Shows Go from Broadway to Big Screen, Back Again

By Bob Mondello

Published December 2, 2005 at 12:00 AM EST

A film version of the Broadway musical Rent is now singing and dancing at your local cineplex -- soon to be joined by The Producers. Both are following in the footsteps of Chicago, another successful Broadway show that made its way to the silver screen.

Meanwhile, a stage musical based on the movie The Color Purple has just arrived on Broadway, soon to be joined by Tarzan.

Cross-pollination between stage and screen isn't new. But critic Bob Mondello says it's becoming more common -- and more profitable.

Bob Mondello

Bob Mondello, who jokes that he was a jinx at the beginning of his critical career — hired to write for every small paper that ever folded in Washington, just as it was about to collapse — saw that jinx broken in 1984 when he came to NPR.

See stories by Bob Mondello

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $21 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

Donate