Hi Theatre-goers
There have been brilliant film to stage adaptations… Take a bow : Disney’s The Lion King, Kinky Boots, The Bodyguard, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Phantom of the Opera (to name a few) and then there have been the ones that should have stayed strictly on celluloid … hang your head in shame Gone with the Wind, From Here to Eternity, La Cava, Lord of the Rings, Xanadu, Titanic, Jekyl & Hyde and Carrie (although a few of those found success on Broadway, but didn’t cut it with British audiences).
During the last twelve months we’ve had a series of announcements and indeed some openings of mega-successful films being brought back to life in musical form on stage such as Andre Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock, Disney’s Aladdin, Back to the Future and Groundhog Day (ok the last one’s a play, not a musical), but I was more than surprised to hear that The Hunger Games is being turned into a musical and reportedly opening this summer (2016) at a specifically built venue next to Wembley Arena.
After scrolling through the internet it does seems that there are a number of American high school productions (and parody’s) of The Hunger Games about, so perhaps there really is a back-bone for a proper script, catchy songs and a 40 strong ensemble cast hop, skipping & a-jumping around on stage.
Ever the sceptic I will believe it when I see it!
If you’ve been living under a rock for the past six years, The Hunger Games is a trilogy of teen fiction books written by Suzanne Collins. The books were then adapted into four hugely successful films culminating in the final part released in November 2015.
The story follows 16 year old Katniss Evergreen (played by Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence in the films) who lives in a dystopian world called Panem. She is a bit of a rebel and just about tows the line under the authority of the Capital district’s laws. However, when her younger sister is picked to take part in the annual Hunger Games, a savage “game” of destroying your “enemy” until there’s only one survivor, Katnis steps in to take her place and so begins her journey from teen to woman as her heroics in the games builds a revolution against the power of the Capital.
With no opening date or cast announcement as yet, I will wait with baited breath to see if The Hunger Games the Musical really does happen.
Have a great weekend
