The popular and seemingly never ending board game is going to experience a facelift: when it starts playing on Broadway. Hasbro Inc. recently announced that it has partnered with producers the Araca Group to bring a new musical based on the 81-year-old board game to the Great White Way, a different concept indeed.
For the creatives, the Monopoly brand’s lack of a traditional, built-in storyline gives them more freedom to explore new, creative possibilities and experiment with the narrative too. Other major elements of the show also have yet to be developed, such as casting, musical scores and the creative concepts which will guide the entire musical. An option that is currently being batted around is the currently fashionable immersive experience, giving audiences the opportunity to be part of the show itself.
It is also rumoured that Hasbro hasn’t ruled out bringing any of its brands, which include Play-Doh, Stretch Armstrong and My Little Pony, to Broadway. This is very fitting considering the current make up of Broadway; of the 24 musicals currently on Broadway, only four are originals: Chicago, The Book of Mormon, Cirque du Soleil musical Paramour and Something Rotten! Adaptations began on Broadway in 1997, when The Lion King arrived; the potential of a ‘Monopoly the musical’ may just work.
It is clear that adaptations work in theatre, particularly film to musical as well as new concerts such as Monopoly. Universal is developing Back to the Future and Bombshell, the show-within-a-show about Marilyn Monroe from the TV series Smash. Sony is developing Tootsie and Warner Bros.’ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, currently onstage in London, will open on Broadway in April. Warner is also developing stage productions based on Beetlejuice, 17 Again, Dave and Dog Day Afternoon. In 2013, Fox partnered with a Broadway producer to develop musicals based on its films, and are currently developing The Devil Wears Prada and Mrs Doubtfire. Watch this space!