In recent years, Broadway has been criticized for its lack of originality when referring to not only the stories being told, but also where they get their basis; Very few ideas are entirely original. Looking at the musical theatre canon a trend is noticeable around using already established worlds and fan bases, that were built for other entertainment platform, and converting them into a theatrically staged, musical narrative. Musicals have been based on books (Les Miserables), plays (Carousel), paintings (Sunday in the Park with George), on a band’s or an artist's musicography (Jersey Boys), the cultural sound of a decade (Rock of Ages), and historical figures (Hamilton), but the one that seems to get the most criticism are musicals based on movies. In recent years a plethora of movie based musicals have been present in mainstream theatre, some have flopped like Rocky or Ghost and some were hits like The Lion King or Billy Elliot. The concept of a movie turned musical seems to be a hit or a miss, but theatrical artists can make careers out of …show more content…
Richard Zoglin of Times Magazine called it “the best musical since The Lion King ("Matilda: The Best Musical Since The Lion King"). David Benedict from Variety wrote “Matilda turns out to be an explosion of joy, the most exhilarating and flat-out best musical since Billy Elliot,” ("Legit Review: ‘Matilda’"). The show was nominated for 13 Tony awards, winning only four of the competitive awards including: book of a musical, featured actor, scenic design and lighting design. The show won a single noncompetitive award for its leading young ladies, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre. All around the show was well received by critics and audiences. It ran on Broadway for almost four years, only closing this past January and it is still open on the West