Seen The Movie, Now Come To The Play, Er, Movie…Er…

Used to be that theatre productions used to depend on stars to attract audiences. But lately, movies have been the draw. “Miramax, the studio that created ‘Chicago,’ has secured the rights to film at least three more Broadway musicals. Two of them — ‘Guys and Dolls’ and ‘Damn Yankees’ — have been given the Hollywood treatment before. And industry publications have said in recent weeks that uber-producer/director Steven Spielberg is interested in creating a film version of Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 masterpiece, ‘Sweeney Todd.’ If these projects do make it to movie theaters, it will represent a turnaround from Broadway’s recent history.”