Published August 28th 2015
There once was a time when you thought a theatre was not the average place to go to if you wanted to hear mainstream music. However, pop music has always found it’s way to the theatre and it’s no surprise some of the pop artists have branched out in this business. It even seems that pop music takes over Broadway!
Kinky Boots Soundtrack
Cyndi Lauper, for instance, wrote the songs for the musical “Kinky Boots” based on the 2005 movie. The songs are a mix of club music and theatrical pieces. “Kinky Boots”, the musical, premiered in 2012 and is currently still running and still picking up awards. New York’s Broadway and London’s West End have also had the show on offer.
For Cyndi, this wasn’t her first encounter with the theatre world. She, herself, as an actress also made it to Broadway as part of the play “The Threepenny Opera”, back in 2006.
Taboo poster
From 2002 to 2003 a musical called “Taboo” hit the West End and Broadway. It’s music was written by Boy George and even a part of his pre fame life was used as inspiration for the musical. Even though it made it to the center stages of the theatre world, the musical was quickly forgotten. Slightly more succesful were the Pet Shop Boys. Their musical “Closer to Heaven” premiered in 2001 and has been running on and off since. They too, wrote original music for the production.
Mamma Mia Movie Poster
However, it were Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, otherwise known as the two B’s in ABBA, who preceeded all these stars as music composers for musicals in the mid 80s. They wrote the music for the production “Chess” and one of the songs, “I Know Him So Well”, even found it’s way to the charts, but the biggest succes was to come later. In 1999 ABBA’s own repertoir was used to create the musical: “Mamma Mia!”. Benny and Björn had taken things to another level and literally brought mainstream pop music to the theatres. The musical is still running and even was used to create the movie “Mamma Mia” with Merryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried.
Using popular music in musicals has never really been anything new. There’s even a term to describe these musicals which was first used in the 60s: Jukebox musical. However, it’s safe to say that “Mamma Mia” really pushed things forward, because these types of musicals have become all the more common since.
We WIll Rock You soundtrack
In 2002 Queen songs were used in a similar way to create the musical “We Will Rock You”. Brian May and Roger Taylor were no fans of musicals and the serious theatre critics were clearly not a fan of this musical. Just like “Mamma Mia”, the songs only create a grid to tell a story that has nothing to do with the band. Ben Elton wrote the story and, even though it got a bad reception from the press, the musical has continued to run ever since it’s premier.
The Bodyguard musical soundtrack
Whitney Houston‘s role in the movie “The Bodyguard” has also been taken to the theatres and got linked to the deceased star indefinitely. The movie originally premiered in 1992 and brought us the most played song of that year, her rendition of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You“. An adapted musical version of the movie was made in 2012 and has hit theatres ever since. Even though the movie only featured a few songs sung by Whitney, some of her other songs, have been incorporated into the musical version as well.
On Your Feet! poster
It won’t take long until another big female superstar will premier her own musical: Gloria Estefan. “On Your Feet” will officially debut on Broadway on November 15th 2015. Previews will already start a month sooner. The musical is based on her live and her rise to fame and will feature all of her greatest hits. Try-outs have already taken place and have been received well by the press. Gloria Estefan and husband Emilio are heavily involved in the production and have even written a few new songs for the musical.
Other musicals still running that have been inspired by artists and popular music are “Jersey Boys” and “Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story”.
Read more:
On Your Feet musical
Kinky Boots Musical
KINKY BOOTS Celebrates 1,000 Broadway Performances in Style Tonight (Broadwayworld)
We Will Rock You Musical
The Bodyguard Musical
The ten best songs from musicals written by pop stars (Time Out)
