Big Screen to the Big Stage

Big Screen to the Big Stage
By Carrie Law

You may have noticed when looking at the line-up of Broadway shows coming to ASU Gammage next season that almost all the titles are also major motion pictures. While for most the movie came first, we wanted to take a look at the similarities and differences between the production on the big screen and production on the big stage. This summer we’ve partnered with MADCAP Theaters on Mill Avenue to give you the chance to rediscover these shows on the screen before you see them live on stage at ASU Gammage. The movie screenings are FREE, and this past week, moviegoers enjoyed showings of the movies “Billy Elliot” and “Young Frankenstein.”

“Billy Elliot”, the Oscar-nominated film that hit the big screen in 2000, starred Jamie Bell as the young “Billy.” BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL was later brought to life by the movie’s original creative team – director Stephen Daldry, choreographer Peter Darling and writer Lee Hall, along with music legend Elton John, when it made its world premiere in London in 2005. The plot and the setting are the same in both the movie and the musical: set during the UK miners' strike (1984–1985), the audience follows Billy’s journey as he stumbles out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class where he discovers his dream to dance.

Unlike the movie, BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL is split into two Acts and includes 16 musical numbers such as “Expressing Yourself,” “He Could Be a Star,” and “Electricity.” While the movie had one actor playing the role of young Billy, the demanding role on stage requires three young actors (who must also sing, dance, act and do acrobatics) to alternate who performs on stage each night.

You’ll notice a few other differences in the stage version versus the movie, such as in the where Billy’s father has a change of heart about his son’s love of dance and when Billy finds out his friend Michael has feelings for him. There are also some differences in the scene where Billy receives the letter about whether or not he made it into the dance school. I won’t spoil this part for you if you haven’t yet seen the movie or musical!

Please note, there is strong language in both the movie and the stage production of BILLY ELLIOT.

“Young Frankenstein” is the 1974 Mel Brooks smash-hit comedy we all know and love, starring Gene Wilder, but how was this black and white, tongue-in-cheek comedy adapted to play within the proscenium arch? Well for one thing, you can definitely expect to find audience members at the musical remembering many of the classic lines from the film before they’re even recited on stage. And you’ll notice many of the songs created for the musical are born out of the familiar dialogue from the movie, like “Please Don’t Touch Me,” “Roll in the Hay,” “He Vas My Boyfriend,” and of course, the musical wouldn’t be complete without the memorable “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” Keep an eye out though, as there’s a new element added to the stage version that wasn’t in the movie, when the ghost of Frederick Frankenstein’s grandfather appears and urges him to join the family business!

The plot is largely carried over from the movie, but some scenes are expanded to musical numbers, and many gags have been added or updated. For example, in Act I of the musical, Frederick Frankenstein is ashamed to be a Frankenstein, insisting his name be pronounced "Fronkensteen" and that he is not a madman but

a scientist. Then, while he lectures his students about the greatest mind of science, he breaks into musical number "The Brain."

The main difference in the stage version of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN versus the movie comes toward the ending, which on stage includes an attempted hanging, an appearance from another Transylvania celebrity, and more!

Join us this coming Thursday and Friday evening at 6 p.m. at MADCAP Theaters for FREE showings of HAIR and MAMMA MIA! and let us know what you think will stay the same from the movie to the stage, and what new elements you predict might be added to the stage version.

Thursday, July 22 – 6 p.m. – HAIR

Friday, July 23 – 6 p.m. – MAMMA MIA!

MADCAP Theaters
730 S. Mill Avenue
Tempe, AZ 85281
www.madcaptheaters.com
**Movies to be shown in the Bookman’s theater.

Corporate Support

Peter Means, ASU Gammage Director of Development

Corporations play a critical philanthropic role in the communities where they do business, especially where their presence is strong. For many corporations, it is a gesture of appreciation to the community members, cities and towns that support their businesses. It is also an investment in the places where corporations’ employees live, work, go to school and enjoy social and cultural experiences. When times are tough economically, however, corporations often have to reduce or eliminate corporate giving because their first duty is to the shareholder. At ASU Gammage, we have been very fortunate to have continued support from caring corporate partners throughout the economic downturn.

Here are just a few examples of how gifts from US Airways, Arizona Lottery, Scottsdale Insurance, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, APS and Target helped ASU Gammage brighten lives and enhance education in Arizona during the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

- 3,418 K-12 students attended performances at ASU Gammage’s Scottsdale Insurance/Nationwide Foundation Performances for Students Series. Students either paid a $3 fee to attend the performance or were admitted free based on need. Attendance was up 66 percent over FY09 due to a new bus scholarship program funded by Scottsdale Insurance/Nationwide Foundation.

- 800 students and 45 teachers from the Peoria Unified School District: Desert Harbor Elementary School took part in Arts Leading Learning Model – an adapted arts integration model based on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA), in partnership with ASU Gammage.

- 198 students, 9 teachers and 2 administrators at Foothills Elementary School in the Peoria Unified School district took part for the first time in the Arts Leading Learning Model project.

- 91 K-12 teachers attended 4 Kennedy Center Professional Development Workshops learning how to incorporate the arts across the curriculum. The workshops were hosted by ASU Gammage in our partner school districts, Peoria Unified School District and Mesa Public Schools, but were open to all teachers regardless of district affiliation.

- 575 students participated in artist residency activities with international artists Nora Chipaumire, Thomas Mapfumo, Kristina Wong and Keo Woolford. An additional 1,750 students and community members attended performances by these artists at a small or no cost.

- 400 Broadway show tickets were given through the Military Family Ticket Fund to spouses and children of Arizona’s deployed military and recently returning military from Arizona’s National Guard and Army Reserves.

- 121 K-12 students from Crossroads Focus School in Mesa, Raymond S. Kellis High School in Glendale, Tumbleweed Transitional in Phoenix and the Learning Foundation and Performing Arts School in Gilbert took part in School to Work programs. The School to Work program provides students with unique insight into some of the careers available in an arts presenting organization like ASU Gammage through a three hour interactive workshop at ASU Gammage.

- 85 fifth grade students and teachers from Jefferson Elementary in Mesa took part in the Kaleidoscope Program. The students spent two months participating in a wide array of projects relating to the Broadway show, MARY POPPINS, including reading the original P.L. Travers book, creating character poetry, exploring class and status in Edwardian England, and journeying into the imaginary worlds of their own artwork through creative writing projects. The program culminated in attending a performance of MARY POPPINS at ASU Gammage - for many this was the first time they had ever attended a live performance – and a dinner reception with the MARY POPPINS cast.

- ASU Gammage provided $42,000 in full and partial scholarships for 20 students to attend Camp Broadway, a performing arts summer camp that allows campers to work collaboratively with Broadway performers, directors, musicians and choreographers.

- 75 youth and mentors from Phoenix Youth at Risk participated in the Art of Me Workshops; a series of visual and performing arts workshops that inspire self-esteem and confidence in participating youth.

- 25 women took part in Journey Home. Presented by ASU Gammage at Estrella Jail each year, Journey Home is an arts residency program designed to enable incarcerated women to discover a sense of their identity through performance, visual arts, creative writing and storytelling. The program has proven to reduce recidivism by 60 percent.

- Thousands of ASU Students, local k-12 students and community members participated in ASU Gammage Free Public Educational Activities including open rehearsals, backstage tours, , post-performance talk backs with the casts and crews from the ASU Gammage Broadway and BEYOND performances and free performances.

- Thousands of students received half-price tickets on day of show for all Broadway Series performances and $10 tickets for BEYOND series performances and took part in master classes with national Broadway touring artists.

- Hundreds of ASU students participated in Campus Connections at ASU Gammage events including the Broadway Buzz and Open Mic Nights.

- 26 free morning concerts at the Kerr Cultural Center. 6,500 total attendance.

New Partnerships

ASU Gammage has forged a new partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an organization which directly helps thousands of refugees from around the world who have been uprooted from their homes and have settled in the Phoenix area. ASU Gammage invited refugee youth to participate in interactive dance workshops with ASU Gammage BEYOND artists Nora Chipaumire and Keo Woolford, and provided complimentary tickets for youth and families to attend BEYOND performances. 63 youth participated in workshops. Additionally, ASU Gammage was excited to provide full scholarships for two refugee youth to participate in Camp Broadway.

Thank you to ASU Gammage’s wonderful corporate partners. Together, we make a big difference!