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There is a musical episode of buffy.... jh Send a noteboard - 31/01/2010 09:50:22 AM
A few questions that I hope will provoke some discussion/mild debates/large-scale arguments/huge flame wars to scorch the very coding of this site.

So.

Are there any sci-fi or fantasy ( or if you prefer, "speculative fiction" ) musicals? Doesn't the concept seem fairly ludicrous? Can you think of any sf/f theater--or for that matter, cinema--that could possibly be taken seriously? There are a few old movies, like 2001: A Space Odyssey. But really, can you think of any made after, say, 1990?

Why do you think sf/f is largely not taken seriously? And why do you think it transfers so poorly to other media, given that so much of the theater's established classics have elements of the fantastic?

And no, A Midsummer Night's Dream is not "fantasy." Actually discuss the failings of the genre; don't try to co-opt other works into it.

EDIT: Chatting with someone about this has made it apparent my question isn't clear. In short, why aren't sf/f plays or musicals written, if the genre is deep? I'd prefer for the discussion to be limited to 20th century works and later, since I foresee anything else deteriorating rapidly into arguments for the inclusion of Homer's Iliad into the corpus of fantasy.


But perhaps this is the wrong place to ask, as the board is primarily about books, and musical set books are not at all common.

I honestly can't remember any real musicals based on these themes, but I can't see any reason why it won't work - the absurd nature of musicals could easily be fit into the somewhat strange setting of spaceships and/or dragons...
"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world" - Calvin.
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Obviously I have musicals on the brain. - 31/01/2010 06:36:33 AM 898 Views
Musicals are tricky things to do - 31/01/2010 07:57:44 AM 632 Views
Dr. Horribles' Sing A Long Blog - 31/01/2010 08:37:37 AM 638 Views
I think so. - 31/01/2010 04:25:27 PM 597 Views
There is a musical episode of buffy.... - 31/01/2010 09:50:22 AM 738 Views
Very interesting question. - 31/01/2010 12:19:51 PM 837 Views
Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide stories were originally radio plays - 31/01/2010 06:16:42 PM 742 Views
Nonsense. - 31/01/2010 07:22:25 PM 622 Views
I feel like I'm a broken record, telling you to re-read what I actually said - 31/01/2010 08:40:17 PM 633 Views
Yes, well, it was a fairly weak defense when you started using it. - 31/01/2010 09:23:49 PM 733 Views
I think you're underestimating the number of theater fans - 31/01/2010 10:00:52 PM 651 Views
I'd have to agree with you - it has become more of a niche. - 31/01/2010 10:16:02 PM 644 Views
I don't know, I've seen a theater adaptation of The Hobbit, for instance... - 31/01/2010 10:11:47 PM 671 Views
Not quite sure what I was thinking about cinema either. My defense was that it was 3 in the morning. - 31/01/2010 10:26:03 PM 581 Views
Good excuse. - 31/01/2010 10:39:13 PM 774 Views
Yes it is. - 01/02/2010 02:25:44 AM 819 Views
I would definitely count Little Shop of Horrors among some sort of sf/f mold. - 01/02/2010 12:56:40 AM 785 Views
Definitely. But again, it's campy and ludicrous. - 01/02/2010 02:25:00 AM 683 Views
Well, of course. That's what makes it awesome. - 01/02/2010 04:57:07 AM 688 Views
Re: Well, of course. That's what makes it awesome. - 01/02/2010 07:58:32 AM 668 Views
There are tons of them - 01/02/2010 08:37:35 AM 828 Views
Good point. - 01/02/2010 10:28:07 PM 731 Views
It is 19th century and it is opera . . . .. - 02/02/2010 06:55:28 PM 738 Views
Return to the Forbidden Planet - 06/02/2010 10:45:49 AM 819 Views
Yes, Wicked does. *NM* - 07/02/2010 04:19:56 AM 252 Views

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