Broadway goes to the movies with blockbuster adaptations

Pass the popcorn — Broadway is going to the movies!

The silver screen is lighting up Broadway, with musical adaptations of '80s and '90s blockbusters exploding onto the stage this season, including "Beetlejuice," "Tootsie," "Pretty Woman" and a production of "King Kong," which features a massive animatronic puppet taking center stage.

The show's cast members say that, for many of these titles, musicals are the perfect vehicles for adaptations.

"I think the very fact that you get to burst into song — the characters’ subtext is sung," says actress Orfeh, who stars in "Pretty Woman.”

"There's more that they can say, there's more that they can do," she added.

And it's not just musicals. Bryan Cranston is helming the classic drama "Network," and Jeff Daniels is stepping into the beloved character of Atticus Finch, in Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of the iconic novel and film "To Kill a Mockingbird."

The new shows join mega-screen-to-stage hits already lighting up the boards, like Disney juggernauts “The Lion King," "Aladdin" and "Frozen," as well as Tina Fey's "Mean Girls" and Sara Bareilles' "Waitress."

And the trend of movies on stage isn't going away anytime soon. "Moulin Rouge" opens on Broadway this summer and a version of "The Devil Wears Prada" is in the works, with Sir Elton John writing the music.

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