Watch one of three possible movies observe, analyze and comment on the people involved in the theatre productions going on within the films

For this part of the course, you must watch one of three possible movies. Two of these movies are humorous adaptations of how theatre is produced, one isn’t. I don’t care which one you watch, but you have to watch one of them. Two of them are closed-captioned and the other is not.

You will need to observe, analyze and comment on the people involved in the theatre productions going on within the films, not the people that are involved in creating the movie.

Don’t tell me about the movie, tell me about how theatre is created. Here we go…

Presently available on many different streaming sites (YouTube, Amazon, Vudu…), Mel Brook’s 1967 movie The Producers is a riotous sendup of greedy musical producers, lunatic actors and clueless directors. It is charming and funny, if a little dated. Watch the version with Gene Wilder, not the one with Matthew Broderick!

The second film is called Bullets Over Broadway, by Woody Allen, and this film does the same thing to a drama during 1920’s New York. Unfortunately, this is not captioned.

The third possible film you can view is also contained here is Canvas. This is a serious look at the production of a musical from inception to Broadway. This film is FULL of all sorts of adult language and will continue your understanding of theatre that began when you read the two reviews of American Idiot. The film itself is called “Broadway Idiot” and it chronicles the process of turning American Idiot into a musical.

You will write a short critique (2 pages or so) on any one of the listed films according to the Grading Rubric for Theatre Films.