Books That Should Be Adapted into Musicals

Well, tomorrow I'm going to have a post about my favourite musicals that have been adapted from books. But what about the scads and scads of books that have yet to be adapted into musicals? Sure, not all of them would work in the musical theatre format, BUT here are a few that I think are primed and ready for a stage version:

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

This classic children's book is rife with perfect stage elements: fantastic costumes, an amazing set, and an epic journey. I imagine it in the vein of other children's book musical adaptations, like Charlotte's Web, Pippi Longstocking and Anne of Green Gables. Not necessarily a Broadway showstopper, but it could be a lot of fun (with a dark edge...)

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

This is one that I think would be incredibly logistically challenging. After all, how would you put Lilliputians and Gulliver on stage at the same time, and still reflect that they're...well, Lilliputians? Ditto that for Gulliver and the giant farmer. But I'm a sucker for adventure stories—or misadventure stories, as the case may be—and I also think there are some really interesting things that could be done with casting to further inspect the themes of the story.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Okay, I fully own that this one could be a HUGE disaster. People are very attached to Douglas Adams, and to Hitchhiker's Guide, and they're likely to have strong feelings about any sort of adaptation. After a not-super-successful film adaptation, it doesn't feel like there's anything to lose in trying it in the musical format. The zaniness of the story is perfect for a setting in which people spontaneously burst into song and dance.

The Madeline Books by Ludwig Bemelmans

I picture this styled similarly to You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, in a series of vignettes rather than a necessarily cohesive storyline, mixed with Matilda, with a super talented cast of young actors. There's a wealth of adventures and stories about Madeline to mine, and I was thinking it would be cool to have backdrops with the original illustrations of background elements on it, as the action happens in front.

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Honestly, I kind of picked this one just because I want to see some of the stage magic that would have to happen with tiny people/huge household objects vs. human-sized people/normal sized household objects. I don't even know that it's a feasible or realistic pick, but I would love to see it, and I feel like if we can do things like Mary Poppins and The Lion King and Peter Pan and Spider-Man (hopefully with less injuries), maybe we can get this one on the stage too. I also just think the music could be really fun.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Fun Home paved the way for comic coming-of-age memoirs being translated to (super heavy) musicals. This autobiography from Satrapi is about her childhood growing up in Iran during and after the Islamic revolution. Musicals love memoirs, and they love political revolutions.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

This is another book for which there's already been a less-than-stellar film adaptation. (Not knocking it, for anyone who liked it. I just don't imagine it had the box office returns they were looking for.) It's a great opportunity to have something that could be commercially successful AND also great for families, and the ever-important stage magic element would be amazing as well. Plus, I always love to see what costume designers and hair/make-up designers can cook up for non-human characters.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Rather than rebooting this for film (which is inevitable, let's be honest), maybe we can think about bringing it to the stage? It's already got huge name recognition, it's another example of a story that would work for families and all-age audiences, and has a number of elements of the other books I've already included (stage magic, awesome costumes, etc).

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Once again, musicals love the themes of history, revolution and fraternity. There's some adventure, there's some romance (ish), not to mention what are sure to be some kick-ass sword fights.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Namely, I want the Dracula musical that Jason Segel was writing in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, complete with Henson-style puppets.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

I have fond memories of these wacky stories from growing up, and also of re-reading them with some of my students during my year in AmeriCorps. Like with Madeline, there's not really an opportunity for a cohesive storyline, so a series of vignettes might be best. Or maybe it would be interesting to see someone try to make a cohesive storyline, as they would with a jukebox musical. But in reverse. Anyway, there's lots of opportunity for some hilarious songs, I think, and there are also more Sideways Stories in case this first book in the series doesn't have enough musical material.

The Witches by Roald Dahl

A week before I posted this list, I started gathering ideas, including The Witches, a Roald Dahl book, the movie version of which fascinated and terrified me as a child. I loved Matilda, and I think seeing the stage magic in The Witches would be amazing. And then, on Friday, the National Theatre announced their season, including the premiere of a musical version of The Witches. So basically I'm clairvoyant. And also have really stellar ideas about what books should be produced as musicals. Keep an eye out for musical versions of the other books on this list any day now. I'll have predicted those too.

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Which books would you add to the musical adaptation queue?

(Many thanks to my friend Gina for helping me brainstorm this list, including straight-up suggesting a few of the books on this list.)

Note: Most of these books contain what are historically assumed to be white, cisgender, hetero characters. And a majority of the books are written by white men. I do think there are many other books, written by diverse authors, containing diverse characters, that could absolutely be included on this list. As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about the holes in representation both in stories and in casting in musical theatre, I see the gaps in the adaptations I proposed here as well. However, I also think that almost all of these stories could and should be adapted to include greater diversity, which is what I was picturing when I went through this.