question I haven't heard asked:

Why couldn't Mormons create a Broadway play that is better than The Book of Mormon musical?

To be clear, I'm not talking about a production that proselytes, or hits the audience over the head with doctrine. But instead something that is truly representative of the Gospel and what it means to the characters. Something that truly uplifts and edifies the audience and is really, really good. In other words, something unlike anything any LDS playwrite or filmmaker has ever done.

I'm sure the initial reaction to this question for some would be that Broadway is "mammon", and that the "world" would never accept a play that treats the gospel positively. But in looking at the list of Tony winners, there are many there that are great plays that tell good, solid stories without profanity or sex.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Award_for_Best_Musical

Or, someone could take it a step further and do a full-on parody of The Book of Mormon musical, but make it the way most LDS would like it to be. The missionaries are stoic and fearless. No profanity. The plot hinges on an investigator's questions and concerns, and the big final act is their baptism. Hmmm...that wouldn't be a bad idea for a roadshow.

Edited June 23, 2011 by cinepro

[Duncan]

I would prefer "Joseph Smith vs. The Volcano" myself

[Nathair/|\]

Orson Scott Card wrote a musical based on the life of Moses. I haven't had a chance to see it, but the novelization is really good. He does good historical research too.

[KevinG]

Some reasons I think this would be difficult:

LDS themes appeal to a narrower audience than Broadway in general.

LDS artists (while some quite good) are a smaller talent pool to draw from than media arts in general.

Artists who sell themselves as LDS (or christian, or any other specialized group) can sometimes force their message into a particular lens and be a bit preachy.

Note that well produced entertainment and uplifing entertainment are two different things. I just saw Soul Surfer, which had good performances and passable production quality and was very uplifted and moved. It did not compare to the production quality of other films I've seen but I left a better person for having seen it.

I think a good follow-up question is why would LDS or other specialized cultures want to be like Hollywood, Broadway or other big money, big talent but at times morally bankrupt institutions?

[KevinG]

I would prefer "Joseph Smith vs. The Volcano" myself

Brigham as the tribal chief?

[bluebell]

Didn't Michael Mclean's "The Ark" go broadway?

If i'm remembering correctly, they changed quite a bit of the original play to work better for secular audiences, but the changes weakened the play and it just wasn't good anymore.

I've heard the soundtracks from both versions and the broadway version is not at all good in my opinion when compared to the church version. It's too watered down to be usefull or entertaining.

[Duncan]

Brigham as the tribal chief?

Sure! Played by George Wendt of course

[cinepro]

Some reasons I think this would be difficult:

LDS themes appeal to a narrower audience than Broadway in general.

LDS artists (while some quite good) are a smaller talent pool to draw from than media arts in general.

Artists who sell themselves as LDS (or christian, or any other specialized group) can sometimes force their message into a particular lens and be a bit preachy.

Note that well produced entertainment and uplifing entertainment are two different things. I just saw Soul Surfer, which had good performances and passable production quality and was very uplifted and moved. It did not compare to the production quality of other films I've seen but I left a better person for having seen it.

Mostly good points, but I disagree about "LDS Themes". Basic "gospel" themes like forgiveness, sacrifice, service, family, hard work, and overcoming difficulty are universal. Les Miserables has some very Christian themes, but it has played to packed houses everywhere in the world, including non "Christian" cultures.

I think a good follow-up question is why would LDS or other specialized cultures want to be like Hollywood, Broadway or other big money, big talent but at times morally bankrupt institutions?

I haven't seen many "Mormon" plays, but from what I can tell from the movies, the reason they're not like Hollywood isn't because they've taken the moral high ground. It's because they're not very good.

Granted, most stuff that "Hollywood" puts out is garbage, but when they're good, they're very good.

Edited June 24, 2011 by cinepro

[Bond...James Bond]

I would prefer "Joseph Smith vs. The Volcano" myself

I'd put it at the top of my Netflix queue.

[TAO]

Sure we could... but not sure if we should =P. I'm not sure it is exactly good to mock people... not thinking the Lord would like it. I will be firm and somewhat straightforward, but mocking is a bit of a downer for me. =/

Best Wishes,

TAO

[thesometimesaint]

While we do have some very fine actors I think a Mormon themed Broadway play would come off as too didactic for the nonmormons in the audience, and not didactic enough for the Mormon ones.

Edited June 24, 2011 by thesometimesaint

[DH]

Mostly good points, but I disagree about "LDS Themes". Basic "gospel" themes like forgiveness, sacrifice, service, family, hard work, and overcoming difficulty are universal. Les Miserables has some very Christian themes, but it has played to packed houses everywhere in the world, including non "Christian" cultures.

I agree. There are plenty of universal themes LDS playwrights could work with that would resonate with a wider audience. We could theoretically produce a successful broadway musical, but it's hard to predict success. There are undoubtedly many existing musicals and plays, by both LDS and non-LDS people, that are excellent and worthy of success, but you just can't tell what will strike the public fancy. If writers knew a sure fire formula, they'd be on it like that!

I haven't seen many "Mormon" plays, but from what I can tell from the movies, the reason they're not like Hollywood isn't because they've taken the moral high ground. It's because they're not very good.

Granted, most stuff that "Hollywood" puts out is garbage, but when they're good, they're very good.

Again, agreed. I find it irritating when people take the old "us vs. them" attitude and claim that non-Mormon audiences won't accept our work because they just don't like Mormons, or because they don't like wholesome fare. What nonsense!

[LeSellers]

I'd like to see a true portrayal of a XIX Plural Family.

Maybe from the late 80s, when the father was in hiding to avoid the feds, and the mothers were struggling to support their children. John Taylor would die about half-way through. The father's conviction and sentence to the penetiary and his wives' sheer desperation would be evocative and poignant.

It should include the political intrigues and shenanigans among the powerful in Washington and their appointees in Utah and how they connived, through the Blaine amendment in Utah's constitution, to use government-run, tax-funded schools to indoctrinate LDS children away from the faith of their fathers and how politicians forced the Saints to throw out their home-grown political party and adopt the two-party system of Republicans and Democrats, so those in power could retain it (quite unconstitutionally, btw).

It would show how the uS government created, at the stroke of a pen, tens of thousands of ba$tards, and forced men to abandon their children. How that same government disenfranchised the women of Utah in a cynical power play to overturn the will of the people.

I believe it could be both entertaining and educational, especially if the foacus was not on the physical hardships, but on the spiritual side.

Lehi

[thesometimesaint]

Lehi:

I don't see that as a money making project. Along the same lines, while I appreciate the painting "Guernica", even if I could afford it(and I can't). I wouldn't hang it up in my living room.

[LeSellers]

I don't see that as a money making project. Along the same lines, while I appreciate the painting "Guernica", even if I could afford it(and I can't). I wouldn't hang it up in my living room.

People liked Death of a Salesman, and it's a lot less dramatic than what I'm proposing. Not everyone liked it, but enough did that it made money, and is considered a classic.

Lehi

Edited June 24, 2011 by LeSellers

[thesometimesaint]

Lehi:

I saw the TV version. While Dustin Hoffman is a fine actor. I still didn't like it. But maybe that's just me.

[LeSellers]

People liked Death of a Salesman, and it's a lot less dramatic than what I'm proposing. Not everyone liked it, but enough did that it made money, and is considered a classic.

I saw the TV version. While Dustin Hoffman is a fine actor. I still didn't like it. But maybe that's just me.

It wasn't "just [you]", but there were enough people who lliked it that they did make a TV version.

I believe a drama like the one I proposed could make money.

Lehi

[ELF1024]

With all the hubbub about The Book of Mormon musical and its blockbuster success on Broadway (9 Tony Awards, sold out through the end of the year...), there's one question I haven't heard asked:

Why couldn't Mormons create a Broadway play that is better than The Book of Mormon musical?

I'm pretty sure that a Mormon playwrite would do a great job on the first couple of Chapters of First Nephi.

Have some kind of great solo musical oratory by an Angel who interrupts Lamen and Lemule as they beat Nephi and Sam. And then another one as Nephi soul searches and fight with himself over the slaying of Laban...

[LeSellers]

I'm reading Simon Louvish's Cecil B. DeMille: A Life in Art. At this point, I'm up to c 1920.

I'm beginning to think that there are some directors (and actors, producers, etc.) who could transform "Making Staples" into a blockbuster movie, with three sequels ("Making Glass", "Making Shingles", and "Making Rope"). Some, on the other hand, could to turn "Gettysburg: Three Days of Gore" into a yawner.

There's an unlimited number of LDS subjects and themes that good writers and directors could be very successful doing. One of our prophets (whose name escapes me momentarily) said that the best poems, plays, music, and art have yet to be accomplished.

So, in my mind, at least, the answer to the question is, "Yes." (Although, I might add, that he was thinking of "best" in a very different way from what most broadway goers might perceive it to be.)

Lehi

[Duncan]

I think, "How Green was my Jello" would make a doozy of a LDS play if someone wanted to write it

[cinepro]

Some, on the other hand, could to turn "Gettysburg: Three Days of Gore" into a yawner.

You must be thinking of Ron Maxwell.

[thesometimesaint]

Duncan:

After innumeral church dinners I don't remember any with green Jello(outside of Utah). Pickled turkey for Thanksgiving one year(didn't go over very well), but no Green Jello.