MovieChat Forums > The Ten Commandments: The Musical (2006) Discussion > Okay...so why not just make Prince of Eg...

Okay...so why not just make Prince of Egypt a stage musical?


This production was obviously not very good. I think there was potential, but BEFORE Prince of Egypt was released.
Prince of Egypt has far better music, far better writing, is far less cheesy, far more exciting, and would not have been that hard to translate to the stage. Not to mention that they both star Val Kilmer. The Ten Commandments: The Musical seems almost like a production you'd see at a church pageant...good effort, but just doesn't work. Guitar riffs and techno music in ancient Egypt? Please no.

Plus Prince of Egypt's amazing score was written by Stephen Schwartz, a composer highly respected on Broadway for his excellent musicals like Pippin and Wicked. Another interesting tidbit is that Zipporah's father Jethro is voiced by Brian Stokes Mitchell, a famous Broadway leading man. Just have him play Jethro on stage!

Think about it...how awesome would it be to see and hear "Deliver Us" on stage? Or "Playing with the Big Boys"? Or "Through Heaven's Eyes"? And "When You Believe" would make a spectacular ending on stage. Just listen to the soundtrack- it's just as good (perhaps better) than many Broadway cast albums.

If they can put animated movies like Beauty & the Beast, Lion King, Tarzan, and The Little Mermaid on Broadway, they can put Prince of Egypt up there too.

That's my opinion anyway.

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I totally agree with every said above.

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I have one thing to say, in response to everything you just said:

"Word."

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I agree with everything you said except this: "Guitar riffs and techno music in ancient Egypt? Please no." I point you to Andrew Lloyd Webber's /Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat/, which used a variety of musical styles, including pop-rock, French chanson, and country-western, all of which oddly worked. (Look for the DVD version featuring Donny Osmond and Joan Collins, it's quite good!) I'd also point out the same composer's /Jesus Christ Superstar/, which tells the Passion of Jesus Christ in a DECIDEDLY rock opera fashion, and is AMAZING.

That aside, I agree - PoE would have been a MUCH better choice to stage. I'd love to see them do it. Sadly, Dreamworks doesn't have the clout (or their own stages) to get PoE up in New York - all the ones you mentioned are Disney, and they outright own two of the largest Broadway houses.

Just as an aside, did you know that SeaWorld's main orca show, Believe, uses "When You Believe" as its main theme music?

Randy A Goldberg MD

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AMEN. However, there is one redeeming quality of this musical: THE SHEER LAUGH FACTOR. It was in the $4 movie bin, and it was almost worth the four bucks. Almost.

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