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Playbill News
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Composer Adam Guettel and screenwriter William Goldman will collaborate on a musical version or the hit fairy tale film "The Princess Bride," the New York Post reported.
The 1987 Rob Reiner-directed, Goldman-penned movie fits the teasing description Guettel gave for his next project, while speaking backstage at the 2005 Tony Awards. While hesitant to specifically name his next musical due to "legal reasons," he did say it would have a "fairy tale" nature and would involve "a lot of swordfighting."
"The Princess Bride" delighted audiences with its mix of sincere medieval magic and mocking parody of the swashbuckling film genre. The flick starred Cary Elwes and Robin Wright as each other's true love, and Chris Sarandon as the evil prince who would keep them apart. The film also starred Mandy Patinkin as a swordsman out for vengeance, Christopher Guest as another baddie, Wallace Shawn and Andre the Giant as two unlikely compatriots, and Billy Crystal and Carol Kane as an ancient wizard and his wife.
The material would make for a decided shift to the lighthearted for Guettel, whose two previous musicals, Floyd Collins and The Light in the Piazza, both examine the darker and moodier sides of human nature.
Goldman is a famed screenwriter known for the films "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "All the President's Men" and "Marathon Man." He also wrote the classic examination of the Broadway world, "The Season."
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Possibilities, possibilties. The book was great, the movie was great. Fairytales and musicals are a natural fit. But, can it work without the original actors? Of course, I haven't seen Spamalot yet, either; that would be a perfect testcase.