As summer winds down, there are plenty of movies coming to streaming for theatre lovers to enjoy. New titles like Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Cinderella and the film capture of Come From Away are major spectacles. In addition, the 74th Annual Tony Awards celebrates the best of the 2019-2020 Broadway season at the end of the month.
Plus, check out favorites like Clue, Young Frankenstein, Mean Girls, School of Rock, and Meet Me in St. Louis, which inspired stage adaptations.
Check out the listings below. All titles are released September 1 unless otherwise noted.
Amazon Prime Video
Clue
Could it have been Miss Scarlet in the library with a rope? Perhaps it’s Professor Plum in the study with a pipe! Revisit this cult favorite, based on the board game and featuring multiple endings, before it comes to Paper Mill Playhouse in early 2022. The ‘80s murder mystery comedy has a star-studded roster of stage and screen favorites like Tim Curry, Madeline Khan, Lesley Ann Warren, Eileen Brennan, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, and Martin Mull.
Romeo & Juliet
Before Baz Luhrmann brought Moulin Rouge! to the big screen (and then the stage), he contemporized Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers in a ‘90s blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. While the movie retains the original dialogue, the film changes the setting to America, with the Capulets and Montagues portrayed as mob families using modern weapons, exchanging steel for bullets. (The film is also available on Hulu and Paramount+)
Young Frankenstein
Mel Brooks directed and co-wrote (with star Gene Wilder) this 1974 comedy that follows the trials and tribulations of Dr. Frankenstein (that’s “Fronkensteen”). Hijinks ensue and the cast of supporting characters are hilarious, including Peter Boyle as the monster, Marty Feldman as servant Igor, Teri Garr as assistant Inga, and Cloris Leachman as housekeeper Frau Blücher (*whinnies*). A stage adaptation opened in 2007, with a revised edition opening in London’s West End in 2017. A live TV version was announced shortly before the pandemic, but no updates have been provided since.
Cinderella (September 3)
The latest adaptation of the fairy tale stars Tony winner Idina Menzel as the Stepmother, Tony and Emmy winner Billy Porter as a non-binary Fairy Godparent named Fab G, and Camila Cabello in the title role. The film features contemporary pop tracks like “Material Girl,” “Let’s Get Loud,” and “Somebody to Love.” Rounding out the cast are Minnie Driver, Pierce Brosnan, Missy Elliott, James Corden, John Mulaney, and Fra Fee. Click here to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (September 17)
From the classroom to the stage, Jamie has big dreams of being a drag queen—and a chance encounter might make them all come true. The stage-to-screen adaptation of the West End musical stars Max Haywood in the title role, along with Richard E. Grant as Hugo/Loco Chanelle, Sharon Horgan as Miss Hedge, and Lauren Patel as Pritti Pasha. Jonathan Butterell and Kate Prince, director and choreographer of the original production, respectively, reprise their work for the movie. Click here to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
Birds of Paradise (September 24)
After moving to Paris on a ballet scholarship, Kate Sanders finds herself tested by fellow dancers, especially Marine Durand. While confrontational at first, their relationship evolves into something much more as they risk everything to win the school’s ultimate prize—a contract to join the Opéra national de Paris. The movie, based on A.K. Small’s novel Bright Burning Stars, features Diana Silvers, Kristine Froseth, and Jacqueline Bisset. Sarah Adina Smith writes the screenplay and directs.
Apple TV+
Come From Away (September 10)
Watch this true story of 7,000 stranded air passengers during the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. The film capture was recorded at Broadway’s Schoenfeld theatre (where the musical will return September 21), including original cast members Jenn Colella (who earned a Tony nomination for her performance), Petrina Bromley, Joel Hatch, Caesar Samayoa, Q. Smith, Astrid Van Wieren, and Sharon Wheatley. Click here to watch on Apple TV+.
Disney+
Disney’s Broadway Hits At London’s Royal Albert Hall (September 17)
Celebrate two decades of Disney Theatrical’s stage musicals with this concert recording. Tony and eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken performs with the BBC Concert orchestra, alongside Merle Dandrige (Tarzan), Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins), Trevor Dion Nicholas (Aladdin), and co-host John Barrowman.
HBO Max
Meet Me in St. Louis
Judy Garland leads this classic 1944 MGM movie musical, which centers on the Smith Family in 1903 St. Louis, following them through a year of their trials and tribulations. Directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by Arthur Freed, the score includes such songs as “The Boy Next Door,” “The Trolley Song,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” along with, of course, the title song.
On the Town
Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller, Jules Munshin, and Vera Ellen lead the cast of this 1949 film adaptation of the 1943 World War II-era Broadway musical. This movie jettisons much of Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green’s original stage score—only “New York, New York” and “Come Up to My Place” made the cut, supplanted with five new songs written by Comden, Green, and composer Roger Edens—but this movie more than stands on its own. The opening scene alone, capturing Kelly, Sinatra, and Munshin traipsing through 1940s Manhattan, is reason to give this a watch.
Rent
This 1996 Pulitzer- and Tony-winning musical made its way to the big screen with most of its original Broadway cast intact—including Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Jesse L. Martin, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, and more—in this 2005 film adaptation. The Jonathan Larson musical, inspired by the Puccini opera La Bohéme, centers on a group of Bohemians living in New York City’s East Village.
That’s Entertainment, Volumes I-III
The classic movie musicals of MGM are on display in this three-part compilation film series. You won’t find much plot, but you’ll be overloaded with incredible dancing and beautiful singing, strung together with remarks from some of MGM’s most beloved stars themselves. If you’re looking for a crash course in the best of classic movie musicals, this is an excellent place to start.
Promising Young Woman (September 25)
Carey Mulligan stars as a woman trying to balance forgiveness with her intense desire for vengeance for past traumas in this movie co-starring Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Connie Britton, and more. The film is written, produced, and directed by Emerald Fennell, bookwriter for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical take on Cinderella.
Hulu
La La Land (September 8)
Broadway vet Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling star in this movie-musical love letter to Hollywood, following the romantic and artistic entanglement of an aspiring actor (Stone) and a jazz composer (Gosling). The film’s Academy Award-winning music includes songs with music by Justin Hurtwitz and lyrics by Dear Evan Hansen writers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Click here to watch on Hulu. (Also available on Amazon Prime Video, free with ads)
Netflix
School of Rock
Jack Black stars in this 2003 film about a struggling rock guitarist who poses as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school for some extra cash, ultimately forming and leading a band of fifth graders to glory at the local Battle of the Bands contest. Directed by Richard Linklater—currently playing the long game with a movie adaptation of Sondheim and Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along—this movie was adapted for Broadway in 2015, earning 12 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Alex Brightman.
Paramount+
Mean Girls
This totally fetch 2004 movie sees formerly homeschooled Cady Heron, played by Lindsay Lohan, navigating the mean world of public school, complete with band geeks, JV and varsity jocks, art freaks, and of course, the all-powerful Plastics, led by queen bee Regina George. Written by and featuring Tina Fey, this film was adapted for Broadway in 2018, earning 12 Tony nominations.
The 74th Annual Tony Awards (September 26)
Broadway’s back and so are The Tony Awards, at last! Celebrate the 2019-2020 Broadway season with the much anticipated 74th Annual Tony Awards, streaming for the first time on Paramount+. After the ceremony, tune in to CBS for a special concert marking Broadway’s return. Performances are expected from Best Musical nominees Moulin Rouge!, Tina, and Jagged Little Pill, along with appearances from a host of your favorite Broadway stars. Click here to subscribe to Paramount+.
Peacock
Beetlejuice
This 1988 film from Tim Burton inspired a musical that debuted on Broadway 30 years later. The movie follows a deceased couple (here played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) who hire an exorcist (Michael Keaton) to remove the living from their home. Standing in their way on the mortal plane are a nouveau-riche couple (Catherine O’Hara and Jeffrey Jones) looking to make a quick buck while their goth teenage daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder).
