# Musicals based on comic strips **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2005, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300 "2005-03-13T05:55:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/1 "2005-03-13T05:55:37Z")
Years ago, I read a book called **On Mermaid Avenue**. (It’s good but not great.) Anyway, late in the story, the main character’s friend gets engaged to a guy that everyone thinks is a complete dolt. One example of this is, he plans to produce a Broadway musical based on a comic strip. Not necessarily a bad idea in itself, but the main character replies, “There’s already been a musical based on that strip.” Now, the name of the comic strip was not given, but reading [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=302826) reminded me of that scene, and I’m wondering now, as I did then, how many musicals have been based on comic strips? Or comic books? Peanuts (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown) Doonesbury (Little Orphan) Annie (It’s a Bird It’s a Plane It’s) Superman L’il Abner * * * Any others? ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/2 "2005-03-13T13:32:56Z")
I remember my parents talking about a groaner based on _Dick Tracy_ they had seen in '50s. Since they had never been to New York to see a Broadway production, I have to believe it was either a touring company or a regional theater production. My father used the badness of this production to refuse to go to any more for decades. His comment was, “I’ve seen a musical - didn’t like it. Why waste any more of my time?” (There was a bit of Archie Bunker in my father) I also heard sometime in the last year or so that there was in production a musical of _Kathy_. I don’t know where I heard it and I don’t know how valid the statement was. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/3 "2005-03-13T13:44:23Z")
I just remembered another. Jules Feiffer who did a strip for the Village Voice for years had a musical called _The Explainers_ run on Broadway. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/4 "2005-03-13T17:50:30Z")
And of course, there was _Oh Marmaduke_ that ran on Broadway for over sixteen years. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/5 "2005-03-13T17:52:14Z")
But on a serious note, while it wasn’t a stage production there was an animated musical version of _For Better of Worse_. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/6 "2005-03-13T18:02:05Z")
The short-lived production of \*\*Family Circus \*\* at the Circle in the Square is legendary, right up there with the **Frankenstein** musical, for bad ideas over Broadway. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/7 "2005-03-13T18:24:44Z")
Wasn’t there a Dagwood and Blondie movie series that desended from a stage play? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/8 "2005-03-13T18:56:23Z")
There was, it seems, a stage play of Captain America. I have never found anyone who’s seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/9 "2005-03-13T19:54:11Z")
Well, the Popeye movie was a musical, based on cartoons based on a comic strip. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/10 "2005-03-14T01:28:47Z")
Cool! Thanks for responding. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/11 "2005-03-14T03:19:28Z")
Back in the '70s, I saw a musical based on _The Wizard of Id_ at the University of Maryland at College Park. Don’t know if it ever played elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/12 "2005-03-14T11:06:33Z")
Here are two that are a slight stretch: **Shinbone Alley** , an animated adaptation of the old _Archy & Mehitabel_ stories from the Don Marquis/George Herriman _Sundial_ column. Not, strictly speaking, a comic strip, but Herriman’s **Krazy Kat** work makes it worth mentioning. There was a Lynda Barry play about 15 years ago called **The Good Times are Killing Me**. Many of the storylines were taken from her comic strip. I think there were a couple of musical numbers. There were a couple of other plays based on comic strips– **American Splendor** and **Carmen Cru** , for example–but I have no idea if they were musicals or not. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/13 "2005-03-14T11:32:50Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > There was, it seems, a stage play of Captain America. > > I have never found anyone who’s seen it. I don’t think it was actually produced. There was an Andy Capp musical There’s also Snoopy! Annie Warbucks (the sequel) The musical “The Apple Tree” features three short 1 act musicals. One of them is “Passionella”, based on a Jules Fiffer archy & mehitabel was also on stage (with the same songs as Shinbone Alley) under it’s own name Fenris ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicals-based-on-comic-strips/294300/14 "2005-03-14T13:56:55Z")
I remember _someone_ mentioning seeing the Captain America play, once. It was, however, on usenet, if I’m remembering correctly. The post was not about it, so the probability of veracity is increased. Plus, as it was part of a contest, I think they had to stage at least one show, or bad things happened.